It's Better in Wyoming.

several of my friends are on the boards of directors for various important, worthwhile programs. not me. i'm kinda jealous. maybe some day my life will have a clear direction. not yet, though!

After putting nearly 1000 miles on the motorcycles with Dad in four days at the end of June, I headed back up towards the Black Hills over the July 4th weekend with Melissa and Willa, this time with un-motorized two-wheelers.  Over two days, we put 106 miles on our bicycles, riding the Mickelson Rails-to-Trails path from Deadwood to Edgemont. I'll admit, I was pretty worried that my butt wouldn't hold up to two days in the saddle.  After that 11ish miles out to the Laramie airport earlier this spring, I hadn't been out for a real ride since.  And I think the longest ride I'd ever ever done, prior to the Mickelson ride, was certainly no more than 25 miles. I survived, and all in all the ride was awesome.  Day 1 was a mix of up- and downhill, and a couple of long pulls out of Englewood and Mystic kicked my ass.  We stopped in Hill City for dinner (buffalo burgers at The Diner), then rode a few more miles before finding a camping spot for our tents.  Day 2...

Sorry this post has been so slow in arriving.  I've worked on it several different times over the past few weeks but just hadn't had time to feel that it was finished.  Anyway, here it is: It's not that I'm really searching for "proof" that Wyoming is better than anywhere else.  I suppose that's like arguing about Chevys and Fords.  But, dammit, I can't help it that I feel more alive, more meaningful, more full of appreciation and faith and grace and goodness, when I'm out there on some Wyoming backroad, reading a billion years of geological time in the rocks around me or an eternity in the sky above me. Here are the quick highlights of Dad's and my four-day tour, June 27-30: Day 1 (Newcastle to Five Spring Falls) First view of the Bighorns , out by Spotted Horse on old US 14/16.  I love the name "Cloud Peak," and it's a name that definitely fits. Five Springs Campground .  Dad and I were looking for a place that wasn...

in the next few days i'll have time, finally, to update the blog about my recent trips, including some kickass pho-tos.  in the meantime, a quote from seth avett : "we can understand that some people like the records more and some people like the moment more. I’m a big fan of the moment myself." viva the moment! also, guess where scott avett was born?  hint: state name starts with a 'w'!

* my toe hurts. * i'm drinking orange juice. * tomorrow i head up to the black hills, the second of three weekends in a row that i'll be up there. * summer's arrived in laramie. * the high water of laramie river's receded, at least here in town. * i hope the panniers are a perfect fit; i hope they encourage me to commute by bike more consistently. * it seems the media has switched their references to the BP spill from "barrels" to "gallons": why?? * the front yard and flower beds are coming along nicely, I think: will know more in a few more days, when the grass seed should germinate. * A-Team: better than Prince of Persia.  Best of all: the editing room's abridged script for Iron Man 2 . * new sewer line: on the way.  maybe i'll have a new garage by year's end, after all.

Arriving back at the parking lot, five-ish hours after we set out for a free-weekend stroll in Rocky Mountain National Park, Melissa and Quincy and Steph and I calculated that that our hike had turned out to be about 8.2 miles. Even thought the trek was a bit longer than expected, it was worth the distance: we hiked up-and-back to Fern Falls, and to Cub Lake, and walked past elk grazing 10 yards from the trail. And just before we arrived back to the lower parking lot, we got to wade through the side streams of the river before crossing the bridge. The highlight of the trip was watching a giant log coming down a stretch stretch of river, being tossed around like it was a twig.  There's no picture of that, though.  I don't think a picture would've done it justice: a half-ton section of tree bouncing and spinning, and you couldn't even really hear  it separately from the general noise of the river.

Over the holiday weekend I rode along with Steph to Yellowstone.  Trip highlights include: * a temperature drop over 2 1/2 hours from 90 degrees near Meteetsee to 38 degrees when we drove into Cooke City, Montana. * my first bear sighting since I can remember.  My sister and I went to Yellowstone with my grandparents a couple of times when we were little, but I don't think we ever got to see a bear.  The other wildlife sightings on this trip were alright, too: * road food.  Road trips are a free pass for me to eat whatever I want Cheetohs, donut holes, beef jerky, beers, ice cream in Rawlins, giant bbq burger at the Lander Bar: I'm not sure I ate a single piece of healthy food during the entire trip.  Unless banana pancakes at Teton Lake count as healthy... * karaoke at the bar in Cooke City.  We didn't sing, but we did get to hear the drunkest, whitest, awesomest version of "Gangsta's Paradise" ev-ver.  Proof that Cooke City is a b...