Did you stop blogging?

Of course not!

I've renamed this blog to include a 2004 tag, and along with the new year, I have a new blog.

You can find my 2005 blog at denisegoldberg.blogspot.com, and this blog is at denisegoldberg2004.blogspot.com.

A walk along the ocean...

...seems like a good way to bid farewell to 2004.

The morning was cool and gray. I thought about riding - after all temperatures in the high 30s were plenty warm for wandering on my bike. But - it was gray, and the roads are still a bit wet - so I decided to drive up to the New Hampshire coast for a nice long walk. It was a good decision because on top of the somewhat messy roads there was also a pretty strong wind. That was a factor on the return leg of my walk, but much less of a factor than it would have been on my bike!

I headed to a spot north of Hampton Beach where I knew the road hugged the coastline. I wasn't the only person walking and absorbing the sound of the ocean crashing on the shore, and I even saw a coupld of people on bikes. It was a nice excursion for my feet and my camera, a good activity for a day off!

Why are you in the water? It's much warmer to walk on top of the water today!

I really wanted to get closer to this guy but I figured he'd depart quickly if I moved again.

Taking an exercise break keeps me less tired

I know this, and I proved it to myself again today. It's important both for my sanity and for my energy levels to take a break during the day - either for a session at the gym or for a walk outside.

I started the day today with an early morning walk even though the temperatures were in the mid-teens and there was lots of snow on the ground. I have the advantage of living next to a college campus, and even though the students are still on their mid-year break, the roads were cleared early in the morning. That was a good start to the day, and I planned a mid-day walk or workout. Somehow I didn't get out of the office during the day. I wanted to walk, but I let my assumption that sidewalks were probably still covered with lots of snow keep me inside - and rather than go to the gym during the day I figured I'd just keep working and leave for the gym right at 5. That almost didn't work, because when the end of the day rolled around I felt very tired. I almost went home, then I thought better of it and headed across the street to the gym at the Marriott. I felt much better after my workout. And my experience really cemented my feeling (or knowledge) that I need an exercise break in the middle of the day!

Tomorrow...

Brrr... a walking weekend

It was a bit too chilly for my bicycle this weekend, but I did manage to wander a bit by foot. Although I'm wandering by bike at a fairly slow speed, it's still faster than walking which means the wind chill factor plays a bit more into my comfort (or lack of comfort). Temperatures in the 20's yesterday and today meant my shoes got a workout instead of my bike.

A bit of frozen water makes for interesting puddles

They say this is just ocean-effect snow - the heavy stuff isn't supposed to come before tonight. I don't think I believe that...

This National Weather Service map of the area is normally not colored in, but today it has been a sea of color. The colors? Well the bright pink covering the area where I live is a winter storm warning. The purple? A gale warning. It's been snowing all day, and I suspect that it will be interesting to see what tomorrow morning brings.

A good day for a long walk

I had hoped to bike today, but I allowed the temperature to convince me that walking was a better choice. It was in the low 30's when I ventured out, so I could have pulled off a ride - but in the end I was happy with my decision. A bit chilly...

Ah, the Grinch and his dog! This holiday display definitely brings a smile to my face. I have to admit that I didn't realize until my walk last week that these fabric sculptures use power to keep them inflated (thanks Mom, for clueing me in!) - last Saturday morning was when I saw all the air-filled sculptures flat on the ground. Now how do parents explain that to their kids?

The temperature kept me moving quickly to keep my fingers and toes warm - but in spite of the chill I had to stop a few times to captures photos of the ice. There are a few more photos like this one in my Wandering near home - winter to spring photo gallery.

A season a day - from cold to snow to fog to warm

What season did you say this is?

It's been a crazy week from a temperature standpoint - from Saturday's chill that scared me away from going for a bike ride (yes, I know, it's not normal to expect to ride a bike in December in the Northeast - but who said I was normal?) to snow to freezing cold to a gray day with temperatures in the 50's. If I had any control I would vote for the temperature to be stuck in the 50's, but somehow the weather doesn't seem to be very interested in listening to me.

Saturday was cold and in the 20's, a very reasonable day for a long walk.

Signs of the season - bare branches and a bit of ice...

But there is still some green showing too!

Sunday was cold too, but temperatures in the 30's convinced me that it was a decent biking day. I was moving pretty slowly, but it was good to be out on a bike! Clothing-wise, I almost had it right... I started with cycling shorts and Pearl Izumi AmFib tights, a sleeveless long underwear top, two layers of Patagonia Regulator fleece (an R.5 shirt plus an R1 pullover) and a windbreaker. Heavy gloves, socks, cycling shoes, and shoe covers, and a Pearl Izumi microsensor skull cap under my helmet finished the layers. Almost warm enough - but my hands and feet were a bit cool. I should have worn my Lobster Mitts, and I should have used those stick-on warmers on my shoes. Next time...

Then the snow came, and then it got very cold. Monday morning I somehow convinced myself to walk before work. The temperature was in the high teens, and it got lower as the day progressed. My morning selection of a time to walk outside was probably the only time of the day when I could have pulled that off! I was very glad to have a place to exercise indoors for the first couple of days of the week.

