My 4th of July was good, but more or less uneventful. We spent Friday afternoon at Jordan's friend John's parents' house (did I punctuate that right?) on Medicine Lake. We played a couple games of v-ball and splashed around in the lake for a bit then headed back to Rachel's to grill out. They decided that no 4th of July would be complete without swimming in a Kiddie Pool, so Rachel and Amy ran to the store and purchased one, then filled it with freezing cold water, and proceeded to play around in it like 4 year olds (except with alcoholic drinks in hand) for hours. It was fun to watch I guess, if you're into crazy girls. The food was good, the company better, but I decided to take off around 6:00 and head back to my place to watch a movie and then the fireworks from my balcony. I have to admit that I'm not as big a fan of fireworks as I was in my youth, but I love watching the 4th of July fireworks from my balcony. I live on the 23rd floor and I can look out and in every direction there are fireworks filling the sky. It’s an incredible sight, for about 10 minutes, and then I lose interest. Nonetheless, I was glad to be there.
Saturday I woke up and headed up to the cabin and spent the day with the family. Tried to fish for a bit but it was too windy on the lake (no hooks in the neck this time) so I headed back and floated on the lake for a bit. My uncle decided that we needed a 45 pound turkey to feed the 18 of us so we ate turkey until we passed out (leaving about 25 lbs. of leftovers). I think he takes pride in the size of his turkey, not sure about that one.
Sunday I slept in, relaxed, celebrated my aunt's birthday at Jax Cafe with the family, exercised, and then relaxed some more. It was a nice day to do nothing.
Despite my best intentions of making it to the Taste of Minnesota this year, I never quite made it over to Harriet Island. It was probably safest that I didn't go considering the number of tragic fatalities this year. Maybe they should move it back to the capitol, it seemed a little safer there. I did however see/hear the fireworks every night, so I at least felt like I was a part of it.
Alright, that's it for this entry. Sorry, no exciting story this time, but I'll work on one for next time.
You remember when your mom used to tell you, "Look both ways for cars before crossing the street"? She should have mentioned bicycles as well. As part of my latest health kick (I'm getting too fat) I've been biking more and more. Tonight, Tyson and I decided to go for a bike ride. Around 6:15 I packed up my bike in my trunk and took off for Minneapolis. Ty and I spent some time trying to get my brake pads not to rub on my rims, but to no avail. I counted the extra friction as extra calories burned, and eventually got over my bitterness. We rode around Calhoun twice and then headed to BLB (Bryant Lake Bowl) as per usual for dinner and beer (I had a Coke of course). It was "date night" so the place was more crowded than normal and our food took a very long time to get there. By the time Ty and I finished eating our meals, it was dusk. I've been meaning to get some lights for my bike, but just haven't got around to it.
We decided to bike home on the side streets because we figured there wouldn't be much traffic. All was going fine and well until we came to Nicollet Ave. There were quite a few cars trying to turn left from Nicollet onto 25th. The last car in the line did not have his headlights on so I was concentrating on making sure he was out of the way. I looked both ways and saw no cars in the near distance, so I started to cross the street. Ty who was to my left, however, did not start to cross. I thought this to be odd since he's not afraid of death and always challenges cars and/or SUVs. Suddenly, to my left I see this biker coming full speed right at me. I slam on my brakes and easily stop before he gets to us, but he didn't think I was going to. The man slammed on his brakes but unfortunately for him he happened to be carrying a bag in his right hand and his only free hand to grab the brake lever with was his left hand. **He grabs the left brake and his back tire lifts up off the ground and over the handle bars he goes flying (at least 10 ft.) while rolls of toilet paper go flying out of his bag and land in the street and in the tree. The poor guy is just laying in the street not believing what just happened. I'm worried that a car is going to run over him. I ask him if he's alright repeatedly while apologizing profusely but he just stares at me and doesn't say a word. He picks up 2 rolls of TP from the road and climbs the tree to get the other 2 rolls. He looks at his bike, fusses with the chain a little, and then takes off. Needless to say, I was a little shaken. I think I will stick to the treadmill for a little while until this incident gets lost somewhere between my short-term and long-term memory. And yes, in case you were wondering, I was wearing a helmet. Safety first...that's my motto.
** story slightly embellished to make it at least a little interesting.