What you've all been waiting for!

So im sorry for the wait, i got lazy out in Seattle and didn't feel like writing alot. Then ive been busy here with school since i got back, but now i have some free time and i will fill you in on the rest of my trip. Where did i leave off..............Oh yeah!

Day 3: The Dinner
Thanksgiving morning i woke up and went for a morning ride after haveing two pieces of sausage and a cappacino (as i discovered later, not enough food). Where we were in Tacoma wasn't far from Point Defiance Park. I mean literaly down the road about a mile. So i rode down there around for a little bit, along the water and back to the house. I will probably move out there several years down the road, because its amazing there. Not to mention they have more elevation in 3 blocks than we do in the entire state haha. After my ride i sat around the house, watched the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade and some football. Then it was time for dinner. This table we used only sat 8 comfortably, there were 10 of us. We fit. Thanksgiving dinner was the usual, haveing the family together is fun because there are lots of good stories and lots of laughs. After dinner we watched...something....oh, Greys Anatomy and then i went to bed. I was going to bed early because i didnt want to get too used to the time change.

Day 4: The first real ride
So after thanksgiving, i refused to go downtown one of the biggest cities in the country on the busiest shopping day of the year. So my dad and i went to my brothers appartment. My brother and i kitted up and went for a nice ride. It was about an hour and 15 min long. Climbed a bit, but my brother told me it was nothing. We hit 42mph on one of the decents. When we got done my brothers and i went to eat and drove around a bit. Went to a few stores, then went back to the house. I fell asleep eventually.

Day 5: The Dusk Ride
I didnt get to my brothers house untill later that day, because we spent the morning at the Museum of Glass, which was pretty cool. Then we went to my brothers house, and my dad fell asleep on the couch, my mom, her friend, and my sister-in-law took a drive around Bellview, while my brother and i went riding. We started at about 3 o clock, and it gets dark there around 5. So after doing two decently long climbs and 2 pretty fast decents we wound our way along a bike trail that followed a river in the vally, with mountains all around.....yeah pretty cool. By this time i didnt have my sunglasses on because i wouldnt have been able to see. We werent far from the house, but by the time we got there my mom was worried that we had gotten lost because it was so dark. My dad was still asleep. Im pretty sure we went back to the house and i again fell asleep.

Day6: The Climb
So first off, pictures and data to this climb will be posted as soon as my dad and brother send them to me. But it maxes out at 30% and avereages like 9% for 2.2 miles, there isnt any flat part. So we drove to Issiquah (i dont know how to spell it) becasue my dad was suppose to borrow a bike from the shop and go do a light ride while we did this climb, but the guy we know wasnt there. So my brother and i headed off twords the hill with my dad and brother john in the van behind us taking pictures. After 5-6 miles we got to the base of the climb. I took off my wind vest, and considered taking off my LS jersey, but didnt. My brother has a Garmin GPS for his bike (same one Tony has i believe) and he slipped that in my pocket becasue he knew i would be faster. So i cant really describe it other than it looked like Brasstown Bald from the Tour de Georgia. Thats just what it looked like to me. It was STEEP. After i got through the first half, which was the steepest, it straightened out and decreased in grade. But now we are high enough and in the shade that there was ice on the road. I stood to get out of my saddle and didnt know i was on black ice. The bike went right out form under me. I landed on my left knee and thigh. Its the slow falls that hurt the most. I didnt continue because i didnt want to make it worse, its the off season anyway. After i got home i showered and packed up for the flight home.

Day 7: Homeward Bound
Flight out of Sea-Tac airport was at 1:20pm (4:20pm local time) It was a 3 hour flight to Milwaukee. Had a two hour layover untill out little puddle hopper of a plane to Grand Rapids took off. It was delayed. Due to the weather some planes were delayed and this was the last flight out for the night, so we had to wait for the others. We finaly got to Grand Rapids and it was like 1am local time. I rested in the car on the way to Jackson, then drove from Jackson to Ypsilanti, because i had school later that day. i got to my dorm at about 4:30am Tuesday morning. Woke up at 8:30 for class. Went to bed at 11pm that day.