Wine Country

Greetings from beautiful Canandaigua-at least yesterday was beautiful, we awoke to a rainy morning today.

Yesterday was one of those perfect days that will stay with us for as long as our minds hold out! We left Apollo Drive when it was convenient in the morning, no need to rush, we had a drive of less than an hour. The day was sunny and clear, with temps forecasted for the low 80's. Once in Canandaigua we parked at the City Pier and started to get ready for a bike ride. While doing the normal futzing that goes along with getting ready to ride, our friends Mary Jo and Dave, who recently moved to Canandaigua, walked up to us! They were out for their morning constitutional with their son who was in town for a visit. Mary Jo said she saw my yellow beetle and knew who it belonged to. Dave does a lot of biking in this area so he was a good resource before we pedaled away, including a suggestion for a lunch stop. 

We ended up riding 40 miles, which was about 10 more than Jim had wanted, but it was fine. We ate lunch in Rushville at a place called Loomis Barn. We had to ask where this place was as we rode through Rushville, and probably never would have gotten there on our own as it ended up being south of town and we were heading north. But we found it and we're glad we did. The Loomis Barn is actually a furniture store with a couple of other businesses attached to it, one of which is the Corn House Cafe. We had a nice lunch and enjoyed the air conditioning. 

Here is a pretty view, with Canandaigua Lake in the distance.

After we returned to the car at the pier, we went into downtown for a walk up and down Main Street. Surprise-there was a needle work store!! In that store we discovered a display of "locally grown" alpaca roving and yarn. Apparently there are several alpaca farms in the area and together they produce yarns and rovings. We will have to keep our eyes out for grazing alpacas as we travel around this area in the next couple of days. 

We are staying at the Morgan Samuels Inn, a lovely place with beautiful gardens.
We stayed here many years ago and were quickly reminded of what a nice place it is. Jim loves the fact that there is a large plate of homemade chocolate chips cookies awaiting him every time he walks through the front door! The innkeeper, Brad, recommended and made us at dinner reservations at the New York State Wine and Culinary Center. It was such a lovely evening that we chose to eat dinner on the outside deck of the restaurant, which was perfect. The deck was on the second floor of the Center so we had a view of the lake and all the happenings out there on a gorgeous Friday night. Our meal was prepared using foods that are from NYS and we washed down every bite of our meal with a tasty NYS Riesling wine. Before heading back to the B&B we walked out the pier and watched the fisher-people and the boats returning to the marina as the sun set behind us. A perfect day!

Now, of course, the rain has arrived, as forecasted. We have some things we want to do that we can manage rain or shine. Fortunately we have tickets under the shelter for tonight's RPO concert, but we do hope to be able to picnic on the  lawn before the concert.  

Hope all is well.

Heading Out Again

Well, three days at home, it must be time to go away again! 

Jim got home from DC this afternoon around 4:30 PM. He quickly unpacked from that trip, got a load of laundry started and started packing for our long weekend in Canandaigua. 

We are staying at the Morgan Samuels Inn in Canandaigua. We stayed at this B&B many years ago and remember having a wonderful stay. We plan to do some biking in the area, weather permitting, and then we have concert tickets at CMAC for Saturday and Sunday night. Saturday night the RPO is performing, with a big finale of the 1812 Overture including cannons and fireworks! Always a crowd-pleaser! On Sunday night we will be hearing/seeing Sheryl Crow. I've been listening to her latest album so I can sing along!!! We'll come back early Monday morning so Jim can go to work. It should be a fun weekend. 

The past couple of days have been filled with lots of household chores. I won't bore you with the details. I did go to a local yarn shop for a morning of spinning yesterday and that was most enjoyable. It seems the only time I get to spin is when I go to this shop on Wednesday mornings.

Tucker called tonight and was on cloud nine because he just bought a new guitar. I will post a photo when he sends one. It is a Martin something or other model and he was anxious to make some music with it. I am including a photo that Tucker sent last week while I was riding my bike. This photo is from a place he called Big Indian. 

Time to think about what I've forgotten to pack. 

Hope all is well. 

Home!

Reporting from home! It's good to be home after a wonderful adventure to the midwest.

Last night I went to the Toledo Mud Hens Baseball game and it was a very enjoyable way to spend the early evening. I had a single seat between a family of 4 and 2 older gentlemen. I got talking to the older men and it turns out that one of the guys is a retired school principal and his wife is a former Physical Education teacher. She was kayaking in northern Michigan at the time! I left the game after 5 innings, with the Mud Hens losing. I was getting sleepy while sitting at the game and wanted to drive back to my hotel while there was still daylight and before the masses left the game. I was glad I went to the game.

I was up and on the road at 8 this morning and had an easy drive back to Rochester. The traffic was managable and the road construction was minimal. I arrived here, just as the rain started, about 2 PM. I got a load of laundry started and got most of my stuff put away.

So, here are a bunch of photos from the past week. I will try to put a caption under each one. 

First night of camping in Missouri Valley, Iowa.

Watermelon and fresh corn- fuel until we can have pie in the next town!

Bell tower in Jefferson, Iowa. We camped in Jefferson.

View from the top of the bell tower.

Statue of Abe Lincoln, in Jefferson, wearing a bike helmet!

View of my bike, resting while I get something to eat!

Waiting for a train to pass. On RAGBRAI, bikers usually have the right of way, 

except when it comes to trains. Then we wait!

Butterfly on a flower at the Reiman Gardens on the campus of

 Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa.

Port-a-potties. Never had a bad one on this trip and they always had paper!

This is one of 2 trailers that followed the ride 

and offered computers and free phone service.

Sally and I posing for a photo in State Center, Iowa. We are in town before the bulk of the riders, later in the day one could barely move through this Main Street.

A chance to try your "hand" at milking a cow, in one of the overnight towns, 

sponsored by the local dairy association. I was a natural!

