Slackin' in Mercy Park...

Seeing as it was beautiful out tonight after work, Alison and I decided to do something outdoors, and we happened to pick slacklining. It's only the second time I've set up a line, and it was the first time I was actually able to get up on it and stand for a while. Sweet. Al got up too; we both had our epiphany moments on the line where we figured out how to do it. It will be fun to keep slacking and get better. It seems like such a goofy passtime, but man it's fun, and you can do it just about anywhere. I didn't get any pictures of us actually up on the line, because we were spotting each other, but next time I'll try to get a couple. And for those of you who don't know what slacklining is, follow the Yogaslackers link on the right side of this blog to check it out. Our friends Jason and Sam are pretty involved with it. Anyhow...

Getting on is the hardest part...














Is your wife open to doing stupid things like balancing on an inch of nylon webbing with you? :)

Mexico

So I'm finally getting around to posting a few pix from our recent trip to Mexico. Enjoy:

Lying around on beach (I was already fighting Montezuma's Revenge in this picture- I look much happier than I was.. :) )














The view from our hotel room balcony:














Logging some hammock time on Isla Muerta:



















Alison eating (and discovering she dislikes) octopus at one of the fine restaurants on the resort:














After snorkeling, and swimming with the "Nemo fish", and coming close to being stung by a few small jellyfist (a few people in our group came back hurting)...














The next several pictures are from Chechen Itza, the ancient Mayan/Totec ruins about three hours inland from Cancun-

The planetarium/observatory (pretty wild that they had so much science back then)...



















A face in a wall much like a totem pole...














Scattered ruins of decorated rock...














A ruin that I can't remember what it was but it's pretty big and sweet...














Yet again..














Part of the main temple. The Mayans were big on snakes and eagles. They represented how God rules the ground and the heavens...














If you look at the edge of the pyramid, the steps form diamonds that make up the scales of the snakes on the edge of the stairs, running down to their heads at the ground. Wild.














A couple of very white people in hot Mexican weather enjoying the main temple of Chechen Itza...














Ruins seen through the jungle (there are actually still several jaguars in the area, although people have done what they do with anything they don't understand and are afraid of with the rest of them and killed them off)...














Flying away from Mexico. It was 85 degrees in Cancun, and three and a half hours later it was 39 degrees in MPLS. I went road biking when we got home anyway. :)

Quote of the holiday...

As some of you may know, today is Earth Day. The Discovery Channel was running many episodes of it's series called "Planet Earth", which displays a huge variety of scenery, creatures, and science from all over the planet we live on. It's pretty fascinating. It really gets me thinking of how small my daily routine really is, and just how much more is out there. I really don't want to be stuck in just one place for many years at a time when there is so much creation to see. And I'd sure like to do what I can to make sure future generations get to feel the same awe when they look outside.
And as talk of the environment and creation does quite often, it got me searching through quotes of my favorite author, the late Edward Abbey, who is hailed as somewhat of an environmentalist, even though I don't know whether or not he would apply the term to himself. He was most assuredly floored by the power of nature, and dumbstruck at how complacent the Earth's inhabitants can become as to their own surroundings. This quote is simple but fitting for Earth Day, and worth tossing around in your head if you're the pondering type:

“The world is older and bigger than we are. This is a hard truth for some folks to swallow.”
-Edward Abbey

Happy Earth Day. Don't forgot that our grandkids need to live here too.

Memories...

So from time to time I look through the millions of digital pix on my computer from days past, and this time I ran across a picture of a place I just stood this past Sunday, the parking lot of Palisade Head along the North Shore of Lake Superior in Northern MN. I'm not sure exactly what year it was taken in, but it was definitely during college. It sure brought up good memories of forcing very good trips into a hectic schedule and spending priceless time with my best friends that I'd never trade for anything. It seems that with age many of us forget to have this fun. I like this particular picture not because of its quality (it's a pretty crummy picture really), but because it really sums up a time period of my life. Putting tons of outdoor gear in someone's beat up old vehicle that might make it to the desired playground, and hanging out in the best places on earth. Sweet. Who wants to go on another adventure?

North Shore Riding Day...

