adventures in the north

I took my last homeleave opportunity to drive up to Ohio and see Ryan for a few days. The weather on the way up wasn't great - scattered rain, but every other day was beautiful and sunny. I only got the camera out to snap a couple of shots of downtown Cincinnati. I didn't stop on the way up until I got past Cincinnati.

You can tell by our self- portraits that we had fun seeing each other. It was nice to be able to stay a day longer than when I went to visit in November. We were cracking up by the time we got done taking this set of pictures with Ryan's new camera. I kept cutting myself out of the pictures.

On Thursday and Friday, I went to some of Ryan's classes. I got to play volleyball with his sophomores at what would have been around 7:00a CDT. Those who know me well and have had to be around me in the morning know this is no small feat. I was lucky to be out of bed!

This picture is of Ryan with his freshman class at the field. They're doing soccer and his first class doesn't have enough people for 2 teams, so he usually plays.

On Sabbath afternoon, we weren't very hungry for a long time because we ate a big breakfast so late. So, instead of the spaghetti we were going to have, we just ate chili and hot dogs, then headed to Kenyon College to go biking. We wanted to go on the trail last time I was there, but didn't go farther than the train (about 50 feet). So this time, I packed my bike in my trunk and brought it with me.

We biked from Gambier to Howard, so basically the middle part of the trail. It's a nice trail, but really straight, since it used to be railroad tracks.




I didin't want to leave my camera behind, so I rode with it. I found out that I can bike and take pictures at the same time (look mom, no teeth!). Actually mom, you would have liked it because there were lots of nice cows to moo at while we rode past. Randy would have howled at them ;).

The more interesting parts of the ride were where the trail was next to the river/creek. It was more interesting to look at and usually meant we were a little more shaded, whiche was cooler. We stopped at this bridge to take some pictures. There was some weird guy there talking to himself. He was there when we came back through too. Hmm.

You guessed it, a self- portrait!












You'll have to ask Ryan if he was riding or standing when he took this one.
















This time we took a "real" picture of ourselves with my timer. I have no idea where the road goes that was on top of this bridge. Maybe it's on the map?

Ryan sprinted the last part of the 4.5 miles back because he was so thirsty. We both wished we had a way to take water with us easily. I was kicking myself for forgetting my backpack in Portland. We survived though. This shot was an over-the-shoulder- while-riding special. I hope you appreciate the degree of difficulty. I didn't want to take the camera strap off my neck, just in case!

I apparently make faces while driving. =)

I brought Lindsay, a junior here at Highland, back with me on Sunday. She contributed to me missing the turn onto 71 back through Louisville, so we got to see Lexington on the way back instead. We had fun though, and she assured me she was in no hurry to get back. I just hope I have more energy tomorrow for my softball game!

Break was great, and the best part is that I get to see Ryan next Wednesday for his last home leave. It's almost nicer having different breaks, because then we get to see each other for both of them! Why didn't we think of this last semester?