Uhh, yeah. I have one of those blog things, don't I?
Over a year since I have written. Rusty, out of practice, and the two people who have viewed regularly know every intimate detail of my motorcycle by now. In the spirit of presenting things much bigger than myself, here is what the kids look like now. (Apologies to Jana for leaking the Christmas card early, but I can't help it. Look how beautiful they are.) Thanks also to Margaret for subtly heckling me into showing something other than the Elsinore.
Some of you know that I've been looking for a motorcycle for most of the summer, but have been too busy/cheap/picky/lazy to buy one. Well, I finally found one on Thursday. A 1974 Honda Elsinore MT125 that has 1100 miles and has been kept in storage for nearly 35 years. It hasn't run in years, so I have spent the past couple of days cleaning, making sure everything was operational, and she actually fired up this afternoon without any effort. A couple of laps up and down the street (as the twins we down for their nap and I can't go too far...bad parent, bad parent) smooth as butter. Here are a couple of pictures. I forgot to put the face plate back on before I took it, so ignore the batch of wires. they are normally hidden behind a shiny piece.
We travel to Texas tomorrow. Wish us luck. Two 3+ hour flights with two lap children and Jackson. Fortunately Jackson loves flying, and this will be our first daytime foray, so hopefully the twins will fair well. I just want to survive. We travel to visit Jana's grandmother (the first time she will meet any of the kids) and have little plans otherwise. Thus I have spent the past several hours searching "the net" (as the kids are calling it these days) for entertainment options. This search has diverged wildly due to some of the local color. The thread starts with Dinosaur Valley State Park, which is actually quite cool. A warm river passing over fossilized dinosaur footprints. I have been here and am looking forward to taking the kids. Thread then goes to Creastion/Evolution Museum, which purports to have evidence of man walking with dinosaurs, thus proving their coexistence 6000 years ago.
This naturally led to a search on pterosaurs and their possible existence in New Guinea, an entertaining but poorly investigated claim (I think the chupacabra has more backing...maybe they're related????) pressed by many of the same creation evolution folks. Thread transitioning to Dinosaur themed parks with animitronics and finally to Weeki Wachee...
I've actually wanted to visit this place for years (right up there with swimming with manatees). Anyway, keeps your fingers crossed for a good trip.
So another great summer lurches toward its end. Sadly in Alaska the colors are changing. We picked the last of the berries at Hatcher’s Pass today and the tundra was in polychromatic splendor. Aside from working the past three weeks straight, it has been a fantastic summer. We caught lots of fish. Spent a good portion of the time at the family homestead with the kids playing in the dirt. I learned to ride a motorcycle and how to dismount from a moving cyclocross bike with out killing myself (yet). My writing has suffered from complacency, Facebook lurking, Craigslist browsing, and lack of things to be angry or frustrated about. All in all a fantastic couple of months. Jackson is looking forward to snow already (although I’m not quite ready…I have to get through cyclocross season first), and we have some travels to Texas and Hawaii coming up that will keep us entertained. Hope all is well with you and yours.
