Took a leisurely ride around town on a path made for just that purpose. Not much traffic and a good way to see other areas of town that you wouldn't otherwise.
Distance - 13.03 miles
Time - 1.28.58
Average - 8.7mph
Max - 20mph.... though I'm not sure where! lol
Sunday, December 11, 2011
Sunday, November 27, 2011
Thankscamping in Sonoma - Day 3
Day 3 - time to go home. Everything was wet when we got up. So we took our time hoping that things would dry out. But they didn't really so we'd have to hang it all up at home to let it dry thoroughly.
Not too exciting... but just another day to relax. This is my first time having more than a 3-day weekend so I needed to recover from the quarter. And then I still worked! lol But it as worth it! I think we all needed the fresh air.
We got home while it was still light out. AND... another day off tomorrow. THAT is awesome!!
Not too exciting... but just another day to relax. This is my first time having more than a 3-day weekend so I needed to recover from the quarter. And then I still worked! lol But it as worth it! I think we all needed the fresh air.
We got home while it was still light out. AND... another day off tomorrow. THAT is awesome!!
Friday, November 25, 2011
Thankscamping in Sonoma - Day 2
It was cold! But we slept great! We used an air mattress then had our Therm-a-rests on top of it. So it kept the ground chill away. The dogs slept pretty well too! We definitely go to great lengths to keep them warm.
The day was spent lounging. I brought my running gear. But didn't run. The students across from us went mountain biking. That made me jealous! We did take the dogs for a walk using Blue's new stroller. I'm sure that doesn't look weird... 2 dogs, 2 strollers!
I actually did some work. We are selecting interns for next year so I had applications to read. Not the most fun thing to do but what a great environment for it. Most of the stuff on my lap and the side stuff on a cooler! lol What a great office! Lorrie was able to read and relax. It was nice... in the best way, nice!
The evening brought organic Mac-n-Cheese! Yumm! This is the only time we eat that stuff! And we just kept relaxing. The students were less drunk and therefore quieter. That made me happy. I also went over to the bathroom, which was by our original site and found there were a couple large very loud groups over there. SO glad we moved!
The day was spent lounging. I brought my running gear. But didn't run. The students across from us went mountain biking. That made me jealous! We did take the dogs for a walk using Blue's new stroller. I'm sure that doesn't look weird... 2 dogs, 2 strollers!
I actually did some work. We are selecting interns for next year so I had applications to read. Not the most fun thing to do but what a great environment for it. Most of the stuff on my lap and the side stuff on a cooler! lol What a great office! Lorrie was able to read and relax. It was nice... in the best way, nice!
The evening brought organic Mac-n-Cheese! Yumm! This is the only time we eat that stuff! And we just kept relaxing. The students were less drunk and therefore quieter. That made me happy. I also went over to the bathroom, which was by our original site and found there were a couple large very loud groups over there. SO glad we moved!
Thursday, November 24, 2011
Thankscamping in Sonoma - Day 1
After a long arduous move and finally getting somewhat settled in our new home, it was time to go camping. It was PAST time to go camping! So we chose Thanksgiving. We got up and made our Thanksgiving meal at home... roasted chicken with stuffing, canned cranberry sauce, black olives of course, and pumpkin cake.
We had planned to make the chicken or turkey in the ground using coals then decided that might attract animals. So we opted to just make it all at home and do our best to keep it warm while we traveled.
We chose a campground in Sonoma County. Being our first time out since moving to California, we decided to keep it relatively close to civilization. Also, with the dogs getting up there in years, we wanted to be safe with them as well.
So off we went... in the rain, optimistic that it would clear away for us. It did. But it gets dark so early nowadays that it was already dusk by the time we got to our reserved site. Also at our reserved site was an RV neighbor with a television set outside and they were watching football. So we moved! Not our idea of "camping!"
After we moved and started getting set up, the ranger came around and asked where we are from. When we told him, he said the people across from us were students there. lol Well, better than a television I guess! But it would have been nice to totally get away from work. Then as we were preparing the tent, I saw lights coming toward us with the sounds of a language other than English. Because it was dark when we got to the site, we didn't really know what was behind us. But apparently this family of about 7 or 8 had gotten off a path nearby, which we later learned in the light was an actual road. They scared us at first but then, since we don't speak what I think was Japanese, we just pointed them in the right direction toward the road that we came in on.
Since this was our first time out in too long, things weren't as easy to find as usual. So I had to use the headlights to help us get the tent up. Ha... you guessed it! The battery died! But we got it set up and were ready for our wonderful Thankscamping Dinner!
