One more week!

It is really hard to believe that we are only a week away from our departure!  Here are some highlights from the past few weeks:

 

 We got our maps for our biking tour.  I must say that they are a bit intimidating and it is starting to sink in that we will be biking for 10 days in a foreign country with just this little booklet to get us from one town to the next!  Luckily, I'm quite skilled in reading this sort of map because I feel like my dad wrote them for me.  Years of experience driving different types of trucks all over the country have trained Dad to give directions based on landmarks as opposed to road signs.  However, I don't remember him ever telling me to "cross the road and climb to reach a small shrine in front of a large white house and turn right!" 

 

As a child I used to pretend that my bike was a horse and I was Laura Ingalls forging through the prairie.  I think these maps will take me back to my childhood and I'll feel a bit like a pioneer again!  (Let's just hope that the recurring Rocky and Bullwinkle nightmare from my childhood doesn't come back as well!)

 

 On the training front, we ran the Geist Half Marathon this past weekend.  This was my 8th half marathon, and I'm happy to say that I set a new PR, even with the hills and a rainy morning!  My previous best time was in 2010 in the Indianapolis Monumental Half Marathon which is a very flat course and run in November.  I think that Mr. Snoddy (my middle school and high school PE teacher) would be quite shocked that I enjoy running these days...I absolutely hated PE class and running during high school!  Now, I must say that I'm not a fast runner, nor is my technique all that great, but I think what is important is that I set goals and try to achieve them.  In addition, if one of our bikes breaks down when we are in Austria, I can run to the next town to get help!

 We have a busy few days ahead prior to our departure.  This weekend we are packing up our gear and going to Brown County to go camping and have a chance to train on some hills.  Wednesday, I am traveling to Ball State for my first of several bassoon lessons.  In addition, I am well past page 300 in my Mozart biography and listened to another 7 hours of an additional Mozart biography while painting Elise's room this week.  I plan to finish reading/listening to both books this weekend and read the "Twilight of the Hapsburgs" during our flights.

It is exciting to think that we leave in just 8 days!  Salzburg, here we come!

(By the way, thanks for the suggestions on the bike names.  I've decided on Marty, after the Brady Bunch episode where Peter gets the job at Mr. Martinelli's bike shop. )