Spring Break, April 2015

My Duck got a name, and other things in April ;'-)

Sally got a little wet and windblown

I have taken to adding a "head dress" atop my helmet, and for April I chose a duck. I had no name for it until I was stopped at the crosswalk during the ending of school and two young girls (maybe 14 year olds) admired my duck and asked its name. It doesn't have one I replied -- do you have one in mind? Without missing a beat the one girl loudly pronounced "Sally!". So -- Sally it became.

On the ride to meet up with Susan at her school to take off for Spring Break, Sally got caught in the wind and rain without a raincoat! She kept her good attititude and pleasant countenance.

It is so fun to see smiles and hear happy comments from people all along wherever I ride with whatever head dress I wear. I feel that I am spreading the joy, and who can be mean to someone with a duck on her head! And now Sally has been to High School...

Where we biked ... in the rain... to meet up with Susan

I was pleased to arrive to the van with hot tea and cookies waiting for me! And some pizza! There had been a sale of some sort at school and Susan thought of me. How nice. Well, she thought of both of us, but set these up early for my arrival.

We were soon on the road for a week of adventure. First leg was to drive to Yakima Canyon where Susan's Fly Fishing Club was hosting a fishing outing. Due to the rain, and now sun emerging, we were treated to a beautiful rainbow.

Rainbows make the rain worth it, said Sally

Arriving at the fishing area, we stopped at --- yes, yet another fly fishing shop. This one has a lodge attached to it. I immediately suggested checking to see if they had a room ;'-) available on this very (brrrr) cold and wet night. They did. We didn't take it right away, but drove to the campground where everyone was set up for the weekend. Once there, feeling the cold deep in our bones, we said hello to everyone, and good bye until tomorrow. We drove back to the lodge and were totally decadent in a beautiful, warm, dry, comfortable "condo" -- or so it seemed like.

A fireplace should warm up Sally quite nicely

Large kitchen and dining room, and two large bedrooms. Ahh, now THIS is fishing!

Our doorway to the outdoor pool and to the river

On our drive to the campground we came upon this...

Young, and/or female Big Horn Sheep

 

They were here every evening, and early mornings

Susan got to do quite a bit of fishing during the weekend, and a lot of fish stories around camp in the evening.

And I got to do my bicycling along the Canyon Road.

Blue sky, light traffic and wide shoulder. A cyclist's dream

Columns along the canyon wall

Well, not all of it was a dream -- I did have to climb that hill...

 

Roadside attraction

 

This tells its story, if a bit blurrily.

 

Yakima River

 

Babies -- it's April

Train tracks beside the river

I was able to bike both full days we were there, and Susan was successful in catching three fish!

It was time to move on to leg number two -- an overnight stop in Portland, OR.

We visited all the outdoors shops, the bike shop, the book store and any other place we did not want to miss.

In Nike World (we were not impressed)

Street food was abundant everywhere

Been here a while

 

Chinatown is no big thing in Portland

 

We did get an elephant photo in the park

Not much else for us in Portland, we traveled on to Eugene, OR. I love visiting the hippie town of Eugene. One task for us was to go to Bike Friday for some minor work and check over on our bikes. Then we would wander around town for a couple of days.

We stopped for lunch on the way to Eugen

 

We were sure to check our guns first

University of Oregon campus is a bicycling haven

THEN, on the way home, just a bit north of Eugene, we saw this...

On the lot at Camping World

I don't even know why we went to Camping World, but we left with this Camping Trailer.

Susan made sure he hooked it up correctly

 

We have parked it in Sarah's driveway and the grands needed some time in it

 

And grandma needed to spend a night with them in the trailer

The grands loved "camping" in their driveway with grandma, and were happy when the "bear" got scared away (Jeremy made growling noises as he was emptying the recycling bin).

We had a fine time over Spring break. And I had a fine whole month of April...

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March 2015 -- Spring Sprang

March 2015

Spring did indeed come early to the Pacific Northwest.

Volunteer pansies push through the cracks in this warm weather

Early March and the fruit trees bloom

Shortly after this photo we had a heavy rain and windstorm and those beautiful blossoms became detritus on the sidewalks and in the streets. We will have more a little later in the month though.

