Weekends are too short

We had a great weekend. Friday I flew back from a work trip. I managed to keep myself from getting stranded in Denver by switching to an itinerary through Houston while I was literally on the plane that had gotten delayed going to Denver. Thanks, United Premier 1k service line!

Saturday we got our long runs in and then went to the Sherwood Forrest Faire. Always a good time. My favorite part is always the bird show. I love watching the birds fly around from perch to perch, they all have such personality, especially Ziggy the vulture.

Today was Easter. We went to mass and then head a lovely dinner with friends. I was able to catch up on a little work between mass and dinner, which was nice.

But I could definitely go for a three day weekend. A day to get caught up around the house and just get things in order would be fantastic. I know, world’s tiniest violin and all that. It has been great having weekends full of time with friends and doing awesome stuff around the great city we live in. But the little bit of introvert in me definitely pops up occasionally, and is like, “It’d be great to have a day to get things picked up and organized.”

Oh well, we can’t have it all. Final week of preparations for NI Connect next week in Ft. Worth! Looking forward to it.

First kayak fish!

I went out on Lake Austin this morning as this is probably the only day in April I will be able to get out there between Easter and NI Connect. And the best part… I caught the first fish in the kayak! The skunk is off! I mean, they weren’t giants, but it was great to actually get bites and get them in the boat.

The first two were on a drop shot with a 4” Missile Magic Worm in Blueback Secret. The third one was on a 2.75” Swammer on a Dirty Jigs Tactical Mini Underpin 1/8oz. From that point on I couldn’t get anything.

Definitely learned more lessons today. I think my casting is also getting better. I still stay in one spot too much and don’t just cover water. I really wanted to catch a spinner bait or chatterbait fish today, but I lost my chatter bait pretty early on, and while I didn’t lose my spinner bait, the fish didn’t want that.

I was mainly fishing the shore around docks and such, but I wonder if we’re actually completely post-spawn, and therefore were there some fish who were looking to eat in the middle of the river on structure.

The next time I’ll be able to take out the kayak, it will be June, and we’ll definitely be deep into summer pattern at that point. So that will be a new nut to crack.

The best long run yet

When I went to run yesterday I was expecting a 53 minute run. But the Garmin had updated my suggested workouts overnight, so I had a 1 hour 6 minute run waiting for me.

But honestly, I was glad it did. I felt great. That’s the best feeling longer run I’ve done yet since I’ve been running these past few months. I felt strong beginning to end, and I didn’t feel like my hear rate ever spiked when I was going up any of the gradual hills around the neighborhood.

I was able to get 2 CrossFit workouts in last week in addition to all my scheduled runs, so I was excited about that. Looks like this week I’m looking at 2, maybe 3 CrossFit workouts in addition to the running. At least until I hit my June 28th 5k test, I want to focus more on the running, but I definitely want to get some CrossFit in to mix it up and get some strength work in.

The issue is with my role at work, I’ve ended up with a lot more full mornings of meetings, which makes it hard to go to CrossFit before work. I’ll figure it out.

Back to Austin

Today we transitioned back to Austin. The transition days are always stressful, but today’s was pretty seamless, honestly. The cats did well in the car, and we made it back in 7 hours flat with a stop for gas and lunch.

My run on Saturday got way harder than I expected to, given that I had done the same distance on Wednesday and felt great. I ran 5 days this past week, taking Friday and today (Sunday) off. I ran 18 miles total this week - that’s the most miles I’ve ran in a single week in probably since before we got married when we were training for the 2004 Austin Marathon.

The first 60% of Saturday’s run felt pretty good. The last 40% I was in zone 4 and just having to work to stay at the target pace.

Now that we’re back in Austin, I’m going to have to figure out how to balance going into the office (our 4/1 RTO started while we were in Baton Rouge), getting my runs in, and getting to CrossFit. I’m not exactly sure how this is going to work, but I did scale down my CrossFit plan from every day to 3/week. I still want to get in there, especially on lifting heavy days, but running is the priority right now. I really want to get that sub-30 5k run on June 28th.

