Traveling with no wallet because we got a new puppy!
The drive back to Atlanta was relatively uneventful. After Thee Abundance Camp, Will decided to go for a ride before we hit the road, and found himself on Mt. Baldy with an irreparable flat and a slow leak.
By the time I went to rescue him, and we got back downtown, it was evident we weren’t going anywhere that night. We decided to get a good night’s rest and start heading east the next day. That meant instead of a 5-hour drive, we were looking at 11.
We’re no strangers to long days on the road, so it was fine. We arrived in Albuquerque around 11 PM where our friend Eric and his cat Carlos Marx welcomed us. We said our goodnights and went promptly to bed.
It was so great being able to see so many friends along the way during this trip. It was a thing I was most looking forward to. Shameless friend plug. If you’re not familiar with Eric, also known as pedalhomie, he’s a pretty cool dude who makes some really fun merch that you can spend your money on if you choose. Eric took us for breakfast before we hit the road towards our next stop. To be honest, there’s not really anything to report from the last two days of the trip. We followed the routine of driving most of the day, sleeping at night, and getting up to repeat it all over again the next morning.
I spent most gas station stops hunting a classic bag of Ritz Bits, but for some reason, most places only had the “spicy queso” version. It just didn’t seem wise to trap myself in a car for long hours after experimenting. After stops in Oklahoma City and Memphis, Tennessee, we made it to Atlanta, picked up some Thai Food, and had dinner with my family.
Considering I’m all over the place most of the time, I think I see my family quite often, but definitely still not enough. I also didn’t manage to visit Grandma this trip, and that’s for sure a huge dissappointment, but I’ll be sure to drop in next time!
We spent the next two days resting after the long drive and getting ourselves together to fly back to Spain. We also managed to pop into our friend Devin’s run club, which was super fun. We did 2.5 miles of running with fun people and a few rad doggos. There was also a walking group, which I took comfort in knowing was an option in the event that my ankle didn’t want to cooperate. Luckily, my ankle was fine, and it wasn’t even sore or stiff afterward, which is a huge sign of progress. After the run, we all went for ice cream at Big Softie. My kind of carrying on!
Saturday afternoon we popped into Devin’s graduation from her Georgia Beloved Naturalists cohort. Devin is such an inspiring human, not just because she’s always doing something, but because she’s constantly pursuing things she loves and is the most impressive networker I’ve ever met. She’s an elite community builder, but also partakes in the offerings around her. Some folks only pour into things, and some folks only take, Devin does both. Super proud of her always. And now I know what a naturalist is! Side note… It was such a joy seeing such a diverse room of people super excited about plants and stuff. So cool!
On Saturday night, we flew back to Spain, and now, as I type this, it’s Saturday again, and I’m on a plane headed for Cleveland. Not the most ideal travel schedule, but it was VERY nice to sleep in my own bed for a few days.
The dog days were over, but they’ve kicked back up again!
This past April, we lost our furbaby Emoji. One day, he was vibrant and running around. The next, he was lethargic and not eating. We took him to the vet and in less than 24 hours, he was gone. They discovered tumors on his liver, and when they went in to attempt a removal, he suffered a heart attack and passed away on the operating table.
Losing a pet is never easy. Since 2019, we’ve now lost three. First, my beloved cat Boris, then Will’s beloved cat Brownie (who I’m convinced is just on a business trip because she just disappeared one day), and now Emoji. For a few months, it was just us and our Hurricane Sandy rescue cat, Mr. Smith. A cat who once showed zero attention or affection was also clearly affected by the loss of his fursiblings and has become the most loving creature. He still tries to pretend he’s a hardened soul from the streets of Brooklyn, but the facade can never be kept up for long before he’s snuggling, purring, and demanding cuddles and butt scratches.
I think he’d finally adjusted to being alone, until this past Monday, when we welcomed a new furbaby into our family. A teeny little girl beagle that we’ve named Blu. Puppies are very cute, but they are also A LOT. Lots of whining, and pooping, and peeing, and helplessness. It’s been over a decade since we’ve dealt with such things, and boy, is it a re-adjustment. Thanks to the new puppy, on top of jetlag and ADHD, I am currently finding myself sitting on an airplane to America with no wallet. Just Apple Pay, a passport, and a hope that it’ll work itself out. I genuinely think it will be fine. I didn’t even notice I’d left it until I got to the airport. I mostly rely on tap-to-pay anyway, and it seems that most places have upgraded to accommodate such things.
But back to the puppy. If I’m being honest, I’m not handling the puppy part of things super well. The whining has my anxiety through the roof, and as someone who is generally overwhelmed, it is not ideal to be dealing with the chaos that is puppydom.
Mr. Smith is also doing his best. He absolutely didn’t sign up for this, but he’s been way more patient with her than we thought he’d be.
That being said, I knew this before going in. I expected this before agreeing to it. We will get through it. With the exception of when I slipped in her poop, it’s been mostly inconsequential. Potty training is a trip. She’s lucky she’s really cute. So far, we haven’t lost anything to her landshark teething phase, and since she’s much smaller than Emoji, I expect that fallout to be far less catastrophic. Once he reached around 1.5 years old, he became the absolute sweetest, bestest boy, no more destruction, no more accidents, just the occasional snack theft when we left a particularly tasty treat lying around.
Before that? Oooowee. He chewed his way through a mattress, a car seat, an ipad, and some irreplaceable artwork, amongst other things. Blu won’t ever get that chance. Looking back, it’s almost like we were trying to raise Emoji on vibes, cuz how did he even gain access and time to destroy all of that? Totally our fault. This time around, I’m thinking we’ll lose a shoe AT MOST. Fingers crossed.
Beyond her chaotic need to get into things, this girl is SMART. SO SMART. You can see her figuring things out so quickly. Shortcuts to speed up the slow feeder, how to climb the crate and escape the pen, How to slide down the edge of the couch to make the distance to the ground shorter. We’re watching her like a hawk, and our job for the next few months is pretty much to make sure she doesn’t yeet herself off of anything too tall, or choke on anything she can’t properly, chew, swallow, and digest.
Wish us luck!
Now I’m on my way to Cleveland for the Rails To Trails board meeting and the Trail Nation Summit. On Tuesday, I’ll be speaking on a panel focused on Joy. Y’all know joy is my jam so I’ve built my portion of the talk around how joy is a right and must be deliberately and consistently prioritized in our work to improve outdoor spaces. The summit will bring in transportation advocates from all over the country, and I’m very excited for the opportunity to share this message with all of them!
If you’d like to hear it too, you can do so by watching the live stream this Tuesday, October 28, at 12:30 pm EST.
Plenary Session, Joy Transforms
railstotrails.org/summit and on the @railstotrails Facebook page No need to sign up in advance.
Bike Racing Updates
In the bike racing world, I’ve been watching the news very closely. While there have been several interesting transfers, there are also lots of teams folding due to a lack of finding sponsorships, which is leading to fewer spots, which is leading to a bunch of talented riders struggling to find a contract. This system is unsustainable. The riders have little to no job security, and that’s honestly a huge danger to the sport.
I’ve been brainstorming how I can best channel all the energy I spend into following the sport like a hawk towards something that will help grow the sport. I had a lot of success with my instagram series that followed the Women’s Giro, but I did that mostly because I was annoyed it was running at the same time as the Tour de France avec men. I’ll keep sitting on it, and maybe something will inspire me. Feel free to let me know what you wish you knew about things. I know there are many gaps in coverage for women’s cycling, but I’m not sure which gap to try to fill.
That’s enough for now. Until next time!
