Our St Paul Apartment (part 1)

Some pictures of our new place. Not yet included are the pictures of the bedroom, bathroom, or kitchen, as I have not cleaned them to picture sharing levels at this time. You'll have to wait to see those rooms. :)

Living room:














Mullet lives with us again!














And he's already taken to biting my arm...














Yes, you all know of my riding problem...














The dining room area looking into the living room...














Another view of the dining room...

Cold months

Work work work. That’s been the theme lately. It’s going to be time for some sort of adventure outside soon. It may have to happen in a non-MN location; our high on Saturday is supposed to be -5 F. Although this Saturday is off anyway, as Alison and I will be moving her brother and his wife into their new home in New Brighton, MN. It’s gonna be chilly.

I will get to experience better temperatures for about 40 minutes tomorrow. I’ll be doing some jumpseat observations in the two jets I teach ground school classes for, and I’ll be traveling to Dallas tomorrow evening. Sorry Adam and Jamie, I’ll probably only be off the plane for a few minutes before returning to Minneapolis. I need to visit some other time when I’ll have more than minutes.

The days are getting longer! I guess. Can’t really tell yet, but the days are officially lengthening this time of year, and that means it’s only four months until road cycling! I guess that’s still awhile. I better keep my mind on snowshoeing and nordic skiing for now.

I still owe all of you pictures of the new apartment. I’m writing myself a note right now to remember to post a few. You should see them soon. Until then….

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year everybody! My blog has been quite dead for the past couple months, although much has happened. The reason I've been unavailable is that we moved! Our new apartment has no internet connection right now (and may stay that way). Plus, my computer has been at Dell as it was sick. We now live on Grand Ave in St Paul, MN, and it is decidedly better than the suburbs. There is actually character, culture, and a wonderful lack of most things generic. I'll have to post pictures of the place when I get a chance. It's a one bedroom, all wood floor, old classic St. Paul apartment, and it's suiting us well while we live in MN. Mullet has returned to us, and that's good. :)
The month has been filled with working (including getting part of my CRJ-200 (regional jet) check out completed), playing (trips to SLC to ski Snowbird, xc skiing and snowshoeing in MN, yoga, indoor cycling- not as exciting), moving- ouch, but good, Christmas, and planning future adventures. I'll have to see what pictures of all those things pop up as I unload the digital camera now that the computer is back.
For now my return to the blog will have to be this short, as I've got to finish weekend duties before another big week of work. Gotta feed the bank accounts. Don't want to work forever. Until later....
Oh yeah, the last blog entry worked. Mother Nature has given MN the snowiest Dec. in quite a few years. It's currently melting though after temperatures have been in the forties for a couple days. Don't leave us yet!

Pleading with Mother...

I still haven't managed to skip out on an entire northern Midwest winter in my life, and another one is beginning. I woke up to this thing we call "fall flurries". This means snow is falling, but nowhere close to enough of it to make the leap from summer and winter outdoor fun. Mother Nature- if you're going to kill off another year of cycling and climbing for those of us residing in this part of the world, do it quick and nasty. Yank the band-aid. Seriously, give us five feet of powder to play in! Give me a honest reason to own snowshoes after leaving the Wasatch. Do not let us suffer the boredom of another year of brown, frigid, windy, barely-any-snow conditions! I'm warning you, I'll leave every weekend for more impressive venues if you don't start to rock out on MN like we all know you can. Do your thing well if you insist on the cold dark months...

SLC Weekend

One nice thing about working for an airline is that you can travel several states away for a Saturday. Alison and I went back to Salt Lake last weekend, and it was the best couple days I've had this year. (Pretty much since I lived there.) It was great to be where I want to be again, spending my free time in places like Little Cottonwood Canyon. Kelly got me to pull down on some great boulder problems (like a rock climbing route, but close to the ground utilizing a crash pad instead of ropes), and I was happy to find out my fingers and toes have not forgotten how to play on high quality northern UT granite. I have a feeling climbing will always be something addicting for me until the day I'm too old and busted up to do it anymore. And I'll probably still try it then. Sitting in front of a TV all the time is not for me. Canyons and mountains and fresh air! Until next time...

