Its not about fast

Over Labor Day weekend, Ace and I set out on a bicycle/camping adventure. We loaded my bike with panniers or “pannies” as I like to call them and Ace towed a “Bob” cart with the main essentials of our trip. Our aim was Bodega Bay, a mere 60 miles North of us. Arming ourselves with sunscreen off we went.

After at least 2 hours on the road, we were finally leaving a majority a civilization behind. The ride was still easy, affording nice views of a lake and gorgeous golden California countryside. My first real test happened about 2 hours in. The road turned right and lead up a small hill. That “small” hill kept growing and stretching out like snake. This small hill had just become daunting. Half way up, I saw this sign and had to stop for a photo op. That little break gave me the little extra oomph that I needed to continue. The best was when I finished I wasn’t huffing and puffing nor did my legs feel like Jell-O. After that I knew I could finish this trip!

Here is my reward for the climb!

Once we were about 6 miles from our destination and about five and half hours into our trip, I was done! My hands were numb, my saddle was sore, and it was beginning to get dark. We pulled away from our last rest stop and headed off me with the belief that we would soon be resting. As I was enjoying coasting downhill, I followed the road. Up, up, up. Not a hard climb, just a long slow steady one. At the top of that hill another one, and then another one and probably another one after that. Here I am slightly soggy from a day of sweating it out, cold, runny nose, tired, and sore. Can you tell that I was over it? And I swear, Bodega Bay was being moved just out of our reach. We did finally make it there an hour and a half later! Ace then suggested we try to find a hotel room. That was a really sweat gesture, but there was no way that I’d just traveled with somewhere close to an extra 15 pounds of camping gear strapped to my bike to call it quits and get a room. OOHH No! If I’d made it all that way, by god, I was going to use that stuff!

One thing that I don’t enjoy about camping is the other campers. I know that we’re all outside and generally speaking you can use your “outside voice,” but at 7:30 in the morning I want to stuff a sock in your mouth. It seems that is no longer camper etiquette. Its not just the kids. Parents are some of the worst offenders. I felt really bad for one set of kids. Their parents are really mean and loud. Poor Amanda, that kid was always in trouble and her sister just wanted to go to the bakery. 😦
Not exactly the way that I wanted to start my day. I glanced at my bike and I started trying to think of ways to get out of pedaling home. Making that trek again did not sound appealing. And my hands were perma asleep (and still are a week later.) I knew that I had to finish though, I couldn’t be a quitter. I wouldn’t be a quitter!

On the way home, we traveled along the coastline. Breathing in the ocean air and beautiful views along the bay. It was a great day and pretty much ended the same way as day one with me being tired, sore, and over it.

Traveling on bike really forced me to be in the moment of here and now. It allowed me to soak in my surroundings and enjoy scenery I might not have noticed otherwise. Along the way, we passed so much farm land that I started talking to the cows as I passed. Ok, so really I would just moo at them, hoping for some sort of reaction and I named all of them “Butter.”It allows you to have little adventures along the way like taking advantage of the blackberries along the side of the road. DELICIOUS!

 

Going the Distance…

Today’s entry really isn’t about any adventure. Its about my need to clear to my head and own my feelings.

I’ve had two rules which I’ve lived by when it comes to relationships. 1. No Long Distance, I need hugs way too much for that nonsense. 2. Never move for anyone other than yourself, what movie have you ever seen where that works? I broke the first one in June and I’m about to break the second one. 

I’m separated from Ace by almost 3,000 miles and a 3 hour time difference, meaning that when I’m getting up in the morning he’s still asleep. When I’m getting off work, he still has 3 hours to go. When I’m typically ready to go to bed, he’s eating dinner. See the problem here? Coordinating schedules to find a few moments of conversation is hard, it takes effort, and it’s not convenient. I know, I know, I know. These things are hard for any relationship regardless of geographic location.

My frustration begins here though, last night. Ace has been working longer hours this week and traveling, which means that we fit our conversations in where we can and that often means very short exchanges that have more to do with his work than anything else.  Last night, I’m at dinner celebrating our friends’ birthday when I receive a message from him asking what I’m up to and a subsequent one that states he is grouchy. Grouchy=no fun and more often than not I’m able to talk him a feet back from that ledge. 

After the dinner party, I tried to call him. Voicemail. I left a message, let time go by, and later sent a message inquiring if he was still grouchy. Yes. I respect people when they say they are grouchy and not in the mood to talk, I get it. I do the exact same thing. So now you’re wondering, so what’s the problem?  Well, I wasn’t so upset until today when it hit me in the face like a cream pie. I had been looking forward to talking to him all day. I was excited, I wanted to share my day with him, I wanted to ask ridiculous questions. It also didn’t help matters that I was unable to fall sleep until 5:30 a.m. and the one person that I had been wanting to talk since midnight (9pm his time) had made himself unavailable.

Light bulb moment: I found the gesture selfish.  We are talking of living together and when you live with someone it’s not as easy as not answering the phone, locking the door, or pulling the sheets over your head. When you have a bad day you don’t get to ignore the other person. That’s what the other person is there for to help you find balance.  To help you get over your mad spot or give you someone else to think about at the very least. Diversion. It works at least for a little while, right?

And now I feel selfish for being upset. I sometimes don’t want to talk either and won’t answer my phone as well. If I get into a serious funk I need time to just be. I understand this need! SO WHY, AM I FRUSTRATED?!  Perhaps it’s a combination of things: the distance, lack of quality conversation, and the feeling that whatever was on my mind wasn’t important.  I don’t know.

At the same time, I don’t feel selfish. I feel justified. I still love Ace, no matter that sometimes he drives me crazy.
*While writing this I received a message from Ace stating that he was being selfish.