A typical camp spot. This is when you hope your neighbor doesn't snore.

 It doesn't always work out that way!

Breakfast bratwurst and sauerkraut-the breakfast of champions!

Corn yarn vendor! Do you think I made a purchase?

Bluegrass entertainment, Hen House Prowlers, on the Last Night Out in Tipton, Iowa.

Last Night Out Beer, Tipton, Iowa

Dipping our front wheels in the Mighty Mississippi River, Le Claire, Iowa

Dip Site later in the day on Saturday.

So there is a taste of our Iowa bike ride. All the training I did in advance of the ride paid off and the weather, although exciting at times, was pretty good. And as always the Iowa hospitality was second to none. The receptions we received as we rode into each and every town was enthusiastic and genuinely warm. 

Tomorrow Jim goes to Washington, DC for 3 days and comes home in time for our long weekend in Canandaigua.

No blog tomorrow. I have lots to do and it is all probably stuff you don't want to read about!

Hope all is well.

Halfway Home

Reporting from Maumee, Ohio.



I was on the road by 8 AM, and then I realized that I would lose an hour today so it was really like starting at 9. No problem. My drive was uneventful and I cruised through the area south of Chicago, most of the time going 70 mph! It certainly wasn't traffic free, but I just got in the left lane (no trucks) and went with the flow. I made one stop along the Indiana part of I-80 for gas and lunch and was here at my hotel just before 3 PM.



The highlight of my drive was when my cell phone rang and it was Joanie calling just to chat! They had left their home this morning heading for Jenny Lake, via a night in Rochester and were just a ways ahead of me on the interstate!! We chatted for a while and it sure made 10-15 miles go by in a jiffy! Thanks for the call Joanie. If my phone had rung while I was flying through Chicago, I would not have answered it!



I slept good last night and have not felt really tired today until I sat down here at the hotel! After checking the weather, I bought a ticket to tonight's Toledo Mudhen's baseball game! The game is almost sold out so I was only able to get a single seat in the middle of a section, so I'm hoping I'm not sitting in the middle of a bunch of yahoos! Maybe I'll catch a nap before I go to the game.



I listened to a bunch of my knitting podcasts while driving today and learned a few things. Tomorrow I plan on finishing my book on tape. Jeannie left me a comment on one of my earlier posts about the availability of books on tape at Cracker Barrel Restaurants. Apparently you can borrow a set of tapes at one Cracker Barrel restaurant and return it to another restaurant! That is very cool and I am glad to know that.

I am looking forward to getting home tomorrow. It will be good to see Jim and Corey and share my RAGBRAI experience with them. I will transfer my photos from the camera to the computer so I can put some in the blog. Also, Jim and I are going to Canandaigua for a long weekend on Friday so I need to get all my stuff from this trip cleaned up and put away and get ready for that. Some of my gear from this trip will be set aside so it is ready to go in a couple of weeks when I pack up for my Great Hudson River Valley Pedal.

Nap time.

Hope all is well.

The Mighty Mississippi!!

Reporting from Le Claire, Iowa, on the bank of the Mississippi River!

Wow! What a day! People were up earlier than usual in the campground this morning, us included. I think we were on the road at 5:40 AM, with 52 miles to ride. And the 52 miles just flew by! We had a slight tail wind and what seemed like a lot of downhill! At one point I was cruising along at 18-19 miles per hour and it felt great! It is a sunny day here which is a real bonus for the ending town. When the weather is bad at the end of RAGBRAI, nobody hangs around and spends any money or has any fun! That is not the case today. We arrived here at 9:45 after stopping in most of the pass-through towns. We had to wait about 5 minutes to dip our tires and have our pictures taken-the wait now must be over an hour as thousands more have arrived behind us. Bob and Sally have now left as they are driving north to visit some relatives tonight. I will stay in Moline, IL tonight and head east starting tomorrow.

We were warmly greeted by the locals as we rode into LeClaire and there were many volunteers down by the river dip site to take photos of us riders as we dipped our front tires in the Mississipppi. We then rode (uphill) back to where our cars are parked-and there was the Yellow Bettle was waiting for me! I loaded my bike on top and then we walked and rode the shuttle back to town to see about getting our luggage. The baggage truck is on the edge of town and we decided to go into town, return to the dip site, and eat some lunch-one more pork sandwich!

A few notes about last night. We ate dinner at a church and as usual, had a good pasta meal. We then wandered around the town square checking out the entertainment. We ended up sitting at one of the stage areas listening to some music. The last group, Hen House Prowlers, were a bluegrass group and were very good. While listening to them I could look across the lawn and watch a group of jugglers put on a show. After the bluegrass concert we went for our traditional "Last Night Out" beer. I say "traditional", but the tradition did not start until we started doing RAGBRAI without the kids! It was a nice evening in town.

So I will hang out here (down by the river) for a bit longer and then haul my luggage back to the beetle (hopefully, I can catch a shuttle trolley). I will then find my hotel and get settled in there. I expect to be completely wiped out by the time I start to relax in a hotel room with a real bed, a bathroom, and air-conditioning!

That's all for now! It has been a great week of riding,

Hope all is well.

No Sun, No Wind!

Reporting from Tipton, Iowa. Day 6 of riding is complete and it was another good day.

We were on the road by 5:45 AM with 64 miles to get us to Tipton. Now if you look on a map you would see that it is only about 20 miles between North Liberty, where we were last night, and Tipton. However the RAGBRAI route took a scenic, rural tour north, east, and then back south into this fine town!

One of the highlights today was our bratwurst and sauerkraut breakfast at 7:30 AM! A great way to start the day, although Bob reported that he has some reminders of that sauerkraut later in the morning! One of the small towns we rode through, Lisben, processes sauerkraut and they have a big sauerkraut festival in August. In the daily newspaper that is published for riders, the Lisben folks were promoting their brats and kraut so we decided that would be our breakfast after 21 miles of riding. It was yummy!

