Honeymoon - Depoe Bay, OR - Day 4

Started the day in our usual fashion… breakfast with an ocean view. Then back up to our room to relax a little and make plans for the rest of our time in Oregon. Bozo found a great walk-in price for a hotel in Newport, OR, which is slightly closer to Portland International Airport, so we decided to head that direction. On our way out of town we stopped to take a few more photos of places we had been in Depoe Bay.

There is construction between Depoe Bay and Newport so it took us awhile to get here. It also made us change our plans because a couple of beaches we were considering were right where the construction and the long waits were happening.

We checked into the Elizabeth Street Inn with an awesome view of the ocean and then headed out to explore. We ended up at Nye Beach area and walked around looking at the little shops. We met a book seller at Books on Beach who recommended we check out the Sylvia Beach Hotel, which has all its rooms named after different authors with the appropriate decor to boot. It was great! No Karouac for me but there was Steinbeck. The best room was Agatha Christie with a wrap-a-round porch overlooking the ocean and a huge room.

We then followed the advice of the innkeeper at Channel House and headed to the Bay Blvd where we got a great view of the Yaquina Bay Bridge while enjoying seared tuna and grilled calamari at Local Ocean. Great atmosphere right across the street from the marina where they get much of their food and with garage doors that were open for some fresh, albeit fishy, air. We both realized that we'd not had grilled calamari before, only fried, and it was so so so good! It was served with poblano peppers so we also each got a little surprise burn in our first bite.

After dinner, a walk along the boulevard, and then a quick crossing of Yaquina Bay Bridge I finally got my Tillamook Ice Cream at Nye Beach Sweets. Not that I needed it or even that I really wanted it at that time. But if I was going to get Tillamook near Tillamook it had to be today. Creamy coconut with mudslide… yummy! Bozo got a children's sized mudslide. Wuss!

That's when the gluttony started. It continued when we folded to trying out the salmon chowder provided by the hotel as an appetizer. For us it was an evening snack I suppose. Then a few hours later they provided chocolate chip cookies and some coffee… decaf for us! I think there is something to our Honeymoon ending that is making us splurge in many ways. We're trying to make it last longer and we want to squeeze out every pleasure possible from our remaining time here.

We have tomorrow to make our way slowly from here to Portland and catch our plane at 5:30pm. It's nice not to have to rush!

Marina directly across the street from Local Ocean

Thanksgiving Weekend at Petaluma KOA

November 21-24, 2012

We decided to spend Thanksgiving at Petaluma KOA this year in a cabin. They host a Thanksgiving dinner in which they provide the turkey and mashed potatoes while everyone else brings something to pass. It seemed like a nice opportunity to spend the holiday with people since we couldn't be with our families.

The RV area was quite crowded during the weekend. There didn't seem to be as many people in cabins though, which we liked. We walked into the cabin and immediately realized that there wasn't a heater in the cabin. That wouldn't usually be an issue except this time we brought our summer sleeping bags and less coverage for Blue. Eventually we found what we thought was the heater. Though it looked SO strange and was higher up on the ceiling. After a few seconds, we looked at each other and laughed because we realized there was a small flat screen television hanging above the door. Whoa! We have never stayed in a camping cabin with a television before! lol But that meant there really was no heater. Bozo called the office and asked that they bring us some kind of heater and they did end up bringing up a radiant heater with instructions not to have it plugged in while the television is on. AH! So that's why no heaters.

We spent a lot of the weekend lounging in the cabin. Thursday evening we took our bean salad to the main shelter and shared a meal with many families. In particular, we sat with a couple who is temporarily living at the KOA. Levonne has her own blog on that lifestyle as well. Her husband John works in or near Petaluma and they have a dog with them as well.

Petaluma is a city we have driven through a few times on our way to other places and have said that we wanted to check it out. On Friday we went downtown, got some food, put Blue in Cacciatore's stroller then walked around. I think we were both drained because as we were walking around, we certainly weren't as adventurous as we usually are. I haven't had much of a vacation since I started my new job so having 4 days to veg was a big deal. We stopped for BBQ at  Lombardi's BBQ on our way back to the cabin. Then went back to vegging.

Blue enjoyed sitting outside on the porch. The KOA is quite dog friendly so that made things much more enjoyable. Each cabin has a fire pit, picnic table, and grill. The cabins are a little close together so if they were all full, it might have been a somewhat different experience. The parking in front of the cabins was also too small. The back end of our vehicle stuck out. However, overall it was a very good experience.

AIDS/LifeCycle 11 - Day Four

Paso Robles to Santa Maria

Distance - 95.20
Time - 6.50.42
Avg Speed - 13.9mph
Max Speed - 39.5mph

Woke up around 4pm in the KOA after a very solid hard sleep. Bozo said she took Blue out twice during the night and I didn't stir at all. After the massage and chiropractor yesterday then a good sleep, I was feeling ready for this long day! We headed back to ALC Camp in Paso Robles where I went directly to breakfast and had a feast of eggs, oatmeal, potatoes, and yogurt. I love eating a big breakfast and this is a perfect reason to do so!

On the road today... The Evil Twins! Or, "The Evil Bitches" as they are affectionately called. Evil Twin #1 begins at mile 9.9, which is just the right amount of time for a warm up. The incline starts pretty gradually and remains pretty gradual throughout. There is at least one false summit on Evil Twin #1 and I could hear people around me saying, "This is it, we're at the top" know that we were not actually at the top. It can be disheartening to think you are at the top only to begin climbing again so I think it's best for people to keep their mouths. It did affect me at one point when someone said we'd reached the top of ET1 but I could see that after a small descent we would climb a little more. That's when I decided to stop listening to people who say, "We're almost there!" When I'm there... I'm there!

