Em Dee Eye

Well, it's official. I've fallen back in love with Maine.

It's not hard to (in the summer), it's sooooo beautiful. This week I went to my mom's place on Mount Desert Island. Or Isle Mount Desert, if you prefer. I rode my bike into BaR HarboR. Unfortunately I don't have a granny gear, so McFarland hill was kind of a bummer. I'm proud to say I was able to adhere to the strict Team DFL policy- "don't crash, don't puke", which I think makes the ride a success. I walked around town, trying to avoid seeing anyone I went to school with, and grabbed a blueberry muffin at Jordan's (of course). I got a copy of The Islander newspaper, mostly because of the riveting front page headline: "Rangers Trap Lobsternapper". I wish I was making that up.

The article was about how park rangers stopped two guys who were spotted pulling a lobster out of a trap while they were kayaking. The rangers stopped them by setting up a road block at the only road that leads off the island. The article also mentioned that pot (Ahem... and I quote) "and not the kind you cook a lobster in..." was also found in the car. Oh, man. Again, I wish I was making that up.

This is were I grew up. In the land where 'lobsternapper' is a word. And where lobsternapping is reportable news. I love you, Maine.

I'm off to diabetes camp today! Which means the next post will probably smell like glucose tablets and bandaids...

Classic.

I've finished up my week at the New England Classic. I met some amazing folks, made some really good bike biz connections, and got to hang out with my pal Ryan. All in the name of diabetes (or against the name of diabetes, I guess...).

I got to do some serious geeking out. There were two other mechanics and 120 riders ready to talk about bikes. There were folks on carbon race bikes, recumbent trikes, flat bar Madones, one guy was riding an oooollllld Aegis with purple ano brakes, one guy rode with tubies... crazy stuff. Not that I needed it, but it was a great reminder of how much I love my occupation. Plus my buddy and fellow mechanic Eric found a couple of these in a shop along the route... That's going on the 1995 Kona Lava Dome.

Speaking of my occupation, one thing I found interesting in talking with people about my current life situation was how uncomfortable some folks were with the lack of immediate life plans. What are you going to do? Where are you going to work? What if you don't find a job? One woman in particular asked me how I could possibly not know what I'm going to be doing next month. When I told her that "I think if you believe that things will work out they always do", she asked me not to talk to her kids about it. Really. Nothing makes people squirm like saying "I'll figure it out" with a big smile on your face.

Pea Dub Em

Portland! (I used to work on that boat that's sticking into the pic on the very left side...)

PWM. Maine's largest 'city'. The 207. The Forest City. Hill City. Birthplace of Stephen King, and home to Liv Tyler (according to Wikipedia).

While I was looking for pictures of Portland MAINE this one popped up. I know that isn't Portland ME. Trust me. I'm a Portlands expert.

I made it. I spent 8 hours in the truck on Wednesday, and 12 hours on Tuesday. I'm feeling pretty much done with driving. Yesterday I spent the day running errands via bicycle and it was pretty OK. I was worried about drivers not being as used to seeing bikes on the road, but everyone was very courteous and it was tons faster than a car (summer tourists...).

We're staying here with the Hot Dog's dog pal, Brook and my human pals Carrie & Spencer until I can find a nice little studio apt (although I can't imagine I'll find one quite as nice as my spot in Sellwood...). The pups had an exciting face biting reunion. They're both a little older now, so they take nap breaks between biting/chasing sessions. It's pretty cute.

What's next? I'll tell you.
1. Wrench (and general) support on the Tour de Cure New England Classic
2. Go to Diabetes Camp
3.

I'll figure out 3 when I get there.

I had a great time hanging out with Anna in Omaha, Nebraska last night. A little dinner, catching up, and ballroom dancing competition on TV was exactly what I needed after a loooooong day of driving. I felt like I was driving through a giant golf course- it was all green rolling hills. Hill after hill after hill. I kept thinking that there should be windmills out there. It seemed windy enough, and there's plenty of space, so it seems like a good idea to me...

Well, it turns out all of the windmills are next door... in Iowa:





I took a bunch of pictures because I think windmills are a brilliant idea (as seen in my debate arguments during 'energy week' in 7th grade), and there's something kind of eerie about seeing dozens of these giant moving structures on the horizon. So they're cool and creepy.

And... check this out:



The blades (?) are wicked huge. Crazy. Speaking of huge, the second most exciting thing that I got to see was this:



Windmills and truckstops. So there you go.

Now I'm on my way to Quakertown PA to hang out with Grandpa...

'forget that you're a lady and give 'em what they deserve...'