Tomorrow’s run is actually a threshold run, so we’ll see how that is. Baton Rouge running is a lot simpler for planning harder workouts because well it’s very flat. We do live in the one part of town where it isn’t completely flat, but compared to Austin it’s just a different thing. I mean, our neighborhood isn’t in the hills, but there is still plenty of elevation change where you will definitely feel it. So for a threshold run… I need to see how this is going to go.

But I’m continuing to enjoy the running, and the audiobooks.

Most intense running week so far

This week was definitely the most intense week I’ve had running so far. It started out Monday with a threshold workout. It was basically 15 minutes at the race pace, which the Garmin figured was right at my lactate threshold.

I was very nervous about this workout all weekend. I really wasn’t sure if I could do it or not, but I knew I was going to get out there and give it a shot. I found a route that was mainly flat if even slightly net downhill, just because since it was pace based and not heart rate based, going uphill did me no favors.

It was 10 minutes normal pace, 15 mins at race pace, 10 mins at normal to finish. When I started the interval section, it felt fast (well, for me) and I could tell my HR got up pretty quickly. But I settled into a groove. I saw the timer get to 10 mins left and it was feeling hard, but I felt like I had plenty left. When I had 5 minutes left I was hurting. But I just told myself to hold on for 5 more minutes. 4… 3… 2… 1

And then I made it. It felt really good to get through that. That’s probably one of the most consistent hard efforts I’ve done in years. I mean, in CrossFit, we do lots of hard stuff. But I’ve had a hard time convincing my brain that I can stat at that HR for that long. Doing it on Monday was a good reminder just how much of all this is mental.

I had several more runs that I did during the week, and I felt good in all of them. I felt really strong yesterday in my “long” run for the week. It’s amusing, this week the Garmin has definitely turned up the knob. My Wednesday run this week was last weeks long run. But I’m excited to get them done.

The fact that I’m actually running straight for an hour at a time is just a great feeling. It will be interesting when I get back to Austin and some real ups and downs, but I’m excited to keep working towards the sub 30 goal!

Week recap: running, lifting, and 21 years!

This week was my first full week of working out that I’ve had in quite some time. I did take one day where I went for a long walk instead of doing a run, but I was really sore from the Bulgarian split squats that I did the day before, and I think it was the right call.

The key is consistent movement, after all, and I figured a 45 minute walk was better than a 30 minute run where I just felt like trash.

At the end of our hiking adventure last summer.

This week was also our 21st wedding anniversary. I still think about stuff from when we got married, and I think to myself oh that wasn’t that long ago. But it was 21 years ago. Pierre was actually younger than our current cats when we got married - that’s crazy. But I look forward to many, many more years with Carrie. I love spending time with her, whether that be here or traveling somewhere. I love you, Carrie!

Mardi Gras is over, and some running progress

Mardi Gras was this week, and as always we had a wonderful time. The parades with their floats and marching bands are always cool to see, but the best part is getting to spend that much time with all our friends.

Rex on Mardi Gras morning was shortened by not having bands because of the weather that blew through later in the day, but Carrie and I have never gotten so many “float beads” than we did this year. Each float in Rex throws their own bead with a medallion that is tied to the theme of that float. Since the crowd was so much lighter due to the weather, we were really able to get a lot of these beads. Definitely one of the cooler things you can catch (that you don’t have to fight for, e.g., a Muses shoe) during Carnival.

On a completely different note, after Mardi Gras I got back to my efforts to become a better runner. After two good but short runs during the week, I set out for a 55 minute run on Saturday. What was awesome about this is I only walked for about 20 seconds when I turned around to come home. That is the longest run with the least amount of walking in it I’ve done in 15 years? Definitely since I stopped bike racing in 2013. One of my goals this year was to run a continuous 5k, and at this point I definitely think I have that in the bag, I just have to do it. The stretch goal is to run a sub 30 5k. I still have a ways to go on that one.

The previous few weeks were hard to get runs in with a lot going on, but now that the time has changed, and we have more light after work, I find it much easier to get those after-work runs in when needed. Looking forward to the next few weeks in Baton Rouge to get some consistent running in around the neighborhood and the lakes.

Middle of Mardi Gras Weekend

This post will be short. We’re deep into Mardi Gras activities. We headed back to Baton Rouge this evening as we are both working tomorrow, and then we’ll head back to New Orleans in the evening for Orpheus and to watch Rex on Mardi Gras morning.