Then came Evil Twin #2. This climb is steeper and longer. But at the top is the Halfway to LA point, which is always very exciting! I spent way too much time at the Halfway point. I had my photo taken with Team Misfit, then solo, then just as I was thinking about leaving, some of Team Sacramento showed up and got in line. So I waited with them for about 30 minutes and got my photo take with them and then alone again. Just took way too long! After all that climbing comes the reward... the lonnnnnng descent. I can't remember how long it was but it was long enough that I was actually getting tired of descending by the end!

Kenny had left the 2nd rest stop by the time I got there so I met up with him at lunch. The rest of the route was mainly rollers, which can also get very tiring. Toward the end of the day, we passed an ambulance that was loading up 1 female ALC rider who'd had an accident. Then a quick turn and a short steep uphill kept us on our toes. I went through some more rollers to the next turn where I stopped to wait for Kenny. Turned out his blood sugar was very low and we were trying to find some Gu or other sugar when Khoa and Aaron rode by as well as some of Team Sacramento. After some Gu, Kenny felt better but after about a mile decided to stop at a convenient store to pick up some sweet tea. Good ol' Texas boy! At the convenient store, we got to talk with some locals about the ride and why we were doing it. That was good! They were very impressed and encouraging!

Rest Stop 4 was Octoberfest, which is always a good time! This is especially true after a head and side wind that threatened to throw us off our bikes! But afterwards, it was a strong tailwind that added much speed to the ride. Another accident along the way and Kenny stopped... he's a nurse. I kept going since they were trying to keep people from stopping and getting in the way. I don't think a nurse can get in the way! (= This stretch took no time at all. But once in Santa Maria, we take another turn into the wind. So... a head wind and a bunch of stop signs. Arrgh! It's tolerable only because we are so close to home. And I was able to get in with a fast group of guys. At the last corner, Bozo was sitting there waiting patiently for me. Blue was back in the car out of the heat and wind. It's such a great feeling to see her when I am finishing! I suppose most people continue and finish the ride before saying hi but I have a habit of stopping right when I get to her or them. lol

Finished the last few yards and checked my bike in. Kenny came in not long after me. Apparently there was a physician at the crash scene so he was able to leave. This would be his night to sleep indoors at Aaron's mother's house while I was on my way to pet friendly Motel 6 for the night. I kinda like this Princess Plan! Bozo already had my bag so all I had to do was grab some food and we were gone!

Red Ribbon Ride - Day 4

Route -Northfield to the State Capitol in St. Paul

Distance = 45.69 miles
Time = 3.31.00
Average speed = 13.0 mph
Maximum speed = 30.5 mph
Odometer = 3392.7 miles

Took me awhile to get to sleep. But once I did, it was solid! Five in the morning still came too early for me! I was very stiff and thought today might actually be miserable even though it was shorter. I got a little better as I started walking around. I was also worried about forgetting something since I didn’t have to account for everything like when I was camping.

Lorrie dropped me off at the middle school around 5:30am. Plenty of time. By the time I’d found a table to sit at and got my food, the rest of my teammates started making their way in. As soon as Kelli set down her water bottles, I realized I didn’t have mine. Oops! Need those! So I called Lorrie and she had put them in the refrigerator for me last night. Sweet! Out of sight out of mind though. Especially for me that early in the morning! I made her cup of coffee to take with her. I’m guessing it was Peace Coffee since they sponsored us. But I don’t know for sure and Lorrie said it was AWFUL. We all took our time eating and then when we got ready to go out, John said a prayer while we all held hands. A nice way to start the day. Should have been doing that all along I suppose.

After preparing our bikes (tire pressure, etc.), getting a couple photos, and lollygagging a little, we set off. The route took us through downtown Northfield so I led the way. That was pretty fun. Northfield is such a cycling friendly place, I thought there would be more people out. Maybe they were all out riding! Anyway, it was still nice. We turned right on Highway 3 from 2^nd Street where there’s a slight incline. I heard all kinds of moaning and groaning with that good morning incline! (= We proceeded on to Farmington where there was the first pit stop. I was feeling pretty good by that time. Seems like I generally start feeling stronger as I ride more rather than more tired. The rest of the ride was mainly Kelli and me up and down the rolling hills through Farmington, Apple Valley, and Eagen. There was a Twins Pit Stop (2) that was SO cute! We stayed there for quite awhile. They all had their Twins uniforms on, there was a beer vender (fake beer), Twins cutouts for us to pose in, and they would every so often play a little game in the grass behind them with a whiffle ball and one of those huge plastic kids’ bats. Cute! We were taking our time for the most part because at the end of the ride would be the holding area where we would have to wait for everyone to finish and until about 1pm before the closing ceremony. Felt like we were at Pit Stop 3 forever! Lots of people came and left. But there were only about 7 miles through St. Paul left to the finish. Jean showed up with her new team, Mrs. Peterson’s Peeps, so I asked if we could wait for her and all ride in together. So we did. Along with Mrs. Peterson’s Peeps. It was a long “peloton” with lots of cheering and chattering. A funny thing happened though, remember that guy who “stopped short” that caused an accident with Lorrie and another guy on A Day on the Ride? Well, he showed up in front of me… I was leading the big bunch. I tried to slow down to let him go but he just slowed with us. I purposefully missed a light so he would go through it. But he stopped. Kelli and I passed him at one point, but he came right up to the front. Normally I wouldn’t care. I would just follow him. But he wasn’t pointing out pot holes or grates in the road, which are dangerous. He’s dangerous! I told Kelli why I was riding so inconsistently and she said, “Good plan!” Apparently he had caused an accident on one of her group rides as well. Scary! I kept him far enough ahead that I could see what was in the road and could send the message back through the two teams. At stop lights we did cheers. I’m sure the people in those neighborhoods thought we were crazy if they didn’t know what was going on. (= Heading up to the holding area, Rand showed up next to me and tried to race as we’d done the 2^nd day. I beat him to the top but then missed the entrance to the park. lol Dorks!

