Happy Anniversary

24 years ago Susan and I were married in Schertz, Texas on Randolph Air Force Base. It may have January, but it felt like August to me because I was sweating so bad I looked like I just stepped out of a rain storm. It's been 24 crazy, wonderful years and I'm very happy she has decided to keep me around for a while longer. Happy Anniversary dear and I'm planning on many more.  

Road Trip

Bek will be graduating this year and she was accepted to a few universities, so we needed to visit two of them to decide where she would go (pending finances). We started off Tuesday afternoon for a 390 mile trip to Wallace Idaho for our first night in a hotel.  We stopped in Ellensburg at the U Tot’em Burgers across from Central Washington University for an early dinner. The lady behind the counter was a little rude and for some reason didn’t appreciate me giving our extra order of fries to a customer that didn’t order any. Whatever? The food wasn’t that great anyhow. We arrived in Wallace by 7'ish and found a great place for dinner before crashing for the night. The hotel didn’t offer any breakfast and the local gas station didn’t help much either, so off we were without a decent meal to start the day. Shortly after getting on the highway we were heading through Lookout Pass on a very early, dark and icy morning. Going up the pass wasn’t too bad, but coming down had its scary moments, especially when the eighteen wheeler in front of us broke loose and got sideways. I immediately applied the brakes and felt the anti-skid kick in and then watched the rig up ahead recover and continue down the road like nothing ever happened. I, on the other hand, slowed my speed until well clear of the winding road and then set the cruise on 78 to put some miles behind us as fast as possible to make our 1:30 appointment in Bozeman, Montana to visit Montana State University. We made our appointment and the tour went really well. Bek and I were very impressed with the campus, faculty and the students.

Here's Bek in front of the MSU sign. 

We left Bozeman Thursday afternoon and started to play “I Spy” to pass the time. It lasted about 20 minutes because we ran out of things to spy that wasn’t black, brown, green or white. One of the better spies was: Me- I spy something boring? Bek-Montana! Bingo! Game over.

The speed limit in Montana is 75 and for good reason. There’s nothing out there but long roads, mountains, snow and rural living. It felt like we were driving in a small valley the entire time.The scenery is very boring and I’m not sure why some choose to live there? Maybe I’m just not seeing it and maybe I should be more careful with my words because I may have a daughter living there for the next four years?  The trip to Spokane lasted six and a half hours and we covered 421 miles without incident.

Our view for 1200 miles. 

Bek's surprise toy from her kids meal. 

Friday was another early wake up for a trip south to the University of Idaho in Moscow.  I wouldn’t say it was a waste of time because you have to see each University before passing judgment, but we could have done without this one. Both of us were not very impressed with the place and our tour guide couldn’t get a sentence out without saying “um” in each statement. I just got tired of listening to her try to sell the place to us, so I tuned her out unless I asked a question. We both had the MSU on our mind and were comparing it to the U of I during the walk around, so that didn't help the sell.  We spoke with a Biology Professor and I’m sure the guy is very smart, but he had papers, boxes and other stuff piled up in his office so high that I had to sit in the doorway while Bek sat just inside. Not a good first impression. The best part of the trip was lunch at Zips. Tarter and fries. Yummy! But it could have been better had they served Coke products because Pepsi sucks.

On our way back we stopped at the University District in Spokane to visit the Communication, Science Disorders building taught by Eastern Washington University and Washington State University to gather information for Jasmine. The place is awesome and we hope she has everything in place to start the program this year. Saturday was a down day for us and we enjoyed visiting with family while eating some homemade chicken noodle soup from a recipe my brother Hank found on the Internet. We all slept in Sunday, had a little breakfast and then got back on the road at 9 o’clock for our last day of travel with a goal of an arrival time of 2:30 so we can watch the Seattle game. We didn’t have any issues and the only weather we encountered was a thick fog coming up the hill out of Vantage. It slowed the cars down to a mere 60 mph for several miles and then it was smooth sailing from there.  

The odometer just before rolling over,

and again after pulling in the garage for a total of 1643 miles in four days,

and the front of our car with dirt from three states on it. 

Throughout the trip we had periods of silence, lots of laughter and multiple stops. Each one may have been for different reasons, but a visit to the restroom was mandatory by both. Bek and I have a pretty good relationship and we had plenty of time to strengthen the bond as father and daughter before she runs off to college. Susan and I are not ready for our girls to leave the nest, but we know they have to in order to grow up into beautiful young educated ladies so they can take care of us when we get old. : )

2K for 2013

I tracked my commuter mileage last year and broke the 2000 mile mark. 128 commutes and 2048 miles to be exact. I imagine I've done similar in the past, but I didn't track it then. I also tracked money spent/money saved at .35 cents a mile if I drive. It was kind of a spendy year for me because I had to double up on the back end with rear D's and cassettes. Shortly after buying the first setup I had stick kick up into derailleur and completely trash it. So I upgraded to a 9 speed shifter I had in the garage and then purchased a better derailleur and cassette to get me back on the road. Upgrading lights and gear didn't help either, but it sure makes the ride better being warm and visible. 

I color coded a few areas so I can see how many extra undocumented miles I do. Each color has a hill or two included, but the orange one is a short, steep hill that really gets the blood flowing in the legs and the lungs a pumping. Fun times. : ) My goal this year is to get more commutes in to get more miles, but eventually it'll cap out because I can only ride X number of times in the year.