It’s been great to see everyone and to get in some of the parades. The parades are a blast, but they are exhausting. I love Mardi Gras, but come Tuesday night I am glad that it is over. Definitely not something you want to do all the time. But that’s part of the magic of it. It does just come once a year. There’s wisdom in the seasons, not everything needs to be available all the time.

Looking forward to seeing the fish in the local ponds are acting once Mardi Gras is over. I’m hoping they're getting more active with the weather being not cold. We will see.

Transition week

It’s always weird when we transition from Austin to Baton Rouge (and vice versa). This time is particularly odd since I will be heading back to Austin for work for a few days in the middle of the week. And then you throw in the extra craziness of Carnival, and it has been (and will continue to be) weird.

We did get a new dishwasher last week in Austin, and that was very exciting. Our old dishwasher had stopped cleaning properly, and the racks were falling apart. The new one cleans really well and is so quiet!

Not much happening on the fishing front right now. I did bring a pole with me to leave here. Looking forward to taking advantage of some spring fishing in the ponds around town in Baton Rouge. But I’m really looking forward to getting out on the water when we get back to Austin at the end of the month. The warming water temps should have all the fish active, but it won’t be hot yet.

First trips in the kayak!

We spent this weekend out at lake LBJ with some friends. My friend brought his new fishing kayak, and I brought mine. The Bronco Sport was pretty full on the way out there. This trip was the longest distance I’ve driven with the kayak, so I was a little nervous on the way out, but it held up fine. Friday morning I took the kayak out in the cold and hit the lake.

It took me a little while to get used to controlling it. On the first trip out the rudder wasn’t down all the way, so once I got that cleared up the ability to steer with my feet is really nice. It also took me a little while to get comfortable standing, but I figured that out as well. The PWR129 has great, “secondary stability,” meaning that it will wobble a good bit but then you hit a point and it just stops. So once I learned to let it just wiggle knowing that I could lean into that stable point, standing up got a lot more comfortable.

It was very cold on Friday. This rod later snapped in half when I was trying to set the hook on a fish Saturday night.

Unfortunately, I didn’t catch any fish in the kayak this trip, so that milestone is still out there. I caught a good size bluegill and a nice size bass from the dock at our house, which was nice. But that cold water and rapidly shifting temps in both directions seemed to be putting the fish in a weird mood. I think in about 2-3 weeks it’s going to be great fishing out there.

The weekend before, I was hoping to get a little time on the water at lake Walter E. Long just east of Austin. But when I got there, got everything all unloaded, and got the kayak in the water I noticed that the trolling motor didn’t have power. It was nothing easy, so I had to pack everything back up and head home. I quickly discovered when I got home that several of my wiring splices had come loose. I guess it was the vibration from the car ride. All-in-all I consider it a blessing in disguise because I got some much nicer butt connectors, a better crimper, and some shrink wrap tubing and redid them all. Now my splices are super solid.

The moon at the lake Thursday night when we arrived.

One last kayak story… I didn’t charge my trolling motor battery Friday overnight. I paid for this decision on Saturday. I wasn’t catching anything, and I knew the wind was going to slow me down coming in, so I decided it was time to head home. I crossed the lake over to our side, made it about three houses, and the motor just stopped. Battery was dead. I had my paddle, but the wind had picked up while I was back in some canals off the main lake. I started paddling and during the gusts it was all I could do to not go backwards. Eventually I got to a point where the lake turned and I was able to get some wind relief from the houses by hugging the shoreline. But that was a long, hard paddle back to the house. But it was good in some sorts, to get to practice what happens when I run out of battery or something else goes wrong with the motor. You can always paddle!

Motor Deploy System Finished, Car Rack Success, and more!

First off, I did a test run of getting the kayak up on the Bronco Sport, getting it strapped in, and driving it around the neighborhood. It’s a little bit of work out (I have something on the way that should help with that, more on that in a later post), but I got it up. Once all the straps are tightened it doesn’t want to go anywhere. It will be interesting to take it on the highway. Also, this practice run allowed me to work out some ordering issues (for example, you can’t load anything through the tail gate once you tie down the back) and work through the packing checklist. I didn’t know how easy the loading and unloading process was going to be, but now I feel confident that I have it under control.

