How to feel really alive

How to feel really alive in three simple steps:
1. Wait for a morning when there are severe weather warnings and 90km/h winds threatening to bring down trees, powerlines etc.
2. Find out which direction the wind is blowing from.
3. Get on your bike and ride straight into the teeth of it!
I guarantee that within about 3km, you will feel more alive than you have done in a long, long time (unless you do this sort of thing regularly). Choose your weapon: The irresistible force meets the immovable object -- which will YOU be? Stalemate is an incredibly liberating experience. The wind itself becomes the objective, the destination of the ride is merely a secondary consideration at this point.
Something I really love about these situations is letting the dull, boring side of my personality express itself. I give it a free reign while I spin the cranks in a relatively small gear and gradually grind the wind into the dirt. Then as I get close enough to sniff ultimate victory, I let the arrogance take over. I have no aversion to launching a blistering attack in the closing stages of such a ride, just to let the wind know that it's been owned hard! Another advantage is that magpies tend not to fancy these conditions too much for some reason.
The one downside is when the wind decides to play dirty and throw a twig at your ankle. Still, losing a little blood occasionally can be healthy sometimes -- it reduces the chance of blood clotting in later life. This was how it all went on Saturday morning when I decided to defy such conditions and ride to Springbrook really early. Of course, there was an element of cheating -- with a 1,000 metre climb to play with, there isn't much the wind can do once the climbing starts and those instincts kick in. I also wonder whether there's an element of cheating in lifting the bike over this:

Looking further down the road, there was a situation where lifting the bike over wasn't an option, but look at the left of this picture, you'll see a very small gap -- apparently there's a road under this mess somewhere too.

But of course, the really great thing about windy days like this, is that they provide very clear mountain views from somewhere like Springbrook. And if you can find a sheltered spot, well, I'll let the pictures do the talking, check out the stray wildflowers in the bottom corners of the first two.

Things That Fly … Or Did At One Time!

Maxwell AFB FamCamp — Montgomery, Alabama
Temps: Lo 35F / Hi 65F (1.5C / 18C)

Wow! The days are flying by here at the Maxwell AFB Famcamp. It’s not like we’ve been doing much of anything, and yet we’re already wrapping up day four at this campground.

(The image to the rights shows you what we’ve been waking up to here at Maxwell — frost!)

We’ve been spending our time mapping out the upcoming months and looking at our non-Phaeton adventures for next fall. Airfare and hotel for Ottawa are in the can. But that’s just the tip of the iceberg, and I have a long ways to go before I can consider those plans final. There is a hint … other than the obvious reference to Ottawa … about part of our future plans in this paragraph ;-) So, have fun guessing!

Back to what else we’ve been up to. While I’ve been processing photos (I shoot Raw) and uploading them to my online galleries, Mui’s been trying out recipes — he concocted a shrimp and crab pizza, made tasty shrimp wraps with a remoulade dressing, grilled salmon fillets and artichokes, and baked a batch of cranberry bars. All quite yummy!

Today Mui installed the replacement over-the-door motion sensor light we received from StarLights (original install post here); and shortened the chain on the rear mud flap on the coach so that it doesn’t drag when he’s maneuvering over less-than-smooth roads.

Sorry, no photos of any of the above, but I do have some to share from our outings around the base.

Although we’ve been waking up to cold temps, our days have been filled with sunshine, the temps quickly warming up to the mid- to high 60F range (18-20C), and staying there for quite a bit of the afternoon. To take advantage of the nice days, we took our trikes out for a spin on Saturday and Sunday (Mui went out today, too). With little vehicular traffic, we had the roads mostly to ourselves.

On Saturday’s ride, we did all of the red route and the small yellow circle, and meandered a bit around the commissary area — estimating about 8 miles (13 km) in all.

Our ride on Saturday was the productive one — photo wise — as we ended up exploring the small Air Park in the area around Chennault Circle. Sunday’s trike ride held out a lot of promise on paper, but that’s all it turned out to be. You see, the base’s fishing map shows two lakes and the Alabama River on the other side of River Road. What the map doesn’t show is any warnings that access to that area is blocked. Oh well; we got to see the prison (!) before coming home ;-) … and it was good exercise.

The sign is not a reference to Mui’s triking speed; there really are low flying
aircraft coming in for a landing at the runway to Mui’s right.

From our Saturday trike ride … if you don’t care for aircraft pictures, scroll past them.

The first thing we saw that had wings was this great blue heron taking off from the golf course.

This Sikorsky MH-53M 'Pave Low IV' Helicopter, painted and marked as it appeared in ,
has a rotor diameter of 72 feet (22m). #785 most recently took US Special Ops personnel
into harm’s way in Afghanistan during Operation Enduring Freedom, and led the final
MH-53 combat mission for Operation Iraqi Freedom before it was flown here.