On Wednesday I almost got myself into one of those exercise nightmares. I didn't walk in the morning, and I got tied up in meetings during the day so I didn't walk at lunchtime either. When I left the office I was tired. Too tired to exercise? Well, I decided that I was tired because I hadn't done anything. So to not do anything in the realm of exercise that evening would probably only make things worse. A good brisk hour-long walk (outside of course, who needs a treadmill?!) really did make me feel better.

Friday was destined to be the day I thought should stick around for the winter. It was very foggy in the morning, but the day ended up being a real December treat with a high of 57 degrees. Too bad there probably won't be too many days of that temperature for a long time. And too bad it was a work day as opposed to a play day - it would have been a good day to wander around on a bicycle. I guess I'll have to be satisfied with chilly bike rides for now though.

The disappearing snow as viewed in the morning fog

It's time to get ready...

...for touring (by bike, of course) in 2005!

It's hard to believe that it is mid-December. Winter hasn't officially started yet, and I'm already dreaming of summer. I'm determined that those circumstances beyond my control that canceled my 2004 tours won't happen again, and I'm focused on training now so that I'm in top touring shape come the spring. I've come a long way since that day in May. I started by simply walking short distances. By July when I headed back to work part-time (which admittedly didn't last too long - full-time jumped in there within a couple of weeks) I tried to walk for 20 to 30 minutes 3 times a day, and I rode my bike on the weekends. My bike rides started out as short ones - in the 15 mile range - and I worked up to 28 mile rides by the end of the reasonable riding season. That's a far cry from my normal distances, but all things considered I should probably consider it to be more than a reasonable accomplishment. I kept up the biking and walking pretty consistently through my October trip to Hawaii, but when I got home it was time to deal with both the lack of daylight and relatively cold temperatures.

I have to admit that it's much easier to train when I can play outdoors. I'm trying not to let the cold get to me, but the fact remains that it is pure luck that I get any cycling in during the winter. I'm limited to weekends because of the lack of daylight, and to short rides because of low temperatures. I can happily ride if the temperatures are in the 40s. 30s with sunshine, low wind, and dry roads work too. But that's certainly not enough to get back into the kind of shape I need to be in!

So what's on the agenda? First, I'm trying to continue to do some walking outside. Then I need to do some focused aerobic exercise, plus weight training. I have some exercise abilities at home - I can ride my bike on a fluid trainer, I have a Concept 2 rowing ergometer, and a Fitball and some weights helps too. I also have memberships in not one, but two gyms - the YMCA a mile up the road from my house, and the gym at the Marriott Hotel across the street from my office. I've been trying to walk for 30 to 45 minutes every afternoon, but if the weather doesn't permit I can pop over to the Marriott for an afternoon workout. If I walk in the afternoon, I've been trying to work out right after work. That seems to work better if I head over to the Marriott than if I try to get to the Y. That's because I have to drive by my house to get to the Y, and at the end of a long day it's really easy to turn into my driveway instead of continuing on to the Y. The Y works for me better on the weekends...

A mix of activities will keep me interested, and I'm planning to work up to higher intensity indoor workouts to add to my outdoors - face to the sky - walking. No, I'm not a runner, but walking fast does work too. It's just not enough.

Focus, Denise! It's time to focus on getting back in shape for two-wheeled travel. I want to be in decent riding shape by mid- to late April, and in excellent shape by June. There's enough time, and I want it enough - definitely a reachable goal.

Brrr... can't let the temp scare me inside

I've been finding it too easy to decide to skip outdoor walks in these cold temperatures, but I really need to get over it!

This morning it was 22 degrees out. Cold, and what a difference from yesterday... I had to convince myself it was still a good thing to get outside. This morning I managed with my normal walking clothes plus a light fleece jacket, a fleece hat, and running shoes with socks that were heavier than normal. That worked!

I'm slowly putting trips to the gym back in my days, but I still want to keep walking. I think that getting some exercise in outdoors helps to keep me sane through this cold season, the season I'd like to see disappear (in less than the normal amount of time)!

What's that I hear?

...that howling sound? I think it's the wind...

Today's ride almost didn't happen. I almost let the sound of the wind scare me off, but luckily I walked outside before I made the decision to skip my ride. Yes, that was the wind howling, but no, it wasn't really cold out. When I left the house the temperature was 49 degrees, so I chose relatively light clothing for this time of year - my biking shorts, leg warmers, toe warmers (not full foot warmers), a long underwear tank top, a Patagonia R1 fleece top, a windbreaker, and of course my helmet. It wasn't cold enough for a hat, but I did wear Earbags to keep my ears warm. Not quite total winter cycling attire, and for the most part it worked for me.

It was very windy out - windy enough that I only got blown off of my bike once. I managed to stay upright though. And the temperature dropped quite a bit in the hour and a half that I was out - from 49 degrees at the start to 42 degrees when I returned home. Unfortunately I think that's a sign of things to come.

