The traveling bug continued- I was gone part of June and almost the entirety of July. Good trips- half work, and half play. Had an epic road trip that started in Salt Lake City, took the long way to Colorado Springs where I spent a few days with family, then on to Nebraska where I visited friends for a week. Always love my time in Albion. From there it was on to Chicago where I met up with a baseball buddy. We both desperately wanted to get out of the city so we drove north to Wisconsin checking out Kenosha and Milwaukee.
Heading back inland, we stayed in Madison and had tons of fun downtown. From there we went to Delavan Lake and stayed at nice resort on the water. Finally it was time to drop my friend back off in Chicago and started the drive west. It had been a while since I had been in that area so I added a few miles to the trip and avoided the I-80 corridor. I cut back northwest through Wisconsin, Minnesota, North Dakota, Montana, Wyoming, and finally back to Salt Lake.
I love my time on the road- I find it soothing. Reflecting, thinking, cranking music. Clears the head- so does topping out the car at 142 mph on a few back roads! I was only “home” for a few days until it was time to head further west- this time to Washington. Seattle, Olympia, Ocean Shores, and then down the coast to Oregon through Astoria and Rockaway Beach.
I got to spend the majority of the trip on the water and it was exactly what I needed. The last few months have been overwhelming trying to figure out life, money, and my next step. With MLB’s western ops office closing, the baseball journey had officially come to an end. While I’m fortunate enough to still be doing some contract work with them through my new media company, it’s safe to say that it is time to move on. I have little desire to work in the Commissioner’s Office in NYC and I haven’t pursued any jobs with clubs. I figure if I’m ever going to make an honest go at my own ventures- now is the time!
Not that I didn’t know that before my trip to the beach, but it sort of reaffirmed everything and made me feel okay about it. It reminded what’s important to me, what I’ve always wanted, and put me back on the path I was on before I got distracted with baseball. Adventuring, writing, geeking out- sand, trees, water.
So, what have I been working on? Well, I have a few websites I’ve been building (one particularly large one). That has kept me busy throughout all of this travel. I also did some formatting of The Final Book, figured out how much I’ve written and how much more I have to go. I’m currently over 90k words and suspect it will take another 20-30k to finish. Did squeeze in another chapter or two, but need to devote more time. I also have a new article / web series I’d like to tackle discussing internet morality.
By the looks of the calendar, most of my travels are over for the summer (small trip over Labor Day) and I should really be able to crank on this stuff over the next few weeks. Most importantly I feel good about things again- I’m back in the gym, fell back in love with life, and am reconnecting with the muses!
SW Hammond
