Sea Change

After many (many!) months in hiatus, I have decided to re-start my blog. Not exactly the re-birth of Spinal Tap as a Jazz/Fusion group, but rather I plan to just pick up the story where we left off. Well, sort of. When we last saw our Hero, he was in Michigan, "enjoying" winter. And I was employed. As of two weeks ago Friday, I am living in Minnesota and officially unemployed (of my own choosing). I will attempt to make sense of all this as best I can.

As I have mentioned many times on this blog, we (Rene and I) have desired finding a place to live where commuting to work is more commonplace and where one could reap the benefits of a relatively car-less existence. And this past spring, the first step towards that dream was realized when Rene (and I, sort of) made the bold step of leasing a condo in downtown Minneapolis.

We moved her here in April and since that time, I have been commuting (by car and plane; DOOH!) to visit as much as possible. Taking time off without pay as well as impromptu vacations has given me the chance to be in town. The concept was to continue this "lifestyle" until I could find a job or we sold our house, which ever came first. By the end of June, neither of those two scenarios had materialized. Running short on vacation time coupled with a continued slowing of the economy in Michigan, I began wondering how realistic it could be that we move to the Big City.

And then, one day, it happened. One of our neighbors (back home in Michigan) is in real estate sales and on a whim, asked if we would consider renting our home. We said we would and made plans for a Wisconsin couple to come by and take a look. Once in the door, they asked when could it be available and would we be willing to sign a 2-year lease! It took about 10 seconds for us to make up our minds. Finally, the chance had arrived that we were looking for. Someone to pay our mortgage while we try to make a go of it in Minneapolis. Papers were signed and an agreement was made for turn over on August 1.

Given that decision, we now had to find storage for our possessions that would not be coming with us (amazing the amount of stuff you accumulate in 20 years!), find a home for our daughter until college starts in the fall and finish all of those pesky home "projects" that we (I) had been ignoring! With only a 30 day window, it seemed daunting, but do-able.

Excitement set in and we were quickly starting to make headway when Rene was told that she needed to attend a Sales conference for her company in California (Santa Clara to be exact) the week before we were to be out of the house. It was a frantic time but Rene felt we could afford to take a couple extra days that week and make a mini-vacation out of the trip (free hotel rooms and car rentals; save those sky-miles people!). So, off we went to San Francisco.

Though the weather there was surprisingly cool, it was a welcome relief to the stifling heat we had been enjoying in Michigan for the past month. And as a bonus, we were able to spend time with some good friends in the area on Sunday night. Morgan and Lauren had invited us out to their house in the Berkeley hills for a nice BBQ. Ryan Christbaum and his wife Tracy (and daughters) came by to join in the fun. We had a great night of conversation, grilled salmon and maybe a few adult beverages.

The view from the "hills" surrounding Morgan and Lauren's patio of dreams.

And, as a bonus, Ryan, Morgan and I made plans to ride the local area the following Tuesday and Wednesday while Rene attended her daily company functions. It just don't get no bettern' that! Though I have no pictures to document Tuesday's ride, Morgan and I met at Daddy's Bike Shop and set out to (attempt) a nice day of riding in the hills surrounding the Oakland/Berkeley area at Joaquin Miller Park. But an hour and a half into the ride, disaster struck in the form of a major lapse in judgement and a smidgen of poor coordination (on my part) which resulted in a serious impact with the ground. This unfortunately put an end to the days riding. I was in serious pain having fallen full force onto the ground with my chest. Once I was able to get up and assess that I was not gushing blood, we began to walk out.

As I was pushing my borrowed bike (thankfully, intact and undamaged in the melee; thanks Lauren!), the phone rang. It was Rene, calling to say that we would not be moving to Minneapolis the following week after all. Instead, our new home would be slightly further West. See picture below (can you name it?).

That's right. Seattle. Washington. Needless to say, I was surprised, shocked and yes, still in serious pain at that point. After begging off the call and eventually remounting the bike, we made our way down a very steep, long fire-road which led back to one of the Park entries. Following some cell communications and a very nice wild apple, I was finally picked up by Lauren (literally; she had to put the bike in the truck for me!). Morgan had rode on to get better cell service and ended the ride at home on his bike (the way it was supposed to be).

Back at their house I found beer, ibuprofen and leftover salmon to ease my pain. And yes, I finally able to reconnected with Rene. She confirmed that we were indeed, moving to Seattle (soon, gonna be a dental floss tycoon). After a very nice dinner and a little more good conversation around the table, I said my goodbyes, thanking them for everything (including my rescue) and headed back to Santa Clara for a night of sleeping in a chair.

We stayed one more day (which was supposed to be my ride day with Ryan. Sorry. We will ride again I promise!) and then we flew back to Minneapolis and sadly, me, to Grand Rapids. I promptly arose the next morning, headed to work and gave them my notice. Boxing up my things and saying goodbyes was surprisingly not as sad as I expected. I have worked there off and on for 10 years + and though I will miss my good friends in the office, I am ready for a change. Rene came home (to GR) that night (or should I say Saturday morning; 6 a.m. thanks to weather delays!) and the next day we began our final push to move out of the house.

It took a full week of cleaning, boxing, moving and even, giving away our possessions but by Friday, we were in the car and headed for the Land of 10,000 Lakes. Minneapolis is the first stop of our journey. We have 3 more weeks here before the final push West. More storage, more boxing, more cleaning, more giving away and definitely, more driving ahead! But we will get there. And when we do, a new home and City Life awaits us.

But sadly (for me anyway) we must leave this City Life behind. Minneapolis has been fun.

I do love the place and their support of cycling is exceptional. While here, I was finally able to meet Hurl Everstone, the man, the myth, the legend and the owner of Cars-R-Coffins Cykle Garage. He is a great guy and if you ever need a bike upgrade or are just looking for a second-hand city bike (in the Minneapolis area of course), see Hurl. He updated my Masi with a sweet combo Ultegra/Surly crank. I also picked up a CRC t-shirt and bottles to commemorate the moment.

If you believe in bike commuting, this is your place. They have instituted a bike share program within the past couple weeks and it has been a smashing success.

I also have had to leave one more thing behind in Minneapolis: Mr. Ridley; aka Carbon Sweetness.

Yes, one of the bikes had to go and he drew the short straw. Though I have loved riding the Ridley, my Trek XO.1 can now serve as both cyclocross steed and road hog. One set of wheel for each discipline and wah-lah; two mints in one! Goodbye old friend. You will be missed. But riding my 29er will help to make the transition easier in the meantime.

As we go, I am planning to use this as a travelog of sorts; to document our move West as best I can. It is going to be an interesting trip but I can't wait to get there!