Funny...

...driving from California to Hawaii?

One of the travel discussion sites that I often visit is Lonely Planet's
Thorntree. This morning one of the exchanges on the United States branch really made me laugh. A woman from Scotland says "I am planning a road trip from San Francisco to Pearl city in Oahu to visit some friends". Based on a continuation of her trip description I think she is looking for a travel (driving) companion for the part of her trip between San Diego and San Francisco, but the way the entry is worded gives the strong impression that she plans to drive from the West Coast to Oahu. Even the response to direct questions is a bit off!

Here's the part of the discussion that really made me smile:

reader from Washington state: You're driving from California to Hawaii, then?

author of the initial post (who sounds like she is very young): Yeah I know the distances are long but hey that why I want to travel with someone... Do you know of anyone who interested? ...Pics would be nice but would anyone want to see them though?

reader from Washington state: Of your drive from California to Oahu? No question about it, we want to see those pictures... Oh, and in exchange for those pictures I will be more than happy for pay for your petrol.

response from the original author: I am not planning on maps - I am just going west I guess I end up in Pearl city somehow. I don't believe you. My bf says that you can drive any where in the USA on the highways. Hawaii is in the US - Go figure.

Do you think she's kidding? I actually think this was a troll, meant to cause reactions. At least it was a troll that caused laughter; I've seen many that were absolutely biased and rude.

Time for a family visit

There's a reason for Thanksgiving beyond the reason defined by the pilgrims - it's a good time for a family get-together, and for funny pictures...

My somewhat crazy brother demonstrating a good off-label use of a rubber glove

Suze & Mom in a crazy dance moment

Dad, in one of his crazy but temporary get-ups. I think he said these turquoise polyester pants are at least 30 years old!

The disappearing sun

I find that I'm still amazed at how early the sun disappears on these fall days. And we still have another full month before the winter solstice, another month of ever shorter days. It was still daylight when I headed out on a long walk this afternoon, but by the time I returned home the moon was sneaking out from behind it's cloud cover.

Ah... the moon has shed most of its clouds!

Winter? It can't be!

It is mid-November, but it still seems pretty early for our Friday into Saturday snowfall, and I'm really not (mentally) ready for this. I may be boring everyone to tears with my thoughts on the subject, but each year it becomes harder to face the New England winter. I'd really like to be in a place where I have access to snow but where the ground around me stays free of the white stuff. Temperature? I'd prefer no lower than 50's, but I think 40's would probably work too.

The bad thing is that I didn't want to brave the 34 degree temperature on my bike today. The good thing - I did get a good walk in, and I pretty much guessed the right clothing layers. I could have used a warmer pair of gloves at the start of my walk, but the light ones I chose were perfect at the end. And since it didn't feel like a hat day to me, I headed out wearing my earbags, which look like an earmuff without the connecting band. The bags snap over your ears - very comfortable, and just the right amount of warmth for the day. Hmmm... my earbags are a very conservative black. I think I'll order a second pair in purple!

It's possible that this tree is as surprised as I am by the early season snowfall - after all it is still holding onto some green leaves!

I have a feeling that this seat might be a bit cold.

Just as I was trying to capture this bird sitting high in a tree, it decided to take off. Amazing!

Bruises?

What bruises? Seriously, although my face still has a few bruises left from my crash, they are definitely getting smaller. It's hard for me to notice the changes, but looking at a series of photos together made me realize that my healing is definitely progressing.

June 4th, just over two weeks after my flip over the handlebars. It's funny, but that bruised and swollen area over my right eye is still a little swollen on November 9th, but it's only visible to me!

July 3rd, after my first post-crash bike ride. Isn't it nice of my helmet and sunglasses to (somewhat) hide the red spots?

September 19th, still fading...

October 26th, in Hawaii. Yup, they're still there, but I honestly believe they are getting smaller.

A beautiful morning skyscape

I woke up at 5 o'clock this morning, and for some reason I went straight to the window. What a beautiful sight - against a black morning sky, there was a sliver of the moon with two planets (Jupiter and Venus) clustered beneath it.

What an amazing sight as a start to the day...

A taste of sunshine and blue sky...

...and wind, but a beautiful late fall day. Tomorrow is supposed to be much cooler - or perhaps I should say cold! When I left for Hawaii, the trees still had their leaves, and when I came back I was surprised to see that although the colors had dimmed many of the trees were still wearing their leaves. We had a couple of very windy days, and most of the trees are now bare. There are still some areas where green and yellow leaves are still showing. They are very isolated, but they exist. I wonder how long these colored pockets will remain.

It's been hard adjusting back to the northeast after a week in Hawaii, no surprises there. I'm really not ready for the cold weather, but it's on the way whether I'm ready or not.

It seems that as each winter approaches I think more seriously about moving. The funny thing is, one of the areas I keep thinking about is Colorado east of the Rockies, and they certainly do have winter out there too. The thing that interests me is that the serious winter weather is in the mountains, and while the cities I'm thinking about do get snow, it seems that the snow arrives and then melts quickly. Oregon and Washington both interest me too. Hawaii you ask? Well, if an opportunity arose to live there I don't know how I could turn it down. Do you see the theme here? West...

