Heading South.....

I'm gearing up to turn southward this morning....and trying to let go of all my hangups over leaving for the next couple of weeks (of which I am finding I have many...good thing I'm not a sales guy by trade...I'm kind of a homebody!) But I have taught and tasked Marina with garden & lawn irrigation duties, and have been assured by Lori that she will survive and still loves me even though I am leaving her in the proverbial lurch, so I must go in peace.

It has been very interesting preparing for this trip and this class how many people are interested in what I am going to learn...or in some way have a piece of this experience in their own lives. Maybe just everyone I know in PDX has a connection to bikes. Or maybe it's that everyone is drawn to people who are breaking out for an adventure. I guess that's mostly it. Plus, if I wanted to really apply myself to frame building, I am already cultivating a fairly healthy first edition customer list. I am blessed to have so many people who support my wanderlust.

For now, today, I am going to work on setting aside my expectations, force myself to just be ready to learn and absorb every angle of this craft. By the time I hit Ashland (all sweaty and wild eyed from the hot ride in my dear sweet 13 year old Jetta) I am going to be transformed into a student....an apprentice frame builder. It's what I am now, regardless of whatever comes next......

That's that.

Getting back to it....

Wow, time does fly when you are apathetic on your blog.....but, I'm about to step out on an adventure with no real end point, so it is a good time to pick up the thread again for any who are interested. I have been thinking for a long time that I need to get back to tapping into my past...and the things that I love to do....goof around with building things, tools, creating something concrete and real. So I am enrolled in the United Bike Institutes Titanium Bike Frame building class over the first two weeks in June.

Nervous to leave my family for that long right at the start of summer, and the end of the school year, but I have the best wife who is up for supporting my miniature mid life crisis. I owe her BIG. Plus, gonna have a great time being with my sister Calle for two weeks in her world. We have never had this kind of chance to just hang out together. It will be good for both of us. Maybe we'll figure out together what we want to be when we grow up.

That question never seems to change.....

ONWARD!