I was able to do some work on the kayak setup as well as several parts arrived while I was in Boston.

With me using the MinnKota Powerguide instead of the MotorGuide Xi3, I had a need to adapt the motor deploy system that came with the wiring kit that I bought. The Xi3 has one big pedal to release and store the motor. The MinnKota on the other hand has two levers. One you see in the picture on the left which is used to hold the motor when it is completely stowed. However, with how the motor sits on the mounting plate, I also need to open that lever when I deploy to get it around that mounting plate.

The picture on the right shows the lever that you need to pull to release the motor to be pulled up. So I had the need to depress two different levers at different points in the process. I used the carabiner that came with the kit to attach to the big lever in the front, and found a very thin carabiner around the house to attach to the metal part of the release pedal. I used spectra cable with some simple loop knots as the pulls for each lever. These run into the hull using the YakAttack thru-hull wiring kits. With the carabiners it’s easy to remove the motor for transport.

There’s another thru-wiring plate where the spectra cord comes out, and I tied on some simple T-pulls to the end of the cable. There was one trick that I learned from the Bonafide guys who sold the wiring kit that I thought was really clever.

You use a piece of bungee cable and tie the spectra cable to it with slack in the spectra cable between the two knots. This helps to create some tension in the spectra cable to resist you pulling and make the process easier.

I had to buy more spectra cable, more bungee cord, the T-pulls, and another set of thru-hull wiring plates. But then it all came together really easily.

The other key part of the system that came in the Bonafide kit was some cord that you actually use to pull the motor up and let it down. This cord is attached to the trolling motor shaft with a loop, and you keep it tight with a YakAttack gear track cleat. Below is the video of me deploying and retrieving the motor:

So this was really the last big thing that I needed to do to make the kayak useable. My current plan is to get it on the water for its inaugural fishing voyage this coming Saturday. I have an appointment with Texas Parks and Wildlife this week, so I should have boat registration numbers before Saturday. Sunday is supposed to be raining all day, so it will be a great day to work on the last little details for the kayak before we head out on a fishing trip with some friends at the lake the following weekend. So this is what the boat looks like all kitted out (it’s missing my safety flag on the back, but otherwise, this is what it will look like on the water).

In Boston

I’m in Boston for a few days for a work meeting. When I have traveled for work in the past it’s almost been exclusively overseas, so it was always at least 5 days if not seven or more. This trip is two nights… fly up, meet, come home. Not bad. I would like to make it back up here at some point as a tourist.

When we were landing we swung over the Atlantic and came in from the east and while we were over the ocean the mist coming off the water was interacting with the setting sun in a crazy way. Just wanted to share that.

Continued progress on the kayak

One big step taken this weekend which is I got the crossbars and cradles put on the Bronco Sport. These are the Yakima cross bars with their Big Catch cradles - the only kayak mount that is actually rated to hold modern fishing kayaks. It’s nice as well because it came with all the straps necessary to secure the kayak. I think I will have to adjust the cross bars a little to get as much distance as possible between them, but that’s an easy fix. I want to give a huge thanks to The Rack Shop. I showed up at 1:30, with them closing at 2, hoping to just make an appointment, and my man went ahead and stayed and got it installed on the spot. Amazing! If you need any sort of rack or accessories, go check them out!

There isn’t a lot of progress from a finished perspective on the kayak this week, but I figured out how to get the trolling motor to deploy and stow from the cockpit area. The kit I got for the Motorguide had some stuff for this, but the MinnKota has two levers that I have to pull, so I was able to modify the setup to make it work. While I did test it with some temporary stuff, I had to order some random things to actually finish it off. I’ll take pictures once it’s actually setup for real.

I will say, I’ve been thoroughly enjoying the problem solving of getting this thing all setup. I really didn’t expect to - I’ve always kind of felt I wasn’t good a this. But I think the kayak is looking pretty good and it’s functional. Getting the MinnKota was scary because there was nothing on the internet about this. But honestly, it’s been a real good surprise how much fun I’m having with this.

So it’s been a good distraction from all the fascism going around.

This week I’m heading to Boston for work. I haven’t been to Boston since the mid-00s, so it will be neat. We’re going to be in the suburbs, so it’s not like I’m having a meeting in the middle of town, but it will cool to get this customer visit in.

