Milestones tomorrow: A ZEN life.

Tomorrow morning we will do our usual:  Wake up at 2:30 a.m. (that's not a typo), have coffee, and get to the pool before anybody else does.

We will swim in the dark, with only the lights of the pool and the stars and the moon.  It is one of the most ZEN experiences a person can have.  We are all alone.  The hour flies by so quickly that we are both shocked when it arrives.

It will be the 200th time we have swam in this pool since we made the offer on our home in January 2018.  200 times swimming in a few months shy of two years.  All the more amazing because we have been in this home only 10 months since January 2018--having spent the rest of the time on Whidbey Island.

Now, when I say "swimming" I need to clarify.  Vicky swims a mile each time we go to the pool, and I dog paddle 1/2 mile.

Then we will hop onto our tandem bike and ride in the dark, watching the sun rise as we ride.  There is almost no one else on the road, and we feel all alone once again.  Another ZEN experience. Tomorrow we will pass 17,000 miles cycling together in the past 8 years.  We will also pass 2300 miles cycling this year.

Another milesone we will meet tomorrow:  It will be an our 1400th (not a typo:  1400!) time in 8 years we have either cycled or hiked with backpacks.  1400.  We can't really grasp this.

Then we are heading out into the desert to camp and hike.  We have only a general idea of where we will end up.  That's the idea.  We will find a spot where we are all alone, hike in areas where there are no hiking trails (or people), and sit in the afternoon and look at the desert.  ZEN.