In the holding area were lunch and a massage. That was all I cared about! Lunch was a pretty good sandwich and pasta. And I got the last cookie from the “Cookie Waiter” from the previous pit stop. I didn’t want one back then because I didn’t know what kind of ride the next 7 miles would be. My patience paid off! (= I got a great 10 minute massage in which the knot on my left shoulder blade was highlighted. Ouch! She made a funny comment at some point to another of the massage therapists. I had sunscreen and sweat all over me so it was easy for her to do the massage. She said to her co-worker, “Hey, she came pre-lubricated!” which, after some of the other comments from the weekend, made a few people laugh. Definitely one for Adam’s quote book! Then we waited. And waited. Thankfully there was shade in the area so we weren’t all burning up. Once they had us line up we were a little more in the sun and we had to wait awhile there too. I think we were waiting for the crew to walk down to their waiting area before we went to the font of the capitol. Eventually we were freed. It was a very very slow ride down a pretty steep hill. Didn’t seem like anyone fell or crashed into each other. Good thing! When we got to the sidewalk coming up to the Capitol, we could start hearing the cheering. That was very cool! There were so many people there! I saw Lorrie right away with the camera trying to get every moment. They split us into two sides so she had to wait and see which side we went to. Poor thing. But it worked out. After we were all lined up with our bikes in front of the stage, the crew walked down in a space left for them in the middle of the two sides of cyclists. Seeing the crew come in is always emotional for me… and others. They have spent the past four days taking care of nearly our every need. I never saw anyone angry or frustrated… just smiles. They are an amazing bunch of people! More so, I think, than the cyclists. We just ride. Well, we do ride far so I guess I should give us some credit too! Heheh! Anyway, we splashed them with water from our water bottles as a salute. The program was pretty quick. Thankfully since it was very hot and very sunny. This is terrible but I have no idea who the people were that spoke, aside from Teresa, the ride director. The first was a woman who is a politician and then someone who I guess is a radio personality and a local comedian. I’ll go to the ride website later and see if I can find out who they were and do an addendum. lol Lots of cheering and photos followed. Jean’s partner Rose was there with some of their friends from church and a few signs. Lorrie had her sign with her as well.

It was nice having someone there for me this time. All through the ride actually, not just at the end. I remember how I felt at the end of the AIDS/LifeCycle ride in LA with no one there cheering for me, feeling like there wasn’t anyone who was excited to have me back after a week. I would say maybe Emma was glad but she’d spent her week with Emily and Ila so she might not have been quite ready for me to be back yet! lol Anyway, that was a very nice feeling! I can’t believe how lucky I am to have such a supportive girlfriend and that I get to ride my bike as much as I want. Incredible!

I don’t plan on doing much more riding this summer as I have a licensing exam to prepare for. I made that decision before the RRR because I felt like the training or even the pressure to train was taking me away from studying. So, no more rides until I take the exam. Back to running for awhile.

Also, if you sponsored me financially for this ride or encouraged me along the way… I want to THANK YOU VERY MUCH! The support means everything to me!!

To see all the photos Lorrie and I took, go to my gallery at:
http://www.kodakgallery.com/jenniferphd/main/red_ribbon_ride

BWCA II - Day 4

Travel - Slim Lake > 173r portage > Little Loon Lake > East Loon Lake > 220r portage > Heritage Creek > Heritage Lake

Woke up a little chilly at sunrise to see an incredible pink/orange (Tequila) sky and it's reflection in the still water. Wow! I only vaguely remember it. (= Back to sleep until about 8am. We all started stirring and then a mini-thunderstorm rolled through. That was nice! After the short storm, it was time to move. I like this pace. We have a mission. We all know we have a mission. And we're all working toward that mission. But there is not a rush or any pressure. We leave when we're all ready. Breakfast was bagels with peanut butter and we took oatmeal bars for a snack later. We had packed our boats at different sides of the point so Sue and Terry went and got theirs. They came around the bend just as Lorrie and I were pushing off. But I got us hung up on a rock and SPLASH! - in the water we went! We only tipped so our bags didn't really go in. But we had to pull everything out, including the canoe, and start over. Damn! Good thing we can laugh at ourselves! I slammed my hand on a rock so I have a pretty good bruise and some swelling. Otherwise all was well. We got going again after a lesson learned about not trying to get in a canoe when the tip is still on the rocks! That was just the beginning of our adventure. We went back on Slim Lake the way we had come on Day 2. We did the 173 rod portage back to Little Loon Lake. It was still long, hot, mucky, rocky, and buggy. Lorrie and I dressed in pants today, which made the spill even more entertaining. They certainly helped on this portage though! I wore a tank top and a long-sleeved shirt also with my mosquito head net. Two trips and my shoulders were eaten up. Those mosquitoes will work twice as hard to get my blood rather than moving on to easier skin to find. I don't know what it is about my blood that they love so much! Sue has gotten only a couple bits still! At least one of those is on her ass from the privy! heheh Paddled Little Loon Lake back to East Loon Bay where we camped the first night. Motorized boats are allowed on this lake. We passed up our site and landed on a beautiful beach across the cove from it. There was a group of 16 from Chicago finishing up there. They were swimming and having fun. Looked like 2 adults, 3 girls, and 13 boys. Huge!

