Navajo State Park, CO

After a harrowing descent of Pike's Peak, I drove to Navajo State Park in southern Colorado, just north of New Mexico.

While setting up camp, I was caught out in a short rainstorm. That sucked, but the ensuing rainbow provided a small degree of consolation.

That night, my neighbors Jeremy, Paul, and Ray invited me over for some hamburgers, shrimp, and Bud Light. Unsurprisingly, Jeremy lived in Mesa, AZ for several years.

Pike's Peak, CO

On the morning of September 15, I took my trusty car up the menacing slopes of Pike's Peak. After driving over washboarded gravel roads for part of the way, I realized that the shocks in my car are completely shot. I blame the crappy highways in Massachusetts.

Here's a view of the summit from halfway up.

The top of Pike's Peak was muddy and chock full of tourists, but the views were still majestic.

Here's the proof that I was actually there, and didn't just download these images off of the Internet.

Eleven Mile State Park, CO

On September 14, I drove from Kansas to Eleven Mile State Park, a few miles west of Colorado Springs, CO. It was absolutely beautiful, and I was happy to be back in the mountains. After reaching my campsite, I noticed a thunderstorm brewing on the other side of the lake.

I watched and listened as the lightning and thunder drew closer and closer, but I held out hope that the storm would pass me by.

Nope.

After spending a fitful night attempting to sleep in my car, I woke up before sunrise and enjoyed the view.

Cedar Bluff State Park, KS

On September 13 I left St. Louis and drove to Cedar Bluff State Park, in western Kansas. It was flat.

In the early evening, I decided to work on some kata. When I started the sun was up, but all of sudden I found myself in overwhelming darkness. I couldn't figure out what happened, but then I remembered that it's not June anymore. I have been on the road for 3 months, and the nights are now about as long as the days.

A post to make this blog more Twitter-like

Today I shaved.

St. Louis, MO

On September 5 I drove from Omaha to St. Louis, MO. I stayed with David and his wife Stacy, and their dogs Ruger and Cheyenne. They had a nice house, and a comfortable attic room for me to sleep in.

Unfortunately, I parked under a tree, which was full of birds, which were full of bird crap.



Whenever I was in the kitchen, I could triangulate my exact latitude and longitude by looking at the positions of Ruger's and Cheyenne's noses.

On Sunday, we went out and shot some guns, including an AK and an M1 Garand. Here's a shot of me with the Garand, picking off a target at 100 yards. Notice my awesome form.

The following weekend, we had a seminar with Kaicho Howard. Mr. Mikasa came from Seattle, and Mr. Cherry came down from Toledo. We worked a great deal of kata and bunkai, and had a great time.

Omaha, NE

On August 30, I drove to Omaha, NE to visit my friend Melanie and her husband Scott. Melanie and I are old high school buddies, and she got her PhD at the same time I did. Unlike me, however, she actually has a job. A good one, too.

Melanie and Scott's house is a nice-looking brick deal in a quiet neighborhood.

Overall, it was a pretty lazy week. While Melanie woke up early and went to work every day, Scott and I sat around and played video games. Good times. I also ate an Omaha steak.

One day, I decided to do kata in a park right off of the University of Nebraska-Omaha campus. While doing so, a dude drove by in a car and kept yelling "Hey pussy" out his window at me. What did I do?

a) Ignore him.
b) Throw my sai through his gas tank and blow up his car.
c) Tell him, "Pussy's not my name, pussy's my game."


In addition to hanging with Melanie and Scott, I also hung out with their cat Nico and their dog Kira. This is the best picture I could get of Kira because she never sits still: