Enjoy the Journey

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inspire me (1)

Sunday - August 9

Bike

3h 00m
36.00 miles
12.00 Mi/hr

Did the SBT Green Gravel Loop. About 1900 feet of climbing, with a sketchy downhill on Cow Creek Road. Kept it easy since my HR was climbing on the hills.

Did a gravel ride this morning which turned out to be a really nice route. We had ridden this last year but the roads were in better shape this year. Bluebird skies and low humidity made for perfect riding conditions. I'm not yet acclimated to the altitude and could feel my HR rising quite a bit on some of the climbs, but it's getting better.

In the afternoon Steve and I hung out at the pool and basically did nothing. We're trying out a restaurant tonight and will do a road ride tomorrow up to Steamboat Lake.

inspire me (1)

Saturday - August 8

Travel day -- we spent Friday night in Lexington, NE and then hit the road early, only to have to wait a bit due to some thick fog that was hanging in the Platte River Valley. Got checked into our hotel and then met up with Barb and Larry. Barb has been here in Steamboat for a week, so she was a gracious host and cooked a fantastic meal of chicken tacos.

inspire me (5)

Friday - August 7

I'm working a few hours from home this morning to tie up some loose ends and then we're hitting the road for Steamboat Springs. It's about a 16 hour drive from home. We'll probably spend the night somewhere in Nebraska. Last year we stayed in Grand Island --- I remember the hotel there was pretty dated but had an amazing burger restaurant, so it worked out pretty well.

Our friend Barb is already in Steamboat and has been posting some amazing photos. But she's getting bored and ready for some company. Our friend Larry is going to follow us. The van is packed to the gills and we're taking both gravel bikes and then have a hitch where the road bikes will be stowed. Aaaaaannd, we might rent mountain bikes while we're there. So lots of gear.

Cats - Ollie and Latte seemed a little confused and were really needy on Tuesday and Wednesday, but now are really calm and seem to have worked out the new pecking order in the house. Hoping they aren't too bratty for the pet sitter.

inspire me (4)

Thursday - August 6

Bike

1h 25m
20.00 miles
14.12 Mi/hr

Morning ride. Headed south of town this time. It was pretty and a bit rolling but there is definitely more traffic out this way with people using the country roads to get on the interstate.

Strength

80DO - Day 11 - AAA
Doubled up on the bands for some of the moves today

I need to go in the office for a few hours today, then go to the grocery store and get organized/packed for our trip. I'm very much looking forward to getting away from things for a while.

inspire me (4)

Wednesday - August 5

Bike

1h 00m
12.00 miles
12.00 Mi/hr

Short little ride before work

Sport

Aerobics
37m

80DO - Day 10 - Cardio Core
Jeez oh pete, what a sweatfest...

It's 54 degrees this morning, great summer sleeping weather. Today will be working from the office in the morning, lunch at Mom's and beginning to pack for our trip. I'll try to get a bike ride in at some point, it would be a shame to waste this beautiful weather.

one of my coworkers is married to a super nice guy who is from Beirut. They learned that his mother, who was working in an office 1 mile from the explosion, was critically injured and passed away later. I feel so bad for them, it's possible they won't be permitted to travel home for her funeral

inspire me (6)

Tuesday - August 4

Strength

11h 00m

80DO - Day 9 - Booty
All work with bands -- 3 sets of 10 reps. Good stuff

I've posted a lot about my cat, BeeBee, over the years at BT. She's a tough calico who has survived liver failure, several respiratory infections, diabetes, pancreatitis, and for the last two years, congestive heart failure. As much as I've spent in vet bills, I joke that she should be made of solid gold.

Today was BeeBee's dental appointment to try to resolve the abscess in her mouth. The vet gave her an antibiotic shot last week and initially there was some improvement. She seemed to perk up and was moving around more, eating with seemingly less discomfort. But I was still finding little blots of blood on the old couch where she would sleep, and her eyes still had lots of goopy stuff. And she seemed to be having trouble breathing, which was very worrisome.

On Saturday her face swelled up again and there was constant drainage from her mouth and nose, like she had a massive sinus infection. I had a bad feeling about the whole thing and had kind of braced myself that maybe, at age 16, she was burning up what was left of her 9th life.

And I was right -- the vet had no sooner put her under anesthesia when he called and said he had found advanced oral cancer --- it had spread from the upper jawbone into the sinus cavity. There weren't many options --- he said that he could operate and at best, that might buy her a month at most, with very poor quality of life, but he did not recommend this. It was an easy decision to let her go.

It's tough to see them go...