Because I'm going off to training for a couple months, Alison and I may not get to see each other as much as we'd like pretty soon, so we took advantage of both having this past Sunday off and took a day trip up to the North Shore of Lake Superior for some road biking and scenery. We rode from Split Rock River State Park to Palisade Head and back. Very nice. Spring on the North Shore is pretty great, as the droves of mosquitoes have not yet taken over the place. The weather was wonderful, and we totally enjoyed ourselves. In addition to the riding and refreshing Northwoods atmosphere, we also took in some very tasty pie, at Two Harbors famous "Betty's Pies" restaurant. We had the Great Lakes crunch, which incorporates all the local berries, plus apple and rhubarb. Oh yes.
In other bike-type news, my touring bike has gained another splendid feature. This latest upgrade is a Brooks B-17 leather touring saddle, which is raved about in the long distance trekking circles as being the must have saddle for seeing the world on your loaded rig. So far I've only ridden new-school plastic saddles, so it will be interesting to log some miles on a classic unit such as this. There are many who swear by pure cow-butt saddles; we'll see if I join this eccentric group. It does require more care than most bicycle saddles, and there is a break in period as the leather wears and forms to an individual riders south end. It requires a special treatment of goop called "Proofide", which is several natural substances put together to essential oil the saddle without making it oily. Neat. I'll let you all know how it works out. I'm sure you're excited. :)
Pix from Sunday's ride:

Alison at the top of the climb up Palisade Head. It's not long like the climbs in UT, but it is fiercely steep...














Breaking for a Clif Bar and scenery soak on Palisade Head...














Overlooking the Beaver River along North Shore Scenic Highway 61...














Alison found a school bus she felt like picking up along the road...

From STL to Mexico to Snow...

Crazy crazy week. Started out with my trip to St. Louis to interview with Trans States Airlines. I flew down last Monday evening for a Tuesday morning interview. I didn't sleep much Sunday night out of nerves, and I didn't really sleep at all on Monday night for the same reason, so I was super tired, but the interview went really well and I got the job! I was actually pretty stupefied at just how easy it was. My interview at UND to be a flight instructor was waaaay more difficult than my interview at Trans States to fly a jet full of people. Nuts. I guess UND is intense on purpose. Anyhow, I'll start training on May 7th down in STL. I'll either be assigned there or in Richmond, VA. Neither are places I want to live at all, but this job is a stepping stone. If I dig the airline thing afterall, I think I'll just apply at Skywest in a few months and move back west, where life is good, the weather's not muggy, and the earth rises high. That's in the future though. Anyhow, after the interview, I was supposed to fly out standby at 1pm so I could get back to MSP for my flight to Cancun the following morning (I needed to be checking in at MSP at 4am). As is common in the muggy South (yes STL is in the South, even though some argue that it is not; I think of it as the Gateway to the South, not West), thunderstorms rocked the afternoon, and my flight was cancelled. Not good for a standby passenger, cuz everyone displaced by that flight wanted seats on the following flights. Long story short, I was bumped on one flight after another, and was still sitting in the airport after 11pm, wondering if I was going to have to by a last minute ticket from STL to Cancun to make the family vacation (I know, I know, rough problem going on vacation, but quite a pile of money was on the line). I did get on the last flight out at 11:45 pm, and pulled in the driveway in Coon Rapids at 2:30 am. We left to return to the MSP airport at 3:30 am to go to Cancun. (Remember I had not slept much in a couple days). We got on a 737-800, and I was assigned a middle seat. This means no sleep for me as I am taller than that plane allows any shred of comfort for. We got to Mexico, and I was a walking zombie for the first day, before finally getting a decent amount of rest that night. The rest of the trip went really well, minus some Mexican stomach trouble the last day. The resort we stayed at was all-inclusive, which translates to way too much eating and drinking, and a general gluttonous fattening condition of relaxing. We enjoyed the beach, the wedding of Alison's brother (the reason for the trip), touring Mayan ruins, and all in all relaxing away the normal stresses of being young and new to the American search for work and currency. (I might add that we were treated to this trip, for those wondering how we managed to be included on an international trip to an all inclusive resort, as many know we are generally young and broke. Thank you Hovde's!) Anyhow, we are now back, and have returned to bike-wrenching, bank-tellering, and getting ready for the airline life (and of course biking). The weather here is playing nasty games with Minnesotan's hearts, however. The North has ways of picking on it's residents, as after long gray cold months, it usually warms up for a while (a couple weeks ago), allowing everyone to believe summer is here, and then it friggin' snows several inches again (today). Come on. I bought new road bike tires. Sweet ones. Come on. Well, I have taxes to do. Yes, I'm last minute Jones this year. My W-2's took awhile to find me through our confusing network of recent addresses. Later.