Travel Surprises

Some surprises are fun, like when you reach into that jacket for the first time after summer and find a $20 bill. That's an awesome surprise. Then, there are other surprises, like a 2 1/2 hour bus ride to the airport, instead of the typical 1/2 hour. Ouch. But apparently, like blue is the new white, 2:00 is the new 4:00. Welcome to rush hour. We have your seat ready for you. So I guess the good news was that I was still able to get a confirmed seat on a flight not too far away, rather than spending 2 days in airports on standby, hoping that I'd find a way to get to Christmas with my family.

So I finally made it to El Paso. After my sister and brother in law picked me up from the airport, we headed back to their home, where I figured the kids would be asleep. We walked in, and there were big streamers hung from the ceiling with balloons and everything! SURPRISE! That's an awesome surprise! Then I noticed that everyone had a mask on - a ME mask! That's right, lifesize reproductions of yours truly, from different pictures and ages. They were all just peeking up from behind the couch. Then I started counting, because that was a lot of faces! hmmmm.... unless my math skills are bad, or my sister has a new kid that strangely grew very quickly, there's an extra face! SURPRISE!!! Abby was here too! That's a lot better than even the $20 magical money surprise! It was awesome! Talk about a way to make your day! Abby did an amazing job keeping this one under wraps, and pulled off a huge surprise! We had a big celebration including ice cream and brownies, and a movie. I love my family!

Goedemorgen

I've just returned from almost a week in the Netherlands - mostly for work, but with a little time afterward to roam around and see the sights. I spent a day or two in Rotterdam, which has some beautiful and very contemporary architecture. Much of the city was destroyed during the War, so what has been rebuilt is quite recent and modern. From there I went to Den Haag (The Hague). It rained the entire afternoon, but I went out anyway and roamed the street. Everyone was still out and about on their bikes, doing Christmas shopping, running errands, and so on. I stopped and had lunch in a small cafe. There's nothing like a good meal and hot chocolate on a blustery and rainy day. It couldn't have been a more perfect day!

By night I had to head back to Amsterdam, where I spent the remainder of the trip. Amsterdam seems over-run with tourists, but it is a very interesting and beautiful city. While I steered clear of the more "seedy" parts of town, you still see plenty of more "adult" geared options for spending your time or money. (This is me keeping the blog somewhat family friendly!) I spent most of the day just walking through town, seeing the city and taking pictures. I'll share a few with you here, once I'm finished fixing them up. I only took 900+ pictures, so it'll take me just a bit to sort through the good ones. But check back in a week or two and I'll have some up.

New Beginnings

New beginnings are always exciting, and I'm thrilled about this one. Some things only happen once, and this once was one of those memories that will ever live up to the expectations, hopes, and anticipation that came before.

Saturday in DC was a very rainy, cold, and somewhat dreary day. It was very fortunate that Sunday things turned around. I told Abby Saturday night that we ought to check out the sunrise from the Lincoln memorial. My cousin Warren might not know it, but his trip to DC turned out to be very fortuitous in many ways. We toured the monuments of DC at night, while he was here on a one night lay-over. The guard at the Lincoln Memorial raved about sunrise, and we decided way back then that we would come back and check it out someday. So, it wasn't a big surprise to Abby when I proposed we check it out that Sunday morning. It looked like it would be one of the last warm mornings of the year, and the weather just might cooperate.

Not wanting to give anything away, I played it really casual about the whole thing, as if it was no big deal. After dropping Abby off at home that night, I had more errands to run, just to make sure everything was just right. Somewhere around O-Dark hour of the morning I woke up and made us some breakfast, packed the blanket, and a big thermos of hot chocolate, and then headed off to pick Abby up.

While we were just sitting there eating breakfast, I remarked that it was already mid November, and that we'd miss the traditional Chipman "Let the Magic Begin" party. That's my mom's way of kicking off the Christmas season after Thanksgiving, and it's always a lot of fun. This year we'll do it via video teleconference, since we're all apart. At any rate, I made some off-handed comment that maybe we could have our own "Let the Magic Begin." It seemed appropriate for the morning, but I wasn't ready to spring the surprise, so I just let it go at that, and we finished our breakfast while we waited for the sun to actually rise.

