The events of the past couple months have completely upended the daily rhythm and routine of my life. I'm a creature of habit. I give over my weekends and some evenings to the variability of life, but I like following an established routine most of the time. I'm sure I'm not alone. I love adventure, but please, only before 10 p.m., because I'm tired and want to get seven hours of sleep.
Clearly,
a wedding will throw all that into upheaval. But that's over. I managed to get some good riding in during the week before the wedding, usually in the form of a quick cruise to the Schoolhouse from my dad's. That 50-75 minutes a day by myself was the deciding factor in my retention of sanity during the whole process.
The wedding itself was a blast -- so many dear friends and family members made the long haul to Cincinnati to celebrate. We have the photos, but we've been slow in getting them online. Small moments: Russ brought a stack of Gustav Chumpsky Roman stickers and "made it rain"; dancing to Nick Cave's "The Ship Song"; Hudy Delight.
We made our way to Hocking Hills and hiked and wandered for two days. We also visited my maternal grandparents and ate dinner at
Casa Nueva. Tuesday morning, I
sneaked away for an hour all before Allison woke up. Because Allison had to teach Wednesday morning, we left for Chicago after breakfast, but visited my brother Ian in Columbus on the way.
Wednesday afternoon we drove up to the UP. My aunt and uncle live up there in the small town of Menominee. It's not a far drive -- but one I haven't made since I was a kid. Allison and I stopped in Green Bay for the night and explored the town, which has an amazing farmer's market and an excellent brewpub. I ran on the trail along the river and did pushups in an office park.
The next morning, we got moseying further up north. We stopped in Marinnette, WI for lunch at Blue Bike Burrito and then spent some time wandering through the harbor of Menominee, taking photos of ourselves amidst the boats and walls. That night, we met up with my family and spent some good time talking at a local and rather-fancy Italian joint.
The next morning, we took the powerboat across the bay to Fish Creek with our bikes to explore Peninsula State Park. We all spent the day out there cruising about and eating and only boated back as the sun was starting to set.
Where Friday was warm and sunny, Saturday was cool and rainy. But no matter, as we were heading back to Chicago anyway. I went for a modest run to the lighthouse on the bay in the rain and came back to a feast of eggs. The drive back, we stopped at a Culver's outside Milwaukee for lunch. When we got to Kenosha to fill up, Allison realized she'd left her purse behind at the restaurant, so then began a frantic drive to retrieve the purse. All was safe and sound, luckily.
Since then, it's been an establishment of routine, but I'm just tired all the time. I raced at Hopkins Park and finished somewhere in the top third of the 30+ race and somewhere in the bottom half of the singlespeed. I'm alright with that.
