Second place in my first Jiu Jitsu Competition

I ride a bicycle a lot. Usually less than 10 miles a day because I bike commute and my kids love going to all the parks they can access on the trails here in Scottsdale, Arizona. I’ve only done one short bicycle tour and that was from Santa Barbara to Dana Point. I missed the winter bikepacking and bicycle touring season this last year but I tried to get out for one weekend excursion anyway. It only lasted 25 miles before I broke a chain and called in a rescue. I’m going to make a concerted effort to not miss this next season. I may even investigate the acquisition of a bike specifically for bikepacking as this old trek is must more comfortably ridden on manicured ground.

Is it just me or is life more awesome when you’re constantly overcoming self induced adversity? We’ve been living in the same place for a year now so it seems like it’s time to cook up some potential future adventures. In this episode I fancy a road trip to all 47 state parks in the contiguous united states and lucky for me, a badass by the name of Dr. Randal S. Olson already mapped it out.

Here I am again, sitting in front of another body of water wondering how I got dealt this hand. This time the tide won’t rise so I don’t have to worry about destroying things. This body of water is so small it doesn’t have a name. As a matter of fact, you could live here in Scottsdale Arizona and not even know it exists.

After over 20 years of wanting to surf, I finally did it! I learned to surf on Waikiki Beach in Honolulu, Hawaii.

I lived in California for a year and never managed to find the right opportunity to surf. I vacationed in California a few times and still wasn’t quite able to connect the dots. I vacationed at a handful of islands including Aruba. I even vacationed on the coast of Panama, Florida & North Carolina and despite my attempts I was not able to conjure up the right opportunity to surf. It wasn’t until I landed here on Waikiki Beach Hawaii that I was able to make it happen. Although, to not surf here, you would have to intentionally say no. It’s that easy. ^_^ Life is good. Aloha & Mahalo.

If it weren’t for my Dad having a bucket list item of visiting the memorial, this would have never happened. Thank you dad! I had a blast touring Hawaii with you!

Z and I had the most wonderful experience visiting Mulan, Varenna (Lake Como) and Venice Italy.

I have moved more times than I can count. I really enjoy it but realize most people find it quite painful so I figured I’d share some of my moving tips.

If your mind is is anything like mine then you absorbed the title of this in two ways. You’re either sending your daughter somewhere on a plane or purchasing some alcohol for her. Fortunately, in my case, neither of those things have happened.