Happy Birthday Obama (and me)

As I am sure you all know, yesterday was the birthday of hope. We had a party. Barrack Obama and I share a birthday along with Louis Armstrong, Billy Bob Thornton, Roger Clemens and many other names I don't recognize. Everybody went all out: Sara sent out invitations and made shirts with Mckenzie. Kev made a sweet "the new hope" poster featuring me.

Mike dressed like "Chris twenty years from now" and it was frighteningly accurate and really really funny. Check out that soul patch.

In addition to the party, Sara took me on a great three day Southwestern Montana trip.

Right before leaving, I went to give the Chickens water and decided to check for an egg. There it was, a sweet little egg about half the size of a normal chicken egg.

the first egg


Sara sizing it up.


We left the first one for Kev and Mckenzie since they were working and we figured it would be a nice welcome to the weekend present.


Friday, we went to Norris Hot Springs and camped nearby in the middle of some incredible large rocks. It's a normal sized tent there in the picture, I promise.

Sara choosing a spot with June.

Nice red Montana flora


The Rock we woke up to with the sun shining on it.

Saturday we went to Pony Days in Pony,Montana and on our drive we saw this old stone building, maybe an old house.

A big crack but a beautiful structure.

Next we hit up Virginia city to go the Follies show Saturday night. Keving met us there and we all road the steam train which runs between Virginia City and Nevada City on the weekends.

Inside an old school house in Nevada City.

the end of the trip.

We camped Saturday night outside of Virginia City and went to the Patagonia Outlet in Dillon on Sunday. Pretty nice birthday all around.

Finalizing the Bike

My new wheels finally arrived. Kevin came over and helped me put them on and shorten the chain; the finishing touches. We overcame a few minor setbacks with some good ingenious ideas and late in the evening, I rode around barefoot on my new old bike.

Here it is against a nice red wall. I had to adjust the fenders a little so they follow the curve of the tire but I am pretty sure I will be taking alot more pictures so its alright, you can see this one.

Nice view of the saddle and handlebars against a barnlike garage.

there it is, again.

And a nice shot of some onions from our garden. Who doesn't like garden pictures right? At least it changes things up a bit.

Bicycle Project Progress

Here are some pictures of the Eagle Glider's ongoing transformation. This is the bike I have been riding for about 3 years and found one day as we were driving through Helena. This week, I made some wooden fenders and ordered some great cork grips from Rivendell Bicycle Works. They are probably my new favorite bike site with great commentary on pretty much everything.


The original state of the Glider six speed.


I created this pvc - garden hose - tea kettle steam bending setup when Sara was at work and steamed up my wood for my fenders. It was a pretty stealth operation; her having no idea what went on in our kitchen. Then she saw the picture and said, "well at least you cleaned up really well."


When it got nice and flexible, I bent it around my newly crafted form and clamped it for a couple hours.

Here are both the oiled fenders, sittin out in the sun getting nice and dark.


I was so excited to get them on the bike that I couldn't really wait but they got a little color even just from one afternoon sitting outside. They are made of cherry and I think they came out nicely.


Here is an image of one of the cork grips with a coat of laquer on it.


And the rear fender.

Here we are, the whole banana. I am still waiting for my new rims to come in as well as my seat post. I am moving to a single speed with a coaster break and I am just gitty to get riding. More to come soon...