Some yellow leaves still remaining

And some red-orange beauties too...

And the shoe of the day is...

...the Merrell Jungle Slide / Moc! I was sitting in a meeting with three of my co-workers this afternoon when Michael auddenly glanced at our feet - and we were all wearing Merrell shoes. Black Jungle Mocs for the guys, and the counterpart slides for me. And it turns out that we've all been wearing these shoes for years!

My feet demand comfortable shoes, and they've said they are very happy with my choice of funky, clunky, and comfortable.

Dreaming of Hawaii?

I've uploaded my Hawaii photos - or maybe I should say a selection of my Hawaii photos! If you want to join me in dreaming of another trip to one of my favorite places, you can browse through my Hawaii 2004 - an adventure on two feet photo gallery.

Here's a sample photo to tempt you. This is Pololu Beach.

Hey - why is there a gap in your blog postings?

I'm heading to Hawaii for a long-awaited vacation, and rather than embed my adventures into my day-to-day ramblings blog, I set up a separate place for my trip. If you're interested in following along, please visit my Hawaii 2004 blog.

My next entry in this blog will probably be early in the week of November 1st.

Fading colors, cool days, sandals!

It's really amazing how fast the colors seem to fade. It's still clearly autumn here, with a very cool and rainy day yesterday. This morning I noticed the change in the colors as I drove down route 125 on my way to work. The road is heavily wooded with a mixture of broad-leaf and evergreen trees. Two days ago there were more popping yellow, orange, and red leaves. This morning I noticed more browns. There are still trees that are wearing bright colors, and there are still trees that are wearing green - but it's clear that autumn is moving forward and creeping past the season of leaves.

And I'm still not ready for the change in seasons, which is probably evident by the fact that I'm still happily wearing my Chaco sandals during the day. I suppose when I come home from my "back to summer" vacation that I'll need to switch to closed toe shoes.

Wrap-around skirts and windy days...

Today was a day when my attire definitely didn't match the weather. I wore a long wrap skirt, which is very comfortable and long enough to provide some warmth to my still bare legs. I headed out for a walk after lunch and very quickly discovered that I had to hold on to the edge of my skirt. The wind was so strong that it probably would have flown up around my waist if I hadn't been holding it! Windy days and wrap skirts are really not a good combination for those of us who don't want to flash the world. Of course I could have just turned around and headed back in to the building, but that's not my style. I wanted a walk, and I took that walk...

Chilly, but a good biking day

The temperature hovered in the low 50s today, so I'd have to say it was a transitional clothing day for cycling. I headed out wearing my normal cycling shorts with the addition of knee warmers, a long-sleeved jersey (!) and a wind vest. It was pretty chilly starting out, but I was warm by the time I returned home. I'll be off my bike for the next couple of weeks since I leave Friday for my first trip to Hawaii in years where I'm not going to be traveling around by bicycle. I have a feeling that when I return home and return to my bike that I'll need to be wearing even more layers.

Another thing that will likely change when I return home is my daily footwear. It's mid-October, and I'm having a hard time believing that I've continued to live in my Chaco sandals. I switched to running shoes for my early morning and early evening walks, but I've continued to wear sandals during the day. I think it's turned into a game to see if I can not switch to day-time shoes until I get back from Hawaii!

Funny, as I rode today I noticed a change in squirrel behavior. Squirrels usually run out in front of me - or between the wheels of my bike - but today they seemed to adopt chipmunk behavior. They'd sit on the side of the road, look at me, then go bounding off into the woods or over the grass. I was happy that they weren't playing suicide games.

A cool day, good for walking

I meant to ride my bike today, really I did! But somehow I knew that it wasn't a high energy day, and I headed out on foot to soak in an absolutely beautiful fall day. A 90 minute walk to and through the old town center of North Andover presented trees of all colors, some still very green, some totally converted to fall colors, some mixed, some with no leaves. It was cool and windy, with sun and clouds sharing the sky. A good walk...

A solo red leaf on the ground...

A bit of contrast, a swatch of yellow & orange, but the tree still has some green to share

And there are still flowers visible - both people-planted like this one and wildflowers too

An early evening magic sky

Wandering with a digital camera in my hand is a lot of fun. I've gotten into the habit of taking a camera with me as I head out for walks or bike rides - maybe as practice for my upcoming Hawaii trip, and maybe just as a way to absorb all of the beautiful things around me. I have to say that I'm really glad I made the switch to digital photography before my cross-country bike trip just a little over two years ago. It's definitely satisfying to take the pictures and be able to view them full size almost immediately. I wonder if I'll ever switch back to a film camera...

A little shade of pink hiding behind the clouds

And a backlit wisp...

Carrying a camera is always a good idea

As I headed out for a walk yesterday in the early evening, I thought about taking my camera - but I almost left it behind. It was just after 6, and while the sky was gray, the sun wasn't down yet. I really thought that the clouds were going to obstruct my view of the sunset. I grabbed the camera anyway, and I was really glad I did as just about 20 minutes into my walk I was presented with a beautiful pink-streaked sky.

