I have been mourning our wedding week and its absolute perfection for almost a week now. It was our dream come true and then…with some hugs and tears… it ended.
But, as with all big events in life, I learned something about myself.

 I now know that I would really like to live in a commune… with all our friends. Those of you reading this, think it over. Commune in Maui?? Any takers? Seriously though, we have such incredible friends, so positive and selfless, thoughtful and hilarious, that having them as neighbors made our week surpass my wildest dreams. That is why coming down from a week like that really took it’s toll on me.

Peter, tired of my despondent face and a firm believer in serotonin production via exercise, decided to get me out of my slump by surprising me with a pre-honeymoon honeymoon. We have been talking about a century bike ride and bike tour of some sort for a while now. Peter designed the perfect combination of both.

A 118 mile bike loop starting at our house in San Clemente journeying over the 74 highway to Lake Elsinore, through Murieta and stopping in Temecula at mile 58 for an overnight in a hotel and wine tasting. The next day we traveled through Fallbrook, Oceanside, Camp Pendleton, and back to our house in San Clemente, ending day two at exactly 60 miles. A friend from Peter’s work Damen and his fiance Emily joined us and made for a lot more laughs! These two have such a positive attitude and find just about everything funny.

One of the reasons I love Peter so much is that he believes I am capable of doing things I may have imagined myself doing, but wouldn’t have necessarily put into action on my own. I surprised myself this weekend and made it the whole way with not much more than some sore shoulders and a stiff neck. We had huge smiles on our faces the entire trip, saw gorgeous countryside, and learned to really appreciate the different kinds of roadkill one encounters while traveling so far on a bike. Weasels, rattle snakes, cats, bunnies…I had no idea we had weasels here!

Here’s to longer bike trips in our future!