Nose to the Grindstone

Portland. Cool town. Wish I had time to check out any one of the hundreds of shops waiting for me behind beautifully decorated front windows. Boutique dresses, frilly and smell goody things for my bathroom, pointless but pleasing paper products like expensive envelopes...and of course the shadow of THE ultimate is lurking downtown..."Anthro."

But not me. Nope. I am hard at work. Kinko's Copies is such a nice warm environment anyway; why would I want to spend my limited time anywhere but there?

Truth be told, this past week has been a whole lot of work, and not really anything else. Early mornings and here it is 11:30pm and I am yet again just winding down the workday. We have spent the week doing our "FTP" (Final Trip Preparation) to familiarize ourselves with the routes, hotels, restaurants, scenic highlights, cultural knowledge, and the people with whom we will be working this next week. It has been a whirlwind. I like it. I am tired. It rained everyday. Oregon Coast bike tour in June? Really? How about July next year once it gets out of the 50's.

Tomorrow is the dreaded "Prep Day" which somehow always promises to be a 12-15 hour day, and then Sunday we begin!!! Despite being tired, I am really looking forward to how this whole thing is going to unfold. I think it could be a lot of fun...once I learn how to do it. I'll keep you posted.

I did get to stay in the same hotel as Samwise Gamgee (aka Sean Astin). That was pretty cool.

Until next I post, keep your fingers crossed for sunshine!!