Glove, with snow

That's about it, really. Life is super-busy in our household just now, so anything more tonight is beyond me. As an example of our busy-ness: next week teenage son will be in Geneva for 3 days, visiting the Large Hadron Collider at CERN, off to Loughborough (England) for more aerospace engineering interviews 15 hours after he returns from Switzerland, at school for a day, then up to Aberdeen for a weekend orchestra project. There's more, but it makes me feel quite faint to think about it.

How to build your own adventure...

I was going to write up last weekend's adventure in one post, but a simple 118km ride to a campsite by the banks of Christmas Creek deserves it's own entry. The ride itself started later than anticipated as I had to resolve an overcharging issue from my bank -- that was the easy part. The initial ride through suburbia didn't present any problems, and even with a full touring load I pushed it aside quickly. Shortly after Nerang, at the locality of Clagiraba, a sudden heavy rain shower made things interesting.


The shower passed, leaving only a rainbow to mark where it had been, but further along the Gorge Road (which is actually a very, very pretty ride), there were other sights to see. Traffic was heavier than I'm used to on this road, but it posed no problems that I couldn't deal with. The infamous climb at Witheren, 5km from Canungra, rose into the mist like a ramp to heaven, before descending back toward the army base. This was turning into an amazing ride.

After Canungra, things got even more interesting. First of all, a major thunderstorm appeared on the horizon in the sunset, then blew over. The lightning was clearly visible to the south, and the thunder sounded close, it must have been within 2km, but all I felt from it was a minute or two of light drizzle. The plan had been to detour to Biddaddaba creek, and follow a back road into the Kerry Valley, hence cutting out Beaudesert. This wasn't possible as the "road" turned into a muddy, impassable track, which was blocked by a gate. I later found that I could have passed through legally, but it would have involved walking 5km through the mud -- and I wasn't interested.


The sunset that had outlasted the storm had now well and truly passed as I backtracked 7.5km, before continuing on to Beaudesert in dropping temperatures. This time I came prepared, and managed to keep myself warm. The moonlight accompanied me as I continued southward from Beaudesert, 15km on the old Mt Lindesay Highway, before turning off toward the "Lost World", and the evening's destination. The early part of this stretch has absolutely nothing to see, and I was reduced to counting off the kilometres to entertain myself.
Fortunately, things improved. The scenery in the moonlight was quite astounding as the road started to climb in the last 7km or so. The night hadn't cooled in quite the way I expected, but it was starting to get late now, and I was looking forward to a warm sleeping bag at the end. As it turned out, I would have a warm campfire with no effort of my own. There was only one other person at the campground that evening (who, by a staggering coincidence, was also named Chris). It was a comfortable way to end what had been a memorable ride.

Suspended Between Times

Journal Entry-Thursday, August 6, 7:25 a.m.
I love the quiet of an early morning house before anyone else is up. I sit on the couch facing the dining room watching the morning sun make dappled leaf patterns on the curtains and rug. The tick tock of the mantel clock sounds in my left ear. My journal waits on my lap to receive thoughts hovering between dreams half remembered and the day's to-do list.

Weather .... or Not!