We ate our lunch and prepared for the 220r portage we were about to do. The kids had described it as "beastly." Sue had done it before and said it was difficult but not *that* bad. Well, it was worse! I added a loose layer over my other 2 layers to keep the bugs away. But that was SO hot! Better than the bits though! We started out Sue with canoe, Terry with pack, Lorrie with canoe, and me with a pack. Seemed nice at first with grass on each side. But it turned brutal quickly. About 1/4 of the way, Sue put down her canoe and was going to go back and bring packs up to give her shoulders a rest. Lorrie did the same. Terry and I continued on with our packs. We helped each other over and under 4 fallen trees. Clamored over pretty big rocks, navigated rocks among the muck, and very eventually made it to a tiny pond at the end. I was worried about Lorrie and Sue trying to crawl over those trees with canoes so I headed back right away. We also had 3 more packs to bring through. I got to Sue who had one pack and she said Lorrie was still bringing packs to the canoe. I was glad about that since we were on a motorized lake. Someone could easily come along and take the stuff and motor away. When I got to Lorrie, she had a pack on her back and a day pack on her front. I gave her some water and she asked me to take the day pack. So off we went with those. We eventually ran into Terry. We left my orange pack and gave the day pack to Terry to keep walking back. Lorrie and I went back to get a canoe and the couch food pack. That thing is SO HEAVY! So over and under the trees I went, helping Lorrie with a couple of the higher ones getting the canoe over. Wow! Ran into Sue and Terry who were returning for the other canoe. We were all so hot and sweating buckets! Water was getting short and my body was SO tired!

I can't really describe the feelings, physical and emotional. On the first run I was getting pinch hickeys from the pack and my waist pack moving together. The fatigue was incredible! At some point I'm sure I was pissed. lol I know I experienced relief numerous times. And through it all, I had to pee! When we got to where we'd left our orange pack, I grabbed the day pack to save on a trip. Holy crap! I got all that stuff to the end then went back to help Lorrie get down one of the rocky areas with the canoe. We carried it together a few steps then she brought it in with it on her shoulders. Terry showed up a moment before with the orange pack we'd left. And we were done with that portage! What an incredible accomplishment!

No time for pats on the back. Time for a couple photos and then we were off again. We took Heritage Creek to Heritage Lake where we nabbed the first campsite. Everything on shore, we all jumped in the water for a much deserved swim. Tents up... nap time! Nice breeze but lots of gnats, mosquitoes, and ticks! Lorrie is ANAL about the bugs, especially the ticks. I basically have to undress before getting into the tent. And anything that is passed to the inside must be thoroughly checked several times. I have never ever seen her so aware of and attentive to one thing! Finally! (-; Because of the bugs, it is clear that June is probably not the best month for me to be in the Boundary Waters. They just love me too much! It's like paparazzi or something! They follow me everywhere! My adoring bloodsucking fans!

Dinner at 7pm. Chicken and wild rice soup. Yum! We sat together and ate and chatted. Another turtle was eyeing the site and we wondered if she had heard about our midwife services from the turtle on the other site. (= Things put away. Dishes washed. Time for bed... 8:30pm. Still light. Not it's getting dark and there are many more "nature sounds" than we've heard before. Should be nice to sleep to. Though I think we are all so exhausted that it just doesn't matter.

Boundary Waters (Day 4 - August 10, 2007)