The 27-year career of this Boeing B-52D "Stratofortress" started in 1956 and ended
after logging 14,204 flying hours. It has a wing span of 185 feet (56 m), requiring me
to cross the street to get this shot. The B-52 bombers have remained in operation
longer than any other bombers in US military history.

In addition to aircraft, there are a couple of memorials in the Air Park.

“Poopsie” is a North American B-25 Mitchell painted with the markings of an aircraft
that flew in the European Theater during WWII.

One of a series of identical officers' homes on Chennault Circle.

This North American F-86A "Sabre" is named "Chris Craft" for the plane flown by
Lt Charles G. Cleveland, USAF, who has been credited with five "kills" in Korea,
thus giving him the coveted status of "Ace."

This memorial is dedicated to 1Lt Karl W. Richter, who was killed in action in
North Vietnam; he is credited with being the youngest pilot (age 23) in the
Vietnam conflict to shoot down a MiG in air-to-air combat.

A granite plaque behind the statue is etched with the following words from A E Housman:
”Here dead lie we because we did not choose to live and shame the land from which we sprung.
Life, to be sure, is nothing much to lose; but young men think it is, and we were young men."

These four aircraft stand in a semicircle behind the Richter Memorial.
I found it interesting that the nose cone of each one was a different design.

Monument to Powered Flight — if not for the Wright Brothers where would we be today?
(sorry about the background clutter; I had no control over it.)

Monument to Powered Flight
"In tribute to the perseverance and achievements of the Wright Brothers and the
leadership and foresight of the Citizens of Montgomery, Alabama. Together they
established the nation's first school of civil aviation in March 1910, launching
America on her journey to the stars.”

Prop & Wings: the symbol of the American Airman. First worn by Aviation Cadets in 1917,
the tradition continued on in other commissioning programs. It is now worn by all USAF
Academy, Reserve Officer Training Corps cadets, and Officer Training School trainees
who have met the challenges of the first phase of officer training. All graduates of
OTS and ROTC lay their hands on the historic plaque at the base of the statue.

Ribbons of color
even though the trees block most of our sunset view, I couldn’t resist this photograph.

When I started to write this post this afternoon (the 21st), I didn’t think I was going to have any photos from today. But then we went for a walk around Lake #1, and I found a few other things that fly to share with you.

Great Egret

Kildeer

Pair of Mallards

This is the same Great Blue Heron from a few days ago.
(Can you find the turtle that I was too far to see until I looked at the photo on my computer?)

And that wraps up the last few days here at the FamCamp. Reading back through this post, I guess we have been doing quite a bit after all ;-)

I’ll be back when I have something new to write about.

Summer Rain

Incredibly, today was the first genuinely wet imperial century ride I've had for quite some time. There are absolutely no complaints from me on that score, however, as the early humidity (i.e. just before the rain started) was almost totally unbearable. Of course, apart from improving the conditions, rain has other advantages, particularly in relation to some of the shapes the clouds can produce when there are a few mountains around.









I also took the time to explore a couple of side roads that had been tempting me for quite a while (I needed the kilometres to make this into an imperial century). Firstly it was Pocket Road in the Numinbah State Forest. A pleasant enough ride through pleasant forest, before petering out into farmland on a gravel finish. I also discovered a very nice but utterly useless spot for stealth camping.



The second was more interesting. Incredibly, I've already forgotten the name of this road, but it's somewhere on the NSW side of the descent of the Numinbah Gap pass. This one's dirt from the outset, and winds through the forest before coming out to some open country. There are some great mountain views to be had here, and a waterfall that may well be a permanent one (although it's only visible from a distance). I think I'll take this detour more often.



And who can forget the final downpour between Hogan's Rainforest and Bilambil, the one that made cleaning my bike a lot easier than it otherwise would have been had it remained covered in mud. At present all is good.

The project for this week is to dot the i's and cross the t's on February's New Zealand trip.

Dogness! Pressies from Mason Dixie!

You can't imagine my surprise and major tail wagging joy when I got this amazing box from Mason Dixie yesterday. It smelled soooooo yummy. Mom and her grandpeep brought it outside, where I investigated the box and then got some help opening it up. What DELICIOUS SMELLS snaked out to my nose - much better than G-L-O-V-E, that's for sure!

Here I am investigating what the contents could possibly be!
Urging little grandpeep to "GET IT OPEN!!!"

OHHHH! Sniffs - Mmmmmm - smells sooooo yummers!

What a GREAT card! It says, "MASON DIXIE WISHES YOU A SPEEDY RECOVERY SO YOU'LL SOON BE BACK TO CHASING BALLS."

And look at THESE! Made with WILD salmon - can you imagine? And there's glitter all over the package, like shiny fish!

