Birkie Fever

Well, my 3rd Birkie was successful. I skied the 54 kilometers in just under 5 1/2 hours, which was a personal best for me. Most of you know that I skied this year's Birkie to raise money for Free the Slaves. With almost $2,000 raised, I feel it was very successful. My plan is to continue this next year and make it even better. Thanks to everyone who supported me...you are contributing to a very worthy cause. It's not too late to donate! If you want to make a contribution, copy and paste the following link into your Internet browser:

https://www.causes.com/fb/donations/new?cause_id=62939&fundraiser_id=33375045&m=a0036bf0

Porcupine Mountains

Last week was a small trip down memory lane for me. As a child, I made quite a few trips to the "Porkies" with my parents and grandparents. Passing by the tiny A-frame cabins that we used to rent, I could remember how my sister and I thought the little loft with the double bed was so cool. The Upper Peninsula of Michigan is very blessed by the snow gods. Big old Lake Superior provides a lot of moisture for the storms coming out of Canada. Leah, Jere, Jon, and myself decided to make the Porkies our destination for the 4th annual winter yurt trip. As usual, we had a wonderful time. This year we had a hand crank radio and picked up a classic rock station out of Ironwood. A nice addition. We did some skiing, played some cards, drank a few beers, and as usual, planned our next trip...Nepal. We'll see if it happens.

A New Christy is born

Welcome to Beau David Christy! He is such a sweet boy...I got in some good snuggle time with him when he was just a few days old. What a treat! Congrats to Matt, Rachel, Jace, and Moose for the new addition to their family.

Birkie Fever

Why? Why? Why? I think it was Leah who asked me why I decided to sign up for the Birkie. My response was, "It's the same reason I signed up last time...one too many beers and one too many days of winter boredom". So this past weekend Jon and I drove up to Hayward to do some training on the Birkie Trail. I forgot how hard that darn trail is! After 30 km I was exhausted. I'm not sure how I'll make 54 km in just 3 short weeks. My favorite Chinese proverb seems relevant: "The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step". Wish me luck!