Moe and I picked up a car in Miami at 10pm, and drove through the night across Florida, taking turns to catch a bit of sleep. I dropped Moe off at Tampa airport at around 4.30am, and we said our sad goodbyes.
In Tampa I found somewhere to park behind a big store, and fell asleep again on the back seat. The sun was up when I woke again, and the car was like an oven, so I went to find a cup of coffee and somewhere shadier.
Later in the morning I went to find Cari again at work, and collected my suitcase of spare clothes and fundraising photos from her, and we went out for a late breakfast.
My flight left mid afternoon, so I dropped the car off, and after a hurried dash through Atlanta airport to catch my connection, I arrived in Colorado Springs just after 8pm, and was met by Val and Brenda, and their dog Buddy, who hosted me here in Colorado for my “7 Peaks in 7 Days” goal last year.
I plan to stay here for the rest of June, and work on as many of my unachieved goals as possible:
Learn to ride a unicycle
Val has been asking around, and a work colleague happens to have a couple of unicycles available that we can borrow. Four weeks should be enough time to master one of them, hopefully without sustaining too many injuries!
Develop a six-pack stomach
There is a gym about 100 metres away from Val’s house, and he is a member there. I hope I can get a membership for the month. There are also mountains to climb, and the infamous “Incline”. We went to the gym last night for the first time, and Val has a tough abs and core strength workout planned for us. No more beer for the rest of the month, eat well, plenty of exercise!!
Learn the harmonica
I am still making very slow progress with this. I plan to practice a little each day, and have a few tunes learned by the end of the month.
Learn how to lucid dream
A lucid dream is one in which you realise that you are dreaming, and can take control of the dream. I have worked on this at several points during my travels, most recently with Moe in Jamaica and Costa Rica, but success still eludes me! More dream practice planned for this month. I am getting better at remembering my dreams.
Set up the “BlindsidedNetwork” support forum
This goals is so close now to completion, but I just have a couple of minor website issues to sort out. Anyone out there with phpBB scripts, particularly how to change colours and display preferences?
Raise $50,000 for charity
I have my photos here with me, and for a $20 donation, anyone can be a part of this goal. I can’t achieve this one without your help!
Night skydive
Full moon this month is on 26th June, so Friday 25th or Saturday 26th would be perfect for night jumps. My skydive gear is here, I mailed it from Australia in April. Just got to find a club here in Colorado with night jumps planned.
Book deal for 100goals
I did a bit of work on the book while in Jamaica, as part of my achievement of experiencing a “workplace romance”. There is still a lot to write, and the book will be very different from the blog. As soon as the 100 weeks comes to an end on July 4th, I plan to settle somewhere quiet for a couple of months, and get it completely finished. As yet I still haven’t signed a deal, and if all else fails, I plan to self-publish, aiming to have it published and available well before the end of the year. The working title at the moment is “A LIFE SOLD”
These 8 goals are my focus for the next four weeks. This leaves just 4 other goals that I am pretty stuck with:
- See a baby being born
- Jump a car off a jetty into water
- Gather 5 Ian Ushers together in one place
- Dive down to see the Titanic on the sea floor
Any ideas anyone?
My thanks to Val and Brenda for offering to accommodate me for this final month in their lovely home.