Back in 2023, I was training for the Paris-Brest-Paris, a grueling 1,200 km bike ride across France. Unfortunately, I got injured during my final qualifier. But since our flights were already booked, we pivoted and turned the trip into a French vacation instead.

On the first weekend of February, the Merlo family descended upon Norway for a weekend in the woods. The beautiful house had incredible views of the mountains, and lots of great sleding and tubing from all the fresh snow. We also ventured out to a skating rink. Taxidermied water fowl were looked at and discussed, and the hot tub and outdoor fire was enjoyed by all.

This past July, Sandy, Haley, and I ventured down to Nickerson State Park to camp and enjoy the fantastic water of Cliff Pond. Haley broke out her new stand-up paddleboard and taught Sandy how to load up, take a spin, and jump off. Sandy could not get enough of the water and was sad we only were there for a couple days.

Back in January of this year, some of the old Ski Team went up to Jackson for the weekend. Unfortunately it was too damn cold and windy to go skiing, but otherwise it was beautiful outside. We all bundled up and gave it a go at sledding on the old toboggan on the hill next to Black Mountain. It was a ton of fun, and you can go way too fast if you’re not careful! Sandy was very concerned with us, and made sure to run in front and almost get run over several times.

Quite the adventurous ride a few weeks ago on the Saturday before Easter. Plan was to bike for 3.25 hours, which looking at the weather seemed fine as I headed out just before 4, which would have me finished just after 7, which was 20 minutes before sunset (which I had lights so no big deal either way) and before the rain was anticipated to come.

One of the benefits of working from home is the ability to grow your hair and not care how ridiculous you look. For basically forever, I’ve always had the same hairstyle: a buzz cut on top and a trimmed full beard. Usually I have to tend to both every 4-5 weeks. I’ve always wondered what I’d look like with long hair, but before when I tried in high school it took too long to make meaningful progress, and the in-between stage was socially unacceptable. I decided to go crazy with…

On the first weekend of February, the Merlo family descended upon Waterbury for a weekend in the woods. The beautiful house was set on top of the perfect sledding hill, and came with miles of trails for snowshoeing and cross-country skiing. Being only 25 minutes away from Stowe, I just had to hit up the slopes for a few runs in the morning. We also ventured out to a skating rink. Many games of pool were played (Jack won most of ’em), and the hot tub and outdoor fire was enjoyed by all.

This past May the Merlo clan camped at the Mohawk State Forest. Much fun was had hiking and playing and being with family. I snuck in an ambitious bike ride (was hoping to get all the way into Vermont but the Berkshire climbs are no joke), and Sandy did really well on her first nights camping.

The Maxon clan stayed at a fantastic place at 127 Standish Way in West Yarmouth. The two weeks went by way too fast. It was great seeing friends and family, playing lots of golf, tennis, and swimming. Even caught a beautiful nearly-full, red moon at dawn. It almost looked more fake then if it were black and white.