A reward for walking in the evening - a beautiful sunset.

A daily view of the birds

As I come back from my morning walk each day, I've noticed a flock of birds - sea gulls - hanging out on the roof of one of the buildings in my condo complex. I don't have a clue why they are usually on the same roof and they are not on every roof. One morning this week they flew away while I was watching - and for a moment I thought they were going to fly right into me!

Here are just a few of the birds - honestly, there are usually more!

Shoes? No, still sandals!

Knowing that the overnight temperature was supposed to drop into the low 30s, I convinced myself last night that today would probably be the right day to switch from my summer (sandal) footwear back to shoes with a bit more coverage. That worked for my morning walk; running shoes with socks got me out the door this morning. But when it came time to leave for work, it was back to sandals for this gal! Since the day very nicely warmed into the mid-50s, Chaco sandals were definitely the right choice for me. I wonder how long this will last...

I'm not ready for the change of seasons, but these seed pods are beautiful!

The mornings are getting colder

It's been in the low 40s in the morning so far this week, but I'm stubborn - I've still been wearing my Chaco sandals. I know, I know, it's October and it's probably time to switch to running shoes for walking and to my Merrell slides for normal footwear. But I'm stretching sandal-wearing season this year. I wonder how much longer I can get away with it... the weather forecast calls for a frost advisory tonight with forecast temperatures in the mid-30s, but the daytime temperatures still warrant sandals. Of course it's possible that tomorrow will be the day of the official shoe switch!

And a birthday wish...

...for my car! When I picked up the mail tonight I found a birthday wish for my bright blue car. Leave it to Saturn - I know it's a marketing gimmick, but it still made me smile.

I'm not ready to let go of late summer, but...

...I don't seem to have much choice in the matter! I suppose I could move, but somehow the time doesn't feel right for that yet. I have to admit I've been thinking about moving to either Colorado (east of the Rockies, but close to the mountains) or to the Pacific Northwest. One day...

It's turning into fall, and I'm afraid one day in the not too distant future it will feel more like a prelude to winter. First I'll be heading to Hawaii for a week of real summer, but then I'll be back to whatever (weather) New England decides to present to all of us. I'm really looking forward to Hawaii, and I'm really not looking forward to winter. No surprises there, right?

Today was a beautiful but cool day. Sunshine, blue sky, and more red, yellow, and orange spots among the trees. It was a good day for riding, but with a little more clothing than last week. It was a knee warmer and wind vest kind of day since it was in the mid-50s when I headed out. If I'd waited another until late afternoon to head out I probably could have worn summer biking clothes, but of course I didn't want to wait!

A few leaves still on a tree in a beautiful shade of red

And some amazing color in the still green grass

New running shoes for walking, and...

...I bought them on the web! On the whole, I really don't like shopping in stores - with the main exceptions being books, cycling stuff, and outdoor equipment. Before the web I got into the habit of purchasing most of my clothes through mailorder catalogs; that's been switched to online purchases for a long time now. But one thing that I usually bought (note the past tense here!) in person was shoes. I give up - I can buy shoes over the web too!

This all started with my attempt over the weekend to buy a new pair of running (walking) shoes at a local athletic store. I've been walking in my Chaco sandals since June but there's starting to be a chill in the air, and I thought it would be a nice idea to leave a pair of shoes for walking at the office. That way whenever I felt I needed a mid-day walk I'd be all set to go. I was looking for shoes made by Mizuno since I was happy with my current pair. I walked into the store, headed to the shoe section, and asked to see Mizuno shoes in a size 6 that were good for someone with a high arch. The sales guy recommended 2 pairs then went to get them for me to try on. The first negative was when he came back out saying they were out of size 6 and did I want a 6 1/2. Hmmm, what made him think a half size bigger would work? I wrote down the names of the shoes he had recommended, then checked them out on the Mizuno web site thinking I'd find a store that carried them. Negative point number 2 was that in spite of my asking for shoes that were good for a high arch, the two pairs the guy recommended turned out to be for someone with a low arch!

I didn't want to go wandering around to other stores to find the shoes, so I decided to order the shoes online and just hope I made the right choice. Amazingly enough, not only did I order the right shoes, I found a great site for buying shoes. I ordered my new Mizuno's from Zappos.com on Saturday, and they were waiting for me when I got home from work on Monday. That was great service, and there was no shipping fee. And as it turns out, if I needed to return them Zappos.com would cover the return shipping fee too. I guess I've broken through the not buying shoes online habit. Is that a good thing or a bad thing?

A dropping sun, a painted sky...

It was time for my evening walk, the walk that just a short time ago was in full daylight. For the last couple of weeks, I've ended my walk after dark. Tonight as I passed from a wooded lane to a place where the sky opened up I saw a fabulous sight. It almost looked like the sky was painted, a deep blue above and a deep but bright pink on the horizon. Beautiful...