The wind was a non-factor today which made for much more pleasant riding. Additionally, we again rode under a cloud cover, and just now, 3:45 PM, the clouds are starting to break up. These last 2 days have been "Pam B" riding days-cloudy and temps in the low 70's! It has been great.

One sight along the route today that surprised us was as we were riding along, a pick-up truck slowly moved by us, pulling a trailer with a huge, fake cow in it. Now by huge I mean 10 tall!! Later, when were rode into the town of Mt. Vernon, there was this cow with a big sheet hanging of its side, advertising something!

We are camped in a beautiful city park and have a site right next to a shelter where we can sit at picnic tables and store our bikes under cover. That is one advantage to starting the daily ride early in the morning and moving right along-better camp choices! The new city aquatic center is also in the park so we went for a swim, did a few waterslides and took showers. Perfect!

We are in downtown right now and will go to a church dinner for some kind of pasta. Sally and I visited a vendor booth here in town where corn yarn is for sale. Interesting stuff!

Later this evening, we will have our "Last Night Out" beer in the Beer Garden, but I don't imagine any of us will be up real late.

Tomorrow we finish in Le Claire- I can almost smell the river now!

%$&* Wind or No Sunscreen Today

Reporting from North Liberty, Iowa. The winds continue! 76 miles, all but 1 into those winds!

But first a note about last night because campground life is as much part of the RAGBRAI experience as the biking part. We had a nice spot next to a building that ended up being a concession stand for the high school sports fields. There were tables and chairs set up under a breezeway around the corner from where we were camped. We could not hear the people that were buying food and socializing, and we took advantage of the service when we needed a quick snack and a place to sit and read. When we got back from our downtown trip there were some late arrivals (usually that means "partiers") camped on the other side of our fence. We were a bit concerned because one guy was excited to have found DD batteries to energize their boombox and another guy reported that he had a beer supply! We thought we were in for a long, loud night. But Mother Nature intervened and sent rain-which sent everyone into their tents and things quieted right down! Now I am not one who likes to camp in the rain, but in my little tent, which has proved to be quite waterproof, I feel cozy and secure, so I slept pretty well.

We got up at our usual time of 5 AM and I got the inside of my tent packed up when the rain returned. I carried my 2 bags to the covered concession area, where Bob and I decided we would wait a bit to see if the rain would pass before we took down the tents. And that is what happened.

We were riding east by 5:45 AM, with the first town about 17 miles away. That is a long way to ride on a FiberOne bar, but I managed. This first town, Vining, was tiny but went all out to provide a wonderful breakfast selection, and everything cost $1. So here is my food list as of 4:15 PM: FiberOne Bar, Gatorade, 2 pieces of French Toast, scrambled eggs, milk, 3 snickerdoodles (over the course of the day), one piece of disappointing peach pie, more gatorade, 1 1/2 bananas, bratwurst, turkey sub, baked Lays potato chips and a fruit roll up. I will buy something else to have as a snack before bed tonight.

Back to the riding report-We rode through 3 of the Amana Colonies, which are fairly famous for their communal type of living. At one point today, I was riding down a small hill with a curve and as I came around the curve, there in the middle of the road was an enormous Longhorn Steer with 2 kids riding it! I had to yell, "On your left!" as I passed it but I'm not sure the steer understood! That was a first on RAGBRAI. We rode through some light rain for less than an hour today, but under a cloud cover all day-so no need for the sunscreen. The last 16 miles of the day were the most scenic as the farms and homes were closer to the road, so there was more to look at. Also the roads were a bit curvy, which always adds interest. So inspite of the relentless wind, it was a good day on the bike!

We walked from the campgound into an area around the Rec Center here in North Liberty. We found dinner here (my sub sandwich) and I left Bob and Sally in the Library where it is quiet and has soft chairs. I will go back there when I finish in this Iowa Telecom trailer. I may just catch a short nap as I read a magazine!

While in the shower today, I washed out my bike shorts so I had a wet towel and those shorts that needed to dry. Since it was gently misting at the time and there was no place to hang a line, I was a bit concerned as to where I could hang my stuff. Then, glancing around the campground, I saw a metal bar hanging down under the 18-wheeler trailer that hauls all of our baggage. That would be a perfect place to hang my stuff! The breeze was blowing through there, but it was out of any rain that may fall! Hopefully it will still be there when I get back to camp!

Tomorrow is 64 miles with about the same number of hills. We should continue to travel through areas that were hardest hit by flooding. Today we saw where the Iowa River had overflowed its banks and left many fields under water.

I had planned to buy a RAGBRAI shirt but by the time I finally got back to buy the one I liked, it was not available in my size. So I thought I would use that $20 at a river side casino at the end of the ride! But you Robinson boys would be happy and proud to know, that instead of gambling that money away, I bought a raffle ticket to support the fundraising efforts to build an all-weather track at one of the high schools along today's route!

Hope all is well.

Wind, Wind, Blow the Other Way

Report from Tama-Toledo, Iowa. After a good night's sleep after a brief fireworks show at 10 PM, we were on the road at 5:45 AM! Again, that is such a great time to ride, the temps are perfect and the wind hasn't picked up yet. Sally made a comment that she hadn't seen as many people pulled over with flat tires this year and not more than 5 minutes later we started seeing lots of people repairing tires along the side of the road! It appeared that some low-life, idiot, trouble-maker, etc., put tacks all on the road for several miles. People were getting flats left and right! We ended up riding in the other lane of traffic which seemed tack-free. We did make it through that treacherous area without picking up a tack, but it was very stressful riding.

