May 2015 PART 1

This photo is actually from April, but I negected to include it in my last post. Jenny and Laurent invited Susan and me to come to their place in Indianola for breakfast. We took the ferry over, and Jenny picked us up on their side in Kingston. Laurent fixed delicious German Pancakes and we had a good visit with the family. Jenny and Laurent are taking six month old Etienne to swim lessons, and this photo is from one of their first days there.

Etienne on one of his first days at swim class

 

I regularly bike a few loops in my neighborhood, and always pass over the bridge over this culvert. This day I caught a quick glimpse of something blue out of the corner of my eye. I had to stop to see what it was.

Colorful graffiti mural painted from the culvert. Up in the right hand corner you can kind of see the road I ride on.

I leaned over the bridge, then got off my bike to walk to the end of the bridge span. It was hard to spot, but there was some artwork down there that looked like quite a challenge to paint.

Last year Jaydon did T-ball. This year he is getting the experience of soccer.

Jaydon poses for his official team picture

 

Jaydon is on the left, running toward the goal

Sarah is the coach of Jaydon's team, and has quite a few players who are very skilled. The games are held on the elementary school fields that are close to our house, and on the other end of a loop that I sometimes bike. So, I got to ride my bike to his first game.

We live close enought to the three grands that I get to see them in their activities. Besides the gymnasium romping from earlier and Jaydon's soccer games, there is swimming for these three as well as for Etienne.

Six month old Kaitlyn takes to the water

 

Lucy gets reacquainted with her love of the water

Jaydon pays close attention to what his instructor tells him

 

Kaitlyn loves it...

I was included in Mother's Day celebration and enjoyed my first live Mariner's Game at Safeco Field. Baseball is not my favorite sport to watch, but being with the whole family made it a special day. And we won! In addition, our star pither, Felix Hernandez, pitched his strike out #2000 which put him on a (I guess) somewhat famous list to join the few others who have reached this number.

The Smoldon's stay warm by the radiating heat from the building as we wait for the LaPortes

The teams warm up

I don't know -- the Mariners have a moose as the mascot

The cows learned of our rest (snack) stop and came to join in

 

Mount Baker

This one for Susan (and now for Brent)

On a ride in the area just a couple of days before, our SWS (Secret Women's Society) group enjoyed a fine day of riding as well.

A very rural, used mailbox.

 

May is National Bike Month, and May 15th was Bike to Work Day. When I worked, I would organize and lead a team of colleagues for their bike commute day. It was always fun. Since I am retired, I often bike to work with Susan to stay in keeping with the event.

Susan signs up to win something (and she very possibly will)

 

I got a lot of comments on my hat and several pictures were taken

 

Susan and I parted ways at the Interurban Trail for the remaining route to her school and my route home. I put in at least double the miles to home than I had on the way to "work".

This trail is basically a utilitarian way to travel

 

Not terribly scenic, and some of the trail runs right next to the Interstate. But I nice exercise ride to home.

 

My friend Lynne and I have discovered a delightful Tea House. It has been here for more than 20 years, but we just found it. I had bought one of those "Groupons" for dollars off your purchase and that led us here.

English style Tea House

The owner of Elizabeth & Alexander's lived in England for a time, and loved the tea houses that were unobtrusively located in small areas with barely a sign out to call attention to them. You had to look for them, and he created a similar tea house here. Though this one is actually on a main road with lots of traffic, it is set back enough so that you have to look for this one too. I did not get pictures of the inside, but it is quite "tea house-like" and lovely.

I had a group ride scheduled for one of the days in May, and many (most) emailed to tell me they would be out of town this weekend. I knew of one, and possibly two who said they "might" join me for the ride. The weather did not look all that inviting, and as I drove north to the ride start there were a few places with actual rain -- enough to use my wipers. Now I was all but convinced that no one would show up for the ride.

The community park where we usually park for this ride, and has never been busy, had a little league baseball game about to start and parents' cars lined the parking spots. I was huddled into a more hidden spot and at the appointed hour, when I saw no one I knew, I pulled out into a more conspicuous spot. And sure enough, Vernetta was pulling in, and Michelle had been parked near one of the parent cars. So we had our group of three.

A group of three was reminiscent of when I started this group fifteen years ago. I think on the first ride or two Susan and I were the only two who rode. Then there were a couple of rides when two showed up and we had a small group. Over the years the list of riders has grown and now our usual number is somewhere around 10-12, and there are times when we have had 18 or more. They are not always the same women, but we have developed a "core group".

The three of us got ourselves geared up and saddled up and off we went. Shortly into the ride Vernetta put out the challenge that at our lunch stop we would tell of two things we see on the ride. I said I had already seen two, so she increased my challenge to five things. Ok then, keep my eyes peeled. This challenge was not difficult for me, and I had a list of more than five. I always have my eyes and mind wide open for photo ops, and for things to tell my cyber bike club friends about. My mistake was to not stop for a photo of each of these things:

Chickens pecking around their coop; a lemonade stand made like one of those old wooden vegetable stands where you pay on honor system (not open for business, but a cute stand with hand lettered "lemonade"); farmer meticulously running his farm machine along the field creating perfect rows for seeding; a lone, empty tractor sitting in the middle of a freshly rowed field as if it was having the day off; tree play things -- quiet, old ladder half hidden in the tree leading up to ??? tree house???, ropes for swinging or climbing, swings; an old wooden sleigh nestled under the limbs of a big tree by the roadside; two cuddling sheep in the back yard; an old house with a smaller out building, abandoned and totally covered with thick moss; and all the barns and farm buildings that I do love -- some in good shape, some tumbled down.

I had been so engrossed in telling what I had seen along the way, I neglected to ask what each of them had seen. I guess I hogged the spotlight! Vernetta did say to Michelle "she saw so much more than I did". I will remember to ask them for their "treasures" the next time.

This month's post is getting rather long, so I will split it into two parts and end Part 1 here.

Posted with Blogsy