We had the whole place basically to ourselves, and the guard was right, it is amazing to see the sun rise over the Washington Monument. I waited until just as the sun peaked over the horizon, and then, as we talked about how beautiful it was, I said, "You know what would make this even more perfect?" As I took a knee and pulled out the ring I added, "If you said yes. Will you marry me?" I'm delighted to report that she answered "Of course!" So, with no further ado, may I introduce the future Mrs. Abby Chipman!

Milestones

Speaking of stones, it's probably appropriate to note that I swim like one - straight to the bottom. At least that's what I would have said 6 months ago. I had the obligatory swim lessons as a kid, and always felt like I could swim 100 meters if my life depended on it. I was therefore under the distinct impression that I should never venture far from land (without a big tank of air and some fins). So, that said, that's where I was six months ago. Last night I celebrated my first mile swim. I had a goal to do that before my birthday this year, and I'm a month and a half early! I'm pretty stoked about the whole thing, and it wasn't quite as hard as I'd thought. Of course, that's a mile of swimming, vs. a straight one mile swim. I'll get there soon enough, once I figure out how to do those great flip turns without banging my head or scraping my back on the bottom of the pool. Baby steps, right? Maybe soon I'll be able to tackle the full marathon... but that has to wait for a little bit. Perhaps a triathlon in between would be a better task to tackle.

Come downstairs and say hello

That's right. It's Guster! We went to their show at the 9:30 club, which , as it turns out is a pretty cool little venue. Rather than opine about how awesome their show was, I'll just share some pics from the show.

What could possibly beat conference lobster?

Homemade bread. And mashed potatoes. And Vegetables. And pork chops. I'm going downstairs to eat brownies now.

Conference Lobster

What do you do to enjoy General Conference? I suggest Conference Lobster. It was actually on sale for $4.99/lb, so I bought a couple live lobsters on my way home for conference. What goes great with lobster? How about butternut squash ravioli w/ sage butter sauce? mmmmmmm..... I will say no more.

Too much fun?

Is it possible to have that much fun in such a short time? Well, here's evidence of the latest escapades. Muse was awwwwesooommme! U2 was pretty awesome too, and in some way I feel more complete - especially now when I hear an old U2 song on the radio. But Bono should sing more and talk less. Stick with what you do well. Though I do admire his willingness to try to use his celebrity to promote some great causes, I'm voting for a more targeted approach, rather than an appeal to every cause out there. It made me feel like he was doing it more for popularity than for the actual cause. (Stay on target. Stay on target.) But great tunes none the less. And a great night!

Yes. It got cold by then. In September. Smart people wore jackets.
I bought hot chocolate and nachos. Guess that works for me.

California!!

Oh the goodness that is California! I always love coming here, and especially love getting to see family. This time I decided to bring Abby out after finishing up the business part of the trip. Here's a few highlights from the trip:

• Mountain biking with Steve and Jordan
• Story by lines... (Sorry Cara, I'm not sure what to call that game, but its always funny)
• Pinkberry
• Yogurtland (Not sure who would win between the two, but I lean toward Yogurtland - more variety.)
• Orange County swap meet
• Tommy's
• Venice Beach
• Breakfast at Paul's
• Importing Abby
• Trying to capture pics of waves from in the ocean (hold camera high when the waves hit.)
• Kickin' it with the infamous SD
  

And, since the list will always forget things, and pictures are more descriptive anyway, here's a few of our adventures.

Tasty

OK, no pics or even promises of pics this time, but it's really tasty. I made some pumpkin ravioli last night, which was really good. It's loosely based on this recipe:

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/wolfgang-puck/pumpkin-ravioli-recipe/index.html

I thought it turned out particularly well, but did learn a few things:
- Make the squares a little further apart
- Don't roll the dough quite so thin in spots.

Anyway, next time, I'm adding some vegetables on the side. Maybe some fresh broccoli?

Dinner worth blogging about

And pictures to come. Yes, it's rare that I feel the need to capture my dinner in photo, but it was so good that I have to share.

Here's what got thrown together:

Saffron chicken kabobs, on couscous, with a homemade tomato-basil sauce
Naan to accompany said couscous
Homemade humus for the extra naan to be dipped in. mmmm.... tasty. And I figured out how to make tahini too, (which kind of really helps if you're making humus)
Brownies. (Not entirely homemade, unless you count the extra pecans that I tossed into the box mix. While I do like the homemade stuff, why not use boxes when you can?)

