Post Thanksgiving Update

The first cycle of the new chemotherapy drug has completed and I have a doctor's appointment later this morning. I've got to say I'm tolerating the Alimta really well. A couple of days of fatigue but no body aches is a huge differece from cycle 4 of carboplaitin/taxol/avastin. My appetite decreased quite a bit during the first two weeks but it wasn't from nausea, it was just that I wasn't ever hungry. I made sure to eat three meals a day but didn't really want any of them.

We hosted a fantastic Thanksgiving celebration this year. We had about thirteen people over and it was really nice. We roasted a turkey, fried a turkey, made mashed potatoes and everyone else brought over side dishes. We also pulled off a big Thanksgiving surprise. Laela's twin brother Nick flew up from Jacksonville, FL for our Thanksgiving celebration. Only Laela, Miranda, Samantha, and me knew that he was coming up so it was a huge surprise for everyone and made an already good get together great.

With all of the friends, family, and coworkers who have come out of the woodwork to support us this year we have a TON of things to be thankful for and it was nice to take some time to reflect on that and acknowledge it. We couldn't be more thankful for everything that everyone has done for us. We're also really thankful for being able to do all of the travelling that we've done this year. It's been awesome being able to visit all of the places we've never been before.

On the bummer front, Miranda had started running a 100 degree fever the day after Thanksgiving. We took her to the doctor on the following Monday and it was decided that it was probably viral. By Wednesday her symptoms had still not broken so we took her to have an x-ray. Lo and behold she was diagnosed with pneumonia. She started feeling better on Friday but being the jerk that I am, I limited her activity all weekend and to day is her first day back to school since Thanksgiving break. Although the circumstances sucked, it was awesome for me to have a whole extra week to hang out with Miranda but I'm really glad things are getting back to normal.

My friends Tim, Kevin, Dan, and Isaac are going to New York December 16-19 to visit our friend Anthony. It's been quite a while since our last "Mancation" which was to Oregon in 2006. It's our first "Mancation" with Dan so we're sure to end up in prison at some point. Good times await.

Pardon the Interruption

To be blunt about it, the second half of October and the first half of November kind of sucked. I started my fourth cycle of chemotherapy on October 18 and by October 20th I was pretty miserable. I experienced fatigue on an order of magnitude that I'd not experienced previously plus I had to contend with the usual body aches. Couple that with the fact that the side effect symptoms which usually go away in a couple of days before my next infusion didn't. On October 25 I went in for my 2nd infusion of the cycle and I hadn't even bounced back from my the 18th's yet. The week of the November 1st was even worse because by the end of the week I had contracted a pretty severe cold/flu. Thursday November 4th I had a fever that was about .5 degrees away from putting me in the hospital and I had a CT scan scheduled for that morning. I decided to go ahead with the CT scan despite me not feeling well.

And now for the bad news. November 8th found us back in the doctors office for the usual pre-cycle doctor's appointment. He also had the results of the previous week's CT scan. Unfortunately the results of the CT scan were not what anyone had hoped for. The tumors that had previously been shrinking had stopped shrinking and in fact a couple of them had started growing again (albeit minuscule growth). There were also new "areas of interest" in the same general vicinity as the largest cluster of the original tumors. The long and the short of it is that the first line chemotherapy drugs have stopped working. To continue their use would be futile. Couple that with the fact that first-line drugs cumulative effect on my overall physical well being had me reduced to watching TV on the sofa for 12 hours a day for the previous 3 weeks. All of this being taken into consideration we opted to go try second line of chemotherapy drug called Alimta (Pemetrexed).

Today is November 15 and I had my first infusion of the new drug regiment. The doctor and nurses have all told me that the new drug is much better tolerated than my old regiment, but only time will tell. Their effectiveness is what is important. Another upside to the new drug is that I only have to have it administered once every 21 days.

My lack of writing has been due to the fact that I did not want my physical state of being to transfer into my posting. I try to be as upbeat as possible but the last three weeks had really put me in a bad place. Now that I've had an extra week off and have started something new, I'm feeling positive and my energy levels seem to be back up. I had noticed that I had started to receive messages from people for not updating in a while, so please pardon the interruption. I certainly wasn't trying to hide it or make anyone worry. I just didn't want the words to come out wrong. I'll try to be a little better about keeping this updated in the future, but I didn't want to come off as "Donny Downer." I always hate being the bearer of bad news, but I'm trying to keep this as honest as possible and wanted to be in a better place before I wrote about it. It is what it is and you can only play the hand that you're dealt. As always, thanks to everyone for their support and here's to turning a new page and starting a new chapter.

Ride On Wrap Up

I really didn't expect my motorcycle trip to end up the way it did. Having the transmission blow out with approximately 900 miles to go wasn't really part of my plan. I was really fortunate that Progressive Insurance's road side assistance covered the tow from Morrison to Tulsa, Oklahoma.

I've had lot's of people ask me if I thought my trip was a failure because it ended up having the bike carted home in the back of a Budget box truck. I answer that question with a resounding no. My only regret is that I didn't get an opportunity to ride through the Ozark mountains on back roads on my way home. The view was still gorgeous from the cab of the truck but it would have been nice to get the full sensory experience of riding Wheezy through them.

Ultimately I thought it was a huge success. I achieved the solitude I was looking for. I had lots of time to think. Overall, the weather was fantastic but even when it was bad I was right out in it and didn't let it deter me. I got to ride 2000 miles of the United States that I'd never seen before and really get a flavor for the states I rode through because I was on back roads. I had to overcome some obstacles on the road with no assistance. I got to visit dear friends and family. It was awesome to be able to go half way across the country and visit them at their homes. The trip was the experience of a lifetime and I was fortunate to be able to do it. I also need to say for the record that my Uncle Dick is the greatest tour guide known to man. We squeezed all of the quality time that we could out of my time in Colorado and I wish I could have spent more time there. It is beautiful country and I was fortunate to have such a fantastic insider to be able to show me around. He and Jan showed me hospitality second to none. Also a big shout out needs to go to Stephen and Nat for putting me up for longer than expected and dragging me around while my bike was in the shop. I don't know what I'd have done if my breakdown hadn't occurred so close to good friends.

I'd say that the worst outcome of the trip was that it did absolutely nothing to quell my wanderlust and may have just made it worse. Within a week of coming back I was already trying to figure out when and where I'd like to go next; although, it doesn't look like that is going to occur any time soon. Wheezy is parked in the garage attached to the Battery Tender and waiting for a decision to be made as to his fate.

Thanks to everyone who took the time to read my musings while I was on the road. A little part of me felt like I got to bring you all with me.

