Its been a busy year and I may just squeak this letter out before another one is upon us. 2007 was a good combination of work and fun, but maybe too much of both... I'm exhausted!

In the winter I keep busy volunteering with the Single Volunteers of the Twin Cities (SVTC). I also recently became involved with several MeetUp activity groups and its been a great way to meet new people and try new things.

I worked at the Twin Cities Bicycling Club (TCBC) booth for the 2nd Minneapolis Bicycling Travel & Fitness Expo and also lead our 4th Annual TCBC Swap Meet again this year.

I got away for a Southern Caribbean Bike and Cruise tour in March. I took a 10 day cruise aboard the NCL Pearl then bicycled on each of the islands: Miami, Dominica, Barbados, St. Lucia, Antigua, and Tortola. The rides weren't long but those volcanic hills sure were steep!

In June I drove west with friends Bob M., Mike B., and Sue V-M. We rode the 13th Annual Bicycle Tour of Colorado (BTC) which is a 6-day tour including 415 miles of riding and 35,000' of climbing... ouch! Well, I was a bit shy of those totals as a snow storm set in before I got all the way up Vail Pass. But I have a great story about taking shelter in an abandoned vehicle and being questioned by a motorcycle cop!

My core group of Odyssey 2000 (O2K) friends had our biennial gathering in September. Gary H. and Connie B. were our hosts for the Tour d' Sun Valley and sixteen of us rode about 300 miles around Southern Idaho. Once again, the biggest climb up Galena Pass was hampered by rain turning to sleet turning to snow. Brrr!

I headed off for my fourth bicycling vacation in October. A dozen TCBC folks drove a van and trailer to Nashville, Tennessee where we biked the Natchez Trace Parkway all the way south to Natchez, Mississippi. Naturally, we had unseasonably cold weather and rain for much of the trip. I just couldn't get a break this year.

I'm very happy to have my health issues behind me and since I have a beautiful new touring bicycle and lots of vacation, I sure took advantage of that this year. Somehow I also managed to assist my brother-in-law Roger B. with replacing nine windows on my house too. I also helped my friend Sunny P. at her Minnesota Renaissance Festival pottery booth again this Fall. It takes time to publish all my new trip photos so haven't gotten back to working on the rest of my O2K photo albums for quite awhile.

My sweet cats Jedi & Skittles continue to keep me entertained and properly cuddled so life is good. I don't have much planned for house projects next year so I expect my bicycles will be taking me on lots of interesting adventures again in '08.

Happy New Year to you!

Valerie