I've been listening to lots of Salt n' Pepa... I don't know why. It just sounds really good to me right now...

Driving through eastern Wyoming and Nebraska has been pretty boring. Well...ok- this was pretty cool:



Snow!! The Hot Dog and I got out of the truck to romp around a little. Who could resist snow in July?

I camped out in a little state park in western Nebraska. I woke up, went for a run, made breakfast, walked the Hot Dog, and packed the Wimpy before I remembered it was my birthday. 28 down... 100 to go... As a birthday present to myself look what I went to check out:



Carhenge. Which is exactly what it sounds like. Stonehenge made of cars... Oh Nebraska, you're so cute...







Onto Omaha...

Grand Tetons

During the summer of 1993 my whole family- Mom, Dad, Emily, Becky, Ben and Abby loaded up in an RV and traveled around the country. Since I've become a grown-up(ish) I've had the chance to travel back to a bunch of the places I remembered from that trip: the Badlands, Yellowstone, the Redwoods, the Oregon coast... I remember visiting Grand Tetons NP, but I don't remember it being this amazing. If I may borrow a bit from "The Celestine Prophecy"... the energy is incredible. These amazing mountains just stick up out of nowhere. I learned it's because a fault line was created and one half sunk down (Jackson Hole) and the other half was pushed up (Teton range). Cool, huh?





The campgrounds here are full (it is a holiday weekend...), and Jackson Hole doesn't have a Wal Mart parking lot, so I'm staying in the fanciest Motel 6 I've ever seen. Really. It's actually nice... If I didn't know any better I'd think I was in a Best Western or something. I figured the motel staff would appreciate it if I didn't break out my camp stove in the parking lot, so I walked down town for dinner. If there's one thing I know in life it's that you can't go wrong with cart food. It's usually better than food from restaurants in real buildings, and it cheaper (that whole not having a building thing, I guess...). I didn't find any carts, but I did find a shack.

The Everest Momo Shack was friggin' delicious. I had dumplings and naan. The owner also gave me "the best coffee in Jackson Hole". It was 8pm, but who can pass up a free cup of coffee? And it was really good. When the guy asked for my name for the order he spelled it "Amily" with an accent over the A... Yep. I like this little town.

Yellowstone

Oh, Yellowstone.

I camped out at Madison Campground with every family west of the Rockies and 10,000 mosquitoes. I forgot about those guys.

Here are some things I learned about the park:

1. It's (arguably) the world's first National Park.

2. It's dangerous. Look:

Check out the lady standing there screaming and pointing.

3. It's ok to bring your 40 foot RV (towing an SUV) and run your generator for 12 hours a day. But these are NOT ok:

Those happen to be a couple of my favorite things.

4. I went for a run to make up for the lack of (allowed) bike riding. I felt terrible. I was feeling so bad, and out of breath, and out of shape when I passed a sign that said "Madison Junction: elevation 6806". I guess I don't have to feel so bad about having a bad run at 6700 feet higher than I'm used to... Right? That's going to be the excuse I stick with.

Despite the annoying mosquitoes and generators, I did get to see some amazing stuff.



That's just a sneak peek. There are more photos here.

I drove to the Southern entrance of YNP and passed on through Grand Tetons NP, and now I'm having a great time in Jackson Hole. More to come...

I.D.A.H.O.

I love that Middlefork trail. Photos here.

Bend was rad.



As soon as I set foot into Pine Mountain Sports Dan said "Hey Emily! What are you doing this afternoon? Wanna work on some repairs?" And I'm a sucker for fixin' bikes... so I spent the afternoon hanging out, talking shop, replacing shock bushings. I really do love my occupation.

After that Dan and Michelle were kind enough to let the Hot Dog and I stay with them in their beautiful house. She made a couple of dog friends, too.

I got to ride Phil's Trails. It's a great network of single track just outside of town. The trails are super smooth and flowing... Oh, man, it's fun stuff. It's the kind of riding that if you're paying attention you don't really need to use your brakes, it's so well planned out. Plus, there's this:



Jumps and berms? Yes, please! I'm usually the kind to keep two wheels on the ground, but this trail makes it so easy and fun to get airborn it's hard to resist.

I left Bend and drove through eastern Oregon, which is remarkably different than west of the Cascades. It's beautiful. And then....Idaho! Good-bye, Oregon. Until next time...

I stayed in one of Idaho's finest Thibodeau campgrounds. That's really all I have to say about Idaho. I'm sure it's a great place, but I'm just breezing through on my way to Yellowstone...