We got up to see this again today and we are not happy about it... humpffffff.
Yesterday was totally cool though, and we got to release our pent-up energies at McInnis with some of our good pals, including Sierra! There she is with my sis, who is getting Kong retrieval lessons from me. Above: I'd give her a B+.
Heeyyyyy... nice form Ava - I'll paw you an A-!
Uh oh... wha...???? Hey... come back here. You never, ever drop a kong until you deliver it to a hooman. A Big "F" fur that boo-boo.
I guess she was distracted by her pal, Callie. I'll just tiptoe around them and grab that kong fur myself.
Hee hee! THAT got her attentions!
Now that is how you play a good game of Kong-On-A-Rope, as the Ao4 would say!
Well then Shanti's brand new baby sis, Shasta (15 weeks old) showed up and we all got to go for a walk on the nearby levies - trails that skim inlets to and from the SF Bay. Lots of these (below) and tons of ducks. Avalon loves these feathered creatures, while I glue my snooter onto the many gopher holes along the way. The lady painter up ahead was creating a very beautiful picture.
Shasta wasn't too excited about looking at those geese, but Avalon thought they were very cool and even barked quite a bit at them.
Then we turned around to head back. Lots of birdie and gopher smells. We grazed on the green grass along the way. Moo moo.
Pretty stop along the way - tide is high!
One more check before we head on home...
I think Shasta enjoyed her first levie walk!
Thanks to Sierra's Mom for taking the Levie walk pictures. Poor Sierra! That's why there are no pictures of her in this portion of our post today. Hope it's nicer weather at your places! If you desire snow today... may you receive! Happy Wednesday!

Road Closed - We Get the Idea

Two weeks agi I first saw this collection of signs at Lake Manawa. The sign is at the bicycle trail and road to the river boar landing (mountain bike trail area). The road was a popular spot to view the rive and the flooding.
That day, I figured they wanted folks off the road and out of the area because of levee work. Since the signs are still up, it seems they really don't want anyone over that way. Hope I will not get in trouble for leaning my bike (parking) at the sign (LOL).
A new map of trails closed due to the flooding has posted by Council Bluffs. This shows more closures than the June map.
Anyway, this morning parked at the Nature Trail and headed West and the bicycle trail. At the signed shown here, I transferred to the road. Followed out normal route around Lake Manawa to TSC. There, instead of riding through the streets, I rode the new bicycle trail along Hwy 92, and down along E. Manawa Road.
The newly completed trail still needs grass planted and a good sweeping (or heavy rain) to clean the trail surface. Rode over to the Lake Manawa Trail and back to the parking lot. About 6.5 miles so far.
Not enough mileage, to started lap 2 around the lake. This time at the North short, I rode over to the shelters and boat ramp. Stopped for some G2, and back to the maine road.
It was 80 when I started, 85 when I finished (basically 7am to 8am). Sunny, light breeze from the South (no wind at the parking lot - just lots of mosquitoes). 14 miles in 1:09 - pretty good speed for me. Oh, I was on the road bike.

Grace Note

This is what I saw on my walk this morning.  We're an hour from the East Coast, and this time of year the fog blows off the ocean in the mornings creating fast moving clouds and a good breeze.  You can feel Fall in the air.  
I first felt it in July.  There's an almost imperceptible change in the air.  It's a lightness in the pressing humidity that is usually present in this part of the country at this time of the year.  That's accompanied by a gentle, but definite breeze.  The light also changes.  I don't know what causes it, but it's softer.
It always makes me excited the first time I feel Fall in the air.  It's my favorite season.  I love the food, the weather, the clothes, the holidays, the everything.
I've loved this summer.  I'm not ready for it to end yet, but by September I'll probably be going through my clothes and pulling out the sweaters (even though I won't be able to wear them for another month or more).  Old habits die hard, I guess.
In Tennessee, where I grew up, you could start wearing sweaters in September.  So that's when I get mine out.  In Georgia we play this game of wearing a sweater in the morning until about 10:00, taking it off until late evening, then putting it back on; maybe.  Most of the time in early Fall I only wear a sweater on principle.  It's what I did growing up, and by golly, I'll do it now!  I sweat a lot too!  It's the same game in early Spring.  Oh well, it gives me something to do!

Early bloomer

Cherry Japanese Apricot blossoms...

... at the in-laws' this past weekend.
I haven't seen cherry trees blooming around here, and the inlaws are north of here, so I guess this one's just an early bloomer.
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Updated:
My sister-in-law emailed to tell me that the reason this is blooming before other cherry trees, is that it isn't a cherry tree! It's a Japanese Apricot. (The bark looks just like that of a cherry.)