Today we rode 77 miles, most of it into the wind! The route went mostly east and south and the winds were from the southeast! It was harder work than usual out there today. We did have some fun times in the towns and ate some good food. Here is my food list for today: FiberOne bar, gatorade (before getting on the bike), a large cup of fruit from the same vendor as yesterday, 2 applesauce cookies, another gatorade, one pork burger, 4 peanut butter cookies, one free ActiveWater, one free banana, powerade, Corn on the cob, lasagna, salad, garlic bread, lemon bar, and a small pecan sticky roll for a bedtime snack! I love riding my bike!!

We rode under sunny skies and the temps were in the mid to upper 80's. That isn't bad. We came by some flooded areas and some of the sights we have seen have been devasting. Speaking of floods, apparently there were big rains in Rochester and lots of areas got flooded, including our backyard-after the town did all that work so that the floods would not happend. Jim sent me a photo which showed the water level higher than it has ever been! Jim will be on the phone tomorrow! But back to Iowa, our route went over several rivers/streams that had receeded back into their banks, but there are many new lakes left over.

When I get home I will do a blog of lots of photos from RAGBRAI so you can see what fun I have been having. Right now I am going to hear a band called Dogs on Skis-a classic rock band!

Tomorrow we ride 76 miles, with a few less hills, but more wind from the southeast, and you guessed it, we are travelling southeast!

Hope all is well.

Aiming for Ames

Reporting from Ames, Iowa. Another beautiful day of riding! After an uneventful night (finally), we were on the road at 5:55 AM and it was a beautiful morning to be riding through rural Iowa. The sun came up silhouetting the farmhouses and barns as we rode east. There was heavy dew on the grasses and crops so things just sparkled. There was no wind at this point and we had very few hills, with one exception-more later, so we were just crusing along loving life! Because we are usually in one of the earlier waves of riders we get to enjoy these mornings with a lower volume of bike traffic.

We had 57 miles to ride today and they went by fairly quickly, as we were averaging 15-plus miles per hour. Our biggest challenge came after we had a fun descent onto the bridge over the DesMoines River (max speed, 36.1 mph), when we then had to start the climb out of the river valley. Fortunately we were doing this before noon and our side of the road was mostly in the shade! So I kept pumping along and got to the top, without the need for my lowest gear.

We have been made to feel very welcome here in Ames. There were lots of people out lining the roads as we came into town, cheering for us and yelling, "Welcome to Ames!" Bob, Sally and I were discussing how this is the part of RAGBRAI that is the best, but cannot be described. Tonight we are staying on the campus of Iowa State University and it is a beautiful campus. We got to camp so fast that it took the Register staff another hour to finish unloading the baggage trucks. We were able to secure a wonderful camp spot with shade for the whole day! Even though it is pleasantly in the low 80's, shade is a priority! Our spot is fairly close to the port-a-potties and showers and in the morning we will appreciate its proximity to the baggage truck.

My shower today was perfect-after having one be too hot, and yesterday's too cold, it was nice to get one that was just right!

We spent the afternoon walking around the campus and taking in some of the programs and sites. We listened to some jazz in one of the grassy areas and walked through the Student Union. We walked to the far end of campus where the football stadium and Field House are located. We then visited the Reiman Gardens, which is supported by ISU. We enjoyed our walk around the gardens and especially liked the tour through the butterfly garden. We are now back at camp and this computer trailer is about 100 feet from my tent so posting this blog is pretty convenient.

So what have I had to eat today? Here is my list: A Fiber One bar in my tent this morning before starting to ride, Gatorade, a cup of fruit (pineapple, grapes, strawberries-yummy), a breakfast burrito, 2 applesause cookies and a buffet with burritos and pasta. I will have a little bit more tonight, but since it was a fairly short riding day, I don't need as much food as I did yesterday.

Tomorrow's ride is to the side-by-side towns of Tama-Toledo, about 77 miles away. That will be challenging because I think I may be starting to get tired. But I have all day to do the miles.

Hope all is well.

100 Miles

Here it is 7:00 PM and I have ridden 100 miles today and I feel great! Those 1,000 miles of training are paying off. More on the day's ride in a minute, but I need to tell you about last night.

The rumors were flying around the campground that severe weather was headed our way and would arrive in the middle of the night. The skies were clear as we climbed into our tents around 9:30 PM, hoping to get a good night's sleep before our Century Day. I woke up about 2:15 wondering who was talking so loud outside of my tent, only to realize that it was a police cruiser driving through the campground with the officer making an announcement to seek shelter because of severe weather bearing down on Harlan, Iowa. So I grabbed my fanny pack and rain coat and we went to stand in a shed that was quite near our tent. We were crowded into this shed for almost an hour as the wind blew and the rain came through, but the biggest part of the storm went to the north. We didn't get the hail that was predicted, but several big gusts of wind blew through, breaking several tents. I was back in bed by 3:20 AM, hoping to get some more sleep, which I did.

We were up at 5 AM and on the road by 5:45 under cloudy skies. After 6.7 miles of riding, bikers needed to decide if they were going to ride the Century Loop or just continue on for the 85 miles to Jefferson, Iowa. This was our longest day of riding even without the extra loop. We rode under mostly cloudy skies most of the day which made it very pleasant. The first 67 miles were very hilly, but the reward for climbing all those hills is that there were some magnificent down hill runs. We stopped at all the little towns we went through to re-fuel our bodies. The best treat out on the roads today was a delicious fresh peach. It was perfectly ripe, and the juice was dripping off my hands onto my biking gloves! It was heaven!

We got to the campground by 3:30, feeling quite pleased with ourselves! I then took a cold shower, which actually felt better than the hot, humid shower I had yesterday.

Shortly after getting back to my tent, the thunder and lightening that had been in the distance, moved over the campground and we got some rain. I just laid in my tent and read my book while the rain fell on my rain fly. It was quite restful!

We are grazing at all the food vendors who are in the town square around the courthouse. Jefferson, Iowa has a huge bell tower that we were able to go to the top of for some photos of the area. That was interesting.

