HERE WE GO!!

7 hours until departure! Today has been eventful as I finished packing and headed to Richmond with my mom to stay with my sister Reagan for the night before being dropped off in Yorktown in the morning. We had a nice dinner (a bucket full of tots :), and some yummy sushi) at Sticky Rice on Main street. After dinner we drove down the road to the Cold Stone to meet my good old friend (homegirl) Maygen for some hugs, good conversation, and ice cream. We capped off the night at the amazing Byrd Theatre (www.byrdtheatre.com), where we saw "I love you man". I couldn't have asked for a better last night before facing the unknown of tomorrows adventure beginning departure. Reagan, thanks for comment ... its nice to know someone is reading these posts!

Sunny day in Blacksburg

Today was a crazy day to say the least! I woke up this morning and the sun was shining ... very rare for spring 09 in Blacksburg.

Congrats to the BHS boys soccer team for becoming region champs with a 2-0 win over Martinsville last night ... www.blacksburgsoccer.net

The day was filled with a variety of activities - finally helping my mom with some yard work, an intense bike ride, and some last minute prep including: laundry, packing, and some shopping.

The yard work might have been the most intense activity ive done in some time. Several large limbs of the tree in the upper right corner of the picture were climbed and cut down with a hand saw and then piece by piece carried to a brush pile. Im lucky to be alive! Then with a cultivator, similar to a hoe, a garden was put in on the hill. A quick second to fix the gutters and it was time for a nice bike ride.

I decided to ride down the huckleberry to town and then around the Ellett Valley loop. The ride was great with an intense climb up Harding Ave. Going as slow as I was going brought back a lot of memories, swimming at the rock quarry, time spent in the Branch household, Donald's face off with a fence in his sweet Prelude, the time Brian Daniels and I picked up Gerry Clum (?) and gave him a ride home, he told us a great story about the Blacksburg High School girls lacrosse team (Blacksburg High has never had a lacrosse team) ... haha. The ride was filled with beauty, over road tree canopies, mountain views, sunshine, a LOT of sweat, and of course the familiar "Virginia Tech" stickers posted on the rear windows of all passing cars.

Time for some rest
1 day and 12 hours until departure ... www.biketheUSforMS.org ... follow along

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2 days and 11 hours until departure and ive just gotten back from a nice sunset ride on the huckleberry. I picked up my bike today and I must say that Yusef and the bike barn team did I great job! The bike ride really great and I couldnt be more pleased with their work! http://bikebarnblacksburg.com/

WOW is today my birthday? New Shimano XT Mavic A719 Tandem Touring Wheels, tubes, tires, handle bars, Brooks leather grip, pedals, cleats, 8 speed rear cassette, seat post, B-72 Brooks saddle (Yusef ... I put it in the oven as instructed), helmet, mirror, sunglasses, sleeping bag, sleeping pad, camp pillow, etc. Oh course I cant forget about my pie iron! :)

Thanks for the support thus far from everyone!