Grand Canyon, AZ

After 10 days of sitting on the couch and watching TV, my significant other grew disgusted and decided that we should get out of town for a day or two. So, we went up to Flagstaff and dropped by the US Naval Observatory's open house. They had the telescope trained on Jupiter that night, and after waiting in line for 2 hours, we were finally able to catch a glimpse. It was pretty cool; the wind-generated stripes in the planet's atmosphere were visible. We were even able to see a couple of Jupiter's moons.

The next day, we continued north to the Biggest Damn Hole in the United States (or Grand Canyon for short).

While there, we noticed a strange phenomenon. Many of the tourists, when given a choice between taking pictures of The Biggest Damn Hole in the Western Hemisphere, and taking pictures of a glorified rodent, chose the rodent.

Seriously people, they're just rats with big bushy tails. They also cause power outages and are high in cholesterol.

Tempe, AZ

On September 16, I returned to the scene of the crime -- Tempe, AZ. It was a little strange to return to the town where I did my PhD, as it was the site of simultaneously the 5 best and 5 worst years of my life. When I arrived, I was greeted by my PhD diploma and a bound copy of my dissertation:

To complete the trifecta, I decided to finally get that tattoo I always wanted:

Four Corners, AZ, CO, NM, and UT

On my way from Navajo State Park to Tempe, I stopped at Four Corners, the junction of AZ, CO, NM, and UT. While having my picture taken I attempted to stand in the timeless void between all four states. The world lurched, the skies opened, and the gods voiced their displeasure at my attempt at immortality. That explains the crookedness of this picture.

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.