 

San Francisco Mini-Adventure (not on the list)

Tomorrow I leave for San Francisco. I’ve never been before and I look forward to experiencing what the fuss is about. It won’t be a very long adventure (4 days), but I plan on enjoying every moment of it.

I’m actually a little nervous about flying. Not really the flying part, just the checking in part. I haven’t flown in close to five years and that was before the restriction on liquids and all the new crazy rules regarding what you can and can’t take.  I hate not knowing the “rules of the road.” Its the same thing when you go into a restaurant that you’ve never been too before and you don’t know the proper etiquette of ordering according to that establishment. I like knowing, damnit!

I will be visiting a friend and my accomplice for the “I.E.” adventure. He is in charge of the planning this go-round (I’m saved from planning!) We have discussed some ideas such as, Angel Island, Golden Gate Park,
Haight-Ashbury, baseball, and pretty much anything that is related to the city. There is so much to do that I might just have to make plans to go back. I think that I will have one day on my own and I’ll probably spend that day shopping for vintage wares and eating lots o’ chinese food. Yum!

This adventure isn’t technically on the list, but maybe that’s why the list isn’t finished. Maybe the blank spots are for the unexpected or  maybe I’m just a slacker and trying to be creative in justifying them.

 This trip will also afford us time to sit down and go over the trip and decide where we actually want to go. (I’ve just added Prague to the list.) And hopefully we’ll find some places to stay as well. The logistics of this trip are killing me! I also just checked the status of my passport and I should be receiving it any day now! At least that’s one less thing that I have to worry about.

 

Slow Going…

I’m taking on another challenge, running a 5K. I have two months to train for a run on the 28th of August. I”m excited and nervous.

I can’t run to save my life. Its odd though, I can run all day (alright, so I might be exaggerating just a little) on the treadmill, but I can’t run for more than 2 minutes out in the real world.  I don’t know what it is. But I start going and I feel good, then all of the sudden I can’t breathe and my legs feel like I’m wading through glue. All of that in less than 2 minutes.

One might ask why then try to run a 5K? Just to prove to myself that I can. I’ve asked a friend of mine to help me train. He’s been involved in a half marathon before and even though he hasn’t been a regular runner in a while, I feel confident that with his help I will be able to cross the finish line.

I need to train with someone who won’t let me quit so easily, that will call me out when I start slacking, and yet makes me feel like I can do this.  Today will begin my own rigorous training for this event. I plan on spending a lot of time in the gym in the upcoming months (and on the road too).

 

Intercontinental Espionage, ok maybe not so much.

Its been a slightly more than a month now and I’ve made no real progress towards my top 30. I haven’t even been able to finish the list. Maybe there aren’t 30 worthwhile adventures to complete within a year’s time, but then again that could just be my inner slacker.

During a conversation with a former college colleague, I was invited to Tangier, Morocco.  My initial response was “yeah, sure” with no real intent of seeing that come to fruition. However, after thinking about it I wondered why not? And thus the adventure begins. It started with a simple enough plan to visit Tangier and then I realized that I would be crazy if I passed up the opportunity to not explore a few other cities/countries as well.  So now I’ve decided that I want to visit Madrid, Tangier, Venice (with a possible stop in Rome to throw money into the Trevi Fountain-again), Venice, Secile (if my friend will ever respond), and then to Munich to celebrate Oktoberfest!

So now I’ve become obsessed with this idea. I’ve been frantically looking up airline tickets and weighing the pros and cons of flying across Europe vs. taking the train. This is the most excited that I’ve been in a very long time.

I am a little nervous about traveling abroad by myself. I’ve traveled in other countries before and never really had a problem, but then again I’ve always been with other people and everything just kind of worked. I also have a natural disposition against making plans. I’m fine with booking the flight and a couple of hostels along the way. But I hate to think of making exact travel arrangements now for a trip that I haven’t even started. I’m very much a here and now person. What happens if I get there and decide that I want to stay longer in one city or hop a train to a different place? And then there’s the anxiety that if I don’t make these plans now, then when I’m there I’ll be screwed and stuck in some god awful hell hole.

All in all,I’m excited. This will be one of the major adventures that I can cross off my list. Also, this is the one adventure that I wasn’t sure that I would be able to accomplish due to monetary issues. Perhaps while I am there I can see about taking that hot air balloon ride as well. Something to think about. Anyone know of any good hot air balloon pilots in Italy?

 

Day One – The beginning of the end?

Today is my big day. It’s the official kickoff of my “Top 30 Before 30.”  I will attempt to accomplish 30 adventures before the age of 30 and starting today I have 365 days to complete this task.  This all started as something of a novelty, but then I really started thinking about it and really got into the whole idea. My friends have even gotten into the spirit of things and offered up ideas and the willingness to help.

“The List.”  ( at least what I can remember at the momnet -more to be added later)

1. Take a ride in a hot air balloon
2. Travel to a foreign country (again.)
3. Sew at least one dress
4. Knit something other than a hat or scarf
5. Read 5 more “classic books” (just finished Lolita)
6. Learn how to tend bar
7. Learn how to drive a motorcycle
8. Become a Suicide Girl
9. Attempt to learn how to play guitar
10. Enjoy a 3 martini lunch
11. Travel to NYC solo
12. Learn how to surf
13. Make dinner for 30 people (will settle for 10-15)
14. Throw a drink in someone’s face
15. Finish this damn list
16. Great American road trip
17. Go to Vegas (again and now that I’m 21)
18.
19.
20.

I’m looking forward to starting my journey not only for the adventures, but also to see who will join me along to way.