Hopefully next weekend I can finish up the build on the kayak on Saturday and get on the water on Sunday.

Kayak progress... power!

Today I had some time to work on the kayak. Last week when I posted I was still trying to figure out where to put the circuit breaker for the main motor circuit. You want it close to the power source, but there really wasn’t a good spot. I looked into some options of trying to create something, but it wasn’t panning out.

Then I discovered that you can buy battery boxes that have a circuit breaker installed in them. This concept was perfect. It was the right size to still fit in the battery well behind the seat, it put the breaker adjacent to the battery, and it gave the battery some protection from water. I ordered one of those and it showed up early in the week. I also had gotten my crimpers and wire strippers in the mail this week, so I had everything I needed.

The battery box with the quick disconnect halves attached.

I moved the mount for the wheels back a bit and that allowed the battery box to fit in. It came with a strap that fit nicely through the bracket to secure it down. Connected the battery to the box circuity and the quick disconnect plug to the terminals on the outside. A strip, crimp, and shrink tube and the connection to power was complete. I have the wire routed through the left side of the kayak inside the hull. The next thing was to cut off some of the wire coming out of the motor and attach the plug on there that matches the outlet I installed last weekend.

Plug that connects the motor to power.

I cut off a decent amount of the wire coming out of the motor, and spliced the plug on. I will say, getting used to exactly where you need to crimp is not the most straightforward thing. At least with the heat shrink tubing, it gives you a little more security. This tubing has a glue inside as well, so once it shrinks that glue melts and makes a nice seal.

Inside kayak splice to motor plug receptacle.

I made the last splice inside the hull which connected the main length of wire coming from the battery to the wires coming off of the receptacle I installed last weekend for the motor plug. (I of course disconnected the battery before doing this as this completes the circuit.) Once this connection was made I went back and reconnected the battery and heard the motor beep. At this point I knew I was close.

I went through the pairing procedure with the remote, and then it was the moment of truth. Would the prop spin?

Success!

I’m very proud of this, which I know is kind of silly. But I really have never done anything like this since building my senior thesis hardware component, and honestly, that just involved some soldering and putting things in a bread board. Compared to what some people have in their kayaks and boats, this is trivial. But I brought it into existence, and that feels pretty damn good.

Still left to do before I can get it in the water:

1. Make an appointment with TPWD to get the boat registered and get my numbers put on.

2. I need to get the rack installed on top of my Bronco Sport so that I can actually bring it to water.

3. Still need to figure out the placement for a few things on the kayak. I know this will evolve over time, but there’s some key things I need to find a place for.

4. Adjust the pedals for my leg length. This is a pretty straightforward task, but I noticed today the stock position is really close in. They are very easy to adjust, but I need to actually sit in it.

The junk removal folks are coming on Friday, so that will also mean that I should be able to get things rearranged and the kayak holder mounted.

The Kayak has arrived!

After several years of planning, I have finally acquired my kayak! It’s a Bonafide PWR 129, and I am really excited about this boat. The above picture was right after I got it home. Huge shoutout to TG Canoes and Kayak down in San Marcos for hooking me up with this thing!

The SideKick wheel system is an easy install.

First thing was to install the Sidekick wheel kit that Bonafide makes for their newer kayaks. Since I will be transporting it on top of the car, having wheels built in is really nice. Keeps you from having to deal with a kayak car once you get the boat down to the water. Also, as you can probably tell, I was able to get the kayak up on some saw horses (thanks, Peter!) to get it up off the ground.

The stripped down bow of the PWR 129.

Today I wanted to get the trolling motor mounted to the kayak, even if I wasn’t going to be able to finish the wiring (I’m waiting on a wire stripper to arrive). The first step was taking off the rod strap and the dummy bolts from the bow. Above is the bare bow with also one of the wiring panels taken off. I love this feature from Bonafide - they have these removable panels that allow you to route stuff inside the hull. So you don’t have to drill holes to run wires. If you mess up one of these little panels, they’re cheap to replace.

The Ketch bow mount plate installed.

I then installed the Ketch PWR 129 bow mount plate as seen above. Installing this plate was the one time I intend to have to drill into the hull. But I really like the fact that it’s aluminum, and it’s super stable. It’s very well made, the craftsmanship from Ketch really shows. They had a great YouTube video for how to install it, and I followed along and got it installed without an issue.