Agony of Defeat

Late afternoon on October 14th continued to bring me bad news from Route 66. At about 4:00PM, after getting Wheezy put back together, the service tech at Route 66 HD was getting ready to test it out. As he moved the bike, he heard a horrible clunk with every revolution of the rear wheel (even before the engine was started). Starting Wheezy is fine as long as the clutch is engaged. As soon as an attempt is made at putting the bike in gear and releasing the clutch it begins to emit horrible chattering, clicking, and grinding sounds. It has been deduced that the transmission is shot, most likely due to the drive shaft being bent. So as far as I can tell, here is the chain reaction of events that has ultimately disabled Wheezy:

1. October 5 - Vibrations start, most likely due to the engine motor mounts breaking off.
2. Engine settles against frame, offset 2-4 inches from where it should be
3. Secondary drive belt now cockeyed and pulling on the rear wheel at an angle rather than in a straight line
4. Uneven torque on rear wheel causes rear wheel bearings to fail
5. Uneven torque on the secondary's drive pulley bends the gradually bends drive shaft resulting in the destruction of transmission

So the long and the short of it is that Route 66 Harley Davidson in Tulsa now wants an additional$750-$1000 to replace the transmission. The general manager, Eric did offer to help me finish my ride back to Ohio by "allowing" me to trade in Wheezy on a new bike. He was willing to give me credit towards the purchase price based on what I'd already put in to it. At this point I explained to him my "situation" and what my ride to Oklahoma was about and that I wasn't going to put my family on the hook for a motorcycle payment that I wouldn't even be able to use into next spring.

At this point, with everything that has gone wrong with the motorcycle, I have lost confidence in it's ability to get me safely home. Even if they were able to fix it free of charge, I'd be dubious about riding it back to Ohio. It looked like I was down to my last option, which was rent a truck, load it up, and drive it home. My motorcycle journey was officially over. So I got online, reserved a 10 foot budget rent-a-truck one way from Tulsa to Columbus for Friday morning, and went on about my business.

Friday morning, Stephen took me to the Budget truck rental location and we picked up my truck. It was only a couple of miles from Route 66 HD. We arrived at the shop and they showed me everything they'd done to it and let me roll it myself so that I could feel the clunk that occurs during the revolution of the rear wheel. Here is a picture of the clip they replaced on the clutch (on the right), the middle pieces are what was left of the right rear wheel bearing, and the bolts on the right are the engine mounting bolts that had to be tapped out of the head.

They have a motorcycle lift available, so we rolled it onto the lift and then put it in the truck. Matt was kind enough to load it in the truck and secure it with the ratchet straps which I had brought on the trip with me. Now that I was loaded up, Stephen and I said our goodbyes because he had to get to the studio for work. I then hopped up into the cab, rolled over to the gas station for some coffee and provisions, and prepared myself for the fourteen hour drive home.

The drive home was long, but it seemed to pass quickly. I made two fuel/food stops and three bio breaks. Aside from that, the truck didn't stop moving from 10:30am central time on Friday until 2:45am eastern time Saturday morning. It was a gorgeous day and even though I was looking out from the window of a truck, the scenery was beautiful. The Ozark Mountains were especially picturesque. My only regret was that I didn't get to take back roads through the Ozarks on Wheezy. Interesting things to note about the drive home: my middle finger got sore from pressing the scan button on the radio so often, I was able to listen to the Yankees/Rangers game on WCBS 880 AM out of New York as long as I wasn't in a metropolitan area, there was a bad ass country music program on NPR around midnight which was all 1930's-1960's country artists, and Ohio is the most boring state to drive through.

The drive Columbus was on pure adrenaline. I just wanted to get home and get on with things. I was so happy to finally be in my driveway once I got there. It had been a really long day. Miranda and Indy were still awake and ready to greet me. It was really nice to see them.

Mid-Day update from Route 66

Woke up this morning and had a bowl of Apple Jacks. Stephen had taken Sophie and Felix to the bus stop before I woke up so I had yet to have a chance to meet the kids since they were already in bed by the time I got to Stephen and Nat's house. We got going and swung by Route 66 Harley Davidson and filled out a service order request. I let them know what was going on and told them to give me a call when they had an estimate. Meanwhile we made our way to Armstrong Recording, Stephen's studio. He had work to do and I wasn't going to be doing a whole lot of anything until I knew what was up with the bike.

Matt from Route 66 called me about an hour and a half later to give me the run down. It turns out that the clutch isn't bad, but a clamp had broken off of the clutch adjuster and that is why it couldn't engage anymore. Labor at Route 66 is $79.50/hour. Parts and labor, I was looking at about $160 for that. They also were going to replace the rear wheel bearings. $50 for parts and an hour for labor. At this point I was going to get out of there for about $300. STOKED! I called Laela to confirm and she said to go with it. Meanwhile Matt had called me back and told me that they'd have to remove the exhaust from the bike in order to do the work so it'd be about another hour of labor. That's totally understandable and I was fine with it. I called Laela to update her and we agreed that it was still cheaper than renting a truck (which is about $500 plus gas). I was still feeling pretty good about my fortunes at this point. Then Matt called again and the other shoe finally dropped. As they were working on the bike, they found that the front motor mounts had sheared off and that the engine had moved 2 inches in the frame. Matt said there was no way that anyone should be riding the bike in that condition because the engine could drop out onto the ground at any time. I guess we've found the source of the vibrations. They said it'd be two to four hours of additional labor because they'd have to tap out the bolts from the engin head before they could re-mount it. I'm now looking at an $800 bill and that's not even having the speedometer sensor replaced. He said that they could do the work today and after a consultation with Laela we decided that fixing it was the best course of action because even if I rented a truck I'd still have to get the bike fixed before I could ride it again. So with great trepidation, I called back and told them to take care of it.

More to come....

Tulsa...we have a problem

Wednesday started off great. I got a good night's sleep in the Dodge City, KS Super 8 Motel. It wasn't as stellar as the one I stayed at in Missouri, but still wasn't bad. I started the day off by going to the Dodge City Harley Davidson dealership to see if I could get new wheel bearings installed in Wheezy. I had noticed on my pre-ride check that the bearing race had worked it's way loose on my drive side rear wheel. I thought that this was probably the cause of the vibrations that I was experiencing, so a new pair of wheel bearings would solve the problem. (I'll expand on that issue tomorrow.) At any rate, they did not have the wheel bearings that I needed in stock, so I figured that I'd just bite the bullet and keep going. The parts guy directed me on how to get to the highway I needed to get out of town and I headed out.

It turns out that he was wrong and sent me on a 40 mile detour. I ended up having to adjust my route in order to compensate for the wrong directions. It turned out to be a blessing in disguise. When I adjusted my route, I ended up on US-160 in southern Kansas. The views on US-160 were absolutely amazing. The country side looked just like any painting of the old west that you've ever seen. It was absolutely worth the extra effort and since my friend in Tulsa wouldn't be off of work until 5:00 it worked out great.

I finally worked my way to a north-south highway and made my way across the Kansas state line and into Oklahoma. It was there that the main tank ran out and I had to switch to reserve again. I made it to a gas station about 30 miles later and fueled up. Another record between gas stops (and cutting it a little too close for comfort if you ask me). I was definitely crossing my fingers and toes in hopes for a fuel stop.

