Kiersten’s Blog

Yes, that's my dad. And yes, he's wearing shorts.

I think my dad is insane.  Somehow he came up with a crazy idea that he wanted to do something big and adventurous for his 60th birthday, so he decided that it would be a good idea to take a week and bike down the southern coast of California.  You may think this is a crazy thing for any 60 year old to do, but I think it’s crazier for my dad.  You see, he’s never really been the exercising type.  A couple of years ago he was diagnosed with diabetes.  That was his wake-up call to get up and get moving.  Since then he has taken up biking.  It’s his preferred mode of exercise.  He also gets up really early and goes to the gym every morning.  He lost a bunch of weight and is doing really well.  In fact, his numbers are way down and he doesn’t have to be on diabetic medication anymore!  Anyway, I don’t really know what was going through his mind besides the fact that he thought that it might be a great adventure, but he decided to take this trip and even convinced his brother to ride with him.

About a month ago I was putting together some things to send my dad for his birthday.  I wanted to get him some exercise clothing and asked him how many outfits he planned on taking on this trip.  His answer, “well, I only have one pair of sweats.”  Oh boy.  I headed to Kohl’s and picked up some things, boxed them up, and sent them to him.  I even bought him shorts!  I’m pretty sure I’ve never seen my dad wear shorts unless he’s swimming.  And that doesn’t happen very often either.

My dad and my uncle started their trip on Monday in Big Sur.  They plan on making it to the Mexico border by Saturday night and they’re still on track to do that.  I know my dad is stubborn and has a lot of motivation.  He’s come far and I’m sure he’ll make it.