Playing Catch-up

Well we wrapped up the remainder of the 1,400 mile drive yesterday, arriving back in New Orleans well before dark. I had been afraid that we'd get stuck in Dallas rush-hour traffic, and from prior experience I was expecting the worst. As it turned out, though, things were flowing surprisingly smoothly in the big D and although we were occasionally bumper-to-bumper it really wasn't for long. So I guess we ended up spending in the neighborhood of $420 for gas, which was still better than we would have gotten for plane tickets and a rental car, not to mention the fact that I wouldn't have been able to bring the bike and as a result would have been miserable the whole time.

So with that little excursion behind me I'm now playing catch-up at work on a number of projects that, for reasons related to the maintenance of my own good mental health, I more or less ignored for the last week. I did make it out to the morning levee ride today where my legs felt like lead after two solid days of driving. Donald was there, having apparently had an extra-large bowl of Wheaties, followed up by a can of spinach, and washed down with a good dose of sado-masochism. He was taking long hard pulls all day, and when he'd pull off the other fifteen guys would rotate taking maybe twenty pedal strokes each before dropping back.

I think I was starting to get back into the swing of things toward the end of the ride, but I have to admit that I still feel pretty slow, even though I was wearing the new X-ray jersey that The Daughter gave me. If you look at the graphics, you can find a few broken bones, some with surgical repairs, so I guess it seemed fitting, eh? Speaking of which, my shoulder has been kind of unhappy lately, probably from lugging around luggage and stuff on the trip. Anyway, I arrived home pretty hot and tired, so I dove head-first into a carton of ice cream that I found in the freezer. I mean, strawberry ice cream is practically the same as strawberry yogurt, only without the lactobacilli action, right? I do like my ice cream, even if I am a little bit lactose intolerant.