Sitting at Mama Z's Restaurant, a bizarrely classy diner at the center of Dease Lake townsite, BC. Woke up at 9:30am on the hallway floor of the elementary school, got dressed in jeans and a tee, and drove the short distance to a $2.50 breakfast of toast, jam and coffee where I chatted it up with my splendorific teammates.

Our team has reached an equilibrium of sorts. We know one another well enough to where silence is comfortable. We're all well aware of one anothers' buttons and how to avoid pushing them. It's sweet: We have the traits of an elderly married couple - so much familiarity, so very few secrets. I do love these people, my friends. Soon I'll miss them dearly, most of all as a collective.

Looking forward to the dinner I'm preparing to make for myself tonight. Bought some groceries at the store next door: fresh broccoli and carrots, a yam, a strawberry yogurt, and a bottle of orange juice. This will be my healthiest meal yet for the summer.

Feeling unhealthy as of late. We consume, by no choice or fault of our own, sugars, sodium, and preservatives left and right, as we have rare access to fresh produce, meat, cheeses or breads. Sue C and I have discussed doing the Daily Juice detox called the Master Cleanse upon our return to Texas: a 3-day nutrition plan offered at a local Austin smoothie bar that supposedly rids one's body of any nasty intestinal buildup from as far back as childhood. It involves a potent concoction of distilled water, organic grade B maple syrup, lemon and organic cayenne. Flushes you out, basically. Heard some positive reviews from those who've done it, namely a Bike Sports Shop employee. Sue and I see it as a good way to start out the new semester: fresh as a daisy.

Sue and I also have plans to construct a fruit dehydrator, a project inspired by one of our Prince George hosts after she donated to us leather-like strips and sheets of dried raspberries, bananas, rhubarb, oranges, cherries, etc. I think it'll be a lot of fun to build such a useful contraption - a solid learning experience and a great way to maintain a healthy and budget-friendly diet. Plus it Sue and I will get to hang out together and extend our friendship beyond Texas 4000.

I'm developing a list of things to add to my life in the fall. Playing guitar, for instance: I have a Fender that my awesome parents - I mean, er, Santa - gave to me as a Christmas gift; but I've failed at regularly practicing. I want to be the next Shawn Colvin, so I better get to strummin'. I want to read more, paint, scrapbook my T4K memories, journal daily, go for morning or evening walks, work with Colleges Against Cancer, join my church's choir, help the next generation of Texas 4000 cyclists, cook with my roommates, perhaps volunteer with a non-profit organization, and attempt to grow some potted plants.

Top priorities of course are attending classes, going to work to earn a paycheck, keeping better track of my financial stati, and spending quality time with my friends and family. When I complete homework assignments in quality and time-sensitive fashion; when I earn more money than I spend; when my grades are good; when I keep my promises; and when I take full advantage of my blessed opportunity at education... It is those times when I am happiest and least stressed. When I balance these responsibilities, I'm in the best places mentally, spiritually and emotionally.

These self-reflections sound like ramblings but are in actuality directly linked to this crazy summer journey. Traveling as I have been, I'm recognizing how easy it can be to live happily with so very few material possessions. It's amazing, beautiful and comforting to see that I - and that we as human beings - require so very little to survive, even contentedly: Air, water, nutrition, health, friends, family, a few clothes, shelter, transportation in the most simple form, and, above all, love. That's about it; anything not on that list is a luxury and possibly superfluous. In a world of excess and gluttony and keeping-up-with-the-Joneses, it's nice to know I don't have to buy or own much to be satisfied.

Yet another lesson reinforced by my Texas 4000 experience.