I'll have to add pictures later. I'm getting hungry just thinking about it.

Karibu sana nyumbani and other fun!

While not part of the same event, I think these two pictures are a good description of the week. Hellos. Goodbyes. Hellos again. People are just coming and going! Craziness. So Reunion Tour 2009 kicked off with an arrrgh... karibu sana, and then Abby was off to Idaho. I noticed the opposite sign in the American history museum, so here's the contrast from Berlin (not the actual wall though, in the spirit of full disclosure.)



I also got a chuckle out of this one, and had to document it.



Seriously, it's not a competition! I'm a big fan of both. Where would we be if we didn't have both? Some things are better together!

Jonathan and I did the tourist thing this weekend, so I thought I'd share a few highlights from the week. It's great having family in town, and we don't get to hang out often enough!

Just for the hill of it

It looks like more of my posts are about the workouts than anything else lately. hmmm.... I think the afternoon swim is out today. Enough damage done. Sometime I've got to remind myself not to push so hard. Or not. It's more fun that way, right? I rode down to Fort Belvoir this morning. I had a few lessons learned from today:

• I need to bring more food with me next time.
• There's a perverse side of me that likes hills, and charging up them.
• I'm not competitive.
• When I say that I'm not being honest.
• Couches are powerful early in the morning. Sometimes more powerful than legs.
• There's a fine line between not enough breakfast, too much to drink, too hot, and too much food for what's going on.
• I learned that I can keep riding while all that water goes down the wrong airpipe, creating an instant fountain of water across the front of the bike. Good thing there weren't innocent bystanders around.
• While I prefer riding on the street I should limit that kind of activity to before the wall.
• Walls occur faster in the heat.
• I still can't decide who won, the wall, the heart, or the legs.

Well, it was fun anyway. Now it's time to run all the rest of those errands and things to do that pile up on the weekend. Something tells me I'm not finished racing around today.

It's all about the team

WOW! That's about all I can say there. Team Astana, is amazing, and it's not just because they have Lance. With Contador, Popovych, Leipheimer and the others, it's got amazing depth. The level of preparation and planning and team work that goes into this is really incredible! For those interested, there's more photos like this at www.cyclingfans.com. (This isn't from the TDF, but is from the Gyro d'Italia this year. C'mon, team Astana finished five minutes ago - you think I'd actually have pics from that?) But you should watch the team time trials though. It's pretty exciting, and I won't spoil the amazing finish for those that do choose to watch!

God Bless America

Especially for those that aren't here. This is for you.

On y va!

Let's get the obvious questions out of the way.

• No, I'm not a Lance Armstrong fan and I don't dislike him either. I'm sorry, but I don't have a favorite to win/follow this year.
  
• Yes, I love watching the climbs.
  
• Yes, I get totally stoked to ride while watching the tour.
  
• Yes, I have been known to watch the tour early in the morning, but that was when I lived out west and could do that without missing work.
• Yes, I follow it in French. And English too when I'm feeling lazy.
• That's an easy one. You can watch it on the VS. tv channel in the United States. I don't think you can even follow it live online due to media exclusivity agreements. (But news is updated on www.letour.com very quickly)

OK, that was great. Glad we got that out of the way. Now I can sit back in my chair and go back to watching today's opening rides for the tour. Seriously though, if this doesn't get you excited about living healthily and all, I don't know what will. I'm looking forward to a month of great riding and hope that this year there are minimal distractions from doping. That's like watching a playoff game that's a blowout. No fun at all!

Utah, so far

What a whirlwind trip! Lots gone on, going on, and yet to get going. Friday we had dinner with the Croshaws, which was great! It was short, but fun to have almost everyone together. I just wish I'd answered my phone when it was ringing instead of doing the polite thing.

From Utah

The cabin turned out to be a bit of an adventure in and of itself. We had lots of rain. And then some sunshine. Saturday we took the kids fishing, and I was glad that someone actually caught something. Kids seem to get easily disillusioned if they don't see results in their attention span (which, btw, is small). Fishing ended early for some of the kids, once Jonathan decided to wear the lake rather than just stand by it. That poses a small problem when you're 8 and didn't bring lots of winter clothes to a summer cabin (though it is in the mountains.) It's also an interesting challenge when you're living in a cabin with no heat and no washer/dryer. We got that all squared away though, and kicked off a very fun karaoke / dance off. There will be no pictures from said event, because the organizers felt that it might in some way incriminate the participants. Rumor has it that there are videos available for a price (it's steeper than you can imagine, trust me!)