As usual, we spent the rest of the evening by the campfire just beginning to relax. The first day of a 4-day weekend! Very nice! In the quiet of the night was the students' drunken voices. lol That's what we get for trying to stay nearer the beaten path. AND... in California more people are out this time of year than we would ever find in Minnesota! Go figure!
We had planned to make the chicken or turkey in the ground using coals then decided that might attract animals. So we opted to just make it all at home and do our best to keep it warm while we traveled.
We chose a campground in Sonoma County. Being our first time out since moving to California, we decided to keep it relatively close to civilization. Also, with the dogs getting up there in years, we wanted to be safe with them as well.
So off we went... in the rain, optimistic that it would clear away for us. It did. But it gets dark so early nowadays that it was already dusk by the time we got to our reserved site. Also at our reserved site was an RV neighbor with a television set outside and they were watching football. So we moved! Not our idea of "camping!"
After we moved and started getting set up, the ranger came around and asked where we are from. When we told him, he said the people across from us were students there. lol Well, better than a television I guess! But it would have been nice to totally get away from work. Then as we were preparing the tent, I saw lights coming toward us with the sounds of a language other than English. Because it was dark when we got to the site, we didn't really know what was behind us. But apparently this family of about 7 or 8 had gotten off a path nearby, which we later learned in the light was an actual road. They scared us at first but then, since we don't speak what I think was Japanese, we just pointed them in the right direction toward the road that we came in on.
Since this was our first time out in too long, things weren't as easy to find as usual. So I had to use the headlights to help us get the tent up. Ha... you guessed it! The battery died! But we got it set up and were ready for our wonderful Thankscamping Dinner!
As usual, we spent the rest of the evening by the campfire just beginning to relax. The first day of a 4-day weekend! Very nice! In the quiet of the night was the students' drunken voices. lol That's what we get for trying to stay nearer the beaten path. AND... in California more people are out this time of year than we would ever find in Minnesota! Go figure!
Saturday, May 21, 2011
Taking a Dump in the Boundary Waters
We've done the Boundary Waters twice now being led by others. We decided it was time for us to take the lead ourselves. So we invited Bozo's sister and her sister's friend Lisa to check it out with us over a weekend. Just one night out and 2 days of canoeing. Easy breezy!
We did great in our planning! Really. We gave good advice to Bozo's sister... including not bringing nice smelling lotions, you don't need traveler's checks in the woods, and bring gloves. When we got to Ely on Friday night, Bozo's sister and Lisa were already there so we dumped some stuff off and went to pick up the bits of gear we needed to rent and then headed out for food.
Back in the hotel, we had them dump everything out of their bags and removed anything that seemed unnecessary. Bozo's sister had an unmatched set of gloves, which worked great. Funny part that one of them had rhinestones! heheh Otherwise everything was pretty good... just too much. We all know that I am very guilty of that myself so I cannot judge.
We got a good night's sleep and woke up bright and early to meet our shuttle to the lake. The plan was to put in at Lake One then tour through the numbered lakes until we found a campsite, preferably on an island, for the night. However, Lisa woke up with a migraine and was not feel well at all. So we had to slow down the plan to see if she would be able to go. Our options were to go without her and leave her to sleep in the dark in the hotel all day, none of us go, or we all go and hope the headache subsides. We compromised on not going out for the night but just for the day instead and that we would all go.This is where our lack of experience came into play...
We didn't need all the stuff we had packed up on Friday night so we started removing things and replacing things so that we had one Duluth pack to carry with everything we would need in it. Somehow in the rush of everything, we didn't use the proper waterproof bags and forgot to bring some basic gear... matches. Of course we didn't know that until we were about to get on the water and a nice couple gave us a couple of the matches and some fire starters. Phew!
We got the canoes on the water just fine. Canoeing was great! Neither we nor the Outfitter could figure out if there was an opening along the Canadian Border into Lake Two so we checked that out first. Nope! So back we went past where had put in and toward our first short portage. Angie and I were in a canoe together and Bozo was with Lisa. The portage was so short that we just lugged the canoes with the stuff in them. In Lake Two we spent some time trying to find the correct portage. There were two and they were pretty close together and also close to some small rapids. I finally spotted the one we needed, which was on the other side of some small rapids and sortof hidden away. Angie and I got near it but were at an awkward angle so we went back to try again. Bozo and Lisa went upstream and made it to the portage. I decided to just cut across the last little bit of the rapids and off we went. And then we were in the water! The water was moving pretty fast and carried me away from the canoe and everyone else... though I held on to my seat pad Nalgene bottle, and the map! Once I took a deep breath and calmed myself, I was able to swim toward the canoe and just rested on that. Of course we all had our life jackets on. That made it much more comfortable. BUT... we were surrounded by cut rock and no way to get out of the water. The canoe was slowly sinking a little deeper into the water with all our stuff attached underneath.