Well, we survived! And I would say that we thrived! I woke up again before it was light and then dozed until it started to get light. Then I realized we were supposed to watch sunrise from the waterfall and that it must be getting close. Same thing as yesterday. Lorrie saw that I was awake so she crawled over me to get up. I followed a little later. I was sitting outside by the non-existent fire and Lorrie called me down to the lake. The sun was just rising over the bluff on the other side of the lake. It was gorgeous! Amy got up a little later, actually a lot later, and apologized for not waking up in time for sunrise at the waterfall. Said either her alarm didn't go off or we didn't hear it. We decided that she was already starting her crash from the summer since we were so much easier to lead than 12-year-olds. lol She was sleeping at least 10 hours a night! I doubt she was doing that with the kids. It was interesting how we developed a routine so quickly, just 2 days. Since Amy was always the last one awake, she got all her bedding and such packed up and taken care of before she came out of the tent. We would be outside milling around and then would start taking the food down from the tree branch and start untying the bags of food. She would come out and start working on breakfast. I would go into the tent and pack up Lorrie's and my bedding then Lorrie and I would start taking down the tent. We basically packed everything up and put it together but then left it next to the Duluth Packs for Amy to pack. This morning breakfast was egpocheese, which I'm sure you can guess was eggs, potatoes, and cheese. I liked it, Lorrie thought it was okay. Nothing special but I'm easy to please when it comes to food! Breakfast done, Lorrie did dishes and I piddled around getting things packed up. We all put off as long as possible getting back into our wet clothes. Brrr! But once they were on it wasn't too bad. It's true about wool, it stays wet forever but it still keeps you warm. My socks never dried but my feet were always warm. Next time maybe I'll just wear wool all over! (= Got everything down the stairs to the canoe, which was a little challenging with the Duluth Packs. Going up seems to have been easier yesterday. You can see in the photo, not only the lovely cyclist's tan, but also a bit of the Duluth Pack and the steps I had to walk down. We paddled about a mile to the next portage, which would take us up to the waterfall we missed this morning and then on into Rose Lake. The plan was to take every up up up, then down to the other side, then to come back up to see the waterfall. I think it was an 80 Rod portage but what I do know is that there were gazillions of stairs, rocks, and roots. There was one step that was about 2 feet high. No big deal... unless you have an 85 pound canoe on your shoulders or a 50 pound Duluth Pack on your back! We elected Amy canoe carrier for this one and Lorrie and I took the rest. It was humid and sticky, my clothes were still wet, and we climbed. FUN!!! lol It was definitely difficult! But it's why we were there. There were several different groups on this particular portage. Probably the most people we had seen at one time the whole trip. One of the groups was a Menogyn group with 2 male leaders, 2 12-yr-olds, and a 13-yr-old. One of the kids was coming down where we were getting ready to go up. He had a Duluth Pack on his back, which was more than half his height. He was bent over at the waist... and he was flying with the force of gravity!! lol It was so funny. But he did it! And that was cool! Another kid came down with his pack and the guides sent them both back up to help out the third boy. Once their packs were off, they walked with this cocky swagger! I assumed that the successed they were experiencing was increasing their confidence and I thought that was great. Hell, I felt the same way! But I can control my 12-year-old swagger... usually! (= I don't think Lorrie enjoyed this portage as much as I did. But she finished it and then was fine. As we were walking up toward the waterfall, Amy was coming back down and asked if we wanted to earn some trail karma. To do so, we had to walk back where we had just come and help others portage their gear. Lorrie and I just looked at each other and followed her... with Lorrie flipping her off, with both hands!, for a few feet. lol Doesn't she know we're old!!?? Anyway, we did offer to help but they had everything carried already. Phew! (= So back up toward the waterfall. Finally! If I hadn't heard them, I could have begun to think they didn't really exist since we seemed to keep avoiding them. But there they were! It was really beautiful! A little smaller than I expected... though why should I expect anything!? There were quite a few people in there so we waited a bit for it to clear out then jumped in. I'm not good at not showering. I can do it and I can handle it. But if there's an opportunity, I'm likely going to take it. We didn't use soap or anything but just to stand under "running" water felt so cleansing! I sat there for a long time just letting it run through my hair and over me. Lorrie used the taller stream.... she's a little smarter than me! lol But the photo was too dark. )= Stupid disposables. She was naked too. So, unless you were there, you missed out! (-; Afterwards, we climbed up above the waterfall and laid in the sun on a rock to dry out a little. What a view of Rose Lake! Wow! Neither Lorrie nor I wanted to be right on the edge so we found a big flat rock a little away from the edge to hang out. It must have been about 45 minutes that we sat there. I actually felt a little bored at first and just wanted to keep moving. But I took a couple breaths and realized I was there to slow down too. So I laid back and ended up falling asleep! Amy showed up eventually and off we went. I was feeling a little groggy! Good thing we weren't near the edge. Once we got down by the canoe, we decided to eat there rather than canoe to another campsite and unpack again. So we sat there and ate what was left of our lunch compilation. Actually we didn't even finish everything! Lorrie preferred the pemmican and Matt food. I tried to eat the dried fruit but it was much too hard. So I went back to hummus and salami or tortillas. The food that we didn't eat goes into a "seconds" bin, which Menogyn staff can use on their personal trips. I thought we should have gotten it since we paid for it! (= Back in the canoe to cross Duncan lake to our final portage into Bearskin Lake. As we were leaving the portage area, Amy spotted another moose! This one had antler though was apparently also quite young. It's in the photo... I swear! Toward the middle you can see the brown. They do blend well. Next time I will have my own camera so I can zoom. ::sigh:: That was very frustrating. And it was our last photo! Anyway, I did get to see my second moose and I seem to be graduating in size. Maybe I'll see an adult next time! Crossing Duncan Lake was uneventful and we got to the portage with no difficulty. My only thing was that I still can't really see the portage openings when I'm out in the water. I don't see the breaks in the landscape. They're on the maps too but I can see myself missing them periodically. Even Amy mentioned several that they had missed on various trips. Something to work on! Lorrie decided to take the canoe on this last portage. Amy had said it was much easier than the others. Ha! It was still 80 Rods and the terrain was certainly not even. I guess they're all hard right now since we're so new to the whole thing. We were both tired so we had agreed that she would "bridge" about halfway so that I could take it the rest of the way. She ended up carrying it the whole way! (= I took one of the packs and some misc stuff. At the end she bridged and I took it and helped her lay it down. Then we decided to just take it into the water right side up with both of us at an end. We agree that Amy was not far behind and was just hanging back so we could do that on our own. I thought that was pretty good guiding. I'm glad she felt comfortable doing that stuff with us as adults. As she came out into the open, she said we were doing a good job and then walked into the water to dump her pack into the canoe. It was cute. I guess that's how it should work. One person carries the canoe into the water, flips it right side up and the rest follow behind with packs to dump right in rather than having to set them on the ground. Smooth! Anyway, we got everything in. Lorrie had thought about trying to steer again but we all decided it would be bad for her hand. So I decided to give it a shot. It was only about 2 miles so I figured I could handle it. Steering is HARD!! No wonder Amy was so tired! lol It's constant J- and C-strokes to turn left or right. I couldn't quite get the J-stroke at first but started to get the hang of it eventually. The C-stroke was easy but I couldn't just keep doing that or we'd go in circles. We did a LOT of weaving at first but then I got better at it. The funny thing to me was that Lorrie had such strong strokes that whatever I did was exaggerated. So a C-stroke on the right side should turn us left. But we would go WAY left because I didn't know how to adapt to her strength. We figured it out eventually. Basically, I told her to be a little weaker. lol So I finished up the trip in stern with Lorrie at bow. Apparently that's a tradition at Menogyn as well. The guide starts the trip at stern but by the time they come back, they should either be at bow or a duffer. I think that's a good tradition. I had to maneuver around an outcropping and then into the "harbor" where the dock is. Then I had to avoid a rock that sticks out of the water, which they call Kilaminjaro. But I gently got us to the dock... and we were done.