So, I got a great phone call from Kenya on Sunday, and enjoyed the moutnain air outside of church and some sunshine while I talked to Abby. It was the first bit of sunshine we'd seen in a while, and also the first bit of wireless coverage I'd had in a while too. (hence the late post) Dad had to head into SLC though to take care of family matters. It appears that Grandma's passing is imminent, so there are now lots of other details to take care of.

Monday we took the kids out fishing again, and this time enjoyed glassy water and sunny skies, as opposed to the choppy, windy, and rainy weather from Saturday. We caught a few more fish and called it a day.

Feel the Fury! Feel the Fire!

Feel the Joy and GO GO GO!

Yes, that's right folks, it's time for the weekend long ride/run. I'm still in recovery mode, so today was a shorter ride, but it was glorious! Too bad you weren't there! Maybe next time....

Today's ride was down to Mt. Vernon. Incidentally, you can't actually get into Mt. Vernon with your bike, in case you were wondering. At least it didn't look like it. The big burly (and nice) police officer at the gate didn't seem inclined to let me ride around and show the Washington's my sweet ride. Well, since you missed all the fun, I guess I'll take you on a shorter version. I should make you stand to watch so that you at least get some exercise! HA!

You might almost miss this tucked away site - it's almost under the 495 overpass, but I'm sure it had some historical significance to save people from the dire dangers of landing in Maryland or something like that. It's the Jones Point light house. Yup. It's an imposing and awesome sight, not to be missed.


Somewhere along the way, if you're paying really close attention to the ground, and not looking for other bikers, walkers, or little children that aren't paying attention, you might notice the memorial "F", which marks very carefully where Frank the Forlorn bonked on last week's ride. It's ceremoniously been marked with a carefully positioned electrical tape "F".

If you continue riding, you'll eventually get to a little cabin at the end of the trail were some famous washington socialites or something lived. Can't remember what they did, but it was probably important.
Sometimes we'd rather look back on things and I hear that hindsight is always better. Let's give it a try....


Any better? Well, anyway, there it is, the path to Mr. Washington's big house. It's really pretty, and probably worth checking out if you like antiques, history, and being in the presence of greatness - if you're into that kind of thing. So anyway, I got back on my bike after a Lara bar and some Gatorade. (Good thing the Brits didn't have Gatorade back then!) The picture that's missing here is the bald eagle that flew over me and circled for a bit. Apparently I didn't look tasty enough, despite having recently porked up with said Lara bar and Gatorade. He carried off some other poor soul that should have kept moving.

I guess the final sight that's worth sharing is fort what's it's name, which protected lots of polluted water from people with ill intentions. It was run by General whosywhatsit way back when. I think they through rocks through the holes in the walls or something. Maybe they just taunted people in boats from the top wall with some outrageous accent! Here you go. You can almost see it clearly through the Washington Haze. (Not to be confused with cannon fire smoke, which may also have been present long ago. )

Now you just wish you'd been there don't you! Admit it, you do. It was fun!

Red Sox 6 Yankees 5

Enough said.

Bean Town

How I love this town! There always seems to be a soft spot in my heart for Boston. I won't bore you with the work details of the week other than to say that there were some long, and very productive working meetings. Of course the down side of these trips is the eating and sitting and eating. (as I continue to wage war on my health!) Now there was some really good food involved though. I got to some of my favorite digs and discover some new ones.

• Shabu Zen (Japanese hot pots) It's in chinatown, and I highly recommend it. Get the spicy soup, rather than the regular stock. Much better!
• Dali (Spanish Tapas) If you go here, you have to try the Pescado a la Sal. It's amazing. The whole fish is baked in coarse salt. Fabulous!
• Thai - Nothing overly special here, though I did venture on a new sauce - the choo chee curry. I give it a 7/10. We found this place on Moody Street in Waltham, which everyone recommended. I'm not sure why it comes recommended other than proximity and the fact that there are several places that serve food. (Some seemed far better than others.) Otherwise, you have a great collection of really random stores, of varying styles. There's everything from the dollar-store types to more "funky" stores.
• The North End (the BEST Italian around) It doesn't really matter where you eat here, but I really like Giacamos. (We didn't eat here because they only take cash, and we wanted to more easily expense our meals!) You have to stop by Mike's Pastries too if you're gonna come this far. Everyone will rave about the cannolis, but I think there are some other really good options. Note: exercise caution here, because you can gain weight just staring at these artery clogging joys!
  

