Fall Break in IL and KY

Occasionally we do get breaks from grad school craziness. Over fall break at the end of September, I flew to IL where Greg is attending school in Champaign/Urbana. We went to KY to the Cave Run Storytelling Festival (the big even of his town). It was fun to see his family again(aunts, uncles, and cousins included) and hear some incredible stories (lots of laughs). I ate lots of yummy food at his parent's house, including addicting moose-tracks ice cream (great for breakfast!). Then in IL, I saw his house (Greg' s a homeowner now) and his school and met some of his friends. We even rode bikes to school one day; Greg wanted me to bike commute with him since that's his typical routine. Now, keep in mind, a week before I'd taken a nasty fall on my bike and had an incredibly scraped up knee. Then, while running on some trails at Cave Run Lake in KY I twisted my ankle once again. So, I was not in the best shape! Still, I rode his men's XL frame mountain bike....a hilarious sight! I had to tilt the bike sideways to clear the top tube and once I was mounted, I was completely stretched forward in order to reach the handle bars. We would have some pictures of this event, but my mounts and dismounts were very dangerous! One such mount was in the middle of University of Illinois' campus, with many spectators...it looked like I had just graduated from training wheels as Greg coached me and ran along side to make sure I wasn't going to fall.....very funny! This is a picture of the two of us in his car during our adventures, a very familiar place after our 10,000-mile road trip between our two years of teaching in the valley.