Us in front of 1,000 feet of granite and waterfall greatness...




















The UT gang- the Paasch's, Patrick's, and Jensen's...(I'm missing cuz I took the shot).














Who wouldn't dig the Quarry Trail?



















Kelly laying out the crash pad for many sudden landings...

I am still alive...

Catching up. Been way to long. Lots of things have occurred. Some good, some bad. The bad seem to have affected my motivation with blogging. Luckily I’ve been hit with a few good moments in the last couple months when I’ve been temporarily able to see that there is more to a person’s life than trying to figure out what to do with it. I’ll have to give the short account of each, because the time period I’ve failed to record here can’t be described in full without needing a editor and publisher.

I mentioned a trip back west in last months entry. Alison and I spent a week in the Black Hills of SD in between my job at the shop and my current new job. I may not get to share pictures, because our hard drive crashed before I had a chance to back them up. (Another reason the blog’s been dry.) They may still be on the camera itself but it’s coming back from the shop as well because we broke it on the trip. Not a good month for our gadgets. I’m waiting for my cell phone to fritz out.
It was a wonderful, recharging trip back out West. Some may not consider the Black Hills to be much on the mountain scene, but that’s what make them great. They are in fact very impressive to those that come to see them, them being a much smaller number of tourist masses than the Rockies see every day. This means more wilderness for each visitor. We hiked, climbed, paddled, and pedaled. It rained much of the week, but it was surprisingly very relaxing to lay in a tent reading a good Edward Abbey novel listening to the rain and smelling the fresh air at 6500 feet. Definitely moments of peace. I think I could camp for a year and not miss my bed. Maybe. I have a nice bed. But I would not miss the city or work.

Next adventure was this year’s edition of the Headwaters 100, which I missed last year on account of our first attempt and permanent western living. Park Rapids is a much different part of MN than the Twin Cities, and I can solidly say it is better for me. Slower, cleaner living. People seem way more at ease. Passing through the Northwoods fall colors for 109 miles on a trusted bicycle next to friends one doesn’t see enough is a great way to spend a Saturday.

Somehow I found my way back to Rocky Mountain National Park for three non-consecutive days. Work sent me on a rather confusing three week long training trip to Denver, and due to the lack of organization of my schedule, I ended up with some days to get out of the hotel. I’ve been to the Park before, but due to my solo status and lack of any agenda on this round I spent more time hiking and simply sitting out in some of the world’s best scenery. I’d have to say the most memorable moment was hiking up to Mills Lake in Glacier Gorge, underneath Longs Peak. Glaciers are one of God’s best paintbrushes. I sat and stared at what was in front of me for a very long time before reluctantly heading back down the trail which would take me to my rental car and hotel back in the city. When I got back to my room, I opened up a Backpacker magazine, and to my surprised, flipped to a picture of the exact place I had just been. The editors there have apparently put Mills Lake on one of their “Life List” hikes that everyone loving to hike should see. I will have to agree with their pick. I’m going back when I can take Alison and share the experience. I’d also like to return in the summer to hike some of the alpine tundra above 11,500 feet. It’s a completely different world up there. Something to see at the right time.
Also of note in the Park is that the elk were rutting. It’s quite a thing to witness when two bulls within 200 feet of you decide to lock antlers over who gets to do the year’s honors. I’m glad Alison agreed to marry me without my having to ram my head into anybody.

Last night I went “Into the Wild”, directed by Sean Penn. It’s the theatrical version of Jon Krakauer’s book about Chris McCandless. I blogged about the book a couple years ago, as it’s a favorite of mine, based on a true story of a young man that left a life of wealth for a series of outdoor experiences, ending up in Alaska. I recommend the book and the movie, even if you’re not a outdoor enthusiast. It’s interesting as a story on human nature too. You won’t experience the account without it getting your mind moving.