Energy food for cycling

Yesterday I had a pre-ride snack of an English muffin with cheese, along with a yogurt smoothie. Today my pre-ride snack was an English muffin with peanut butter and a yogurt smoothie. And guess what - the peanut butter was vastly better than the cheese from an energy standpoint.

You're right - I've known that peanut butter is a wonderful energy food for a long time, but the direct comparison was definitely interesting. I only buy fresh-ground peanut butter, so there's nothing else there but peanuts. And peanut butter rocks!

And the dumb driver award goes to...

...the woman I passed on the way home this afternoon. I was driving north on route 3A in the section where the road is driven as a tight 4 lanes. I really think the intent was for this section of road to be a wide 2 lanes, but because of the traffic volume there are usually 2 lanes heading north and 2 south. I looked over at the car next to me, and the driver was holding her an iced coffee in one hand and her cell phone in the other. I have no idea how she was steering the car!

Cool and windy...

A nice blue sky greeted me this morning, but one filled with lots of wind and cool temperatures. I was very glad that I had wandered down to REI in that rain yesterday to replace the knee warmers that I lost in my crash back on May 20th. Funny, but knee warmers and leg warmers aren't on the shelves in most bike shops through the summer. I needed and wore my new knee warmers today since it was in the low 50s when my bike and I headed out today. Luckily I didn't need the arm warmers too since I ordered those over the web. REI had the standard black arm warmers, but I was drawn in by the Sheila Moon arm warmers on the Team Estrogen web site - I ordered a pair of those in purple, definitely an improvement over the normal black!

It was a beautiful day, but definitely one with a chill in the air. I guess I'd better get used to it as the fall temperatures become more usual occurrences. It looks like it will warm up again during the week, but last night the temperatures went down into the 40s, and it's supposed to be chilly again tonight. Good sleeping weather...

It's definitely turning into fall

I have to admit, I'm really not ready for the summer to end. I love the mid-60 to 70 degree temperatures we're having, but cold, rain, and snow? No, I'm not ready.

Today? The remnants of Ivan (hurricane, then tropical depression, now just a storm) have arrived, and it's been raining for many hours. Today's morning walk will need an unbrella, and I'll be pleasantly surprised if it stops and drys out enough for an afternoon bike ride. I guess it's a built-in rest day.

This week I've noticed the trees changing. It still seems early to me, but then again there isn't a lot of change. There are a few scattered trees with brilliant yellow or orange leaves. There are a few trees with a mix of green and brilliant color. And then there are those trees who have missed the point completely and just turned brown. I love the colors, I hate the brown. And as each year passes, the winters become harder to accept. I'd love to be able to drive to cold and snow rather than living in the middle of it. Ah well, for now I'm here in the Northeast...

An almost soaking walk...

As I headed out of the house for my morning walk, the sky still showed some blue patches, although there were clouds too. Just a couple of minutes after I returned home, the sky opened up with a strong downpour. My walk was timed perfectly - if I'd arrived home just a little bit later I would have needed a fresh and dry set of clothes before I left for work. Excellent timing...

Trees that water themselves!

OK, not really...

I was off on my morning walk wandering through the Merrimack College campus - which is conveniently located right next to my townhouse - when I noticed someone caring for some newly planted trees. The college went on a moving spree this past summer, moving parking lots and roads, and putting in walking paths and grass where there were roads in the past. As they planted new trees, I noticed the bags that were placed around the bottoms of the trees. Well, this morning I saw the bags in action. Or maybe I should say I saw the gardening staff in action. They were filling the bags with water, then moving on to the next tree. As it turns out, the bags are called Treegators, and they are an irrigation tool. Fill the bags with water, and let the trees drink it in! Fascinating...

You say that's the wind?

All I can say is wow! The sun is shining, and it tempted me outside for a quick walk. I can't believe I'm saying this, but I'm glad I was walking and not riding my bike because the wind is absolutely howling. The weather service web site says the wind speed is 22 miles per hour with gusts to 29. It was actually hard to walk, and to top that off I had to hold on to my skirt!

A nice walk though, sunshine, puffy white clouds, and a lovely temperature...

Rain, rain, rain... sun & rainbows... oh, it's getting dark!

What a crazy weather day! Today what was left of Hurricane Frances - definitely no longer a hurricane - wandered through the Boston area. The morning dawned with an amazing downpour, and I thought it would stay very gray all day. Around lunchtime I looked outside and saw blue sky with some scattered small white clouds, so I went for my mid-day walk. I was back at my desk for maybe a half of an hour when I turned around and saw a dark sky again, with lots of water pouring down. Wow, that was close. If I'd still been out walking I probably would have needed to go home to get dry clothes!

It cleared again, and I saw a beautiful rainbow as I drove home - so beautiful that I was very sorry that I didn't have my camera with me.

As I headed out for an after dinner walk, I saw some of my neighbors returning. We laughed as they told me I was probably going to get wet; the sky was a deep gray again, and not just an end of the day gray. I was lucky and managed not to take an outdoor shower. And as I returned home I could actually see shades of blue emerging from under the dark clouds that were rapidly blowing away.