We stepped out and unloaded, then got the canoe out of the water to put it on the rack. I couldn't sauna because of the Boba potential and Lorrie chose not to. So we all jumped into the lake to cool off. Some of the Menogyn staff were swimming across the lake from where we had parked my car. Wow! I think they said it was about a mile. That swim was very nice and refreshing! Afterwards we jumped out and started sorting our gear. Lorrie and I did the dishes for the last time. We were laughing because in a normal situation, paying for a guide would mean they take care of those details. We were getting a little snooty! But we went with the YMCA so we got to fend for ourselves! That's okay. We definitely learned a lot. I had take the approach that this was "canoe school" so learning was the whole point. Amy hung the tent and Duluth Packs to dry and air out. The tent looked very cool strung up like that. But I had no more photos left so you just have to imagine it. We got the stuff, our clothes, etc that we'd left behind at camp and went up to the lodge for a proper shower. I couldn't find deodorant or shampoo so I had to use Lorrie's. Thank God she had brought some. She had originally planned to use mine! That would have been awful after looking so forward to being clean. After I got cleaned up, I was out getting some water in the cafeteria when one of the youth workers asked if I was there for the welcome back. I said we'd just gotten in today without finishing that we'd been on trail and they all went on to describe the epic skit they had developed and were planning to perform. At the time, I was surprised that they would do that for us. But Amy had said they always plan some kind of welcome back thing. Lorrie and I had talked about leaving before dinner so we could get closer to or all the way home that night. I went back to the room and told her we had to stay because they were doing some kind of skit for us. Dinner was pasta primavera, corn on the cob, salad, and bread. It was basically just staff there so about 1/4 the number of people as when we first arrived. Much more intimate! Turned out the skit was for the next day when the long trippers come back from their 30-40 days trips. For us coming back... we all got dessert... spice cookies. *That* made much more sense than doing a skit for us. lol Everyone thanked us for coming back so they could have dessert. (= It was cute! After dinner we got our bags together and headed down to the dock for our ride back across the lake. We waited quite awhile because of a potential ice cream run that we were going to catch a ride with. Apparently it wasn't getting organized very quickly! The St. Olaf guy came down while we were talking to the nurse and asked if we were waiting for a ride. So he took us across without the ice cream people.

Back to the car and we decided to stop for our own ice cream at the little stand on Gunflint Trail. Good thing I had my lactaid with me! (= I drove to Grand Marais, about 30 minutes. We stopped there to get Lorrie some coffee so she could drive. I was suddenly exhausted! Sven and Ole's was out of coffee AND cappucino. So she ended up with a diet coke. Yuck! lol She drove to Duluth where we stopped at a Motel 6. Because of the Blues Festival, there were no rooms anywhere! They gave her a couple phone numbers and we ended up with a reservation in Hinckley about an hour further south at Golden something casino. I can't remember. lol All I know is that I was asleep when we pulled into Motel 6, I woke up for approximately 6 minutes, and as soon as she said we were going on I fell asleep again only to wake up once we got to the casino hotel! We were both exhausted so we went inside and collapsed.

