Lots of Ground Water

The Missouri River is SLOWLY receding. But, with all of the rain we received the last couple weeks, the rain has no place to go. Pumps have been running around the clock to transfer ground water into the river.

Lake Manawa is over its banks. This photo was taken on Aug 25th. The lake level was even higher Sunday (Aug 28th).

Lake Manawa Bike Trail is flooded in places. This photo was taken just East from the Nature Trail parking lot. There is another flooded section between the Nature Trail and the road to river boat landing.

Veterans Memorial Trail is flooded in the low spot East of S. 24th St.
Water has been partially crossing Western Historic Trail near the Trails Center. With so many trails STILL closed from the flooding, there are a lot of bicycles out on the roads and streets. Please watch you for us cyclists.

Luna Noctiluca

The moon illusion doesn't work very well here.
We're in a valley, and Selene is already well on her journey before she rises over the mountain.
The clouds played hide-and-seek, and it was all quite lovely anyway.
The moment the first shiny diamond chip of a moon slipped over the top of the trees, it was as if a cue had been given, and coyotes began howling in the distance. Chillbumps and laughter!
I suspect the show continued all night, but we slept through it.

We woke just in time to see her making way for Eos and Helios, early this morning.

Summer Storm Cloud

Yesterday while harvesting some cucumbers from our plot in the community garden this really cool cloud drifted by overhead. I thought for sure it was going to drop at least a little bit of rain on us, but it passed us by without getting us wet. Clouds are awesome and I love how they always have the potential of making you stare at the sky in disbelief at what your eyes are seeing.

Spring chickens

It doesn't really take much to have a chicken fan club.

Before you know it they'll be eating out of your hand.

Chicken dance lines involve a bit more training.
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Why do you think they call it henbit?

A mouse does not make a good pen.

Once more, from the top

"Sure, they're both European invaders, but the flowers taste really good to chickens. And the square stems are pretty cool too."
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Submitted to the Friday Ark.

Riding to the Root: Backpacking without a backpack

When you spend seven years in Boy Scouts like I did, you learn a thing or two about backpacking.
There's the little nuances to it, like air-compressing your gear to maximize space. And there's the major points of it, like packing light, remembering a toothbrush and knowing what you'll need for the trip.
Over the years, I've been on a lot of cool backpacking trips (Grand Canyon, Isle Royale and the Boundary Waters, to name a few), all of which required their own degree of preparation. The preparation stage of backpacking is something I always took a major interest in. I like feeling prepared for all scenarios and I've often compared the process of loading gear into your pack to solving a puzzle: It's not just about having the right piece, but also about knowing where that piece is supposed to fit in the puzzle.
The three-day bike trip to Lanesboro that I'm about to leave for requires a lot of same backpacking principles, only with one key difference: There's no "backpack" involved. I don't know if it's the same for other cyclists, but I try to avoid loading gear on my back for long-distance bike rides. My reasons for this include:

• It eases the strain on your back and shoulders, which are already being used to support your upper body while riding. Ultimately, your gear's weight (and yourself, for that matter) is being carried by the wheels of your bike. It makes no sense for your back to have to carry that weight as well.
• The added items on your back make it more likely that you'll overheat. Wearing a heavy backpack on your back would be like throwing a thick wool blanket over a furnace: Bad times all around.
• The weight isn't evenly distributed on your bike. If you're packing gear for a bike trip, you generally want to have it spread out on your bike so the front and rear wheels can share the workload.
• Not as important as the other points, but if you're biking shirtless with a backpack, odd tan lines happen.

Lightweight packing also takes on premium importance when it comes to bike trips. The more weight you're carrying, the harder the pedaling. You're also more likely to have bike malfunctions, as the extra weight can put strain on the tires and spokes.
I'm actually having a little trouble with the lightweight concept for this trip. For starters, I'm packing a laptop. I'm also trying to keep costs along the way to a minimum. So instead of staying in hotels and eating at restaurants constantly, I'm packing a tent, a camp stove and four meals worth of food.
However, I'm shaving valuable ounces off in other ways. Instead of bringing my entire wallet, I'm only packing my ID, my insurance cards (worst-case scenario), a check card and some money. Instead of bring full bottles of items (camp soap, toothpaste, ect.) and a full roll of duct tape (a camping essential), I compressed them down into smaller containers. Other luxuries like an air mattress and a pillow are also being left behind.
After taking all of that into account, here is what the items packed onto my bike look like (sans the food, which is in a fanny pack that will be around my waist): For the sake of keeping the blog entry relatively short, I won't list EVERY item I'm packing. But I will say that I feel decently prepared for the ride.
Electronics, toiletries, maps and my first aid kit are in the handlebar bag. The bike repair kit is on the center bar between the seat and the handlebars. My tent, sleeping bag and a change of clothes are attached to my bike seat via clips and bungee cords.
You'll notice the absence of bike racks in my packing methods. This is for two reasons: I didn't want the extra weight, I didn't want to spend the money on a decent rack unless I needed to. Besides, I used a rack last fall for my trip to Red Wing (a $25 one from Wal Mart, bad choice) and it wound up being more of a headache than it was helpful. I'm not opposed to using racks, but if you can get by without them, more power to you.
Well, that's all I've got for now. Time to hit the road. Hope to check back in later today.
***In case anybody is curious, here is what my gear looked liked before being packed:

