Back under way...

School has started again. That explains my lack of recent posts. I'll try to update later tonight with a real post...

Home of Clam Chowdah...

I have made the 270 mile trip up to New England to visit my Yiayia & Papou (grandparents). They are doing well for being in their 80's. I hope I make it to their age and am doing at least half as well.

It was a long ride broken up by the Cross Sound Ferry which takes 80-90 minutes. The weather couldn't have been better if I had asked for it. The traffic was great, I was doing 85 and still getting passed by cars left and right.

Even bigger news is that my student loans finally got approved. That is nice especially seeing as classes start 1 week from today. The hoops they make me jump through are no fun, but still a small price to pay for getting my education.

I get to relax up here for a few days before heading back to the hustle and bustle. Welcome back to the House of Pain...

If I can make it here, I can make it anywhere...

I have made it back safe and sound. Tomorrow I get to wake up in the city that never sleeps and find I'm king of the hill, top of the heap, A#1...

I missed the bright lights big city. Dave will be happy to know that I had a Sabrett as soon as I got to Penn Station...

Tomorrow I will be riding my motorcycle up to New Hampshire to see my grandparents. I can't wait to take Yiayia to church on Sunday...

Classes don't start till next Friday. That means I have a little bit of time to get settled in and catch up with my friends...

Goodnight to all and to all a goodnight...

Riding with the folks...

Well my time in Arizona has come and gone much too quickly. There were too many people that I didn't get to see. Just to name a few Drew, Randy, April, Trish, and Shawn. There are more people that I didn't get to see, but those are the ones that immediately come to mind. My visit was much too short, but I guess that just speaks to how much I love Arizona and all my friends and family there...

I made 2 major trips while I was in the southwest. Both of them were with my parents and both were an absolute blast. The first trip I made was to a horse ranch just across the border in New Mexico. Now some of you may already know about my irrational fear of dying in New Mexico. For those of you who don't know I have avoided New Mexico for the past decade or so because I have this feeling that I can't explain. Keeping that in mind I may have been pushing my luck by riding around on animals there that weigh 5 times what I weigh...

I had a great time there though. My mom, my cousin Merel, River (son of my mom's friend), and I loaded up a couple of my mom's horses and drove out to Glenwood New Mexico. The ranch we stayed on was so nice and we all had a great time. As you can see from the picture above they even managed to get me on a horse for the first time since I was 11 years old. I guess riding on a horse shouldn't bother me too much because over the past 12 years my mom and I have had an equal number of accidents on our respective horses (mine is a steele horse)...

My other big riding trip was with my dad. We rented a couple of Harley-Davidson motorcycles and headed north. I got to ride a "Fatboy" and my dad rode a "Heritage", they are almost identical except I think the "Fatboy" wins on style points. If I can get some pictures I took from my cell phone or from Julie I will post them here...

We went up to Sedona by way of Jerome. It was one of the greatest rides I have been on in a long time, all the switch-backs were exhilarating. For the first time since I was 19 I scraped the footpegs taking a turn. That means I was leaning so hard into the turn that my footpeg was touching the ground...

We spent the night in a Sedona hotel and woke up to some of the most beautiful scenery you have ever seen in your life. We stopped for the breakfast special at the Bee-line Diner in Payson. For a while we weren't sure the trip would come together when it did it sure was worthwhile...

It's my party and I'll cry if I want to...

The birthday/welcome home party was outstanding. I would like to thank everyone who showed up. For those of you unable to make it you were dearly missed, and you missed some good times. You know you've invited the right people to a party when they clean up before they leave. I may post pictures if Brook sends them to me.

It has been very nice being home. The only problem that I have run into is that I have run out of money and will likely become a bum on the streets on New York. It will be interesting when the choice comes down to cigarettes or food to see which way I will go...