Part of many highlights in my month (Friday the 13th had its own entry) was to spend some time with the grands at the local gymnasium during free time where, with our supervision, they could run and play on all the equipment.

Trampoline time is a hit

 

Jaydon returns blocks while running on the soft, cushy track

Lucy does her part in putting things back where they belong

Sarah got herself a new bicycle so to keep up with her children! We all gathered together for a trial ride to the elementary school where Jaydon will potentially attend kindergarten. We had quite a wonderful family outing with Lucy on her no pedal bike, Jaydon in the lead on his bike and Kaitlyn in the chariot.

Healthy family said the neighbor guy as we rode off

Kaitlyn your chariot awaits

Which way?????

 

Jaydon and I got to ride across country

finally ...

As I keep repeating, I am lucky to not only have a fantastic family, but fantastic friends as well. I did several bike rides with friends and include only two. Our mild winter weather has presented many fine days for bike riding. B-A, Dorothy and I rode the north end of the Centennial Trail and enjoyed a sunny day as well as a picnic lunch at the half way point (the red barn).

 

 

Dorothy plays the bells in her church music group, so was right at home with music

B-A tries her hand at the drums

B-A then performs admirably on the xylophone

 

And of course we had to have a duet

Vickie and Gerry and I met up at the ferry landing and rode into Everett in a reverse route from what we often ride. Here we see that spring is still blooming.

A tree in my neighborhood blooms a bit after the other that lost its flower

Along Grand Ave.

 

At the foot of the tree

 

We are also part of history here on Grand

They take me to the best spots for tea and crumpets

The view to the other side of us

 

The cultural side of me got fed well this month as well.

Three movies -- "McFarland, USA" with Pat. This was great movie that we did so enjoy; "The Second Best Marigold Hotel" with Bill. We had each seen the First Best, and this one by comparison did not "do it". It was a so-so movie but the first was much better; "Monuments Men" at the communitiy center with B-A and Kathy. A great movie that I could easily watch again.

Theatre with Diane and Sue -- "Around the World in 80 Days". We did not find this entertaining and it seemed to boringly drag along, so we left at intermission. We had however, enjoyed dinner together before the play -- and that was the most important part of the evening anyway ;'-), sharing time and laughs together.

The "Pompeii Exhibition" with Diane and Lynne. The plaster and plastic casted molds are truly moving and difinitely give the feel of what it must have been like during the eruption of Vesuvius in the year 72 A.D.

This poster says California, but it was here in Seattle for our enjoyment

 

 

Warrior wear

An additional highlight after the exhibit was lunch at the Space Needle.

Bill invited me to join him for the Men's Chorus. It was rather a solemn event as the first part of the performance was a tribute to 18 year old Tyler who died by suicide after being outed by a cyber bully in his freshman year at Rutgers. Such a very sad and unnecessary end to a vibrant young man. Tyler's mom and brother were there and she gave a speech before the performance about Tyler and about the need to bring his story to the world in hopes of educating and putting a stop to such bigotry. One would think, in this day, that would not be necessary -- but...

 

The second part of the performance was in dedication for Harvey Milk who in 1978 was shot and killed in San Francisco. He was the first gay person to enter into any public office, and was serving as city commissioner, fighting for the rights of all and any who were marginalized in the main stream of society. At that time gays were the major focus of such discrimination, demoralization, and hate. Thanks to Harvey Milk for opening the way to more public figures to successfully fight for us. Once again, one would think, by now, we would not have to keep up the "fight", but ... look at Indiana ... and potentially Arkansas ... states that refuse to call it what it is (discrimination), as they refuse service to or recognition of certain people (for now, gay) under the guise of religious freedom. I won't go on here except to say that my religious friends have none of this bigotry or hate in their religious, God-loving hearts. (I am a bit riled up about this, as many are, and the sadness of the recognition for Tyler and Harvey in these two performances have brought out some wrath as well as deep emotions.)

I will let that be the end of my post for March, 2015

 

 

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