Successful Procedure

OK, so this photo has nothing about my hospital stay, except its where I would prefer to be - riding my bike at Manawa.
Doc was in to check on me this morning. Everything went well during my "US guided renal biopsy bilateral, renal cyroablation". They feel that they killed the tumor yet not harming the rest of the kidney.
My procedure was done in one of the CT scan rooms. In addition to the CT scan, they brought in an ultrasound machine. The surgeon and his assistant used the ultrasound to locate the kidney and tumor. It was also used to guide the "needle" for the biopsy.
Several trips into the CT scan as they froze the tumor (making sure they froze the whole tumor without damaging the kidney). They gave me some pain meds and some numbing drugs be was basically awake during the procedure. They needed me to hold my breath as they scanned.
The whole procedure was done in under 2 hours. While it was available to me, I did not need any pain medication over night. Slept soundly.
I was impressed with the team that did my surgery. The prep nurse (Nicole?) explained to me exactly what we were doing. Before the procedure started, Doctor Lagrange called "time out" to verify that everyone know who was the patient and what the procedure it was. I raised my hand to verify the patient name. They told me what they were doing, when they were doing it.
Thanks to Doctor Lagrange and the team.
Back in my room (they moved me to a different room, a quieter room) I was restricted to bed for 2 hours. Withing 4 hours, I eat a snack and was ready for my first post-surgery walk.
Now, we await the biopsy results and raising my INR number. Hoping to be released Friday or Saturday.

Carlsbad Caverns

We had been to Carlsbad Caverns on a previous trip to visit Gary's Nephew who wasscheduled to ship out of San Diego on a Navy Ship. It is definitely worth a 2nd trip. I think this is one of the nicest caves because there is so much you can tour on your own with no additional charge other than the Park entry fee. The natural entrance is 1.25 miles long and descends 800 feet.





It leads into the Big Room which is a 1.25 mile paved loop. It is 8.2 acres and full of natural formations of stalagmite and stalactites, pools of water, drapes and more.

Lions Tails

Column

Some tight squeezes

Besides the free tours we opted for 2 of the guided tours as well. The first was a lantern tour of the Left Hand Tunnel (it had my name written all over it). The only light was from the candle-lit lanterns we carried and at one point we extinguished them all and were in total darkness.

The Bacon hanging from the ceiling

The other tour was the King's Palace Tour which consisted of 4 highly decorated chambers. The Kings Palace, Papoose Room, Queens Chamber and Green Lake Room.

Green Lake

Draperies in Queens Chamber

I saw a pack of howling wolves in this formation - do you?

You just can't capture the immensity of these caves on film.

A tunnel that was blasted through to one of the Caverns 79 years ago is a wet cave and stalactites are forming. This will give you an idea just how long the formations took to develop. These are 79 years old!

We would have liked to have taken one of the smaller guided tours that involved wearing knee pads and helmets with headlamps but they are reserved in advance.

Well we've seen whats under our world - next see what's out of this world at Roswell!

More spiny caterpillars

I had a difficult time identifying this caterpillar. It looked a lot like an American Painted Lady (Vanessa virginiensis), but not exactly the same. I couldn't find anything else that it resembled any more, though.

It's been a big year, as far as spiny/bristly caterpillars go. On the driveway today I spotted a Yellow Bear. Also a tiny, tiny shrew or vole. And me without my camera.

In the Dirt

Last night we got some light (very light, thank you) rain. Reports at breakfast said CB was about the same. What little rain we got dried off by noon, so decided it was time to do a longer ride on the new trail bike.
Was a pretty nice day at Manawa - all things considered; mid 50s, clear, variably winds. Made 2 full laps (my shortened laps) and 2 extra laps through W Sidewinder (warm-up and cool-down laps).
On my ride on Riverfront Real Estate, I found that large tree crossing has been damaged. Someone had purposely tore out the leading side of the crossing. I could not help of thinking that the damage was done my mushroom hunters - they were all over in the woods.
It was great back riding Fast Track. This was another test of the bike handling. The bike rode well.
My second lap was better - improved lines. Just about ending the ride through Fast Track, there was a pile of wood stacked right across the center of the trail. Now, the pile was not there on my first lap. Mushroom hunters again? But the pile looked purposely stack right over the trail. I have never see such wantonly interference with trail users here at Manawa.
The new bike now has logged over 11 miles. My speed was low - compared to end of the last season. 11.3 miles in 1:39. - no speed record. Some of that is conditioning, some is not able to ride as much (weather and trail conditions), and some was getting accustomed to the new bike.
All-in-all, a great day in the woods.