I had a nice rib-eye steak sandwich for dinner and some free french fries that were fried in soy bean oil. Before we head back to camp I am going to buy a cinnamon roll that is made by the woman who has won 2 blue ribbons at the Iowa State Fair for her cinnamon rolls. Do I spend a lot of time talking about food? I am burning a lot of calories with all this riding!!

Yesterday I forgot to mention that July 20th was the one year anniversary for this blog. Thank you to all of you who read and comment on my ramblings. It is a fun and learning experience for me and I plan to continue writing The Empty Nest!

That's all for now. We are going to walk around and look for our friend, John K.

Hope all is well.

Wonderful Day One

Reporting from Harlan, Iowa. Our route today was 59 miles long and we went through Beebeetown, Minton, Shelby, and a couple of other towns whose names I cannot remember. The temps were OK since we were done riding by 11:15 AM but they are heating up now, must be in the 90's.

Last night was pretty sketchy for sleep but I managed a few hours. As I went to bed, Mother Nature put on quite a light and sound show with the threat of a good storm but the storm went to the north. We got lots of wind, but no rain. The trains are the biggest sleep disrupter as they roll through Missouri Valley at least every half hour, sometimes more frequently. And of course they are blowing their horns!

In typical RAGBRAI fashion, I enjoyed a homemade cinnamon roll early this morning and had a great smoothie near the end of the ride!

We will wander around the main downtown area where the courthouse and vendors are located. I think spaghetti may be in order for dinner tonight.

Tomorrow is an 84 mile day with an optional 16 mile loop to make a Century ride. I'll see how I'm feeling tomorrow and what the weather is doing before I decide whether or not to do the extra loop.

I guess that's all from Iowa right now. Of course, storms are in the forecast again for tonight. They are scattered, but very intense.

Hope all is well.

Hot, Hot, Hot and Ready to Ride

Reporting from Missouri Valley, Iowa where it is typically hot, but it is not raining so that is good.

We left Le Claire, Iowa, on our charter bus this morning in the rain but it cleared up 20 miles down Route 80. We (Bob, Sally, and I) found what we hope to be a decent place to set up our tents, but I am not holding out much hope for a good night's sleep because the trains run very regularly through Missouri Valley and sound their whistles the whole way!

We walked through the downtown area, ate a good dinner at the Catholic church (turkey and noodles with mashed potatoes and corn, all mixed in one bowl). And of course there was pie for dessert, so I had a delicious piece of raspberry. We listened to the band outside of the beer garden and then found a great deal on Gatorade at a convenience store. We toured the vendor area and there is one RAGBRAI t-shirt that I like which I may buy later in the week if it is still available.

And on an unrelated note, I see that Greg Norman is leading the British Open after 3 rounds!!! This is wonderfully exciting. I wish him good luck for tomorrow. What an amazing win that would be for him.

Jim was in Buffalo with his Mom for a graduation party for the son of a cousin. They had a good time. Corey was working on the Salmon River, near Watertown, and had a good experience with that and is now in SU with his running buddies.

My time is up for using this computer so I will sign off. Iowa Telecom provides this trailer full of computers and phones for free all week. They usually position themselves in one of the small towns mid-way through the day's ride and then again in the overnight town. So hopefully I can update this blog regularly.

Hope all is well.

Maumee Ohio

Halfway to Iowa-Maumee, Ohio, a suburb of Toledo.

Had a fairly uneventful trip here today although about 10 miles from home it started to rain, which quickly turned into a pretty strong thunder and lightening storm. That lasted about 10 miles, and we all slowed right down on the Thruway. The sun was out before Buffalo and it was heating up.

There were a couple of stretches of road work, but no major delays.

Before I left home, I went to the library and borrowed a book on tape and started listening to it today. I got Frank McCourt's Teacher Man-he is the author of Angela's Ashes(?). Teacher Man is very interesting, as he tells of his 30 years of experience as a teacher in the New York City high schools. I am about half way through the discs so I will probably finish it up tomorrow. Now I wish I had gotten 2 books so that I would have something for the trip home!

I arrived at my hotel about 3 PM and asked about places to ride my bike. The front desk people were not aware of any bike trails, but suggested I go ride on the road that parellels the Maumee River. So that is what I did and it was a wonderful suggestion! Some stretches of this road were named River Road and other parts were named Broadway, but it was mostly through residential areas with one nice stretch through a river park. The traffic was minimal and very manageable and it was fun to look at all the big houses overlooking the river. I ended up doing 21.8 miles and it was a great ride.

I walked to a Panera's for dinner hoping to get one of their Fuji Apple Chicken Salads and use their wireless internet with my iPod Touch. I was quite disappointed when I ordered my favorite salad and the server told me that that salad is no longer available!!! It was replaced with the Strawberry Poppyseed salad. So I decided to try that one and it was delicious. It had mixed greens with strawberries, blueberries, pineapple, pecans and a poppyseed dressing. I added some grilled chicken and enjoyed every bite!

That's all for now. Tomorrow I meet up with Bob and Sally in Rock Island, Il, which is near the RAGBRAI ending town of LeClaire. We will load our bikes on the charter shuttle truck and then be sure we are ready to ride the shuttle bus to the western edge of Iowa on Saturday morning.

Hope all is well.

'Twas the Night Before RAGBRAI

'Twas the night before RAGBRAI and all through our house,

The rider was packing with the help of her spouse.

The child was working so he was no help, 

when the rider reviewed and let out a yelp.

She had packed up her kerchief and the rest of her crap,

When she suddenly realized she needed a map.

The spouse then exclaimed you have GPS, it really doesn't matter

GPS or a map, well, I'll take the latter.

Now the faithful yellow bug was ready to go,

with the bike on top and bags packed just so.