And here are some MUDDY MUTTS - Peanut 'n Carob cookies that have little balls and bones with a ribbon on the tag - these are soooooooooo cute and never mind that... smell DELICIOUS!

Here are some cute little packages - one has a pumpkin cookie (ohhhhh I love pumpkin!), and another has a beautiful chicken (my faaaaave!) goodie in it. The last has a couple of fortune cookies (man, I'm ready for a great fortune about my future!) and I begged Ma to give me one - NOW!

So Mom agreed to feed me my first "hard" food since the operation! But first...

My grandpeep read me my fortune and it is such a great one: " You care not where your human lives as long as he lives with you." Isn't that the truth? Now give me my cookie!!!!!!!!

Snarf! Got that down very quickly and OOOOOhhhhhh - so, so good after a week of baby (yuck) food! My teeth loved knashing and crunching (crunch, crunch) on something so delectibly yum-alicious - more....more!
Then, I got a couple of carob peanut cookies too! They are also so amazingly good - grandpeep wanted one, but the directions tell humans that my cookies are not to be consumed by them! Good! All the more for me! I am so grateful that Top Dog Bakery exists to make such great treats with such delicious and heathy ingredients - Wowzer are these cookies fabulocious!

Thank You SOOOOOOOO much, Mason Dixie! I prize your gift, as you can imagine and it DOES make me feel very, very happy! As you know, I love to eat - anything, apparently, but your contribution to my diet makes my mom and dad very thankful that it is so healthy and good for me! Plus, I love, love, love what I've sampled so far! And I AMMMM feeling so much better - each day a little spunkier and moving a little better! I get to have my stitches out next Friday and cannot wait for that day to come! With Hugs and xxxxxx,Sammie

Two days in Vantage ..

Ian and I had planned to go to Squamish for a bunch of days. However, the forecast was not favorable for any of the "local" climbing areas. By Monday, Ian wasn't feeling well, and we decided to make it a two day trip to the Frenchman's Coulee area. Since I don't seem to enjoy climbing there, this didn't make me feel great about the trip before going, but I kept my hopes up that we'd have a good time.
When we arrived, the skies were gray, with a light wind. We headed to Sunshine Wall so I could help Ian finish his project of climbing all the sport climbs at Sunshine (and the Feathers.) Once there, I believe we "warmed up" on Throbbing Gristle(5.9). Ian led it and I followed. It was technically easy for a 5.9, but strenuous. I fell and hung at one point. I cleaned the anchor, and we moved on to the next objective: Air Guitar.
Right around the corner is Air Guitar(5.10a), a route with a little history. (Goran Kropp died from a fall on Air Guitar.) Ian sort of psyched himself out of doing this one in the past due to that reason. He climbed it, and sewed up the middle section a bit before he ended up leap frogging protection near the top, then running it out when out of gear. You should include two #3s and two #4s in a rack for this climb. (One guide book even says a #5 if you have it, but I think two #4s will do.) I had Ian leave the gear in for my climb. I cruised the lower 2/3s of the climb then the crack got to off hands for me. I didn't have a good jam to move up on, and took a fall trying to go for a higher hold. After a few attempts, Ian gave me the advice to go deep into the crack for a jam. It worked. I basically wound up jamming my forearm, and it gave me enough purchase to make the next hold. That got me up to a big ledge, where what I would call the final crux moves waited. Above the ledge the crack was wider and was either fists or off-width depending on your body size. I couldn't manage to get decent fist jams, and ended up arm barring the last section with a few falls to reach the chains. Since we had the top rope set up, Ian climbed it again, and then I gave it another lap where I struggled more on the lower 2/3s and had an easier time with the off hands section.
Ian on Air Guitar
At this point the wind was picking up, and it was trying to rain on us. Ian and I huddled down for a bit hoping it would pass and then decided to head back to the car area and possibly climb at The Feathers. We took a long scenic way back admiring the flowers on top of the mesa while hiking.
Desert Flowers
Before we got back to the car, we decided to climb at Zig Zag wall. Neither of us had before, and it was about time. So we headed over to Unfinished Business (5.8) as our first route over there. Ian then told me it was my turn to lead, so I led up the route. He wanted to see me climb at my limit, which that route technically wasn't, but was challenging for having smaller holds after we had been doing laps on Air Guitar. I on-sighted the route, and then Ian pink pointed it. He commented about the strenuousness with the small holds and congratulated me on a nice lead. We spoke with a few women about looking at their newer guidebook, then decided on a .10b route nearby. (I think it may have been called Group Therapy?) Ian led it nicely, then I thrashed up it to the chains. (Actually I wasn't that thrashy, just in one section.) We called it a day and ate dinner and hung out in the car before camping. (It had started to rain around 6pm, but we decided to stick it out to see what the next day would bring.)
We woke up at 6:15am and Ian promptly went back to sleep. I took a walk down to the Columbia on the road and just enjoyed the smell of the sage, and the desert morning. When I arrived back at the campsite, Ian was topping out from a free solo of Where the Sidewalk Ends (5.1). We got in the car to get him his morning coffee.
When we got back we headed to The Feathers in an effort to complete his project there. He wanted to start with a warm up on The Uprising (5.8), probably the nicest route at The Feathers. However, he wanted me to lead it. I was intimidated by the first bolt being 15' off the ground and backed off one move from it. Ian led it, and then I pink pointed it afterward. I told him that it was a little too stout of a lead for me to warm up on.
We headed through the notch and geared up for I'd Rather be Skiing at 49° North (5.10b). Ian stated to me that this was still not finished by him due to a somewhat scary clipping issue at the 4th and 5th bolts. (There is a potential for falling on a ledge if falling at that point.) It turns out that is the crux of the climb where it is slightly overhanging and has some awkward foot placements. Ian led it in fine fashion, and I cruised to the crux, and then thrashed a bit trying to overcome it. It mellowed out above that point and I cleaned the anchors.
The next target was Hardening of the Arteries (5.10c). This was another route with a high first bolt which has caused Ian trouble. Although after climbing it, I'd say the crux was between the 2nd and 3rd bolt for sure. Ian led the route with no issues, and I climbed it well to the crux where I got pretty pumped trying to pull through the steep moves before it mellows out again near the top. We left the rope up and allowed a Canadian guy named Peter to top rope the route. Then Ian climbed it again to clean the anchors.
Peter at the Crux on Hardening of the Arteries
The wind picked up again, and we sat in the car for a bit eating lunch and hoping it would subside. Ian had only one route left to complete his task, but neither of us was feeling great about going out and tackling it. So we hiked over to it, and looked at it and proceeded to pack the car and leave for Seattle.
Overall, a great trip. I feel I need to step up the next time I climb with Ian. I usually feel content following harder stuff, but want to start leading some harder stuff too. Perhaps next time.

