Next up...

So, what am I planning next that I'm so excited about?

Well.  See, I have a lot of vacation time coming up so I was trying to find something to use it on, and the perfect (well, I hope it'll be perfect) thing just fell into my lap.

I kept looking at all sorts of vacations on the internet (I'm my own internet travel agent and I pride myself in finding "impossible prices" on things that are otherwise, well, somewhat out of my price range) and I wasn't finding anything that seemed right for me.

Like, I could get a really excellent deal on a cruise from LA down to Mexico -- a real party boat, with lots of discos and booze and such.  And, despite the goodness of the deal, it really wasn't for me.  I've never been much for discos or booze (and certainly not with total strangers) so I couldn't imagine why I'd want to do that on a vacation.  And I didn't want a vacation where I just went someplace and paid lots of money to look at all the pretty sights without doing anything, either, and then I found...

"Adventure cruising."  Eeee!

I'll be taking a week-long cruise on the Columbia River (pretty much following its length from the Pacific to, say, Idaho).  And I'll have a chance to kayak, and hike, and jet boat, and whitewater raft, and see all sorts of nature (and also just sit around and take a deep breath and marvel at it).  All that, and they serve cookies and milk.

I just signed up for it the other day, which doesn't leave me a whole lot of time to get into "vacation shape," as it were.  My attendance at the gym has dropped off these past few weeks, and I need to make sure my endurance is back up to "soft adventure" levels.  I mean, there's four opportunities to kayak on this thing.  (Up till now, I haven't even gone kayaking twice in the same year, so I gotta be ready to paddle.)

Very exciting.  (And motivating.)  So... after my relaxing Labor Day weekend, I'll be all set to jump back into what passes for "training" in my world.

Bouncy, bouncy, bouncy.  :)