"Journeys, like artists, are born and not made. A thousand differing circumstances contribute to them, few of them willed or determined by the will --whatever we may think."
Lawrence Durrell

Saturday, December 26, 2009

White Christmas

I made it home for Christmas Monday night at around 11:30. I drove from Austin, TX in the morning. Up until a couple weeks ago I wasn't even sure I was going to be coming home for Christmas, but things worked out. I rented a Chevy HHR. This was able to fit my bike and gear. The rental guy helping me pick out a car was showing me the Malibu's and Impala's, then learned I was putting a bike in and said the HHR's were equivalent, though not as sporty. I went on to inform him that I wasn't trying to pick up any girls on the way home, just get my bike there.

I got home and upon arriving home learned that my little brother had gone skiing at Breckenridge and my older brother and sister-in-law were coming from Michigan, but that there was a good storm brewing across the midwest which might strand them both. Go figure I'm traveling all over the country by bicycle and was the only one not planning on being home, yet I might end up being the only one home. All worked out, however, and all of them made it home before the storm hit.

While at home I went to the bike shop I bought my bike from and had them tune it up, replace the rear cassette and chain, wash everything, and change out the handlebar grips. I also put on a new saddle (the old one had around 10,000 miles) and got a new rear light (I broke one of my old ones on the trip).

While in Lincoln during one of my two day trips there I learned from a clerk at Dillard's (shopping with my mom) that some channel on TV mentioned the coming storm in the midwest and noted that they weren't going to focus too much on it. They stated this is the least populated area of the country and will affect very few people. I tend to disagree that this affects few people since the people in the midwest are often the one's who travel the farthest and the most to get places for the holidays. I then remembered how much they cover storms off the coast that may develop into a decent storm on the coast of America that may affect some populated areas. How is it that a storm that is certain to affect a great area is not as important as a storm that may affect a small area?

Anyways, the storm did end up shutting down the east and west side of the state and my little brother saw 35 cars in the ditch between Denver and home on the 22nd. All that to say, it was a white Christmas and one that kept many families in the midwest closer than other Christmases, with many sleepovers across the state that were unplanned.

While at home I was able to see my two nieces. I collected some shells in Georgia on the beach and when I got home I got a glass bottle, some sand, and a fake pearl necklace, and borrowed some craft paint from a friend. I painted one letter from their name on individual pearls and then glued those pearls into the shells. I then glued the shells into the bottle and spread sand around them, spelling their names out in the sand.

My nieces are very fun. The youngest one, Sierra, laughs on command in the funniest way: HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAh, HAAAH, HAAH, HAAAH. My older niece, Jenna, wanted to have candles lit at every meal.

Being home has been very quick and not near as restful as I had hoped. I have been able to switch out some gear to make the trip better and take a break to see family. It was good, but I am anxious to get back on the road and also get to the place I used to work at in Texas, so I can take a more restful break and see some friends I haven't seen in a couple years.

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