Yes, The Blog Still Exists

Literally hordes of readers have expressed deep discontent at the lack of recent posts on the renowned Knapp Adventure Blog. Countless readers have been left wandering the earth in utter curiosity about the lives of one famous couple, bound by fate to journey the globe . . . driven by a combination of madness and insatiable wanderlust.

So an update is in order. I would write about our voyage to Timbuktu, Kathmandu, Ouagadougou, and Tuvalu, but, alas, we have not been to any of those places.

We have, however, rooted ourselves in Dallas in a more permanent, 30-year fixed fashion by purchasing a house in Lakewood. The house is a ten-minute walk from White Rock Lake, so we look forward to days of running, biking, rowing and sailing as we slowly get settled in. Here's a shot of the house . . .



Since my last post, I claimed victory in the Chaco Challenge. Originally we planned to let my avid readers vote on the victor, but Mark Everett conceded defeat. Below is an image of domination. Mark Everett requested a rematch, but my feet find themselves permanently encased in leather dress shoes . . . meaning my Chaco Challenge days are behind me.



We are both settling into new jobs and currently face a void in our travel schedule. We went to Austin City Limits Festival a month ago and had a fantastic time as always. Our next adventure will likely consist of a Thanksgiving trip to exotic San Angelo, Texas. Over Christmas we will be in Brenham and Amarillo, and we're hoping to get a ski trip going in February or early March. Otherwise, we'll be kicking it in the Big D, doing some unpacking, and enjoying the fall . . . and maybe, just maybe, I will start blogging more regularly again.

Bon Voyage, Brothers!

My alarm went off at 4:08 AM, and I was immediately confused. My first sensation was regaining awareness of the fact that I had these things called "hands" that could be used to silence alarms. I heard that someone was in the shower and quickly remembered my next task--taking Tom and Mark Everett to the airport so they could get to Australia. I looked at the clock one more time and thought, "I'm a really nice brother."

The guys were significantly more energetic. The alarm had brought little surprise to either. Tom had a difficult time sleeping given his anticipation. Mark Everett assured me that his body fell soundly asleep, but his mind remained awake all night.

They made last minute packing adjustments. Tom decided to leave behind his 600 page book of poker tips to lighten their otherwise quite heavy load. Then again, there is nothing wrong with being prepared. These two have roughly 6 to 7 books between them, three iPods, two large sets of Bose noise cancelling headphones, and two sets of "nap" fabric socks from Brookstone. Oh, they also packed a rum cake, just in case. Below, Mark Everett proudly displays the rum cake (which is surrounded by Cliff bars, granola bars, some strange sort of fabric wipe and other essentials):



I drove the guys to the airport, and their energy was infectious, making the drive pass all too quickly. I dropped them off at the terminal, and we hugged farewell after I snapped this photo.



I drove away wishing I could join them and hoping their journey would be a safe one. As I approached the DFW exit, my phone rang. Tom and Mark Everett had not checked updated gate information, and I needed to get them to a different terminal. So I grabbed the guys and moved them to terminal D--then we repeated the farewell process. Two more hugs, and they were off to fight the Panhandle High School marching band through the security line. They reached Los Angeles, and they should reach Sydney in about 16 hours or so.

Safe travels, guys!

Brief Chaco Update:

Mark Everett has proven a worthy adversary. His feet are right, mine are left.

The Great Chaco Challenge of 2007

Well, the gauntlet has been thrown . . . metaphorically at least. I don't know anyone who owns a gauntlet, but if my brother, Mark Everett, did have a gauntlet, he would have thrown it, thereby initiating the Great Chaco Challenge of 2007.

Why Chaco Sandals Barely Leave My Feet

To back up. The Chaco sandal is the greatest single piece of travel footwear ever created on the face of the planet, and I say this having previously been a wearer of the Teva. Unlike the Teva sandal, Chacos feature vibram soles that can handle the toughest terrain, and the absence of velcro make them ideal companions for river activities. My Chacos have carried me through crowds of tourists in Europe, through flooded rivers in tropical rains in Mexico, through dusty streets in Tanzania, and to Everest. Megan and I wore them almost exclusively throughout Africa, and I can imagine no better travel shoe.

Why I had to take the bait

That said, a side-effect of extensive wearing of Chacos is the Chaco sandal tan. And, a side-effect of that phenomenon is that the tan provides yet another means for sibling rivalry to take flight. Specifically, Mark Everett sent me a random email last week stating:

"I hereby bet you the amount of $20 of who can achieve the best chaco tan by Sept 1 at 12 noon. I started mine this weekend and I can already see the outlines of greatness. I am no where near your level, but I aim to destroy you.

Do you accept??"

I assumed Mark Everett wrote the email and followed it with this facial expression:



Normally, I would ignore this email as a random product of an extremely well-developed imagination by a very creative fellow (after all, I think Mark Everett's main goal in life is to obtain some sort of machine to record his dreams to DVD . . .). So, I'm used to getting random emails of this sort . . . but I also have lost nearly every bet I've made with Mark Everett in the past two years . . . in this email, I saw my chance at redemption. Nay, I saw my chance at victory!

So, the competition is on. My plan is to randomly chronicle our progress on this blog over the coming months. On September 1 (or thereabouts if the date proves to be impossible), I will post photos of our final product. At that point, readers will have several days to vote on which tan has achieved the highest level of greatness.

Let the competition begin!

Here we are at the beginning of a battle. The first photo shows my feet, and Mark Everett's are second . . . and no, I don't mind that I have an amazing head start.