So we kicked and Bozo and the friend tried to push with their paddles. Eventually (read: 40 minutes later) we were able to get out of the water on a small ledge. There was just enough foot space to be able to stand pretty sturdily. I was able to get the bag out of the canoe and hand it to Bozo and Lisa. In retrospect, that wasn't a very good choice as the weight of the bag as I handed it to her could have capsized them as well. Thankfully that didn't happen.
Then Angie and I spent several minutes working on getting our canoe righted. We'd get some water out and then it was slide back down. Eventually we were able to get it to a point that we could lift it. The water had made it too heavy to lift. So we lifted it and flipped it right side up. We got back in and began heading to a portage site that would take us back toward home. Angie started shivering pretty quickly so we needed to get her dry and warm and also try to get me dry and warm before I started shivering too. She had gotten her hair wet while somehow, much to Angie's chagrin, I was able to keep my hair dry and not lose my sunglasses in the whole process. On our way to the portage site, Angie and I took a detour to pick up a Nalgene bottle that was floating nearby, which Bozo had just given to her yesterday. That was funny!
After portaging a half mile or so, we were back in the water heading to a campsite we'd seen on our way out. We stopped there, got a fire going eventually, and started removing clothing. I ended up in just a rain jacket and someone else's shorts, Angie had a sweatshirt and some dry shorts. Another learning experience... we should have been more adamant about fast drying clothing. I think because it was such a short trip, we were lazy and wore too much cotton.
Finally dry enough to get moving while still wearing our strange outfits, we took off again to the last portage before the put in. All went without incident. But we were very early in our return. So we asked some people who were returning to Ely if they would stop at Voyageur and let them know we were there in case they could come early. They did! Voyageur has cold beer and cold soda in a cooler for people when they return to civilization! We hadn't been gone that long but the coke still tasted good! It started to rain a bit while we were waiting for the shuttle but rained even harder once we were in the vehicle. Phew again!
Back at the hotel, they didn't have our room available anymore but we got a suite with 2 bedrooms and a separate bathroom. That worked out well so we had more space to spread our wet clothes and things away. Lisa went to sleep while Bozo, Angie, and I went to get some food... and drink.The next day we were tourists in Ely, which I had always wanted to do. That was fun! Did some great shopping and then headed home at a reasonable hour.
Items damaged by my dump into the water included my cell phone and solar radio and charger. I was able to get them both replaced free because I had insurance on them. (= My Spot was under water for a little while and it turned out just fine. What I learned from that was I should have it on ME not on the pack! I'd rather Search and Rescue find me than my stuff! Especially if it's at the bottom of a lake! lolI'm glad we all made it home safe and sound! Bozo and I learned some really good lessons. The main being that if plans change and equipment needs to be rearranged, take our time and do it right for the environment. Doing that could have made things a whole lot less stressful! Though it wouldn't have kept us from capsizing... that was mainly just lack of experience on my part.
We did great in our planning! Really. We gave good advice to Bozo's sister... including not bringing nice smelling lotions, you don't need traveler's checks in the woods, and bring gloves. When we got to Ely on Friday night, Bozo's sister and Lisa were already there so we dumped some stuff off and went to pick up the bits of gear we needed to rent and then headed out for food.
Back in the hotel, we had them dump everything out of their bags and removed anything that seemed unnecessary. Bozo's sister had an unmatched set of gloves, which worked great. Funny part that one of them had rhinestones! heheh Otherwise everything was pretty good... just too much. We all know that I am very guilty of that myself so I cannot judge.
We got a good night's sleep and woke up bright and early to meet our shuttle to the lake. The plan was to put in at Lake One then tour through the numbered lakes until we found a campsite, preferably on an island, for the night. However, Lisa woke up with a migraine and was not feel well at all. So we had to slow down the plan to see if she would be able to go. Our options were to go without her and leave her to sleep in the dark in the hotel all day, none of us go, or we all go and hope the headache subsides. We compromised on not going out for the night but just for the day instead and that we would all go.This is where our lack of experience came into play...