Two days to Iowa, she's ready to ride,

Once across Iowa, she'll surely feel pride.

So check the blog for my corn field reports

Or tales of sore tails in my tight biking shorts.

So I'm off with my friends to do RAGBRAI number 10?

When we ride into the river, we'll again shout, "Amen!"

1,000 Plus Miles

On this beautiful day, I went bike riding with Bob, Sally and Pam and we had a great ride of over 50 miles. We were on the canal trail for 25 of those miles and it was quite pleasant riding. To get some hill work in, we turned south from the canal trail and rode through Mendon Ponds Park. We ate lunch at Aladdin's before heading home. 

As I was riding through the Greece Canal Park my cyclometer indicated that I had ridden 55 miles so far, which put me over 1,000 miles of training since April! I am quite pleased with that amount and feel ready to go to Iowa. The last time I did RAGBRAI, I had 660 training miles, so I believe I am in better shape this time, which is a good thing since I am 2 years older now!

Tomorrow I plan on doing a different kind of spinning-on my spinning wheel. I hope to get to the yarn store in East Rochester in the morning, where my spinning teacher holds an informal "spin-in".  I will finish up my packing and preparation for Iowa in the afternoon and then in the evening I am teaching yoga at Bethany's Vacation Bible School, where the theme is Peace Making.

Thursday is the day I head west. What did I forget to pack?

Hope all is well. 

Corey's Wild Week

Now that Corey has returned home from his trip to West Virginia, and rested up, he has submitted some photos to this blog. 

So here goes. Corey and his friend Mike spent 4 days kayaking in Pennsylvania and West Virginia before spending the weekend at the All Good concert. I guess all these photos are from their kayaking/camping days. 

Corey enjoying breakfast at one of their campsites.

Corey admiring a side stream waterfall, along the Cheat River.
The photo below shows Corey scouting the rapid called The Recyclotron on the Cheat. They managed to get by this mammoth hole by sneaking by on the left of the hole.
This is Corey running Moats Falls on the Tygart River.

And this is what the van looked like after several days kayaking and camping. Unfortunately you are missing out on the smell that eminated from the car after the boys had been piling in their wet kayaking stuff for a week!

Corey had just a few photos from the concert. This was one of those concerts with 10's of thousands of people hanging out in a farmer's field. Corey enjoyed the music and the people-watching. Sometime when you see him ask him about the hippies at the concert. He has lots of stories to tell. 

I am getting my stuff together for RAGBRAI in preparation for my Thursday departure. Tomorrow I am taking one more bike ride with Bob, Sally, and Pam and it is supposed to be a nice riding day. 

Here's a news flash: We bought gas at the Henrietta BJ's for $3.98/gallon! We had to wait about 12 minutes in line, but the van was nearly empty so we saved some nice change. Later, the lead story on the local evening news was about the discrepancy between BJ's gas prices! The Victor BJ's was $4.16 and Greece was $4.14. People were wondering why some BJ's members were getting more benefits from their membership than others, so the news was investigating. No answers were really given, but we were happy to fill up with "cheap" gas!

Toronto's Great, Eh?

Our 36 hour trip to Toronto was jam-packed full of fun-so much so, that Jim and I were commenting on the drive home that it seemed like longer than one day ago that we drove up there. So here is our account.

We left home just before 8 AM on Friday, as the rain started to fall. We were only a little concerned with the current weather because we had planned to go bike riding when we got to Toronto, but the weather people were predicting that the rain would move through by late morning. And they were right! After an uneventful drive, including through customs, we parked along Lakeside Blvd at one of the parking lots for the park areas along this stretch of Lake Ontario. As a result of some internet research we knew to stop at the Ontario Welcome Center on the QEW and pick-up a Toronto Bicycle Map, which we did. The great map opened up a world of biking opportunities in Toronto. So we ate our picnic lunch, changed into our biking clothes and headed out on the Lakeshore trail to the Humber River Trail. This is the bridge over the Humber River at the start of the bike trail. 

We headed north, following the river, and rode almost 15 miles until the trail ended. For the most part the trail was on a separate bike trial, with a couple of short portions on roads. The trail was well-marked and we enjoyed riding through residential areas, urban industrial areas and a variety of city parks. We took a couple of side trails on way back so by the time we got back to the car we had logged 34 miles. The weather was great for biking and the riding was wonderful. We looked forward to riding on Saturday. 

After checking into our hotel (Sheraton Centre) we took a walk around an art festival which was right across the street from our hotel, surrounding the reflecting pool by city hall. There was a lot of interesting artwork, but very little that I would consider putting in my home.

Then we headed for Rogers Centre, the baseball stadium for the Toronto Blue Jays, who were playing the Yankees, our reason for going. Unfortunately, this was not the night for the Yankees, they lost 5-0 and they played pretty poorly! Now that I am home,  I checked the score for this afternoon's game between the Jays and Yankees and the Yankees won 9-4! I guess we were at the wrong game. We did have fun and I was glad we were there. I even wore my pink Yankees hat! Again, I was surprised by the number of Yankees fans at the game-it almost seemed like a 50-50 split.

Today, after breakfast at Cora's, we rode our bikes east on the Lakeshore Trail, ending at The Beaches area. On our return trip we rode north on a trail that followed the Don River. Again, another great trail! We stopped to watch a rubgy game and saw one team score. During our ride today we also saw a Master's Tennis Tournament, a beach volleyball tournament, soccer games, baseball games, lawn bowling, war canoe training, runners, roller-bladers, walkers, and lots of bikers. Here is a rugby photo.

I wanted to go to my favorite yarn store in Toronto so instead of driving there and having to find a place to park, we decided to ride our bikes. I later realized that this impacted how much yarn I could buy. Now you need to know that this is also Jim's favorite yarn store because, just a couple of shops away is an Adult Lingerie store, which features live models in their store front windows! Yes, you read that right, live girls, wearing some of the things that are sold in this store, which is aptly named, Miss Behavin'! Jim happened to notice that there was an available place to lock our bikes right in front of this establishment, so he took his time locking up the bikes!

