What I got out of my Arizona trip

1) As I thought before, I would love to go to college down here (there). I've always loved the southwestern region of the country and want to use college as an opportunity to live in it. Iowa is great 9 months of the year, and winter definitely has a certain beauty to it. But I like to ride a lot, and I like to ride outdoors. I'm not one of those freaks who can ride for 5 hours indoors. Also, I'm only really committed to college for 4 years. I can always come back.

2) Having seriously considered college once more I no longer really know what I want to major in. I've narrowed it down to these. Can you do a octuple major?
Philosophy
Architecture
Civil Engineering
Environmental Engineering
Journalism
English
Mechanical Engineering
Sociology

3) Cars are everywhere and they suck, but they're a necessity. There its lots of traffic in the Phoenix area and I can say it sucks all I want. But I use cars just like everyone else, its simply impractical to bike/commute long distances. That said, driving down a mile to school is ridiculous. It doesn't take a monster effort to bike and its just as fast if not faster.

4) The emo syndrome is everywhere. There are emo kids in Mount Vernon, Iowa. There are emo kids in Phoenix, Arizona. There are probably emo bacteria on mars by now.

All in all it was probably the best vacation I've ever had. Great food, great people, great places and great biking. I logged about 21 hours of mostly good solid tempo over 7 days.