good morning america!

i'm back from costa rica and nicaragua finally. after a month of action and adventure packed travel i've returned to the cozy streets of portland. there are too many stories to reiterate in blog world, so if you want to know how my trip was give me a call or invite me to coffee or donuts...yum.

upon returning to portland i was quickly reunited with my darling bicycle. it was rather awkward at first. being out of the saddle for almost a month left we wobbling like bambi for a good 5 minutes, but we ironed things out and were soon flying through the streets, as usual. i forgot how smooth and delightful bike travel can be. i was soaring through all the familiar neighborhoods with a goofy smile, giggles, and absurd loud public proclamations of satisfaction. examples: "HOORAY!" and 'yeah bikes!'

here is a recap of the past 72 hours (plus or minus a day or two...):

i rolled into town and was dropped off at the greyhound station to cancel my ticket (because i caught a ride from SFO to PDX instead). i then walked home to save my bus fare for later that day. turns out it's a pretty long walk from the greyhound to ainsworth, about 3.5 miles to be exact. this was crazy considering i had spent a full day on a bus, a full day on a plane/in an airport, and a full night driving back to portland from san fran without getting much sleep at any stage in time. by the end i was super pooped. until i received a phone call saying my bike was downtown (coincidentally parked outside the greyhound station). i jumped on a bus and was soon caressing the new pink grip tape on my drop bars while weaving through familiar se streets. i ran into carl and picked lots of wonderful greens from his garden. then finally rode home. i headed to work to find out my schedule and get some free food. then jumped on my bike again to head to the mystery movie ride! halfway through the ride i got bored because none of my friends were on the ride so i headed over to the clinton street theater for bike porn 2.0. i talked to the lady at the front for a long time and explained i didn't really want to see the movie i just wanted to hang with my friends inside and thus was uninterested in paying the $6 they were asking. she was tough about it at first, but later softened up and let me by. it was great to see tom rolf, gabe, nature boy, shawn, revphil, jay, and some other classy folks i'd missed a lot during my trip. there were lots of hugs and good laughs. once the porn ended a small crew headed to the mystery movie (at this point i am delirious tired and not even thinking straight enough to realize heading to the movie is a super stupid idea for me). the movie is at oaks bottom and was beautifully executed. lots of new upbeat folks, a really good scene. i was unconscious in the grass for most of the movies...and at about 3:30 nature boy and i started the epic 7.2 mile trek home. i was so tired and buzzed that it felt like nothing. my body was definitely in autopilot mode. at about skidmore we ran into josh, who gave me a big welcome home hug and was his general fabulous self. i forget how wonderful some folks in this community are sometimes...

we talked and hung out with him a bit until finally finishing the journey home. i went to bed at 4:20am, not kidding. then woke up at 7:15 am to meet tuey for breakfast, as i told her i would in a note from nicaragua. tuey and i don't have each other's phone numbers and communicate entirely through snail mail, so i was really riding across town with the feeling that she may show up. turns out she got my letter, but was in montana. at this point i was feeling really crazy and more exhausted than ever. so, before 9 am i have already ridden downtown and back home without any justification (about 10 miles) and on zero sleep.

i spent the rest of the day napping sporadically, checking and clearing out the 1000 emails i had clogging my mailboxes, eating the greens i picked at carls, showering, and generally chilling the fuck out. however, that could never last very long with me. at some point i decided to go on a 'run', and kicked it about 3 miles to the park and around the cute neighborhoods near me. i don't really run much these days, i don't run ever rather, so i was super tired afterwards. then i remembered that there was a hot tub party, and decided to go. it was unfortunately about 9-10 miles away in deep southeast portland. jump on your bike! it's lucky i missed biking so much because i was up for some really epic journeys as a result.

it was all worth it. i rolled up and was greeted by some really great folks. tiago, adrianne, gabe, nature boy, and carl being some notable greats. there was bbq, there was guitar, there was beer, and there was a hot tub OH YEAH. the perfect summer night party. i was so relaxed and happy. PLUS all the northeast crew was put up for the night on very comfy futons. the morning was classic. we cooked up some bacon pancakes (something i ate in nicaragua and thought would be hilarious to reiterate in the states), an awesome egg scramble, and gnawed on lots of other breakfast treats. while gorging ourselves we watched 'OVER THE EDGE' a hilarious film about teenage mutiny in the suburbs. i can't believe i hadn't already seen it because it is a true cinematic gem. highly recommended.

then we all packed up and headed up to washington state to a state park with waterfalls. the weather wasn't too conducive for swimming, especially compared to the tropical weather i have become accustomed to in the past month. it was good for some adventuring and i really liked getting back into the pacific northwest forest. non-deciduous trees are pretty awesome and just don't really exist in costa rica or sw nicaragua. i missed them.

conveyor belt sushi was the perfect cap to a perfect sunday.

the ride home was really nice with the great company of gabe and nature boy. i love those dudes. upon entering the house i realized from the gore on the tv that it is officially SHARK WEEK on the discovery channel, so i reveled in a bit of carnage before sitting down in the guest room to write this post.

i feel like i jumped right back into the fray of portland. i definitely hit the ground running. it feels great and i can't wait to pack in as much as possible before burning man and my move down to santa cruz. WOAH. 4 weeks, do it better.

oh, that last comment about the guest room may be confusing. i sublet the yurt for the month of july, so i am kind of in house limbo until august 1st. it's cool though, gives me an excuse to visit all my favorite cuddle buddies around town!

i missed everyone! send me email. how have your summers been!