I got on my way again and about 40 miles later, my speedometer stopped working. I didn't think much of it at first, but then I heard some odd noises coming out of my engine, so I pulled over to give the bike an inspection and fluid check. I unloaded all of my gear and got out my service manual and oil and laid everything out next to the roadkill armadillo that was setting there in the high grass decomposing. There was nothing amiss as far as I could tell so again I decided to soldier on. As soon as I put it in 1st gear and let the clutch out I heard a really high pitched whine. the same thing occurred in 2nd and 3rd gear too, but as I moved into 4th and 5th things seemed to have worked themselves out.

Back on the bike, I made it another 60 miles to a small town with a gas station. As I slowed down into the town, the bike really started making some noise and was difficult to shift. I pulled the clutch in at a stop sign and it didn't engage all of the way and tried to keep the bike moving. It was chattering quite a bit too. By this point I was starting to get really worried that something bad was going on. There was nothing that I could do though but keep going on. Again, as soon as the bike was in 5th things smoothed out and were alright. It was at this point that I had resigned myself to the fact that I was going to need to be in 5th all of the way to Tulsa. I readjusted my route to take me to Interstate 35 so that there would be a minimal amount of shifting. I made it about another 50 miles or so before I needed to get off on US-64 and I just knew that things were about to get hairy.

I managed to get off of I-35 and onto US-64 while maintaining 5th gear (through two complete stops I might add). So I made my way another 30 or 40 miles to Morrison, OK where I was stopped twice by traffic lights and then once by a train. This would prove to be the beginning of the end. I got the bike going but it was super sketchy and the clutch lever seemed to be getting really soft. I passed two gas stations and then started up a hill. As I was feathering the clutch to get momentum, I pulled it in and it didn't come back out. My initial thought: "This is BAD." The second gas station I had passed was about 1/3 of a mile back and was fortunately downhill. So I crossed the street pushing Wheezy, mounted back up and walked it back to the gas station.

I got to the gas station and started assessing my options. I called Stephen in Tulsa and let him know what was going on and he started looking for a pickup truck he could borrow. In the meantime, I called Laela to let her know what was going down. So here's how I saw my options: I could A) Tow the bike to Stephen's, rent a U-Haul and drive home B) Tow it to a Harley dealership and have them asses the damage. I was very grateful that I finally had 3G coverage from AT&T so I was able to research where the Harley dealership was, got their phone number and called their service department. They told me that if I could get the bike there by 8:30PM they could get it written up for service. It was about 6:00 at this point so I knew I wasn't going to make it before they closed. The service manager told me I could just drop the bike off in the lot and come fill out the paperwork in the morning. So, now I had my destination decided. I thought that I remembered the roadside assistance that was provided by my Progressive motorcycle insurance so I set out to see how much having them arrange a tow would be. It turns out that they'll tow to the nearest service facility free of charge. That was the first piece of good news that I received. The downside was that it would take an hour and a half for the truck to get there. About an hour after the service call was placed, Cowboy Towing showed up. The driver; Jason, loaded Wheezy onto the bed and we were off to Tulsa.

We arrived at Route 66 Harley Davidson in Tulsa, OK at 9:00PM. Jason unloaded the bike and dropped my gear and me off. I thanked him for his help and then arranged my gear, called Stephen and he was on his way to pick me up. We made it back to his house and Nat graciously fed me a fantastic bowl of red beans and rice that I washed down with a Negro Modello. Stephen, Nat, and I had a great visit and turned in at about 12:30. I was mentally and physically exhausted. and slept very well.

On the road again

Due to the Reds early exit from the NLDS on Sunday night, I flew back to Colorado on Monday. I got back to Denver at about 5:00PM. For dinner, Dick and Jan took me to Pasta Jay's in Boulder. Uncle Dick had informed me that it was one of my grandfather's favorite restaurants in Colorado, so I was eager to try it. Needless to say, I was not disappointed. I had the Fettuccine Alfredo with chicken and a caesar salad, washed down with a Fat Tire beer. It had been a long day since we hadn't gotten back to Columbus from the Reds game until 2:00AM Monday morning. I was pretty tuckered out so after dinner we went back to Dick and Jan's and I proceeded to pack my bags for my impending departure on Tuesday morning.

I woke up on Tuesday had a bagel for breakfast and got Wheezy packed up. It was raining pretty hard so it was time for the inevitable; the rain gear. When I left Columbus on the trip, I knew at some point I would encounter inclement weather so I came prepared. I donned my normal riding pants and jacket and then augmented the ensemble with a rain jacket, FrogTog pants, waterproof covers for my boots and my gloves. There wasn't a whole lot else that I could do to cover up so I set off for Kansas. It rained pretty steadily for about 150 miles. I really wanted to get away from the rain as fast as I could, so I postponed my ordinary 100 mile gas stop and decided to keep going until I had to use the reserve on my gas tank. It just so happened that when I hit the reserve, the rain let up. So I made my way to the next gas station and filled up. I wasn't confident that I had completely escaped the precipitation so I decided to keep the rain gear on until the next stop just to be sure. By the time I'd banged out the next 100 miles the sun had actually broken through the clouds.

Wheezy ran great and the new tires handled the rain slicked roads like it was attached with velcro. I'm very happy with my tire choice. I managed to snap a couple of border pictures while on the ride too. I of course got the Kansas sign, but I also doubled back and got the Colorado sign that I missed on my late night ride last Wednesday.

I had set my sites on Dodge City, KS as my stopping point for the day. It is over half-way to my next destination of Tulsa, OK. I had such a good experience at the Super 8 hotel I stayed at last Tuesday so I decided to try them again. I didn't have as much luck at this Super 8, but it's a decent room and I got here early enough that I could go out and grab a bite to eat and unwind before hitting the sack. Speaking of hitting the sack, I need to get up early tomorrow to get a move on so that's what I'm going to do right now. Until tomorrow...

On the sixth day....he rested

So, yesterday was day six of the tour. I didn't have anything planned so I just took the day to relax. My aunt and uncle had prior commitments, so I took the opportunity to spend the day lounging about the house and walking around the neighborhood. Even the views from the neighborhood are stunning and I snapped a few photographs for posterity.

Uncle Dick made arrangements for the "Super Shuttle" to pick me up at 3:45 and deliver me to Denver International Airport. I had plenty of time to kill so I took a leisurely stroll around the airport and had some lunch. I eventually found a secluded seat somewhat near my gate so I thought I'd sit down and get caught up with some thing on my laptop. It was not meant to be due to the fact that the Denver airport's Wi-Fi sucks. So I decided to bury my head in my book. I was blissfully reading away when my seclusion was invaded by a family of five (three of which were really loud and not down with their Happy Meals). I couldn't decide whether to be annoyed that they picked the one secluded spot or feel bad for them because their children weren't travelling well. There was probably a little bit of both.