Amazing things

This woman has the most amazingly beautiful voice in the world.
Last night I was lucky enough to go and see Sarah Blasko in Brisbane. Every time I go to one of her shows I come away more impressed. It's often said that the true test of a live performer is to sound as good on stage as they do on CD. Sarah actually sounds better on stage, and that is no small feat, considering the quality of music she captures on CD. The combination of her voice, her stage presence and the song arrangements marks her as a truly amazing performer.
I've had the pleasure of meeting her a couple of times in the past, and on both occasions she came across as a much more genuine, down to earth person than I had expected. While listening to her last night, it dawned on me that somewhere deep inside, she surely must realise how good she is. In the meantime, I'll be keeping a close eye on her website to make sure I have tickets next time she visits this part of the world.

Gumley circular

Led by Barry - with Gordon, Maureen and me. Fine and sunny, very wet underfoot in places. Very rolling - great views. 7.6 miles.



Covering some of the ground of this walk on 21 Nov , but this time we could see the views.

Some overlap with this walk on 8 October as well.







We set off from Gumley, and took the footpath opposite the telephone box. This path heads south-west. Just before Gumley Lodge we turned west crossing several fields before arriving at a small road close to Laughton. We crossed the road and followed the footpath into the village. A token sit on the bench - to check the map - and then through the village and past the church.

Laughton church and 'cob' wall

Crook House (cruck house?)

We followed the path to the west after the church, downhill towards Mowsley, over a brook, and up hill, across a lane and into the village by the church and the old school.

Mowsley church

At a bend in the road we took a path between buildings, and when it reached a field we took the right hand footpath. This led downhill, crossed another field and a stream. and headed north along field boundaries, clearly marked. We found a sheltered spot, with trees, where the ground was not too boggy and had our first break of the day.The track led more or less north until we reached a junction near Saddington Lodge Farm. Here we turned right and headed north east towards Saddington village.

They took the longer route - I went direct. Luckily the boots proved fairly watertight.

In Saddington we went past the church, the riding school and the pub.

View of Saddington Reservoir from the pub

A little further along we turned right along the Leicestershire Round path - 1 and 3/4 miles to Gumley. Through the long thin field where there is usually one horse, then over the three bridges and up the hill where cows were grazing today.
At the top the views of the reservoir were excellent with no crops to block them.

Saddington Reservoir

Not the memorial seat . . .

The flat high level path is one of my favourites in the area. We continued to the memorial seat to Mary Hodgkin -the ideal spot for a second break.

Views to the north east - maybe Church Langton? And Charnwood hills in the distance.

From the seat at the high point of the path we carried on along the Leicestershire Round path, across Debdale Lane and into Gumley past the church.

A shortish walk, but quite hard going - hills and mud underfoot.