We ate our lunch on Queen Street at an Italian place recommended by one of the yarn store employees and it was wonderful. 

When we finally got back to our car we had covered 37 miles and thought we'd better be heading home. 

Jim drove both to and from Toronto so I got lots of knitting done. The old QEW had some slow sections today which made our trip a bit longer, but customs wasn't too bad so overall it was a fine trip home.

Here is a weird story that happened to us. We get in an elevator to go up to our room in the hotel and one other guy gets in with us. He is wearing a Yankees shirt and we talk about going to the game. He then asks us if we are from Rochester, we say yes. He then asks if we live in Greece and again, we say yes and seriously try to figure out if we know this guy. He then asks if we live on Apollo Drive and then he tells us that he was one of the cops who investigated our house robbery-over 2 years ago!!! And just to add to the coincidences with this story, he was staying on the same floor in the same hotel as we were and then at the game, he sat in the same section where we had our seats! 

Tomorrow is Sunday-we'll go to church and then I will ride my bike if the weather cooperates.

Hope all is well. 

Zoom, Zoom, Zoom

No, not like the car commercial on TV-like the GarlicZoom! Maybe I am the last person on earth to know about the GarlicZoom, but let me tell you, if you like minced garlic but hate to mince garlic, then you need the GarlicZoom. See the photo below.

If you  know about the GarlicZoom, skip this section, but if you don't know about this fun, little kitchen gadget, read on. While shopping with Gram in Saratoga, we were wandering through a cook's store and I saw this little item. Now, I love fresh garlic in various recipes, but I do not like the garlic press that I have and trying to mince it on a cutting board always gets so sticky and messy. So I decided to invest in this GarlicZoom. Tonight I made Chicken with Balsamic Vinegar and Garlic, from www.allrecipes.com which called for 6 cloves of garlic, minced. I peeled the 6 gloves and then opened the top of the GarlicZoom and dropped in a clove and zoomed the rollers across my counter tops. After a few zooms, I had beautifully minced garlic. I tapped the garlic out and repeated with the other cloves. As an added bonus, it goes in the dishwasher when you are done zooming around! The garlic zoom has 3 little knives that spin around when you zoom the wheels across the counter, mincing up the garlic. It is wonderful. If you want more info, or want to see a YouTube video about this check out this website: www.chefn.com 

Today was a very productive day for me. I seriously cleaned the livingroom (Corey, ask me if you cannot find something when you come home, but it is probably now in your room!). Then I went to the Village Yarn and Fiber store in East Rochester for a couple hours of spinning with my spinning teacher. There were a few other spinners and knitters there this morning so I had a nice time talking about knitting, spinning, and life in general. There were several questions I wanted to ask my teacher so I also learned a few things too.

From spinning, I went on a errand marathon-from booze to bike tires! 

Yesterday, in the 90 degree heat, I went for a 56 mile bike ride-excellent training for RAGBRAI. I rode from home to Lock 32 on the canal trail, went south on Clover Street to Mendon Ponds Park, did a loop through and south of the park including the hill on Quaker Meeting House Road. I came back north on Clover Street to the canal, where I continued on to Schoen Place, where I had a very sweaty lunch at Aladdin's. After about 3 glasses of ice water and a humus pita, I took a 20 mile route home. It was a good ride and I would do it again before I go to Iowa, maybe with some friends (B & S???) and maybe when Corey was working at the Lock, so I could use that as a rest stop.

Corey called from almost heaven,West Virginia, in an Appalachian Mountain High (how's that for 2 John Denver references!). He and Mike had just finished kayaking a Class 5 stretch of the Cheat River and he was psyched. He described a gnarly river that challenged them and exhilarated them. When they got to the take-out, they were shuttled back to the van (the rig) by a classic West Virginia mountain man, named Glen Miller. Corey estimated his age to be somewhere between 150 and 200 years, with a pick-up truck of similar age! Ahh, to be 19 and flying by the seat of your pants!

Uncle Bob sent photos of their completed kitchen project and it looks great! I don't think I know anybody who had their kitchen remodeling project come in on time! Do you?

On Monday night, we signed our papers for our Long Term Care Insurance. If you are in our area, and interested in this kind of insurance, we would recommend the guy we worked with. Get in touch with me and I will pass along his particulars to you.

Tomorrow is bike riding day (on new tires!), and I think I will head north and check out a short new trail that goes between Durand Beach and the Seabreeze road. The forecast is for cooler temps than Monday, which will be a welcome relief. 

Hope all is well.

Look What Came in the Mail!

Look what the mailman delivered today!

I signed up to be part of a yarn swap with a group on Ravelry called Teachers Who Knit. Several hundred teacher/knitters signed up to participate and we were randomly assigned to another teacher/knitter. Someone got my name and I have the name of a different teacher/knitter. The woman who got my name has been in touch with me via e-mail, indicating that she lives in Oslo, Norway! So today this package arrived from Norway and it contained these 4 skeins of alpaca yarn in a deep turquoise colorway. It is definitely something that I would have splurged on for myself, if I wanted something very special. She also included a new cyclometer for my bike, as she picked up on my biking interest from the initial questions I had to answer to join the swap and she read my blog and profile on Ravelry. So it was a wonderful treat today and I will have to do some pattern research to find the perfect pattern for this lovely yarn. 

I have not sent off my swap gift to my recipient yet because I am hoping to find something unique during my travels this summer. She lives in PA and has a wide range of other interests in addition to knitting. It has been fun thinking about possible things to include in her gift package, and I am looking forward to putting it all together.

I've been knitting on my Pi shawl, but will put that down in to start a baby sweater for a friend who is having a baby in October. 