Anyway, my flight finally boarded at at 6:45 and we were out of the gate on time at 7:10. They really cram you into the plane on Frontier Airlines but it wasn't bad for me because A) I had a window seat and B) I was able to continue reading. I"d say the most annoying thing about the flight was the LCD screens on the back of the chairs. I kept turning mine off and the flight attendants kept turning it back on about every 1/2 hour.

We landed at Dayton International Airport at 11:40 and I was reunited with Laela and Miranda a few minutes later. We drove home in about an hour and 20 minutes, almost got T-Boned by a drunk at Bethel Rd (he was literally 2 inches away from plowing into us), and was in bed by 1:30. It is so nice to be home in the middle of the trip to see the girls.

The Reds and Phillies play in Cincinnati on 10/10/10 at 8:07 (wtf kind of start time is that?) and we'll be there to cheer them on. Until then, I'll have a nice visit with my girls.

Site Seeing & Visiting

Not much motorcycle on Friday. It was a day for some sight seeing and visiting friends. I woke up after a GREAT night's sleep. It was the first really restful night that I'd had on the journey since the Super 8 hotel on Tuesday night. The guest bed at uncle Dick's is really comfortable and I'm someplace where I feel that I can relax and let my guard down a little. Travelling alone is great but I feel like I'm always "on alert." Here in Lafayette I'm with family, my bike is in a garage and there aren't a bunch of strangers staying in the same building with me.

Uncle Dick and I got a jump on things early today. We had breakfast of bagels and coffee and then were out the door at 8:30. He first took me to see the Red Rocks Amphitheater. That has to be without a doubt the most gorgeous outdoor musical venue ever. We walked around for a bit and took some pictures. Then we went into the visitors center which is essentially a little museum dedicated to the venue. It outlines the history, how it was constructed, the geological features, and how it came to be. There are also plaques which enumerate every artist who has played there since it's opening. It's interesting to see the ebb and flow of the number of acts and the vast variety of artists that have been there. After visiting Red Rocks, we went across the road to see the dinosaur tracks that are preserved in the side of the mountain. Unfortunately the road was closed to vehicles and it was a steep enough climb that I did not feel up to walking it. They had an exhibit in the museum which had molds of the tracks and I figured that was a reasonable facsimile so I'd save my energy for what was to come.

We next went to the LoDo (Lower Downtown) section of Denver. There, we got tickets to take a tour of Coors Field, home of the National League's Colorado Rockies. Coors Field was constructed in 1995 and is the fourth oldest ballpark in the National League. I found that statistic amazing. I didn't realize that many ball parks had been constructed within the last decade, but after I thought about it, it made sense. One of the interesting features of the park is the row of purple seats that are in the upper deck. All of the other seats in the ballpark are green except for one row. The purple row is (within inches) one mile above sea level. I thought that was a really cool way for them to depict that. Another stat that I found interesting is that no ball has ever been hit out of the ballpark in fair territory during a regulation game. (Two balls have been fouled out of the park) For as much complaining as everyone does about how the ball carries at Coors Field I found it amazing that there hasn't been one that has left the yard. The Coors Field tour starts on the fourth level and works it's way down to the field level and finally ends up on the field. You are allowed to walk around on the warning track and in the dugouts, but not on the actual grass. This is pretty standard for all tours of major league ballparks. We took some photos and then we went back to uncle Dick's house for some lunch.

After lunch I laid down and took a quick catnap before I headed to Ft. Collins to meet my friend Bill for dinner. Ft. Collins is about an hour from Lafayette and I had planned on leaving at 3:30 allowing myself some time for wiggle room if I got lost. I overslept a little and didn't actually get on the road until 4:00, had to gear up and get gas thusly didn't get to FoCo until 5:45. Bill is recording Rise Against's new album at the Blasting Room studio and they had taken a break at around 5:00. When I got there Bill and I debated for a few minutes about the type of food we'd eat and ended up choosing Chinese. We went to a restaurant called Tiger Lily which is a few blocks away from the studio. Bill's family swung by the restaurant for a little bit. It was a pleasant visit with Stacie, Maddie, and Miles. Miles recently took up skateboarding and was regaling me with his feats on the stuntwood. Stacie had taken some videos of him at the Ft. Collins skate park and he was eager to share them with me. The kids had some teenage shenanigan type commitments to attend to so they left after a short while. Zach, Brandon, Tim, and Joe joined Bill and me to break bread. We had a good meal and a nice visit (other than the appetizer mix up that was full of shrimp and some kind of wacky sausage because they were supposed to be vegetarian). Zach and I are acquainted from his days in Hagfish and Armstrong. He and his brother Doni had stayed at our house a few times when they were on tour and it was nice to be able to catch up with him. It was a pleasure to meet Brandon, Tim, and Joe as well. They're a terrific group of guys and fun to hang out with.

After eating we went back to the studio and Bill gave me the tour, showed me the two studios and the mixing room. He also showed me how the different instruments were mixed. It's a fascinating and complex art form and Bill is fantastic at it. After hanging out at the studio for a bit I followed Bill back to his house and we hung out there for a while. We'd both had long days so we called it a night around midnight.

My ride back to Lafayette was uneventful except for missing the turn to Uncle Dick's house and going about 10 miles out of my way. I had gotten a little cocky about my navigational steeze and not turned on my GPS. The problem was thatI hadn't seen the area at night before so I rode right past the intersection I needed.

Rocky Mountain High

On Thursday October 7th, I woke from my restless night's sleep at the Butte Motel in Wray, CO. I was happy to be up early. I got my things packed and was on the road before 8:30. I thought I had seen a McDonald's in town the night before and was going to stop there for breakfast. Well, that McD must've been a night-time mirage because when I went back to where I thought it was, it wasn't there. I decided that rather than try and find someplace else that I'd just go on and soldier ahead until I needed fuel again.

That brought me to Ft. Morgan, CO where I stopped at a 7-11 for coffee, a donut, morning phone calls and fuel. It was also about 100 miles of riding with the bent shifter peg. It seems pretty manageable so I'm going to leave well enough alone until I get back home. I'm afraid that if I try to pry it back where it should be that I'll break it off of the shifter linkage and then have no shifting peg.

When I went to leave Ft. Morgan I got a little turned around and ended up riding in circles for about 20 minutes before I sniffed out the right direction to go. Anyway, the morning's 200 miles seemed to fly by. Once I got about 20 miles away, I let the AT&T Navigator app on my phone guide me in the rest of the day to Uncle Dick's house. I even hopped on the Interstate for a short bit (Speed Limit is 75 MPH w00t!)

I arrived at my uncle's place at about 1:30 mountain time. He had lunch already laid out for me, which was great because that donut wasn't doing it anymore. I grabbed a quick bite to eat, got cleaned up, and situated and we were off to the mountains. It's amazing how close they are to his house. A quick drive through Boulder and we started our ascent. There were lot's of mountain bikers and motorcyclists on the way up the mountain. It REALLY twisty and I'll bet would be great fun on a bike.