Since things were so busy, I didn't get as much time as I wanted to go explore. We did get out a bit on Thursday though to see some of the freedom trail. I found some places I'd never seen in Boston before- like the Custom House. Who'd of thought this was a Marriott hotel!?

I also got a chance to drive by the old Longfellow Park chapel, which burned almost to the ground during a stake conference a few weeks back. It was really tragic, but no one was injured. The walls are still standing, and apparently, it'll be rebuilt with the same walls. Kind of hard to imagine though that it's gone as I knew it. My parents and I went to church here when I was just a little guy, and then I went to church here when I lived in Boston. There's lots of great memories that I have from here. I guess the good thing is that we all still have those memories; no one was hurt, and these things can be rebuilt. I'm just grateful that no one was hurt in the fire.


To cap off the weekend, I got home just in time to join some friends to see Night at the Museum, in the Smithsonian. How can you say no to that? I laughed my head off, and loved the movie. While sequels really never seem to be much different from the original, this one is at least funny. And no, it's not that different from the original. I'll definitely see this one again! Maybe it'll still be in theaters in July...

...and Found

I suppose if I add a post like "Lost," I should add one for "Found." I count myself blessed and grateful to have found my keys. Home security here I come!

Lost

1 set of keys. Ordinary type - with a keyless entry and a small metal vial thingy. If you see them, please send them home right away.

Dear keys,
I'm not sure what I did to offend you. I promise not to say those things ever again. The clapper may have sounded cool, but it'll never replace you. really. no really, I mean it. I miss you. where are you? Am I destined to spend a lifetime with your silly little brother, the "valet" key? (even though it does have glow in the dark keychains, I promise it's not anywhere near as cool as you are - heck, I'll even give you one of the glow in the dark keychains.) just come back. I really would like to see you again. I have a special place, er I mean hook for you all set out. But I need to find you so that I can get inside to that hook, where I can put you with all kinds of ceremonious pomp if you like. Maybe I'll even write a song for you- or a sonet. What will it take to get you back? I've looked everywhere. Please tell me you're not hanging out with that trashy bag I tossed out. You know what they say about that kind of company. It'll take you places you don't want to go. So please, come home. please?

-David

Memorial Day '09

What could be more classic than a road trip for Memorial Day? Not much I suppose, aside from the typical BBQ, which we managed to get anyway. I think we’ve also managed to hit up many of the significant LDS church history sites over the last 2 weeks as well. Kirtland, Ohio last weekend, and Palmyra this weekend. We were able to see the Grandin building printing press, the sacred grove, and the Palmyra temple. The printing press was kind of a funny visit though, because we had a bunch of tired kids with us and asked if we could get the tour without the 20 minute video before. Instead we got the ten minute walk through with a tour guide that was a little confused about our interest in seeing the press and worried about the adjacent groups coming up. I didn’t think it was possible to get through a place that fast, but we managed to do it in probably less than 10 minutes.

That was just the afternoon diversion though from the main event – Matt & Jen’s wedding. There was a great attendance at the temple sealing in the morning, and quite the shin dig in the evening. They put together a ring ceremony and exchanged vows, or rather the top ten reasons they loved each other for the wedding part before the evening dinner. It was very well put together. And oh, who can forget the serious dance moves that got busted out for Kung-Fu Fighting!

I think the other highlight of the trip was Sunday’s excursion to the Sacred Grove. We had the whole place to ourselves, which is what happens when you get there at 6:30 am. It was so peaceful, and was a great way to start off the day and the summer. It was also nice to have this time to ourselves before Abby headed off to Kenya and I drove back to DC. Sometimes quiet moments in our busy schedules are the most rare and great occasions!

Here and there and everywhere!

I should get my pilots license and an airplane. But then I'd miss out on so many airport stories and adventures. It seems I've always got some sort of eventful happenings when I fly. Just last week I flew home from Boston and nearly missed my plane, despite leaving plenty early. I lucked out though, and there was a traffic jam on the way to the airport. I found myself dropping off my rental car as the plane started to board. Amazingly enough I made the flight. I count myself very blessed. Not only that, but my flight landed early and I was able to get onto a connecting flight that was about 15 minutes delayed. That saved me a 2 hour layover in NYC and got me home well before my previous midnight arrival.