Hope all is well.

Adios to Jenny Lake

After 5 great days at Jenny Lake, we left this morning. I rode my bike from camp to Johnstown, about 36 miles, and then Jim picked me up at a Stewarts. I had a good ride and for the second time in a row, I got my average speed to just over 15 mph, which makes me very happy. 

We had a wonderful stay at Jenny Lake, doing all those things we like to while at camp-swimming, fishing, reading on the beach, relaxing, eating great food, and chatting with people we only see at summer. Thanks to Mom and Dad for their great company. This year I took my spinning wheel to camp, thinking that spinning on the porch would be delightful-and it was. I spun every day and finished making the orange fiber into yarn. I took the finished skeins down to the lake and dipped them in, squeezed the water out, and then let them dry on the  deck. I'm quite pleased with the finished result. Now I need to get started on navy blue to go with the orange for a scarf for Corey. 

Here is a photo from one evening when I rowed Jim around the lake so he could fish. He managed to catch a couple of fish each of the two times I "guided" him around the lake. 

We talked to Tucker while we drove home this afternoon. He had been in Telluride, CO, for the 4th of July, enjoying the festivities with friends. He sent this photo of him in front of Lizard Head Peak, where he and his friends were hiking and camping. 

Several of Corey's SU friends stopped in today on their way back to SU from PA. We invited the 3 of them to join us for a Ponty's dinner, which they were glad to do. Corey had already taken them to Tahoe's for a garbage plate, and to the beach for an Abbotts. They enjoyed the "hat trick" of Rochester foods! We enjoyed our visit with Griff, Ben and Steve, and would welcome them into our home anytime they were in the area. 

Tomorrow Corey leaves for a weekend concert in West Virginia. He and his friend, Mike G., are leaving this early in the week so they can go kayaking for a few days before the concert starts. We will be back to our empty nest status for a week. 

Hope all is well.

Jenny Lake Fun

Happy 4th of July!

We have been so busy living this Jenny Lake life-style, that it has been difficult to find time to do a blog update! But here it goes.

We arrived here Tuesday afternoon, in time to have a great dinner with Gram and GrandDad. It was a beautiful day with more promised in the forecast. Wednesday dawned clear and sunny so Jim and I drove to the Conklinville Dam, parked the car and started our bike ride around this end of the Sacandaga Lake. This is probably my most favorite bike ride, with an exception possibly being the last day of any RAGBRAI ride! This loop around the North Shore Road, across the Batchlorville (sp?) Bridge, and back on the South Shore Road, provides 30 miles of hills (both up and down!)  and beautiful scenery. I love riding across the bridge, but I know some people do not. We go early enough in the morning that we get to smell breakfast cooking as we ride by some homes and do not have to deal with too much traffic. Add in a stop at the County Store after 16 miles of riding for a treat, and it is a great ride. Here is the view from the front porch of the Country Store.

We did that ride today also (Friday). If the weather cooperates, I will ride my bike on Sunday from camp, down the mountain and head home. I will ride about 30 miles and then Jim will pick me up with the Beetle and we will continue to Rochester. 

We have been swimming and out in the rowboat. Jim has caught several fish. I have been spinning and today got my plied yarn into skeins with Jim's help.  We then took the 2 skeins of Syracuse Orange yarn down to the lake, dipped them in and the skeins are now drying on the deck. I am really pleased with how they turned out. They hang straight, which means that I am not putting too much twist in the fiber as I spin. Practice makes perfect! 

Yesterday was a rainy day, but we did not get any of the severe storms that were a possibility. It was a day off from biking so Jim wanted to go somewhere to run. He suggested that if he ran in Saratoga, I could go to the yarn store there. So that was our plan as we left here at 9:30 AM. Gram came with us to go shopping with me. We dropped off Jim at the Saratoga Springs State Park and we went into downtown. We looked at many beautiful yarns in the yarn store, but came away with all of our money in our pockets! We then visited a couple of other shops, but I am a terrible shopper and was ready to quit after less than an hour! So we returned to the State Park to pick up Jim and he was just finishing up his run. 

Last night we took Gram and GrandDad out to dinner at at restaurant outside of Edinburg, on the North Shore Road. I have seen this restaurant every time I ride this loop, so we decided to give it a try. The owner told us that they were a bit overwhelmed with the crowd that showed up on a Thursday night, so the service was pretty slow. The food was OK and we enjoyed the local flavor of the place. On our way to the restaurant, we stopped in Edinburg to check out the covered bridge that spans a creek there and read about the history of the place. The photos below show the bridge and the view of the waterfall, as seen from inside the bridge.



It was a very pretty place. This is another spot that I have gone by on my bike many times, but never stopped at because it is right in the middle of a long uphill climb. It was worth the stop in the car this time. After dinner we continued our tour around the Sacandaga Lake and then went into Corinth so Gram could get some books at the library and I could buy some ice cream. In June, when Uncle Bob visited he reported that the recipe for our favorite ice cream, Adirondack Bear Paw had changed and it wasn't as good. I had to see for myself. So I stopped at Stewarts and only bought a pint, because I heard it was going to be a disappointment. Well, I wished I had bought a half gallon because it sure tasted as good as ever to me. Even Gram agrees that my pint tasted like we were used to, not like the stuff they had with Uncle Bob. So maybe Bob got some outdated stuff, but the good news is that all is well in the ice cream world.

I am able to write this entry because of neighbor net here at camp. Howard got high speed internet and we can access it (with his permission) if we sit with the computer out by the wood shed! If you want privacy, I suppose you could sit in the outhouse! 

This last photo was taken on Tuesday before we left for camp when I took Sherri out for her birthday breakfast. As a low-calorie birthday treat, I knit her a cupcake! It turned out quite cute and was a hit!

Life is good here at camp. Hope all is well wherever you are.