I wonder what tonight will bring...

Hey squirrel - what are you doing with that plastic bag?

This morning's walk definitely gave me something to laugh about. I was approaching a bridge across a fountain on the Merrimack College campus when I spotted a squirrel tucked in to a hole beside the bridge. Of course I was passing a little to close to the little animal, so it jumped onto a nearby tree trunk. That would have been normal behavior except for the empty plastic bag it had in its mouth. True to my normal habit of talking to creatures who can't talk back, I asked the squirrel what it thought it was doing with the plastic bag. The squirrel's response? In the next moment I saw a plastic bag dropping out of the tree!

What do you mean it's September?

...and what happened to my summer? It's definitely been an unusual summer for me. In fact, I almost feel like I didn't have a summer. All things considered, I guess I really shouldn't complain. It hasn't been a normal time for me, but I know that I'm very lucky I was wearing a helmet on the day of my fateful bicycle crash. (And yes, I always wear a helmet while I'm wandering on my bike.)

While at this time of year I'm normally easily doing 50 to 75 mile rides, at this stage of my recovery I'm only managing slow rides of under 30 miles. And although I don't like it, I think I'm finally accepting that my riding won't return to normal until a few more months have gone by. It will definitely be next season...

In the meantime, I've switched my late October trip to Hawaii to a non-biking but still active vacation. I'll be tracking that in another blog.

A pink moon?

Heading home from my after dinner walk I had a beautiful view of an almost full moon in front of me - and it was pink! That's a new one for me. I've seen pink clouds, and a pink sky at sunset, but I've never seen it reflected in the moon before. Beautiful...

Have you ever seen a sea gull pacing?

I have! I was out walking early this morning when I heard a noise - a loud noise, at that. I followed the sound, only to find a single sea gull pacing back and forth in front of the door to a building. Do you think he (or she) was looking for a friend?

By the way I assume that the gull was OK since there was no trace of it on my end of the day walk...

A bike ride? Almost...

I woke up today thinking it would be a Saturday without cycling. A downpour woke me at 4:30 AM - just in time to retrieve todays newspaper from its (plastic-wrapped) spot in the middle of the rain. I luckily fell asleep again, and awoke to a very wet day. Ah, a walking day. But wait - in the afternoon, the sky grew lighter, and the pavement was drying out. Time to attempt a bike ride.

As I headed off, my neighbor expressed concern about my being on a bike and the distant thunder we heard. My bike headed out anyway - with me, of course - but we didn't get too far. I turned home after only a half a mile when the thunder got stronger and it started to rain. The rain was light, but given the forecast I decided to be careful. I put the bike in its usual shelter - in the dry garage - and came inside to quickly change into walking togs. I headed out, luckily with an umbrella. After I'd been out only 10 minutes, an incredible downpour started. Even with the umbrella I was soaked when I got home! Hopefully I'll be able to wander out again later on foot. The bike will have to wait for tomorrow's forecasted sunny, cool day.

A walking day afer all...

An evening walk watching for rain

I've gotten into the habit of walking in the early evening. Looking at the sky I almost stayed home - but quickly decided that the worst that would happen would be that I would be very wet! I headed out with an occasional glance at the sky, listening to ever-threatening thunder. I exchanged a few words with a fellow walker who also decided that getting wet wasn't that bad, especially given the current temperature - warm, with more than a touch of humidity.

Home again with the sky getting ever grayer. I'm mostly dry - just a bit of sweat! Time for a cool shower...

Light show!

Wow! There were some pretty powerful thunderstorms that rolled through here this afternoon. We were sitting in the office listening to crashes that turned out to be thunder, and yet the sky above us was still bright and blue. As I drove home under a sky that was more blue than gray, I could see cloud to ground lightening strikes that looked to be not too far away.

I love watching storms, and yet I hope for good biking weather. Those two things don't go together at the same time!

Twelve weeks? It's hard to believe...

...that it's been 12 weeks since that fateful day when my bike and I did a flip on the way to work. I've published a journal of my crash and my journey back to me - and I'm still on that journey. You can read it at denisegoldberg2004crash.blogspot.com.

Sleep, sleep, no sleep!

I really wish I had control over my body, but since my little crash of May 20th it seems to want to get more sleep than it's getting. As in, I appear to need at least 9 hours of sleep a night, but most nights I'm fighting to get eight! This week is a good - or should I say bad - example. On Monday night, the last time I remember looking at the clock it was just before 2AM, and I woke up at 7. Five hours is not good. The next two nights I managed about seven hours of sleep, and as a result I've been pretty tired today. I wonder if my exhaustion level at this moment means I'll finally get a good night's sleep tonight...

Walking morning and night...

I'm still not back to my normal level of cycling, but I have been managing to walk in the morning and in the evening - with my work hours sandwiched in between. Squirrels, chipmunks, and rabbits are there for my viewing enjoyment, and I have to say that the rabbits make me laugh. Recently I saw a pair of them chasing each other around in circles!