Then the next time I flew (2 days later), there was an honor guard escorting some passengers off the plane. I'm not really sure why they were there, but we saw all kinds of police escorts coming and going from the airport as well. It looked to me like a family that got off, and there were what seemed to be some condolences exchanged. It felt more of a sacred event, so I decided that it was not the time for pictures.

I've managed to be a bit all over the map lately. Last week I was in DC, Boston, back in DC, Cleveland, and then Indianapolis - all in 4 days. It's good to be home, though it was a great set of trips. I surprised Abby by going to Cleveland on the way to Indianapolis to see her brother and his family. We had a great time playing with kids and the bug we got in Cleveland. As for the drive to Indy, I have 2 words - satellite radio! It was a great trip - a bit of a whirlwind, but very fun.

Why do we run?

I couldn't decide what to start my blog with until yesterday, as I ran the Indianapolis Mini-marathon. At face value, it's a 13.1 mile race, with 35,000 people running through the streets of Indianapolis to kick-off a month of preparations and celebrations for the Indy 500. I've run this race for years, and I never can seem to remember just how many it's been. I figure it's something around 13-15 though. This year I was struck, and even moved by what I saw under the surface of this race.

Runners come in all shapes and sizes, which might surprise outsiders that have never ventured out to a race. Yes, many of us are the lean skinny types that ran track instead of risking utter destruction on the football field (speaking for myself), but runners come from all walks of life, and in all shapes and sizes. Yesterday I saw a good number of children that couldn't have been more than 10 running 13 miles. I saw a lot of folks whose age I won't guess, in the interest of being polite, but it was a few beyond mine. There were tall people, short people, large people, skinny people, folks of all races, and quite a number hidden by creative costumes. What caught my attention yesterday was what they chose to wear. The most obvious standouts, aside from your usual costume wearing folks, were the men and perhaps women of the fire department, police, and military that participated in the race while sporting full duty gear. The firemen wore their boots, heavy coats, masks and air tanks. Several from the SWAT team came out in similar fashion with their bulletproof jackets, gas masks, and boots. The soldiers wore full packs and bulletproof jackets. Many carried flags as well. These men and women were running for a different reason, and were spreading a message of awareness and dedication to their fellow men and women of the service. It was very inspiring.

As I continued to run, however, I took more careful notice of the more "typical" runners. I read their shirts (from the back at least). I saw a father whose shirt was marked "Dad" running with two others whose shirts were marked "Daughter" and "Daughter". I saw countless shirts in pink and purple from the Team in Training athletes who dedicate funds and their race to raise money in the fight against Leukemia. I saw several with pictures of loved ones that had passed away. I saw one young man with a picture of his brother, and a note that said that he was running in memory of his brother who had been killed in Iraq.

Everyone seemed to be running for a reason. It wasn't just to celebrate a car race, or to compete for the scarce honors of winning. (Those went to the Kenyans, btw.) There were many running as a capstone to their efforts to lose weight, stop smoking, or just to get in shape. This race became for me more of an expression of the human triumph. It was a story told one family at a time, as their losses and victories were played out over 13 miles amid the cheers and and banners held by loved ones and on-lookers. Everyone was running for a reason. And so we ran. I began the race with a few lingering injuries from my last race, and honestly probably should have been more wise. I gently nursed a sore knee and heel and hoped that I could just make it through. But there was too much joy to be had in the run. I have to confess to being overcome by the bliss. To see such dedication to others, such love of family, such devotion to country and to beating down the elements that tell us "No." It was inspiring. So I ran on, and relished the experience. I actually ended up with a decent time, or I should say moderately respectable, given my training and condition before. (That, and my pre-race "carb loading" at Teds Montana Grill. I'm not sure a Bison burger with onion rings really counts as carbs, especially late at night, but hey, you only live life once, right!?) So back to the race, it was amazing. And why do I run? Perhaps it's the shear joy of running, but in truth, there's something of a chance to announce to the world that Yes, I can, and I will, and no amount of rain, snow, cold, or other mayhem will deter me. In fact, it might just make the adventure a little more fun, and a little more memorable!