TRAM (Day 4 - July 26, 2007

Wadena to Fergus Falls, MN

Distance = 54.44
Time = 3.35.48
Max speed = 30.5
Avg speed = 15.1

Lorrie decided not to ride today. Her left hand, in the pinky area, is quite swollen and sore. She's been taking ibuprofin and icing it but it's still sore. Yesterday was a very hard day so I thought it was a good idea that she not go. A bonus was that she could have our tent set up and get us all a good camp site for the night! It was weird saying goodbye to her in the morning. We all rode downtown for some breakfast. But I can't remember where we went! lol Must be starting to all run together. lol We all took off together. Actually we all rode together longer than usual. The road was pretty busy so passing wasn't terribly easy. That also made gaining speed difficult. Eventually I heard Heidi said, "I can't do this anymore. I'm going." and she was off. (= Tim followed. It all started to spread out a little eventually. I stuck with Daryl and Jeanie and we got past the crowd pretty well. It took awhile for my legs to get warmed up this morning. They didn't have quite the spunk they usually do. We passed by the first rest stop so that we could thin out the crowd even more. Daryl was singing and telling jokes the whole way as we rode. That seemed to cheer people up as we passed. It was pretty hilly, which I thought was fun. My legs did start to liven up a little bit. The scenery was very pretty... lots of flowers along this part of the road. We got to the second rest stop and decided to take a little break. Daryl asked Jeanie something about bonking and told her to get some water. She laughed and said she'd been trying to hide it. He's been biking in general and with her too long to be fooled. (= Daryl knows so many people after doing this ride for 17 years that every rest stop with him is like a party. It was fun to meet new people. I'm horrible with remembering people with helmets on. Maybe in 17 years I'll know the names too! (= While we were there, we ran into Bill who had apparently taken a spill. He was still steaming! Apparently one of the Ride Marshalls had cut him off or something. He said that instead of braking suddenly and taking Tim and other down with him he just let himself take the fall. He got up and wasn't hurt. But was PISSED! lol I asked him how fast he rode after that incident. He said, "Pretty damn fast!" lol I can laugh because he wasn't hurt. We didn't stay at the rest stop too long. Enough to do a little stretching, refill our bottles, and get a little food. I had put some bugles in my pocket to save for Lorrie. They take up a lot of room those things! Well, as we got going, we got back into some hilly sections. And one nice steep descent had me tucking in pretty tightly. The air swooshed around me and my bugles flew out. )= That was sad! Daryl came up next to me and said he was sorry to tell me that I had lost them. Someone also ran them over. Geez! I guess it's the thought that counts! (= It was actually pretty funny! On to the third rest stop, if I remember correctly, is one where skinny dipping is not uncommon. My finger was thinking about skinning dipping. But then chickened out and decided to just get into the photo of the skinny dipping dock! The line to the bathrooms is a funny thing at some rest stops. When we got to this one Tim and Heidi were still there. Tim came running down to us, real secretive like. He told us there was a bathroom up on the hill that was unlocked that we could use and there was no line. He was so serious about it and very quiet! I appreciated that so off I went! It was still just a hole in the ground. But no wait! Always a good thing! It seemed like we stayed at this rest area for a very long time. We gave each other shoulder massages and chatted with various people. I think I also ate too much. I hate when I do that. Finally we were off again. More hills! It started to look like it might rain. It wasn't cool or anything yet but it did sprinkle some as we got into the final rest stop. When we were there, I met a couple who is celebrating their 50th(?) wedding anniversary and they've been celebrating on the ride for many of those years. I thought that was pretty cool! They're both still riding strong! I hope I can be that way!! In the marriage thing and the riding thing! While we were at this rest stop, someone announced that Fergus Falls was set to get a downpour in about 30 minutes so if we wanted to beat that we'd better get going. I don't think there was anyone there who could make it the approximately 12 miles in 30 minutes. But we took off just in case. It did sprinkle and rain at one point. But it stayed off pretty well. I don't think I ever got completely wet. There were a few hills up to the finish and I actually had fun with those. I just decided to kick it to the end and see what I could do. I haven't done much of that this season so it was interesting. The finish in Fergus was very cool. There was a nice crowd of people cheering. Lorrie was there with her video camera filming us coming in. That was nice. She showed us to our site and it was wonderful! Good shade, close to the edge so we didn't have to walk as far to get to town, and flat! I got my stuff arranged and went to take a shower. The line was pretty long but seemed to go fast. Then we explored a little. They had computers set up for us and power strips so we could charge phones if needed. I love when host cities think of those little details for us. There was a tree that Lorrie was dying to show me! It was full of egrets! She said she'd spent some time sitting and watching them earlier in the day. These photos don't do them justice at all but they totally took over this little island! They are one of her favorite birds so she was extremely excited! We checked our email, plugged in our phones, and did some laundry. Meanwhile the rest of them had gone downtown to scope out some food. Daryl left a message saying they were at some Viking Cafe or something like that. So after we'd done our chores, we headed down that direction. It was still early in the day. So we had a good amount of time. When we got to the cafe, no one was there and it was a bit of a dive. We called Daryl again and he explained where they had decided to go. Just down the street. It was an Italian place that was usually not open except on weekends. They were going to be open at 5pm but Daryl et. al had talked their way in a little early and had been siting drinking wine. I was extremely hungry but knew by the time we found someplace else to eat the pasta bar in this place would be started. I'm also not fond of pasta! But I felt like spending time with them was more important that having the food I would prefer. I just hoped for good meatballs! (= They weren't! lol And I wouldn't call myself a picky eater. I just wasn't thrilled with the place. Daryl and Jeanie had deemed themselves hosts and servers for the evening. So they were seating people, getting water, pouring drinks, etc. I couldn't tell if the owners were thankful or irritated. But that was their deal! lol When they finally opened the pasta bar, it was a mad dash! Great salad! Great sauces... the clam sauce was really good. But the meatballs and sausage weren't great. Didn't matter, I was hungry and this was food! More wine, more people joined our group, good conversation, great energy. It was fun! We sat for a little while and then needed to walk around some. Lorrie and I paid then headed out into the heat again. We ended up at Pamida where we got mosquito nets for our boundary waters trip and I got a tarp to cover our stuff in case it continued to rain through the night. Then we sat in the outdoor area on a porch swing for at least 30 minutes. I might have actually dozed off for a few minutes. lol It felt good to be in there. Then we needed some fresh air so out we went. Fergus Falls was hosting a street dance in our honor that night. But before that the teams on TRAM had contests for best song, best t-shirt, etc. So they had those competitions and results before anything else. We watched that for a little while then started walking around again. There was also a concert in town that Heidi and Tim had gone to in an old theatre. Prudence Johnson was playing. I had no idea who she was but Daryl went berserk when he realized she was in town. So off we went to the theater. We ran in and asked if we'd missed her and they said to hurry and go in. She came out just then. It was good. A combination of oldies, jazz, and blues. I was falling asleep though. So after the intermission we decided to leave. We found out later that the others had to pay $12 to get in! I probably would have stayed awake if I'd paid that! lol We jumped on one of the buses provided by the city to get us back to the park and headed to our tent. I covered everything up with the tarp and off to bed we went. It was nice because we could still hear the music being played down at the dance. Our last night on the ride! Weird! Just when we were starting to get the hang of things!

ALC/LifeCycle 5 - Day Four (June 7, 2006)