We arrived at the Pawnee Pass Trail and went for a short hike by Long Lake. I thought that the elevation change affecting people was a bunch of BS and hadn't planned on it effecting me, but as we started walking the trail, I was definitely a little light headed and had to stop no fewer than four times to catch my breath. I really wanted to keep walking the trail, but I'm trying to use my head these days and didn't want Uncle Dick to have to carry me back to the car.

Once back at the car we started back down the mountain and drove through Gold Hill which recently gained national attention as it was ravaged by a forest fire. It was a sad to see all of the burned trees and I can only imagine what those who lost their homes are going through. It was also very interesting to see trees that were totally untouched by the fire.

Once we were the rest of the way down the mountain we were back in Boulder and took a stroll through the Pearl Street shopping district. There were lots of fantastic shops and restaurants. We ended up meeting Aunt Jan for dinner at a place called Rio Grande. They are famous for their margaritas which was right up my alley. We had chips and guacamole for and appetizer and I ate flautas de pollo for dinner with rice and beans.

With my belly sufficiently full we went back home where I promptly made my airline reservations for Saturday and went to bed by 9:00.

I would ride 500 miles

The Super 8 motel I stayed at on Tuesday night absolutely ruled. It was just what I needed after a hard day. The manager Pricilla was very nice and accomadating. She even allowed me to utilize the hot tub after it's "official" hours were over. I got up Wednesday morning, packed the bike and was on the road by 8:15. I got to thinking about camping during the first portion of the ride and quickly came to the conclusion that it probably wasn't going to happen. I decided that if I were to run across a post office, that I'd mail my camping gear home. Lo and behold, about 30 minutes later there was a post office located in the small town of Burlington Juncion, MO. I stopped in and after 20 minutes I had my sleeping bag, mat, and tent on their way back to Columbus. One of the reasons that I decided to do this was to that I could more easily remove the seat from the bike in order to check my oil. As I found out the day 2, if I wanted to remove the seat it was easily a 1/2 hour ordeal. Also, after a long day the last thing that I wanted to do was have to set up camp.

Back on the road, Missouri greeted me with a beautiful morning. Not a cloud in the sky and a brisk 42. degrees, it wouldn't be long before it was almost 80. The roads were twisty and rolling and made for great scenery. It was exactly what I had envisioned a bike trip to be.

Before long I was at the Missouri/Nebraska border. As soon as I crossed it I lost my cell phone signal. I would not regain it for 250 miles. My phone really feels like my lifeline. I made extensive use of it on day 2 for mapping and communication. To not have it available to me felt really isolating. I also didn't want Laela to worry about me because I'd been calling or texting her every time I stopped for gas. I was even looking for pay phones in small towns to be able to call her. Fortunately for me she wasn't concerned about the lack of communication. US-136 in Nebraska is really desolate and I easily went 1/2 hour at a time without seeing another vehicle. It was nice to have the road to myself. What wasn't nice were the sections (albeit short) that were actually gravel. Nothing like gravel and no phone signal to make you feel a little nervous.

Other than that, the day was unremarkable. After my final gas stop in McCook, NE I decided to start looking for lodging. The sun was going down and I had no fewer than three locals warn me about deer. It would be another 93 miles before I found lodging at the Butte Motel in Wray, Colorado. The dark ride was slow and I didn't go over 50MPH unless I was fortunate enough to be behind another vehicle. Obviously I had my brights on and was HYPER alert for any fauna that might be lurking on the roadside.

I finally got my room, pulled up to my parking spot (they're numbered for each room). I hopped off my bike, but oops. I was so happy to be getting to a room that I forgot to engage the kickstand. I dropped the bike onto it's left side. I quickly removed the luggage and got it stood back up. After schlepping my gear into the room, I went back to the bike to head up to 7-11 to grab something to eat. It was then that I notice that my shifter peg is now bent all to hell. It's still rideable but the peg is noticabley "limp."

All in all, Wednesday was fantastic and I cleared 501 miles. I just woke up on this fine Thursday morning and am about to get back at it. I better upload this before someone figures out that I'm poaching their wireless (I hope it's not a honeypot).

Day 2

The Best Western in Rantoul, IL was adequate boarding for the night; however, my mind was racing a mile a minute and I only ended up sleeping for about four hours (total sleep time, not consecutive hours). I ended up getting out of bed at about 6:00 and after getting dressed went over to the "Red Wheel" Pancake and Steak house across the street. I had the 2x2x2 at 2 eggs (over easy), 2 pieces of french toast, and 2 sausage links. I had a feeling it'd be a busy day so I wanted to eat a hearty first meal. I finished quickly but for some reason I didn't get on the road until 9:15. I guess I just took my sweet ass time.

It started off easily enough. A brisk, beautiful, bright sunny morning. The perfect day to go riding. About 60 miles in something went wrong. I'm not sure what it is/was, but the bike started vibrating more than usual. Wheezy ordinarily vibrates quite a bit at idle, but once under load smooths out quite nicely. I was humming along at about 65mph, the pavement changed and then things started shaking. The engine didn't sound any different and was just as responsive, it just shook quite a bit. Lots of people complain about HD engines vibrating their fillings out and dropping parts all over the place, but this is the first time I had ever experienced something like that. I decided to pull over in Havana, IL just to be on the safe side, check the oil, and make sure that there wasn't something visibly wrong. This is the part where I tell you that I REALLY miss the oil level site glass that all of my Japanese bikes have. To check Wheezy's oil you have to look at the dipstick. Easy enough, right? Not so much when the oil tank is located under the seat and the seat has 50lbs of gear strapped down on top of it. The long and the short of it is that the oil level was fine, but it took a while to unload, then check, then reload the gear. The gear needed to be reseated anyway because it had shifted during the short distance traveled. Anyway, after an hour and a half of messing with things I was back on the road. The bike was still vibrating but it was just an issue of comfort, not an issue of performance to I decided to soldier on.

I started to suspect that maybe a wheel weight fell of throwing the wheels out of balance. To test this theory I got the bike up to a reasonable speed, pulled in the clutch, and killed the engine. If the problem was with the wheels, it would still present itself if the engine was shut off. Shutting off the engine stopped the vibration, so I ruled out the wheels as culprits. So, I don't know what is causing it but it's something I'm going to live with. Actually after my last gas stop tonight, it didn't seem so bad but I think I'm just getting used to it.

Needles to say losing another hour and a half at the beginning of the day was going to ruin my mileage goal for the day. This revelation bummed me out for a while because I was dwelling on it, but then I thought to myself "Self, this trip is about the ride not the destination. So roll with it."

Being focused on my setback made me miss a couple of great photo opportunities. There is a river to cross going between Illinois and Iowa's "udder." On the river is a dam for power generation and the gates were open. It was a spectacular site but I missed out on the photo opp being preoccupied by losing time. I also missed photographing the Iowa state line sign. In my defense, it is on the bridge and there are only 2 lanes so it's not like you can pull over and snap a pic. I think I was only in Iowa for 10 miles or so.