And to get closer to wrapping up, I went rock climbing in Taylor’s Falls, MN today with a friend that just moved to the area. We had a sunny, 70 degree, windless day after a whole week of rain, and it was fabulous to be out on the basalt guarding the St. Croix National Scenic Riverway. I miss climbing regularly, but MN doesn’t house many climbers. I’ll have to soak in the most I can of the rare days like today.

I’ll try not to be such a stranger as I pass further into fleece and wool season. I’m hoping to find ways to enjoy the long Northern Winter that I know is probably close at hand.

My apologies for the dry blog this month. Roller coasters aren't the best place to do your writing. I recently returned back West for a week long vacation, and still have to report on that. However, after the rest in the mountains I've found myself among the ranks of the bleary eyed metro commuters, and it's taken it's toll on me. I do intend on writing regularly again soon...

In the Patagonia parking lot...

This is from the Patagonia blog recently...
Climbers will understand, non-climbers will not. Very funny...

Calculate your carbon footprint...

at Native Energy's website.

Birthday # 26

My 26^th birthday went pretty darn well. I spent most of the day riding- no surprises there. I hadn’t ridden a century yet in ’07, and I skipped riding one at all in ’06, so I decided to celebrate another year with some big miles on the Lemond. 109.4 big hot miles. The temperature along my route (the Hovde house in Coon Rapids, MN to Taylor’s Falls, MN) was around 95 degrees most of the day. Sweaty. Not sure how many bottles of water I went through. It was definitely one of those outdoor adventures where you push right up to the line between what you can and can’t handle. So far in my adventurous pursuits, I’ve been cautious enough not to cross the line many times, and yesterday went well. I took a lot of breaks in air conditioned gas stations where the teenage clerks wondered what kind of freak I must be in my lycra attire and funny shoes, as well as an organic grocery store in Chisago City, MN, where the owner would have joined me for the rest of my ride if he didn’t have to finish the work day. I also spent a lot of time in shady ditches pouring water over myself to cool off. I kept looking for a lake to jump in, as we apparently have 10,000 of them here in MN, but all of the ones I passed were surrounded by a 1/8 mile of cat tail populated marsh that would be miserable to pass through to get to the actual dipping water. Shady ditches and a/c’d building worked fine. I’m also going to give a quick saddle and short review. I just bought a Specialized Toupe Team saddle for my road bike, which is a very minimalist racing saddle, and I was hesitant as to whether or not it would be appropriate for big miles, but I’m going to give it my approval after yesterday. The saddle was pretty comfy, supportive on the sit bones, and stays out of areas where it is not invited, preserving future young cyclists’ chances of being born, if you understand. My shorts, Pearl Izumi Attack’s, however, are clearly a horrible item to own. The chamois is tolerable, but not impressive. The stitching is where they enter the classification of a miserable cycling product. It is way to raised and overdone, and leaves an impression on your bum that none will enjoy. 109 miles of pedal strokes will guarantee that you wear the markings of such bad design for several days afterwards. Do not buy these shorts. Save up the money for something nice. But the ride was still a success, despite the heat and terrible shorts. The next century I see myself taking part in is the Headwaters 100 in September, which I missed last year while living in beautiful UT. I didn’t mind that much. J But it will be nice to ride it again.

In other birthday news, I need to thank all of you that contributed to my gift, which is very much appreciated. Alison got several relatives together to pick up the tab of what I was missing to pro-form a new mountain bike from the shop after the sales of a couple of my older bikes (the 8000 and the fixie have moved on). So the result was a ’07 Specialized Stumpjumper FSR Comp showing up mid last week, and I’ve already enjoyed a couple great rides on it. Thanks all!! I posted a picture of it for all to drool over. I also posted a picture of the above mentioned Toupe saddle. Enjoy, and thanks again!