This point in the story is where I should insert some context on the particular trolling motor that I got for the kayak. Every video or blog or anything you will see on the internet about motorizing your PWR 129 will talk about the MotorGuide Xi3 kayak trolling motor. It was the motor I intended to put on there. However, MotorGuide announced last year that they were going away as a brand. One of the other brands of their parent company (Lowrance), who also makes trolling motors, was going to be their main trolling motor brand. So all the Xi3s got snatched up. I thought I had a line on one, but then right before I was going to order it… it also disappeared.

After much searching, I found that the guys at NuCanoe, another brand of kayak popular with anglers, had started selling MinnKota PowerDrives with a cut down shaft to 36”. Since they are an official MinnKota reseller, you still get all the original warranty. So the MinnKota PowerDrive is what I went with. I ordered from a company called EcoFishing, but it seemed to still come from NuCanoe. Either way, the shipping was fast and their service was good.

Unfortunately, there really isn’t any content out there about installing this motor. I’m using the wiring kit that Bonafide had been selling for the Xi3, and luckily wires are generally just wires. But coming from the computer world where there are lots of standards and everything is very precise, this whole kayak fishing world is definitely out of my comfort zone. A lot more DIY than I’m usually comfortable with. But I don’t know, I’ve just sort of embraced it. I kind of had to if I want to get out on the water. Ok, so back to the kayak.

MinnKota PowerGuide quick-release puck

The trolling motor comes with a quick release mount, so the first step is to get this puck attached to my bracket. I actually ended up using the screws that were for some part of the Bonafide Xi3 kit that I don’t need, and they were perfect fits. After this, I had to attach the other part of the quick release mount to the trolling motor itself. I always get a little nervous when the first part of the instructions involve unscrewing the side plates off of something, but honestly, it was super straightforward.

Deployed MinnKota PowerGuide

Stowed MinnKota PowerGuide

The quick release is great. You just place it on the puck and slide in the u-bracket. It comes with a little locking pin, but you can also put a padlock on there if you need to leave it for a bit unattended. The mount through the Ketch plate feels super solid. The MinnKota doesn’t have the one pedal like the MotorGuide for deploying and pulling up, so it will be interesting to see how this is going to go when I’m on the water. I have some stuff that I can use to create a pull for both the body and the little pedal, so I might put that one, but we’ll have to see.

The next bit set of tasks revolve around actually wiring everything up. I did a few prep tasks on that, but once I get the stripper and crimper, I will be able to do a proper job of getting everything wired. My hope is to get out on the water on the 25th as we’ll be in New Orleans next weekend for the Krewe of Janus Ball.

I will be posting here as I continue to customize the kayak, and of course the results of actually getting it out on the water!

2025 Goals

While November of 2024 didn’t exactly pan out like I was hoping, I want to make sure that I set goals for 2025 to try to improve myself. I can’t control a lot of things in this world. But I can control me, and I want to end 2025 in a better state than I started it.

1. Get below 200 lbs - this is very ambitious. But I feel like that’s where I need to be weight wise to achieve a few other things. I know there is a school of thought that says my goals should be the things that I want to do once I’m at that weight, not the weight itself. But I need to drop weight - that’s the major blocker to achieving a lot of my fitness goals, and honestly, it’s just physics. Do a pull up, well I need to get stronger in my upper body pulling, but it would also be a lot easier if there was less to pull up. Running a sub 2 half marathon again, or a sub 30 5k. Again, for every kilo you lose you go faster. But that’s not just it, I also just want to fit into more clothes, and have better numbers, and on and on. So I’m going to make the core thing, dropping the weight, the goal. Now, if I hit 205 or even 210, honestly, I’ll consider this is a success. I just need to see consistent, significant movement.

2. Run a continuous 5k (stretch: under 30 mins) - In all the running I’ve done in recent years, I’ve followed a so many minutes on, and then 1 min walk strategy. And for doing half marathons it’s a great way to train and not get hurt. But it isn’t the best for going quickly over a short distance. I really believe I should be able to a) run a 5k without taking a walk break and b) do that in under 30 mins. So whatever I need to do from a mobility, training, or weight loss perspective, I’m game.