So today's mileage total was 339.2. Not bad all things considered. That's straight from Rantoul, IL to Bethany, MO. I guess I'll have to tackle Nebraska tomorrow.

Invigorating

Monday started out normally. I woke up, made some coffee, got Miranda and Laela out the door for school and then things were a little different.

I started by laminating a few maps and then finished up packing "Wheezy." My good friend Fred Gablick came by on his BMW R1150 and we got things together and got on the road at 11:00am. It was about three hours after I wanted to start but given the things that I needed to get accomplished, it all worked out for the best.

It was cloudy and overcast when we started, but that was a good omen because it allowed me to wear my glasses for the majority of the day rather than having to wear my sunglasses. It was a little chilly, but my gear kept me plenty warm. We hopped on 161 and headed west. We spent the next couple of hours winding through Ohio and eventually made our way into Indiana and made our first fuel stop at 110 miles. Wheezy isn't a big fan of going much over 100 miles before he needs to dip into his reserve. Fuel stops are also a great chance for a cup of coffee and to stretch your legs for a bit. We got moving again and made our way towards Indianapolis. Our route was to take us up over the Indianapolis outer belt but I missed our turn and we ended up going towards downtown. It took me about 15 minutes to realize that we were going the wrong way and by the time I figured it out it was getting to be about 4:00. Fred had to join a conference call for work at 4:00 so after another quick fuel stop, we parted ways.

I headed back the way I came and corrected my mistake. All told it was about a 35 mile detour. It also briefly had me on the Interstate and made me REALLY glad that I chose non-interstates to travel on. It's so much more peaceful on the "Blue Highways." Western Indiana and eastern Illinois are paved with beautiful rolling highways and were often lined with trees. That was especially nice in the late afternoon as the sun started to set. I only had to wear my sunglasses for about an hour today. I made it across the Indiana/Illinois border and decided that it was time to look for a hotel. The problem with taking "the roads less traveled" is that it is longer between areas that are populated enough to need hotels. I had to ride about an hour after dark fell which I didn't want to do, but my late start today kind of necessitated it. I finally rode in to a Best Western in Rantoul, IL and parked for the night. I unloaded all of my gear, rode over to the gas station on the corner and prepped for tomorrow.

The bike held up great and was really comfortable. Special thanks to Fred for all of the gear that he loaned me for the trip and for coming with me as far as Indianapolis. Also thanks to Nick Garcia at Iron Pony for reminding me about some items that I hadn't thought of checking before I left (most importantly my tires).

I titled this entry as "Invigorating" because that's exactly how I feel. My energy level jumped as soon as I set off and hasn't let up yet. I'm actually too wound up to sleep right now; hence, my late blogging. I'm looking forward to putting more miles behind me tomorrow and can only hope that it goes as well as today did.

Link to the photo album on Facebook: http://bit.ly/9ngPAV

Journey

October 3, 2010 - I should be setting off on the journey of a lifetime tomorrow. I'm taking my motorcycle for a solo two week trip around the central United States. It's been a couple of weeks of preparation, but I think that I'm ready. I've had a bunch of people lend me gear and mechanically, I've gone over my bike and I believe everything is in order. I just got finished with an outer belt tour of Columbus an hour ago in the rain and dark with all of my gear packed on to make sure things are ready to go. I'm glad I did it because it showed me some weaknesses in my waterproofing.

My first destination is to visit my uncle in Lafayette, CO. It's about 1200 miles from my house. My plan is to ride 400 miles a day, so I'm hoping to make it on Wednesday but that's not set in stone. That's the beauty of the trip, I can do what I want when I want to.

A friend of mine said to me last week that a motorcycle trip isn't about how much you bring with you, but about how much you leave behind. I have really taken that to heart and it has really become my mantra.

I'm really looking forward to having some time to myself to reflect and just not have a plan.

Here's a couple of links to checklists at the American Motorcycle Association's website that I used to help me prepare:

http://www.amadirectlink.com/roadride/riderresc/TouringList.asp

http://www.amadirectlink.com/roadride/Riderresc/33secrets.asp

See you on the open road. Ride on.

Finally

It's about G.D. time! We finally got some good news today in the midst of this big mess we find ourselves in. Last Friday I went to the imaging center to have a CT Scan performed on my chest. The purpose of the scan was to determine if the chemotherapy is having any effect on the cancer in my lungs. I'm am quite happy to be able to report that yes, the chemotherapy is doing it's job. Allow me to quote from the radiologist's Impression:

"Significant improvement in multiple cavitary masses in both lungs largely evidenced by decreasing solid components of the masses. This is quite dramatic along the left hemidiaphragm and in both upper lobes. There is less dramatic improvement in the right lower lobe, where there is likely tumor superimposed upon chronic scarring from a previous severe right lower lobe pneumonia. No new areas of disease."

To paraphrase: The known tumors are getting smaller. There are no new tumors. The lower right lung is too FUBAR'd to begin with so we can't really tell from the pictures if it's working in that area.

I am really pleased with this. The doctor seemed really upbeat about it. He also complimented me on my blood pressure spreadsheet saying that he'd never seen anyone be that thorough about their BP before. It too is headed in the right direction, so on the health front this was a GREAT Tuesday.

The doctor also granted my wish for an additional week off so that I can go on my motorcycle trip. w00t w00t! It happens to come at a good time during my treatment because it'll be the half-way point of the six to eight cycles. (A cycle is defined as three weeks: Two weeks with drugs, one week without. Wash, rinse, repeat) He said it might actually be good for me to have the extra week off to allow the rest of my body to recover a little more from the chemotherapy. So, it looks like my trip is actually going to happen. I've got to begin making real plans starting today. I've also got a viable solution to my NLDS conundrum thanks to Sarah Cofer. She made the suggestion that I fly home in the middle of my trip, go to the games, and then go back to my motorcycle (wherever I left it). Now why I didn't think of that? Checking prices from Denver to Cincinnati and Denver to Columbus, it looks like it might be doable. Stay tuned.

I'm glad that I'm on the right track and I love being able to write about positive happenings! I hope your day is awesome too. Thanks for reading.

Torn

It's been an eventful two weeks since I last wrote. First, thanks to Mike and Sarah O'Donnel and By Golly's in Milford, OH for the benefit on September 12. Also thanks to everyone who came out and donated money, time, gifts for the baskets, and just for showing up. Your support is greatly appreciated by me and my family. It was nice to see everyone and an all around good time. Too bad Cincinnati's professional football and baseball teams weren't more cooperative with providing victories to celebrate. This Saturday September 18, there will also be a benefit organized by our friends at and taking place at Clintonville Academy. The following link is to the event's Facebook Page. Come on down and hang out at this family friendly event if you are in town.