Ahh Day Four! Another day for climbers! I got up around 3:45am, packed a little then headed to breakfast. I generally eat breakfast alone as I am one of the first people in line. Any of you reading this who might have known me longer than a year, know how incredible that is! I have never been known as a morning person. Especially not a 4am morning person! Holy crap! But I liked having that time of space and quiet. People don't make that much noise at that time of day. So I got my usual eggs, oatmeal, ham (or bacon), some kind of bread, and water. Again I got to sit inside and eat. It was dark. Usually there are spotlights sporadically lighting the space. Today there was overhead lighting... but not too intrusive. More gentle. This is important at, did I mention(?), FOUR A.M.!!! (= I try to eat breakfast slowly and enjoy it. But with oatmeal and eggs, it's a crap shoot which will get cold faster. Neither are very palatable cold. So I rotate! lol Again... *some* things are more important in "ALC-R" than in "RL!" Do not forget this important fact! Mainly I just zone and eat and watch as people make their tired way to the food. We are all zombies... except those who can drink coffee in the morning. They seem relatively chipper. Assholes! O= Okay... moving on! I usually hang out at breakfast until about 4:30AM. Then I brush my teeth... remember, the sinks were right there this time so that was convenient... and head back to pack up my stuff. I needed just a little extra time because I was responsible for the tent today too. AND... DON'T FORGET THE CELL PHONE! lol That was a huge fear! Got everything all packed up and put away. Then it was off to find the Information Tent so I could mail my postcards. Ha... they weren't open yet! So I packed them up and figured I'd mail them later in the day. On to the ride. We always had these goals about what time we would take off in the morning. But aside from what time I woke up each day, I really had no concept of what time it was... ever. We could have left at 6am or 8am and I wouldn't have known the difference. Stuff had to be done and I couldn't leave until it was... just like everyone else. But we all seemed to be ready about the same time. So again... off we went! We started climbing almost immediately! Today is EVIL TWINS DAY! Another day of climbs that people tried to freak me out about. Either it didn't work or yesterday did some magic in making me unafraid. There was a hill in front of me, albeit a steep hill, so I climbed it. The first twin was pretty damn steep and sortof wound around if I remember right then it came down a little and the second steeper twin took over. Holy crap! I was just climbing along and I knew there was a switchback coming because I could hear the voices above me (maybe it was God telling me to get out while I still had legs!) but when I got to it, I think my words were, "HOLY HELL!" But I took the switchback and kept riding. Just alternated sitting and standing and for the most part passed quite a few people. That's important only because I was still trying to push myself to see where my limits were... I honestly cared very little about whether I beat people up the hills. I was being passed nearly as much as I was passing. The 2nd twin was nearly 2 miles... and I definitely felt it! Near the top, I asked the woman I was passing if that was the "real top" or a "fake top." She said it looked real. lol So off I went. There was a corner and then a slight but steep finishing incline where "Mom and Dad" were standing with M&Ms and Oreos! Very cool! Though I found that sugar was a bad thing for me so early in the day so I didn't take any. At some point in there, we hit the halfway point of the ride (me and Jeero on the left, Kenny on the right). Resident Drag Personality Extraordinaire was holding court in the pullout where she had put up signs for us to take our pictures with. Apparently CalTrans had told her to take them down, not knowing who they were dealing with... so they stayed up! lol The rest of the day was basically rolling hills... if even. There was a point where Suzann and I were riding along the beach and we were doing a pretty good pace. So we decided to push it a little. At some point, I dropped my chain twice within a few minutes. Got pret-ty dir-ty! lol Caught back up to her and we were off again. She started pulling ahead a little... I was definitely getting tired. And then I got a flat tire! Damn! People went by asking if I had hit that glass back there. WHAT GLASS!? lol I never even saw it! Ah well, a guy named (I think) Felipe helped me get it changed quickly. He was VERY nice... and fast! As we were finishing up, Kenny and his starting to blister ass caught up. So we rolled into lunch together. Poor guy! I told Suzann that I wanted to stay on the pace we had set so when she was ready, we would go. SO SOON??!! hehe Not many pictures on this day! Sorry! I was distracted with my getting dirty stuff! I had a guy ask me how on earth I got grease under my arm! lol I have my ways!! So off we went again. Caught up to Suzann eventually... she isn't thrilled with the downhill so I catch her fast ass then! (= We rode along the coast for awhile and then I think we turned inland again. I remember some long flat straights and then a surprise hill toward the end... that shouldn't have been a surprise since it was on the map. But I hadn't looked at that for hours! lol I should have known there was something coming when "Mom & Dad" were there with M&Ms and cookies again. Damn, I should have taken them this time! lol Ah well. It was short and steep... just the way I like them. The faster you go the sooner it's over! But it still hurts like crazy! Suzann and I hooked up with some other women for a bit of a paceline. One of them was my tent neighbor. Apparently she was surprised that I was able to go so fast. lol Do I look that slow?? Ah well. We got to the rest stop in record time. While I was getting more zinc, they took off so we lost our paceline. )= But when we got to the next rest stop, they were just getting there so I'm not sure what happened there. Would have been nice to ride some more with them but we didn't. lol Suzann and I decided it was fun to be ahead of the crowd at the rest stops. No lines or anything. However, I did notice that the atmosphere was slightly more serious and definitely quieter. Good for a day... but I think I like the boistrous crowd a little more. (= Sounds weird coming from me! lol This was the rest stop that was supposed to be After Prom but was made into the 666 thing... even though it was 676 by this point! haha In the photo, you can see that ever fashionable zinc oxide.. which I also decided to use like a football player on my cheeks! lol We rode on but at some point both of us were just ready for the whole thing to be over. Suzann stopped for a Gu and was nice enough to share it with me. If you've seen how small those are, you know what a nice gesture that was. Then off we went again. We had been promised a great tailwind coming up to take us into camp. I was definitely looking forward to that. First we had a headwind for a few minutes... and then.... it came. Very nice! I put Hi Ho in the big ring and just started peddling. FUN!! Had to stop a couple times for lights and stuff. But otherwise just flew. Pulled into camp as happy as could be! I went directly to the bike mechanics to ask about getting new tires. I had put duct tape on the hole caused by the glass earlier in the day but had also noticed some cracks in the tires. So I just decided it was time. They put a couple Hutchinsons on there for $60. They said each would usually be about that plus labor and tax in the "RL" but in "ALC-R" there is no labor or tax. What a great world!! Left her in good hands so I could take my shower and get my tent situated. I also went the Sports Med tent to get some help with my shoulder again. The Sports Med person referred me to one of the Chiropractic students for an adjustment. I wasn't really comfortable with that but she seemed sure so I figured I would try it. I couldn't really relax enough for him to do much. He popped my back, which felt good. Then he tried to whip my head off my body. That didn't really help! lol So I think he gave up. Basically said if I had more trouble to come back to Sports Med. lol I wish I had just let her massage it out or whatever they call it. Kenny came by just as I was finishing so we went to get some food. That felt like the latest I had started eating so far. But I had gotten a lot done so that was okay. And I have no concept of time... if you remember! lol Sat and listened to announcements and watched some of the talent show. But I was tired and wanted to get some sleep. Headed to the medical tent allllll the way across camp and got some ice for my sore swollen thumb then went to lay down. Sue's stuff was there but I hadn't seen her in awhile. So off to sleep I went.