3. Do a strict pull up - This is one of those things that has haunted me my entire life. Not only is it important in CrossFit, it just seems like one of those life skills that could come in very handy one day.

4. Go fishing consistently - I will soon be obtaining a fishing kayak, and I am very excited (look for future posts as that progresses). I started trying to go fishing right before the pandemic, but it was really during and after the lockdown that I have really gotten into it. In all the stress, when I’m fishing I feel all that float away, even if I’m not catching anything. And I have always loved being on the water, and now I will have my very own little boat. Like I said, more to come here.

5. Spend more time reading - I really do like to read, I just find it hard to make time for it. Carrie and I have talked about setting aside some time each week to read as opposed to watching random stuff on TV, and I like this idea. I think I need to start to read more non-fiction. I’m not going to set a book goal or anything like that. I just want to spend a little bit of time consistently not staring at a screen, but still learning and being entertained.

Carrie and I in front of the NY Public Library. So glad we got to make a quick trip to NJ and NYC in December!

So that’s this year’s goals. I would say some more general goals would be making sure we travel, see our friends and family, and do more things in the two cities that we live in. Life is short, and I’m definitely at the point where I just want to seize it.

I hope everybody has a great 2025.

Henri and Gigi in a rare moment of being snuggly.

We made it on the plane!

We’re on the plane heading back to the USA. 🇺🇸 It’s been fun, Europe, but it’s time to go see our cats!

Didn’t see this coming

Woke up this morning to our flights out of Zurich being cancelled. We had been rebooked, but since we were on separate reservations, the system had put us on separate itineraries. So I spent a while on the phone with United, but the guy I talked to was very helpful and got us all rebooked. I even got some of the miles I used on Carrie’s ticket back? Airline fare rules are so weird.

So we’re headed to Zurich today, and I made a reservation at the Zurich airport hotel. I feel very fortunate that we’re at a point in our lives where we can absorb this without an issue, I know that’s a privilege that I’m very thankful for.

We’ve had a fun time in Geneva. We visited CERN, so the academic in me was very excited. Here’s to no more changes!

We are done!

We’re waiting for the train to leave Chamonix, and I definitely have mixed feelings. I’m sad to leave this beautiful place with the amazing food, great wine, and just mind blowing natural beauty. But I’m also looking forward to getting back to our house, our cats, and our friends and family.

We ended up hiking 7 miles yesterday, with a pretty steep climb that allowed us to skip the ladders. We had a rain storm come through (though we luckily dodged the thunderstorm that came through across the valley). We also used our water filter bottle for the first time to get water out of a mountain waterfall. But it was a good hike, and we topped it off taking a cable car down from the mountain.

I’m going to write a more in-depth day by day review of things when I get back to my laptop. But in short, it was very hard, very beautiful, and really required leaning on each other. I’m just glad there is no hiking today!

Crossed into Switzerland yesterday, rest day today

Yesterday we crossed from Italy into Switzerland on foot, which is a crazy thing to say. I ate an energy bar on an international border, while staring down a valley where I could see another international border. Wild.

It was a very pretty hike, but it was the first time my fear of heights kicked in. I had a panic on this one part where I had a hard time putting one foot in front of the next and moving my poles. It was something about the angle of the trail and the very steep we were on. But I pushed through and once we turned the corner up the switchback the feeling subsided.

It was the first part of the whole experience where slipping had very bad consequences. It was also just straight up steep. It took us a while to get up to the top of Grand Col Ferret. But the view at the top was pretty amazing. The rest of the day was just hot and dusty as we descended into Switzerland. We ended up taking the bus one town sooner than written, but we were both done.

We did have the unique experience of having a cheese sandwich while looking at the cows from which the cheese is made.

We had lovely accommodations in Champex Lac last night. Dinner was great. The hotel was super cool.

Today we took some trains to get down here right north of Chamonix in Angieterre. We are going to hike our way to Chamonix tomorrow, but we’re not doing the ladders. I don’t trust myself not to freak out. But there are several variations depending on the weather and how we feel in the morning.

It’s raining here for the first time this trip, but the weather has brought a nice cooling breeze. Tomorrow is supposed to be a little cooler, which will be welcome.