Health-wise the last week or so has been a bit bumpy. The last treatment wasn't too bad, but it was complicated by coming down with a cold so I couldn't tell if I was feeling bad from the cold or the chemo Thursday through Saturday. My blood pressure has also been through the roof (which apparently is a side effect of one of the drugs that's being administered) and the doctor has put me on meds for it but so far there really hasn't been any change. As always "We'll continue to monitor the situation." Now for the meat of my musings:

With the theme of "Ride On" I've hatched a little plan to take a solo motorcycle journey. I seem to have come down with a wee case of the wander lust. I'd say it's inspired by the travels of Ewan McGregor in the "Long Way Round" or Neil Peart in "Ghost Rider" but I have neither that kind of time nor the energy to be able devote to my endeavor so it will be quite an abbreviated trip. I had first planned to take my next "break week" in my chemotherapy cycles and ride to Colorado to stay with some relatives and some friends for a few days and then turn around and come home. I've never been to Colorado and it seems to be absolutely gorgeous from all of the pictures I've seen. I'm thrilled by the prospect of being able to see it with my own eyes. Recently I've been struck with a strong desire to get away from everything and spend some time by myself.. What better way to do so than to travel 2500+ miles by motorcycle? The route I'll take to get there, the route home and the amount of time to take are kind of fluid as of now. As I started roughing my plans together, Laela suggested that I speak with the doctor and see if we can postpone my next cycle of therapy for a week; thereby, giving me two weeks for my journey. Needless to say, I leapt at the chance and will be discussing it with the doctor on Monday.

As my plans are coming together, the prospect of the Cincinnati Reds actually participating the the 2010 post season is looking more and more like a reality. To that end, Laela had entered the lottery for the opportunity to purchase tickets to the National League Divisional Series (NLDS) should the Reds qualify. Lo and behold her name was drawn and we are now proud owners of tickets to the first two home games that the Reds will play in the NLDS. What a boon for a Reds fan, right? Not so fast. According to the MLB Postseason Schedule the NLDS will take place between October 6 and October 13. That's right in the middle of my October 2-October 15 time frame. So what's a fella to do? On one hand, I could selfishly go on a motorcycle trip by myself and get the solo time and adventure that I crave, or go see the Reds in a playoff situation knowing that it might be my last opportunity. I can't really put off the trip for an additional three weeks because I'd have to contend with a MUCH stronger possibility of inclement weather in the form of snow. On the other hand going to the NLDS would afford me the opportunity to spend time with my girls and make memories for all of us, not just me. I am torn like an old sweater and I don't see an easy answer. I'm not complaining that I have this decision to make, it's just hard to commit one way or the other.

Speaking of the Reds, we're going to a bunch of home games over the final couple of weeks. Tuesday night we went to "Bark in the Park" at Great American Ballpark. Laela submitted some of our photos to Jamie Ramsey, author of the Red's blog "Better Off Red" and he featured them in a the following "BoR" post. We also have tickets for September 29th vs the Houston Astros and for October 2nd vs the Milwaukee Brewers in addition to the playoff games. It should be a great couple of weeks for baseball.

That's it for now. In the immortal words of the American philosopher Ed McMahon: Keep your feet on the ground and keep reaching for the stars.

Routine

It's the beginning of September and I'm starting to settle into some kind of schedule now. Vacations are over. Autumn is nigh. School is back in session. Laela is working. Me? I'm at home and beginning the second cycle of my treatment. I think I'm starting to know what to expect out of it and can kind of plan my weeks accordingly.

rou·tine [roo-teen] –noun

1.a customary or regular course of procedure.

2.commonplace tasks, chores, or duties as must be done regularly or at specified intervals; typical or everyday activity: the routine of an office.

3.regular, unvarying, habitual, unimaginative, or rote procedure.

4.an unvarying and constantly repeated formula, as of speech or action; convenient or predictable response

One of the hardest things about dealing with my new routine of the sitting around the house is the sense of aimlessness. When having a good day, it is really odd not having someplace to go, something to do, or people that are relying on you. One would think that I'd have all of this free time for personal enrichment and reflection, but I find myself increasingly being lured to distraction by television and more insidiously...the Internet. I'm trying to read more books which is somewhat gratifying, but it too seems kind of aimless. I guess I need to put together a task list of things I need to take care of around the house and commit to doing a certain number of them a day. It's not just little things around the house that need to be taken care of. It's also long term items for the family's well being, piece of mind, and comfort. There are many things that I could be taking care of to make things easier on Laela. She does so much and now that I'm the "house husband" it's the least I can do. Hopefully it will bestow upon me that sense of purpose that I'm seeking.

On the treatment front, my doctor visit on Tuesday August 31 was very upbeat (Monday's scheduling SNAFU aside). The symptoms caused by my illness are better and I tolerated the first cycle of treatment very well. My oncologist was shocked that I walked a half-marathon on Sunday. Nothing makes me feel better than accomplishing something that people think that I can't do. We've got a plan of action and I'll be getting a CT scan on my chest before my next cycle begins to see if there is any shrinkage in the tumors. Crossing my fingers and hoping for the best. The bad news is that I've put on nine pounds in three weeks. I really need to stop throwing caution to the wind with my diet or a heart attack is going to get me before the cancer does. I'm not very far from flirting with my all time highest weight. That kills me after all of that work that I did to lose it and keep it off.

As expected, Thursday afternoon/evening was rough. I started the day off feeling a little down because my mustache was continuing to fall out in clumps. I decided to take matters into my own hands and remove it myself. I figured that I'd rather do that than have it slowly taken away. It was definitely one of those defining moments. My reaction after the deed was done surprised me. I didn't think I'd take it that badly. After all, it's only hair right? At any rate, to combat the melancholy that was starting to set in, I decided to get my endorphins pumping by getting out exercising. I rode my bicycle 21 miles and was in a much better place between my ears by the time I got finished. Thursday evening, the fatigue and ache started to set in and I essentially spent the rest of the evening on the couch. Miranda and I watched "Top Gun" on Netflix. It was nice to have a little escape.

Friday morning, I slept in until about 11:00am. I was still physically feeling run down, but managed to get up and go out to lunch. I'm feeling better as the day progresses but for the most part, today will be a day of rest. With a busy Labor Day weekend ahead of me, I'm hoping that I'll feel better when I wake up tomorrow.