It's 4 o'clock in the morning...

...and I've been wide awake since 2. This really isn't a good way to satisfy my body's craving for sleep! It's really odd - I've been having trouble falling asleep almost since my accident, but over the last few days I thought it was getting better. But waking up at 2am after only 3 1/2 hours of sleep - and staying awake - is not a good sign. I'm going to go try to fall asleep again, but I have my doubts about whether my body will cooperate. I wonder how my Saturday will turn out with a definite sleep deficit...

On the good news front, that dizziness I was experiencing yesterday seems to be gone. Here's hoping that it stays gone once the daylight rolls around. I was hoping to get a bike ride in today, but as of right now the rain is pouring down. The forecast doesn't sound totally dismal - hopefully once the daylight shows up and once I get my morning fix of watching the final time trial of the Tour de France (live) I'll be able to spend some time in the afternoon on one of my two-wheeled cycles. Here's to hope!

Another dizzy day...

Today was another one of those dizzy days - not as bad as last Wednesday, but dizzy nonetheless. I felt like I could drive, so I headed to the office hoping it would go away. Not today... I guess that means I won't be riding my bike after I'm done with work for the day.  Work time? Well, I stayed in the office for all of three hours before the dizziness kind of freaked me out. I headed home, but I'll be putting in some more time this afternoon. On these dizzy days, I'd prefer to finish work at home so I don't get to a point at which I shouldn't be driving.

I really wish I knew what caused these days... and whatever it is, here's hoping that they disappear soon!

I thought I was light-headed, but it turns out....

...that I'm really dizzy! I went to see my doctor this week, and it turns out that what I was describing as lightheadedness is really dizziness or vertigo. I guess I should have known that... Does that mean that I'm a dizzy broad?

(Sorry, I didn't really mean that - I typically don't use the word broad to describe a woman. The combination of the two words just makes me laugh!)

And a short step backwards...

...at least if seems that way. On the good days, bad days front, unfortunately today was one of the bad ones. I woke up this morning feeling extremely light-headed, and that feeling has pretty much persisted all day. I have to say I feel better now (in the late afternoon) than I felt this morning, but I'm still not back to what (in today's version of my world) passes for normal. I really wish I could see the pattern. I don't have too many of these days, but I can't figure out what causes them. My guess is lack of sleep or not eating the right food - but I had plenty of sleep last night, and I'm really paying attention to eating the right food, both the amount and the nutritional value. I'm baffled...

Here's hoping that tomorrow is closer to a normal day!

Slow steps forward...

I'm still having good days and bad days, although the good ones outnumber the bad ones by far. I think my biggest problem is my own impatience and desire to be back to the normal version of Denise. While I know that full recovery will take a while, I've been pushing myself - from an exercise standpoint at least - to try to see continued improvement. I was up to walking an hour to an hour and a half a day. Then I added in biking - and oops! forgot to decrease the amount of walking I was doing. I fixed that problem, and I've been doing a much better job of balancing those two activities along with working (part-time still), eating, and sleeping. But I'm still impatient!

I guess I want those slow steps forward to move a lot faster!

Mass General may be a world class hospital...

...but their attention to patients after discharge leaves something to be desired. I was supposed to see a neurosurgeon 4 weeks after discharge from the hospital. The appointment was actually made for 5 weeks after discharge, and it was supposed to be last week. It was cancelled by the doc due to emergencies, a perfectly valid reason. As you know if you've read my blog entry from last week, my replacement appointment was another two weeks out (since the doc only has office hours one day a week!), and I wasn't too happy about the delay. Today I almost went through the roof when I listened to a phone message from the doc's office after I got home from my morning at my own office. That message said that my new appointment was scheduled for August 12th, and that if I had problems and needed to be seen before that I should go to the emergency room at MGH. As it turns out, the doc's office made a mistake and somehow scheduled two appointments for me, so I'm still on for late next week. That's a relief to me. And although they don't know it, I'm sure it's also a relief for the doc's office because I was definitely not going to accept a change from an appointment on July 1st (the originally scheduled time) to August 12th without making some noise and complaining to the hospital and anywhere else I could figure out that made sense.

How long was I supposed to stay off of a bicycle?

Well, I tried to wait until I got an OK from the neurosurgeon, I really did. But that was pretty much doomed when my appointment for this past week was canceled and rescheduled for two weeks out. I've been walking pretty steadily, but that's really not enough. I feel much improved, although not back to normal yet. So yesterday I gave in...

Yesterday I started the day by taking my Pocket Rocket - the bike I was riding in the accident - in to my favorite bike shop to be repaired. And by the way, there really was little damage to the bike. Once the shift/brake levers were pushed back into the normal position on the bar, everything was working fine. They are going to repair the flat tire, and since I was about to take that bike in for a tune-up before the crash, it's getting a tune-up now. The other important thing I did was to buy a new helmet.

As I came home, I was still waiting until my doctor's appointment.

I watched the prologue of the Tour de France on television. Then I went for a walk into Andover and back again - about 4 miles total. Then I sat around for a bit. