winners on the road

The 2-time champions of the Wilderness Voyageurs annual Beer & Gear 5k. We're kind of a power couple now, I guess.

To celebrate our victory, we've headed off to stay with some friends in Colorado.

We just finished a marathon 24-hour drive from the humid hills of Pennsylvania to damp coldness in Lake Hope State Park, Ohio to terrifying tornado-style storms in Missouri to flat aridity and cornfields in Kansas. And Boulder - so far - is absolutely worth the misery we went through to get here. It's quite lovely.

In the morning today I went running and had delusions about joining the Colorado University distance team. I jogged along the path marveling at how everyone here looks like a professional athlete. I tried to fix my form and tighten up my abs to look a little bit less like a flabby Pennsylvanian.

Then we rode our bikes up into some hills.

That 20-mile ride was the longest I've been on a bike since I gave myself a concussion at a mini-enduro in Ohio. This one went way better. I didn't wreck, but I did have to walk down some descents and get ridiculed by little kids doing trail maintenance.

We spent the rest of the day wandering around on Pearl Street in a delirium of outdoor retail shops and cafes. And then we were really worn out from all the UV exposure, so we went to a Colorado-based pizza chain. I ate some of the best gluten-free pizza I've ever had. And now I'm just feeling really sunburned and sleepy.

This place is darn cool.

summer frost

a snack for the morning drive to work. inspired by simply breakfast.

VICTORY and a life-update!

Well hey there, strangers. I have fantastic news!

MONTANA WON THE BLOG CONTEST! TAKE THAT, OLD MAN. You and your penis references are no match for my mom and her penis references.

HAPPY FACE.

Ok. So the much-needed update. What have I been doing? Where have I been? Why has there been zero baking posts? Who have I become in the past few weeks?

Answer: I am living many dual lives at once. Keeping up so many different personalities makes it hard to bake as much as I'd like. Also it's about ninety degrees all the time, so I haven't been compelled to roast myself in the kitchen.

A couple days a week, I'm interning at The Allegheny Front, an environmental news program for Western PA and the surrounding area. It's pretty great. I get to hang out at the WYEP radio studio and talk about shale while listening to good music. I recommend you check it out.

On the weekends, I'm living in a tent and working with the rafting folk in Ohiopyle. I've got lots of bug bites and a wicked sunburn to prove it.

Basically, I go from taking pictures of old men like this...

To taking pictures of old men like this.

Pretty big difference.

In my free time, I run a lot and occasionally watch Montana use his pellet gun to shoot cans of Natty in the park by his house.

Good summery times up in here. I'll try to be a better blogger, but no guarantees.