Summary of what I've been up to

I went and visited with Jeff and Viv at Jeff's parent's yesterday, and Viv thinks I should update my blog more often so here it goes.

I think everyone who knows about this blog already knows this, but in case anyone doesn't Nicole and I broke up about this time last year. Since that was my only reason to be in Florida, the question is "Now What?" Viv was encouraging me to move back to Madison, which does have some appeal since most of the people I know are there. The only down side is Madison is relatively lacking in the outdoor activities I like. Wisconsin quality whitewater is at least three hours away, much more for really good whitewater, and National Park quality outdoors are even further away. Wisconsin would be adequate for motorcycle riding, and probably a lot safer for a relative novice like myself, but lacks the spectacular rides which can be found out west.

So where else should I move? Boulder, CO intrigues me. I'd be close to the mountains and all the water, riding, and scenery that comes with it. Boulder creek is an intermediate to advanced whitewater run that literally runs through downtown Boulder, and there are biking/running/roller blading trails in town. Boulder is (relatively) small while being relatively liberal, a university town and close to a big city, so it should nearly be Madison west. Plus I have family in the area; my mom's sister and her children live in the Denver area.

Another option I'm considering is Seattle. Seattle's main bonus is even better access to whitewater than Boulder. I've heard of people getting more than 300 days on the water because it is easy to go on after work runs nearby. It is also a scenic location with a lot of scenic outdoors nearby. While an intriguing option, Seattle has some downside. The first and biggest is that I'm not a big city person, so I don't know if I'll be comfortable there. Also, I don't know anyone, other than Christy, in the Seattle area, so the chances of my ending up in an anti social rut like I am now are high. I'm also reluctant to move quite so far away from Wisconsin where my friends and family are; Boulder is a bit short of 1000 miles from Madison (Ocala is 1200), Seattle is double that. Plus I don't know if I want to live that close to Redmond.

I would almost certainly like California's outdoor opportunities, but pretty much anywhere I could get a job is going to be too big a city for my tastes. I also don't want to need two new vehicles just to move there.

What other places should I think about?

Oh, yeah. As hinted above, I am now two wheel enabled. I bought a Harley Sportster just before Christmas. I wish I had gotten my motorcycle license ten years ago. Probably Florida's only redeeming quality is being able to ride in January without risk of freezing to death. Unfortunately, the narrowness of the state, and the Orlando megalopolis to the south east, makes it easy to exhaust the day trip options.

While I do intend to try, I make no promises that these updates will be a regular occurrence.

Let me know what you think.

Mark