Now that's an icebreaker

You know that uncomfortable feeling when you walk into a room and you aren't really sure whom to talk to or what to say? What you need is the USCGC Mackinaw, designed to ram through 32 inches of solid ice or ten feet of brash ice, and to fully penetrate a ten-foot pressure ridge in less than half an hour.

Or maybe you don't need that, but the Coast Guard does, and it's mighty proud of this five-year-old vessel, which was docked next to Chicago's Navy Pier this morning, after distributing 1,200 Christmas trees to low-income families and retrieving buoys for the winter.

The USCGC Mackinaw.

This is a luxury liner of a Coast Guard vessel. It boasts a 3133-square-foot heated buoy deck as well as two-person staterooms for its 55 crew members. And it has "multi-mission capabilities," meaning it can be used for search-and-rescue, buoy-tending, ice-breaking and even oil spill containment, as well as continuing the nearly 100-year-old "Christmas Ship" mission.



Now there's a conversation starter!

River Continues to Rise

Wednesday I was back on the trails. This time I parked at the Wabash Trace Trailhead. From there, headed out on the Lake Manawa trail. Rode down to the mountain bike trail area.
The Missouri River level is up from what I saw Sunday. Today's photo is of the water level at the exit of the long loop. Sure would be nice to be able to ride my favorite trail once again! Guess like I will have to keep riding the pavement and the Wabash Trace.
Rode on over to the Trail Center. From there to I-80 (get in a little more miles - a very little more). By the time I was back to the Trace trailhead, the day was warming up and the wind was kicking up. Still, a good ride.

Gold Discover Days in Custer, SD

This weekend was Gold Discovery Days in Custer. We're talking Hot Air Balloon Rally, Parade, Antique Car Show and Hospital Bed Races. Life in the Fast Lane!

Hey we have Friday Night off so we head into town to check out the Hospital Bed races.




Saturday Gary starts at 9:30 and I start at 2:00 so we get up early to see the Hot Air Balloon Rally that was supposed to go off at 5:30 a.m. Got there but they didn't get out till almost 6:30 - could have used that extra sleep time!









Next we check out the Antique Car ShowLoved the jean upholstery in this one

Gary missed the Parade cause it started at 10:00. Gold Discover Days started in 1923.Mitch our resident General Custer

Just love a small town parade

Till Later,

Meanwhile we keep on Trek'n

Melissa and Gary



Night Ride @ Manawa

Overcast evening, no moon, Riding at 6:30 and later. Hmmm - night ride. This was an experience.
I found that I need to concentrate on the trail, not look at or worry about the light. No steering so that the light shines on the trail -- ride my lines, the light will follow.
It is better riding solo with a light. Otherwise ride in the trailing position. When leading the ride, the other lights are a distraction.
During our ride, the sky started dripping on us, not enough to stop riding. Was over in no time. See what the weather has in store for us tomorrow.
I will not be riding the Friday Night Ride the next two weeks. The 19th is the Bike Bash @ Platte River. The 26th is Xtreme Wheels Full Moon Ride.

Our Condo Reveal - With Guest Room

It's built into the lease that we have a cleaning woman come in twice a month. yesterday was the first time, and since the place shined so well, thought I would take the chance to show off the place...



Living area... Couch, Love seat and chair with ottoman.



Dining room table 4 chairs



Entertainment center... complete with lending library (newest book was 10 years old), a few DVD's and VHS tapes. I think people just left em). We do have cable TV, so I get my fix of Morning Joe while I do my post).



Master bedroom (looks a little like Marcia Brady decorated)



Master bath withRalphLauren towels.



Guest room (plenty of room for you)



You even will have your own bathroom



But when you visit, I get the room with the stuffed iguanas on the wall.

It's not home, but it certainly is better than a hotel for 6 months.

And plenty of room for company

Potential?

When does potential become another excuse for failure? Harsh words perhaps, but yesterday's 80km was an ultimately frustrating experience.
The plan was to explore a few detours in Tallebudgera Valley. Specifically, I wanted to first explore a link to Bonogin that had been flagged on Google maps, then to check Mt Cougal road, which more maps suggested might have been worth a look. The first link was a total failure, which offered about 3km of glorified suburbia, before dead-ending. The first failure of the day.
Toward the far end of the valley I found the turn-off for Mt Cougal "road". This one started promisingly, through pretty scenery and a gradual gain of height. For a while I thought it might go somewhere. This too died after about 3km, ending in a "private property" sign. It's entirely possible that this land was actually crown land that had been signed off quite illegally, but I wasn't in the mood for an argument at the time -- especially as the temperature was already approaching 35 degrees C at the time (it would hit 40 by the end of the ride).
I did find another detour virtually at the end of the valley, but this one ended even quicker than the others did. Accordingly, I hammered the climb of Petch Creek road before going home. I am now left back at the drawing board when it comes from finding detours out of this valley. There is still one possibility left, but it's not one for which I hold much hope. Perhaps it's time I found somewhere else to explore.

The Ponds at Liberty Hill, next photo

The Austin Pond Society tour took in quite a large territory this year, reaching up past the northwest corner of Austin to encompass ponds in Cedar Park & Leander, then tossing a lasso up to Liberty Hill. Past the shopping centers, past the faux-Victorian subdivision houses, up to where the streets have horse names, the houses have a few acres surrounding them, and there is room to swing a cat – or a backhoe.
This pond owner/builder told me that he had an advantage when building his pond – he owns the backhoe, and lives in an area where rocks abound under the soil. Some pond gardens in more urban areas are designed for specific reasons: to muffle the sound of traffic, to add resale value to the property, to provide an impressive area for entertaining, to enclose the koi so they’re not pierced by herons, to provide privacy from close neighbors or to bring a feeling of nature to the city. This pond plays in a different arena – creative expression by a hard-working man who is having fun. It's actually a series of ponds, built in stages, displaying an adventurous & masterful use of plants, and decorated with whimsical touches. Along the back border of the pond area, native trees, shrubs and drought tolerant plants provided a colorful backdrop. A recent addition was standing cypress, Ipomopsis rubra. [You can see it at top left in the previous posted photo.] The owner intends to scatter the seeds of this beautiful flower, extending the bed into a border. Within the pond there was an area with bog plants, among them the red-flowering Lobelia cardinalis, happy to have damp feet in Central Texas. Wonderful water lilies are mandatory, of course! The bloom season of the water lilies is one reason for the mid-July timing of this annual tour.
With this large, well-built and well-planted foundation in place, the owner added many quirky touches, thus invoking what the tour brochure promised, “the essence of South Austin in Liberty Hill”. The effect was playful, charming the adults and delighting the children as they wandered up and around the ponds, discovering the Mariachi band, a lighthouse, a dry hill with cacti & a windmill, and dancing frogs tucked in along the way.