It's 9 o'clock right now which is actually past bedtime because tomorrow we wake up at 445am. No better time to blog, right??Hey everyone! Right now I'm listening to jet skis on the reservoir next to our camp site and hearing the quintessential sounds of summer - but not the summer I've been having.The summer I've been having is more like...-545am wake ups, hurried ready-ing for the day, then forcing down oatmeal-Anywhere from an hour and a half ride (okay that was only once, descent into Steamboat) to a fourteen hour ride (okay that was only once too, 114 mile day to Valentine, NE)-Tons of reflection time in the saddle, I'm pretty sure I've figured out how to live my post college life HAHA JK TOTALLY FREAKING OUT STILL-Hating hard on PB&J, seriously it's so hard to get down these days-Frequent stops for Gatorade and air conditioning and maybe poptarts, always brown sugar cinnamon-Getting to a stayover/campground sometime around 5, maybe showering but probably not-Assessing the sunburn of the day-Being soooo hungry and eating spaghetti for the billionth time, probably putting on too much red pepper flakes and burning my face off-Trying to stay awake long enough to get everything out into my journal, typically falling asleep with my notebook open-10pm bedtime, if I make it thereLather (only sometimes, haha, get it), rinse and repeat for best results. Every day is unique in it's own way, don't get me wrong! But it's very likely that most things on that list happen every day.Other neat and recent things:-Meeting friendly people in McDonald's, I swear 9/10 McD's customers are chatty Cathys-Seeing so much road kill we have existential crises-Jamming on the road, killing phone battery after 80 miles-Making poor food decisions and feeling puke-y all afternoon, many afternoons (ice cream, why do you torture me so?)-Getting caught in rain, riding anyway...except that one time we were caught in the hurricane of Nebraska and Don and Sharon put us up for the duration of the storm (thanks so much again for that!! If you're reading!)-Taking an 8 mile descent into Steamboat Springs in which pedaling was unnecessary and views were literally breathtaking-S'mores. But melted chocolate. Still good-Making friends in laundromats, gas stations (20 bikes outside causes lots of curiosity)-Biking through Utah and swimming in every lake we come across, IT IS HOT AND SO DRY DOES IT EVER RAIN HEREPretty much my days are full of meeting incredible strangers, being pretty stinky, and having a hard time believing this is my reality. All in all, I'm pretty glad to not be having a quintessential summer. I like mine a lot.BEDTIME love you, mom!