Bad Saturn! Bad!

I said I wouldn't update the blog until I returned from Burning Man. That was true until I blew out the slave cylinder in the clutch as I was trying to leave Denver. Thankfully it happened while I was still in Denver so I had resources and friends to help me out while I waited for it to be repaired. 

Unfortunately it blew out Friday evening and it's now Monday evening and Burning Man started on Sunday. A bummer, but things could be much worse. 

3 days and $1700 later and I'm back on the road! Hoping to make the 17 hour drive in one go and get to the playa by Tuesday afternoon. Fingers crossed!

Colorado Packin'

Colorado is still as awesome as always. Been staying at my friend Sebastian's house (he's the one that helped get me to Burning Man last year). Although he won't be joining us this year, here's a shot of him dancing in the rental truck. We packed that thing completely full and it has since taken off for early access to the event.

Last year on my way through Colorado I decided I wanted to solo one of the flatirons near Boulder. I started going up the first flatiron but bailed because it didn't feel right. I ended up climbing the second flatiron which was significantly easier. This time I revisited the first and cruised up it with only minor hesitations. It was 1,000 feet of pure fun!

Today I'll be leaving Denver with a group of people from camp and we'll start making our way to the Black Rock Desert, probably stopping near Salt Lake City tonight.

I doubt I'll update this before we get to Burning Man and I certainly won't have my phone on me all week, so I'll be back here after the burn with hopefully lots of good stories and photos!

Medieval Summer Bash and Eclipse

I decided to stick around MA long enough to participate in Keira and Christian's annual summer bash. This year was medieval themed; complete with outrageous outfits, smoked turkey legs, blacksmithing, archery and plenty more. It was an awesome time and I'm very glad I stayed around for it.

I then hauled West in Saturn Jr. aiming to be in Missouri for the solar eclipse on Monday. I made it with a couple hours to spare. Unfortunately some clouds made it in front of the sun with minutes to spare before totality. Regardless, the experience was awesome and still ended up with a cool photo. Just made me even more excited for the eclipse hitting New York in 7 years.

I then continued West, stopping near KC for some suds with Jeff, my former manager. Always great catching up, talking about traveling, and getting updates on good ol' UHG. I'm now in Denver hanging out with Sebastian. Tonight my burning man camp will be packing the rental truck and getting ready for the burn.

R.I.P Friend

Some nihilist once said, "Nothing good lasts forever". There comes a time in every driver's life when they must say goodbye to their first vehicle. After 12 years my time has finally come. Goodbye my friend. You were like the non-gendered first born child I'll never have.

In lieu of flowers, please send letters to your local GM headquarters demanding that they bring Saturn vehicles back.

Cheer up y'all, Saturn JR has filled the void nicely and is very excited to continue cooking up wonderful concoctions for your eternal enjoyment.

#BringSaturnBack

Weddings and Hiking and Saturns

Made the trek to New York with lots of college friends to celebrate Sam and Katy's wedding. Had a great time catching up with everyone.

Drove to the White Mountains with Matt and Yuri to hike and camp around the Mt. Lafayette area. I forgot how beautiful the White Mountains are. I had never hiked in this particular region. We were hoping to catch the meteor shower but unfortunately we were up in the clouds for most of the weekend. Still incredibly beautiful!

Been working on my car on and off. Mounted the solar panel and a bike rack onto the roof. 

Stopped by Christian's last night. Despite getting there super late, in typical Christian fashion he built out the entire bed frame in an hour and a half. Here he's shown cutting some bolts since we couldn't get 2 of the bolts off that were holding the rear seat in place.

Time to finish the rest of the build-out! There's going to be so much room for cooking!!

Checking In, Friends

I almost forgot I had a blog...

Well I've been home enjoying the company of family and friends as well as enjoying the new Saturn. Last week we made our annual trek down to the Outer Banks with our adopted extended family, the Delude's. They so graciously invite us along not only to their annual vacation, but also to all of their holiday gatherings, for which my family is very grateful and thankful. It was another successful year on the island!

I've also dived head first into breadmaking. It's a fascinatingly creative and rewarding process. I spent a week developing a sourdough starter and I've finally starting making sourdough loaves from it. While I'm very happy with my first couple results, I'm looking forward to learning more and understanding the process even deeper.

Tree House also opened up their new brewery in Charlton MA. After allowing the hype and lines to die down a bit I finally stopped by, meeting Tim there. The facility is massive and stunningly beautiful. Very modern architecture mixed with classic post and beam frames and accents throughout the building. 

Tim's friend Mike is one of the brewers at Tree House. I've met him a few times and he was gracious enough to give us a tour of the facility and show us the general brewing workflow. A taster of Lights On (one of their American Pale Ales) fresh from the fermentation tank was possibly the most beautiful flavor to ever touch my taste buds.

Lots and lots of rain that day made for an ethereally foggy night.