"And so I climbed into the cab, and then I settled down inside
He asked me if I'd seen a road with so much dust and sand
And I said, "Listen, I've traveled every road in this here land"
I've been everywhere, man
I've been everywhere, man
Crossed the deserts bare, man
I've breathed the mountain air, man
Of travel I've had my share, man
I've been everywhere"
Well, from 2022 through January 2023, we sure made up for lost time for doing next to nothing from March 2020 through December 2021, and racked up some airline miles. There are bigger stories, like how I ordered the wrong travel insurance for seeing Wilco in Mexico, how cold my LA-area sister's pool was in February, my fear of heights in the Grand Canyon, how closely I piled in a trip to Cleveland with dogsitting in the 'burbs with getting on a plane to Germany, the fun craft projects with my sister and her friend Kate by the beach, seeing Jason Isbell in Nashville, then cramming in Wisconsin, St. Louis, and San Diego trips, seeing my mom and stepdad in just before my birthday, and then celebrating my 50th birthday in DC with friends from work and friends from home, regrouping and then seeing Dan's family in South Carolina, before visiting my stepmom.
Throughout all that hubbub, I managed to stay healthy. And now, today, weeks after traveling, I have COVID, which is preventing me from going to DC for a work trip tomorrow. I'm sad not to go because I like DC and it will be a good meeting. But also, it will be nice to rest since I'm sick, of course.
I'll spare you the logistical details of what it took to do all this, including the $$$ spent on a dogsitter and dogwalkers.
Here are a few representative photos! https://photos.app.goo.gl/
So, what's on deck for 2023? I have two other work trips and a couple of fun trips planned. My sisters, stepmom, and I are meeting at my sister's and brother-in-law's house in So Cal again this spring. My California nieces may join us. And then in the first part of the summer, Dan and I are going to Belgium for another bike+beer tour. This one is different, though - there are hills! Road bikes! Pedals that you clip into! We will need to do some training, which will be fun. I'm looking forward to seeing another part of Belgium and working hard to earn some beer.
So, what does that mean for my BikeMS fundraising? I'm only planning on doing a short, one-day ride in May, but am still funneling all of my fundraising dollars toward the weeklong ride in the event I can get away for a day and ride part of that route in July. I can't do the full week of riding, since I'll have recently returned from Belgium.
So where is the challenge you've come to expect? The hardships and tales of woe? It is hard to gather much sympathy for any "pain" I suffer while training for a biking vacation in Belgium.
Well... here it is. As I just said, I'm still going to ask people to contribute to the BikeMS ride: https://mssociety.donordrive.
So, I'll keep you in the loop on my biking adventures, because that's what I enjoy, but I'll also keep you in the loop on my running progress so that you have no doubt of my commitment to the MS Society. Only a person who should be committed would do running races. :-)
I have a request: because running is so boring, I'll need a new playlist. Please let me know your top two "active" or heart-pumping songs and I'll add them to the new playlist. Thanks for all your support in the past and the future!
