Home to Elk Grove and more...

To get me caught up here I am posting the beginning of this trip. Driving from home to Elk Grove is a long way! We spent the first night in Medford Oregon, then made a stop in Redding California before getting to Sarah’s in Elk Grove.

We needed some out of the seat time anyway, so using the excuse to visit a “world famous” fly shop was fine with me. ;-0. After perusing the shop and purchasing a fishing license, we found our way to a hiking trail. Possibly the worst trail we have ever been on. Dry grass and weeds lined a dry and dusty trail. We thought, by the map, that we would be hiking along a river (or creek) but that was not to be.

We did get to the creek and Susan was at least able to dream about fishing.

The most interesting thing was the size of the pine cones. My foot is there for scale.

We got to Sarah’s that late afternoon and simply relaxed around the house and made plans for the next day. Kaitlyn had a school function the next day. Susan and I would take Jaydon and Lucy on a bike adventure.

We drove to Davis to ride the 12 mile trail around and through UC Davis. It was quite wonderful. The route is at times on a low traffic road with nice markings and wide shoulder, and  UC has made a big part of a parking lot for bikes only. Davis is a true bicycling town League of American Bicyclists awards it as the best biking town in the country.  All schools, from elementary through college had tons of bikes parked by them, and it seemed that everyone biked to wherever they needed to be. I will easily go back to this town to ride again.

During the ride we stopped at In and Out Burgers for lunch, but the big highlight was the ice cream at Davis Creamery after the ride ;’-)

Oceanside to Oceanside

I continue to move backwards in this post ;’-).

The day before we rode through Camp Pendleton Susan and I rode the couple of miles from Jack & Judy’s house to the San Luis River trailhead. We took the ten mile trail to the town of O’Side and had lunch at the Harbor.

Here we go — leaving from their house.

The trail was empty on this weekday so we had it all to ourselves.

Apparently it floods here.

I got to see my first live Road Runner. In the past (somewhere) have seen a blur of what was said to be one, but today I saw the actual bird (beep beep)

Lunch was — what else by the seaside —- fish and chips at the harbor.

We have enjoyed watching the pelicans glide in a line overhead but I have not been close enough to get a good photo. This will have to do.

Two Walks in Oceanside and a Bike Ride

After yesterday’s bike ride through Camp Pendleton, we walked from our hotel down to the Harbor/Marina. 

We were VERY entertained by the resting Sea Lions on a dock.

Found some interesting painted rocks along the way and a festively painted wall.

This morning we looked out our window to see some light rain falling and rearranged our bike riding plan. We would walk to the Farmers Market now, and ride after that. The walk along what they call the Strand, we found these beach ball sculptures and the Monopoly looking cottages.

Susan HAD to check out the train station and schedule just in case! So after the market and browsing a few shops in town, we got information and instructions about the return trip from our bike should we need it. We could not end the stay here without walking to the end of the pier.

By the time we were done with this six miles I was hurtin’ and tired and had second thoughts of taking a bike ride. After a rest for my sore back and a little nap, I was ready for the ride to Encinitas. 

We are both very impressed with the local bicycle infrastructure in this area. The bike lane is not only wide, it is separated from the car lane by a three foot painted lane.

When there is not room for a lane,, there are sharrows and signs that say bikes may use full lane! And the cars obey those things!! 

There were a few bike shops that needed stopping into so we obliged that before our turn around point at the end of town. Back in Oceanside we had another street fair to attend! Live music in the center of it all, a few craft vendors and tons of food booths. We made a difficult but successful choice of Korean Barbecue, and sat on the curb to have our dinner. I was entertained by looking at all the different shoes that passed by ;’-) 

A Serious Ride

I know that no one cares about which day we did what, so I am starting here in the middle of our current adventure.

We have become card carrying military non-trespassers.

We wanted to ride though Camp Pendleton so waited in line for over half an hour to get a pass to do so. They went through a thorough interview asking our social security number, name, birth date, citizenship, and we handed over our drivers license. Then they took our fingerprints and a photo, read us the rules of the road, and issued this laminated ID card that we must present at the entrance gate and carry at all times. For some reason they could only get one of my fingerprints as the others did not work on the computerized finger print thingy.

Today we took the ride through the Grounds on a Bike designated route that were NOT to veer off of. There was not a lot of scenery on the route, but the shoulders were nice and wide and the drivers DID share the road with us when the SHARROWS sign came up. 

Susan was relieved to discover that we would not be thrown into the brig if we failed to follow a rule.

I was glad there was a ‘real’ hand washing place outside of the port potty.

I have titles this post “Serious” because I rode in a very serious mode. The previous evening we were in the lounge with several Marines who had been injured at war — Wounded Warriors. It was sobering then to see these young men who had had their lives changed forever when they lost a limb  (or two) and were now in a wheel chair, on a prosthetic leg, without an arm for an eye, and had injuries we could not see (PTSD). I had a hard time with this as we say in the lounge. What a price war takes.

The ride was just as sobering as we passed through the gate with one of the marines holding (what looked like) an assault weapon, passed signs for Tank Crossing or Troop Crossings and shooting ranges, had camouflaged army trucks and military tanks pass by us, and saw the “ambulance pick up” arrows near the Camp Pendleton Military Hospital. 

It ALL made for a very thoughtful and serious ride for me.

Day after Cashmere ride

I am hoping to be able to successfully use this blog site. This is a test to see if it will work.
Let’s start with adding a photo.

A foggy morning in Leavenworth the day after our wonderful bike ride to Cashmere...

I had time before heading home to take a bit of a walk around town and found more fog shrouding the mountains.

You can almost make out the mountain in the background. The weather would gradually clear but not before we left to drive home.

I walked on and spied this very interesting bus stop with a place to lock your bike.

Downtown Leavenworth is often very busy as a resort town. On this morning it was indeed very quiet

THROUGH ORCHARDS OF EASTERN WA

THROUGH ORCHARDS OF EASTERN WA

This is a test to see if I can use blogspot rather than Wordpress for blogging without an app for blogspot.

Our weekly trip in Leavenworth offered the opportunity for us to extend a day or two, so we took advantage to add a longer ride to Cashmere. There is a busy highway that connects the two towns, but we were able to avoid all but three short stints of that and stayed on back roads.

The roads seemed to be made just for us (or for the farmers I suppose) with little to no traffic, and polite, patient drivers when there was any.

It is early in the season and the tree branches are bare, but there is beauty in that as well. The trees were being tended too and sprayed, and soon the blossoms will be full with another beautiful scene.

We enjoyed all the country-ish things along the way and could not resist a stop for some of them.

Once in Cashmere (home of the infamous Aplets and Cotlets, those horrendous jelly candies), we needed lunch. Susan stopped for a chat with a woman walking her preschooler home and asked for a recommendation. We would NEVER have found this place without those directions. With the somewhat hidden side door entry, and a name like Milepost 111, it seemed like one of those “knock three times and tell ‘em Joe sent you” places.

We had very delicious hamburgers and were very pleased with our meal. And we rather enjoyed the doors to the restrooms.

Our day started with sunshine and mostly blue sky, ended with cloudy sky and heavy headwinds! Next morning showed the rain that had happened during the night and was just beginning to clear. Though we have done this route a few times in the past, it had been long enough to truly enjoy it as if new! Great day.