Spirit of Columbus / Wedding Anniversary Weekend Recap

We had a brief glimpse of fall weather last week. It was really nice and reminded me of the time period when Laela and I started dating. We just celebrated two anniversaries over the weekend. Our 16th wedding anniversary was last Friday and the 19th anniversary of our first date was on Sunday. (Yes, of course they are that close together for a reason). We celebrated on Friday by doing the same thing that we've done for the past eighteen years; we have dinner at the Clarmont. The night that I proposed to Laela, we dined at the Clarmont and we went to see "Mr. Smith Goes To Washington" at the Ohio Theater as part of their summer classic movie series. Unfortunately this year the Ohio Theater had a production of Wicked going on and I did not have the foresight to either A) order tickets or B) make our dinner reservations at a time conducive to attending the production. Instead, after dinner we travelled East on Broad Street to Franklin Park and took an evening stroll around the grounds. In my haste to get the evening underway, I had not warned Laela beforehand that that was my plan so her footwear was not chosen accordingly. There weren't any movies going on that we wanted to see, so we made our way home and finished watching the Cincinnati Reds put the finishing touches on a 7-1 victory over the Chicago Cubs. Miranda was out of the house, so it was nice to be able to just relax on the sofa watching the game with no commitments or plans. It was the perfect way to spend the evening.

On Saturday I picked Miranda up from her friend's house and my mother came up to visit from Cincinnati. It was a restful, uneventful day. We went out to lunch at Skyline, had subs for dinner, and watched the Reds game. Unfortunately, after the Reds game my mother and I got sucked into watching Remember the Titans. She had the will power to tear herself away from it at 11:00. Me, not so much and stayed up until 12:30 watching it. Ordinarily that wouldn't be an issue but Sunday morning I needed to be up at the crack of dawn because I was participating in the Spirit of Columbus Half-Marathon.

2010 was the third annual running of the Spirit of Columbus Half-Marathon and Relay. It is also the third year I have participated. In 2008, when I started running I had set my goal as being able to run the SoC. In 2009, the SoC dove-tailed nicely with my training for the Columbus Marathon which was being held in October. This year though was a little different. I knew that I wouldn't be able to run the whole thing, so I set my mind on at least participating as a walker. I also enlisted some of my friends to be renegade participants and walk with me for a few miles each. To that end, my mother walked from mile marker one to mile marker three with me, my friend Sarah Cofer walked from mile four to mile five with me, my friends Adam Swickard and Dan Michalec walked from mile marker seven until the finish line. Kristi Hittepole doubled back after completing the entire half-marathon as a runner and met me at mile marker 11 and of course Laela and Miranda met me at mile 12.5 and we finished the race as team Speed Walrus rollin' six deep. I'm really grateful for all of the support that everyone gave me. Those last two miles were tough. I did finish as one of the last ten participants but I finished it nonetheless. It was very bittersweet because I have a feeling that is the last half-marathon that I'll be participating in. Who knows though. Fortune favors the brave, right? Maybe I'll be foolhardy and strong enough to do something else, but we'll just take it one day at a time.

Bukkit Tour: Windy City Day 4

August 23, 2010 - Alarm set 7:55am, girls actually up by 8:20am. We had to get a jump on things this morning because we were headed back to Wrigley Field. On non-game days at Wrigley there are tours available of the facility. You do have to plan ahead and order tickets, so we ordered ours to pick up at will call when we got to town on Friday. We were out of the hotel and onto the subway before 9:00, record time for us. A quick nine stops later found us back at Addison and we were right back at the ballpark. We took a couple of photos outside that we didn't get on game day because there were too many people about and grabbed our tickets. We had plenty of time before the tour started so we walked across the street to the golden arches and got ourselves some breakfast. Who knew you could feed three people in Chicago for under $20. It was the first time we had done so since arriving. The McDonalds was actually kind of cool because there it had Cubs and Wrigley memorabilia all over the place. On more than one occasion I caught myself forgetting my meal and staring at something on the wall.

We made it back across the street and met up with the tour group at the front gate. They led us back into a bar that had a bunch of television sets mounted on the wall and we watched a 10 minute movie about the park. They then proceeded to take us up to the bleachers to relate some of the park's history (and more importantly the rules of the tour). From the bleachers, we made our way back down to the ground level and they took us out into right field. As long as we stayed on the crushed red brick of the warning track we were in good shape, but woe be to he that actually set foot on the grass. (Friendly confines my a$$...) We got to take a bunch of pictures by the brick outfield wall and Wrigley Fields legendary ivy. Interesting historical note. That ivy was installed over the course of a weekend and the ivy that is there are the original ivy that were planted back in 1937. After being on the field, we were walked up to the press box and the luxury suites. We were unable to go to the visitors clubhouse that day because the field had been rented by a private company for an event and there were actually people using it and playing on the field. The tour concluded with a visit to the Cubs clubhouse. Our tour guide had warned us how small it was several times through the tour. We finally we led down into it and boy, was he right. It is a tiny tiny facility for 25 players plus coaches (never mind the additional 15 players who are called up to the bigs in September). We snapped a few photographs and were on our way.

We boarded the subway to take it back into the city. Our plan was to go to the Field Museum next. Laela wanted to go back to the hotel and then grab a cab to go to the museum, but I figured there had to be a subway stop near it and I found one. So I convinced everyone to take the L all the way to the museum. We got off of the train and we didn't really know where we were, so I got out my GPS and punched in the Field Museum's address. We started walking in the direction it told us to. I must've done something wrong because we ended up walking about a mile in the EXACT opposite direction of the museum. We stopped and asked a meter maid where it was and she said that it was about two miles back the other way. Well, I'd had us walking around in the sun for too long at this point to we went ahead and hailed a cab who then dropped us off at the museum.

We got there and went inside and were greeted by Dinosaur Sue. Sue is the most complete, best preserved, Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton ever discovered. I believe she is the unofficial mascot of the Field Museum and is quite an impressive specimen. The rest of the Field Museum (aside from being in an amazing building) is just like any other natural history museum that you've ever been to. Lot's of dioramas and taxidermied animals. One exhibit that we went into that was rather cool was "Robosue: The T. rex Experience" Robotics and facial recognition technology combined to make animatronic velociraptors, triceratops, and of course a T. rex. Although it is a small exhibit, the technology behind it is pretty amazing. After we went through that we went and had lunch in the basement. It was getting to be mid-afternoon at this point and I was starting to get tuckered out. After lunch we all went to go explore the third floor and I just needed to sit for a while. There were some very comfortable living room style chairs upstairs and I just plopped myself down in one while the girls checked out the rest of the museum. We left at about 4:00PM so we could get back to the hotel, pick up our bags, and then take the subway back to the airport.

We arrived at O'Hare, got checked in, had a quick dinner at the airport Chili's and went to our gate. We were there an hour and a half early, no thanks to the TSA. Since I had finished the book I was reading the day before and Laela had a dead tree edition of what she was reading, she graciously let me borrow her Nook and purchased for me "Where Men Win Glory: The Odyssey of Pat Tillman" So I was able to wile away my time at the terminal reading (although CNN blaring in my ear made it a tad difficult to concentrate). We finally boarded our flight back to Columbus which was very uneventful.

Once on the ground, we grabbed the shuttle back to the red lot and made our way home. Indy was very pleased to see us this time and didn't "cool guy" us at all like she did when we came home from our vacation in July. Vacation time is now all wrapped up. Miranda started back to school last Wednesday and I start round two of my treatment. Looks like it's time to settle back into a normal life.