Another Couple Thousand Miles

Post #40

Madison, Wisconsin - Another couple thousand miles later and I'm back at home in Madison. I got to drive back from Cali with a friend, which was so much better than driving by myself. Plus we got to see some amazing things along the way. This first photo was taken in Utah. I had never seen red rocks like these before this road trip to and from CA, so I was soaking it all in while sitting up there.

It's great to be back in Madison. We rolled in the day the lake melted. Perfect timing! (Actually, in all honesty, there were still huge sheets of ice in the middle of the lake on our first day back, but there was enough open water to do short laps back and forth.) The lake is now entirely liquid and we've had a few really good days on the water. This morning, the men's team raced against Michigan in front of the boathouse so I went down to cheer them on. In true Wisconsin Rowing fashion, we had the three grills fired up by 7:30 am with brats and burgers ready to go for when the athletes got off the water.

Go Badgers

Another reason why it's great to be back here is that my coach for the past five years, Erik, and his wife welcomed their first baby last weekend. I was able to see the little one when she was less than 24 hours old and that was truly a special experience. She is so adorable and I am so happy for them.

Finally, I've spent many hours in Ms. Feingold's classroom at Randall since I got back last week. I always let Ms. Feingold know when I'm coming back to town, but she keeps it a secret from the kids so it's a huge surprise for them when I walk in the classroom unannounced. This time around, I was welcomed by one big hug with about fifteen third graders around me. It doesn't get much better than that! I've jumped right back into helping them with their reading, writing, math, and spelling.

Unfortunately, I'll be leaving town in another week and a half. I'm headed to my first race of the season in New Jersey. It's called the USRowing National Selection Regatta #1 (NSR 1 for short) and I'll be racing the lightweight single against the other elite lightweights in the country. More to come as I lead up to that!