Looking for places to stay

Looking to find people to stay with during my trip. Does anyone have friends in the following cities (or general vicinity) who would put me up for a night or two?

Chicago, Illinois & Milwaukee, Wisconsin ~ July 17-24
Western Colorado (Crested Butte ~ July 29-31, Keystone Aug 10-14)
Utah (Moab) ~ early August
Colorado (Boulder, Fort Collins) ~ Aug 14-25
California (Geyserville, Santa Rosa, San Francisco, San Diego) ~ early Sept
Arizona (Phoenix, Flagstaff) ~ early - mid Sept.
Texas (Austin) ~ mid Sept
Anywhere in southern Lousiana, Mississippi, Alabama ~ end Sept

2005 Race Schedule

May 7, Smith Mountain Lake sprint triathlon (Smith Mountain Lake, Virginia)

May 15, Odyssey Off-Road Triathlon (Waynesboro, Virginia)

May 22, King Of The Hill Off-Road Triathlon (Lebanon, New Jersey)

June 12, ACE Big Canyon Off-Road Triathlon (Oak Hill, West Virginia)

June 19, Cranky Monkey Mountain Bike Race (Springfield, Virginia)

*July 2-3, Nissan Xterra East Championship* (Richmond, Virginia)

July 17, EMS Off-Road Triathlon (Flintstone, Maryland)

*July 23-24, Nissan Xterra Midwest Championship (Milwaukee, Wisconsin)*

July 31, Crested Butte Bank Trails Triathlon (Crested Butte, Colorado)

Aug. 6-7, NORBA National Mountain Bike Series - Brian Head Resort (Brian Head, Utah)

*Aug. 13-14, Nissan Xterra Mountain Championship (Keystone, Colorado)*

Aug. 28, Lake Sonoma Off-Road Triathlon (Geyserville, California)

It's on!!

Well, it has been an interesting journey to get to where I am today. 2.5 years ago I raced my first XTERRA off-road triathlon race, and had the greatest time. Summer of 2004 I got much more serious, started working with a coach and training harder, and was fortunate enough to qualify for the USA Championships (top 8 in age group from the region). I then also came up with the crazy idea to take a few months off from work, and travel the US. Most people I told about this idea thought I was crazy, I thought it was the only way to live life!! Life is short, gotta play hard and have fun. So, I started saving money, and was all set financially to take the dive.

One last obstacle...what would work think? I talked to the big boss on Monday (May 9th)...and he verbally approved a 3 month sabbatical from work (July 5-Oct 3). I just heard rumors that he may try to reduce my time off by about a month, we will see if he approaches me to discuss it...I hope not!! It still needs to get approved by HR...but I am at 95% confidence that we are a go.

Now, time to start planning for the trip. I only have about a month and a half to get ready...and time flies with a busy spring/summer schedule. Yikes!

Riding at Lake Tahoe

Lake Tahoe