My first blog post ever!

Welcome to my blog! I never imagined I'd be a blogger; but it seems like a good way to let friends know where I am and to share some pictures. So here goes... 

If you’re reading this, you probably know me and what I’m doing. But, in case you don’t, I’m on a bit of an extended vacation. I got laid off this past spring. Sooner or later I need to get serious about my search for a new job. But in the meantime I’m taking some time to travel around the country to climb, hike, bike, kayak, catch up with friends, and just have fun doing all the things I won't have much time for once I'm working again. 

I’m a little late starting this blog as I've been on the road for a while already. I left Chicago in April. I drove a big yellow rental truck with all my stuff home to my parents' house in Blacksburg, VA. After spending some time with the family I loaded up the old jeep and hit the road!

My sweet ride is a 1993 Cherokee with 162k miles on it. I thought about selling the jeep when I moved to Chicago a couple years ago since I didn't really need a car there. But I couldn't bring myself to part with it (and nobody in their right mind would buy it). So it's been sitting in my parents' or a friend's driveway for a couple years. Now we're reunited and hitting the road! Let's hope it holds up as major repairs or having to buy another car would cut pretty deeply into my travel funds. 

My first destination was the Red River Gorge in Kentucky. It's an area with miles of sandstone cliffs, mostly 100-200 feet tall. It's an amazing climbing area, especially if you like steeply overhanging rock faces. I stayed there for most of May and part of June. During my time at the Red I camped at Miguel’s Pizza in Slade, KY (population 38, not including the climbers camped at Miguel’s). 

Miguel's Pizza. Great food, and climbers can camp out back for $2/night. 

This was home for about 6 weeks. It rained almost non-stop for my first 3 weeks, so the extra tarp above the tent came in handy. That’s my road bike under the tarp to the left of the tent. The roads around the Red are great for road biking. They’re well maintained, with rolling hills and very little traffic. 

Congested? Really? I'll take it. 

After I left the Red I went back to Blacksburg. After a couple days there I left for a five-day bike trip with my mom. We rode in Bike Virginia, an annual bike tour that attracts about 2000 riders. The ride is in a different part of the commonwealth each year. This year's route covered about 300 miles around Charlottesville, Culpeper and Orange. 

After Bike Virginia, I paid a quick visit to the Goshen Scout Reservation where I worked in the summer of 1998. Then I headed to the New River Gorge for a few days of climbing. Then it was back to Blacksburg. 

Now it’s time to hit the road again and head west. Stay tuned to see where I end up! Now that I’ve started this blog I have motivation to take more pictures!