Getting excited...

One more day before it's time to head to Portland, OR! I'm anxious to get this new chapter started. I'm also getting excited and anxious to see Heidi since it's been 4 long painful weeks since we last saw each other involving all sorts of wierd hours and time spent talking on the phone. Both of us have been running each other ragged staying up late talking - a price we have both been willing to pay.

The past few days I've spent hanging with my Dad in Belvidere, IL. A small town just outside of Rockford, IL. We went to the movies a couple of times. Saw The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe at the show on Wednesday. I've only walked out of the show 1 time in my life and this was almost the 2nd. It was that bad. We then went and saw Underworld: Evolution on Thursday. Not bad - 3 out of 5 stars for that one. Mostly we've just been talking, hanging out, and playing computer games (old school Kohan - the 1st - for any geeks reading this). Also went and had dinner with my brother, his wife and my two neices.

Here's something they don't have much of in Portland, OR. Snowplows. This guy was out tearing up the asphalt on Tuesday. Check out the shot with the salt being dumped. From what Heidi tells me they do NOT use salt in Oregon for fear of what it does to the environment. They use something more expensive that does the same thing - but maybe not as good. Well it doesn't really snow there - only gets icy once in a while. We'll find out.

I'm dying to ride my bicycle. It's been almost over a week since I last rode. My next ride won't be until I hit Portland. It will be interesting to see how much harder it is to ride being that the city is not very flat. There'll be alot of hill climbs and Heidi lives right on the side of a hill that has an elevation of 1000 feet. There's going to be some suffering. More on that later.