i don’t normally think of myself as a man who is “workin’ for the weekend”, but the past few weeks this summer has definitely felt that way.

last weekend was intended to be a whirlwind adventure, sadly it opened with a whimper rather than a bang. instead of being able to take the train down and attend the “copious drinking” portion of my 10 year high school reunion, i instead found myself standing incredulous at the train station discovering that the amtrak cascades had all just been cancelled. with that portion of the plan removed, i went straightahead onto preparations for the 2007 black bbq, and joyously biked down to big time brewery to pick up a pair of pony kegs in my trailer. that is always good for some positive attention, and as i piled ice atop the kegs at the ghetto safeway even passing fratboys looked on in awe. the bbq was executed flawlessly, and this year i didn’t even have to learn any new lessons about mixing of intoxicants, and the resultant unmixing of stomach contents.

i did get a ride down to portland with the crew as they left, however. my mother, bless her heart, made me a delicious birthday cake in anticipation of my arrival that weekend, and i fortunately arrived before it had gone to waste. i took advantage of the weekend to show off my shiny new camping gear, pick up a shiny new macbook for the carolines and take a whirlwind visit to the fairgrounds with big jon and rosie. in less than two hours i consumed a peach milkshake, an elephant ear, kettle korn, and a corndog. and that on top of my birthday cake lunch!

the extremely brief visit to the fair was excellent, the sights and smells and tastes all at once restoring neurons that dwindle ever-so-slightly more with each passing year. i can still remember the old fairground layout, with our trailer down the dusty gravel road from the cow barns, and the smell of dried grass and fresh chipseal as i played gijoes and filled out voltron and gobot coloring books. visiting this place each year brings those memories back to the surface, firing tiny charges of electricity through the neurons and hopefully keeping them active and close at hand for when i want a fond memory to reminisce on.

this past weekend i went with .83 up to monte cristo for some bicycle camping and general outdoor hooligannery. we hiked to poodle dog pass and silver lake. i met some interesting folks, slept under the stars in my hammock, and took some photos that you might enjoy. as for now, my legs are tired, and this blog post has gotten long.

this weekend i loaded up the long haul trucker and headed up to south whidbey state park for some camping with my nerdcrew. while sitting on the ferry at mukilteo, who should i run into but loren and guenna? and what should they say to me other than “you never update your blog!”.

games night in the woods was pretty fun. basically a smorgasborg of food, drinking, and games with a couple 3-4 mile hikes up into the woods and down to the beach intermingled. the bicycle and bucket panniers got alot of interest, as did the hennessy hammock. several folks took naps in the hammock and everyone was quite envious of the comfort. i didn’t have the best options for where to setup, but it worked out alright. state parks are probably the worst environment for hammock camping, because they thin out most of the medium-sized trees and the natural clearings with thin underbrush of the forest give way to trails and manicured campsites.

on the way home on sunday i added a little american flag to my rear rack. i theorized that it might get me some more respect from the drivers of whidbey island, and while i didn’t do any serious data collection, i did have a pretty pleasant ride back to the ferry. riding on highway 99 through lynnwood however, was a different story. i was reminded of the peculiar patriotism of the places nobody cares about. a young gentleman in a lowered honda civic yelled at me as i rolled up to a stopsign: “america don’t want you!” doubly interesting was that this america, the america laid out as an endless line of strip malls, tobacco and gun stores, car dealerships and minimarts with giant parking lots wasn’t an america i wanted either. so in a sense we were in perfect agreement.

ben country 2.0 was a blast. the geared karate monkey carried me a full 40 miles out into the sticks, and i brought two new toys along with me: a pair of homemade bucket panniers and my new hennessy hammock. gave me the best night’s sleep camping i’ve ever had, except for how my sleeping bag kept overheating me. i even managed to semi-drunkenly wake up in the middle of the night to micturate without breaking myself.

fire, food, friends, hiking, biking, and great weather? yeah i’m super excited to to a ton more s24o-type rides this summer.

i even almost made it all the way there and back without any kind of mechanical failure. almost.