We didn't need all the stuff we had packed up on Friday night so we started removing things and replacing things so that we had one Duluth pack to carry with everything we would need in it. Somehow in the rush of everything, we didn't use the proper waterproof bags and forgot to bring some basic gear... matches. Of course we didn't know that until we were about to get on the water and a nice couple gave us a couple of the matches and some fire starters. Phew!
We got the canoes on the water just fine. Canoeing was great! Neither we nor the Outfitter could figure out if there was an opening along the Canadian Border into Lake Two so we checked that out first. Nope! So back we went past where had put in and toward our first short portage. Angie and I were in a canoe together and Bozo was with Lisa. The portage was so short that we just lugged the canoes with the stuff in them. In Lake Two we spent some time trying to find the correct portage. There were two and they were pretty close together and also close to some small rapids. I finally spotted the one we needed, which was on the other side of some small rapids and sortof hidden away. Angie and I got near it but were at an awkward angle so we went back to try again. Bozo and Lisa went upstream and made it to the portage. I decided to just cut across the last little bit of the rapids and off we went. And then we were in the water! The water was moving pretty fast and carried me away from the canoe and everyone else... though I held on to my seat pad Nalgene bottle, and the map! Once I took a deep breath and calmed myself, I was able to swim toward the canoe and just rested on that. Of course we all had our life jackets on. That made it much more comfortable. BUT... we were surrounded by cut rock and no way to get out of the water. The canoe was slowly sinking a little deeper into the water with all our stuff attached underneath.
So we kicked and Bozo and the friend tried to push with their paddles. Eventually (read: 40 minutes later) we were able to get out of the water on a small ledge. There was just enough foot space to be able to stand pretty sturdily. I was able to get the bag out of the canoe and hand it to Bozo and Lisa. In retrospect, that wasn't a very good choice as the weight of the bag as I handed it to her could have capsized them as well. Thankfully that didn't happen.
Then Angie and I spent several minutes working on getting our canoe righted. We'd get some water out and then it was slide back down. Eventually we were able to get it to a point that we could lift it. The water had made it too heavy to lift. So we lifted it and flipped it right side up. We got back in and began heading to a portage site that would take us back toward home. Angie started shivering pretty quickly so we needed to get her dry and warm and also try to get me dry and warm before I started shivering too. She had gotten her hair wet while somehow, much to Angie's chagrin, I was able to keep my hair dry and not lose my sunglasses in the whole process. On our way to the portage site, Angie and I took a detour to pick up a Nalgene bottle that was floating nearby, which Bozo had just given to her yesterday. That was funny!
After portaging a half mile or so, we were back in the water heading to a campsite we'd seen on our way out. We stopped there, got a fire going eventually, and started removing clothing. I ended up in just a rain jacket and someone else's shorts, Angie had a sweatshirt and some dry shorts. Another learning experience... we should have been more adamant about fast drying clothing. I think because it was such a short trip, we were lazy and wore too much cotton.
Finally dry enough to get moving while still wearing our strange outfits, we took off again to the last portage before the put in. All went without incident. But we were very early in our return. So we asked some people who were returning to Ely if they would stop at Voyageur and let them know we were there in case they could come early. They did! Voyageur has cold beer and cold soda in a cooler for people when they return to civilization! We hadn't been gone that long but the coke still tasted good! It started to rain a bit while we were waiting for the shuttle but rained even harder once we were in the vehicle. Phew again!
Back at the hotel, they didn't have our room available anymore but we got a suite with 2 bedrooms and a separate bathroom. That worked out well so we had more space to spread our wet clothes and things away. Lisa went to sleep while Bozo, Angie, and I went to get some food... and drink.The next day we were tourists in Ely, which I had always wanted to do. That was fun! Did some great shopping and then headed home at a reasonable hour.
Items damaged by my dump into the water included my cell phone and solar radio and charger. I was able to get them both replaced free because I had insurance on them. (= My Spot was under water for a little while and it turned out just fine. What I learned from that was I should have it on ME not on the pack! I'd rather Search and Rescue find me than my stuff! Especially if it's at the bottom of a lake! lolI'm glad we all made it home safe and sound! Bozo and I learned some really good lessons. The main being that if plans change and equipment needs to be rearranged, take our time and do it right for the environment. Doing that could have made things a whole lot less stressful! Though it wouldn't have kept us from capsizing... that was mainly just lack of experience on my part.
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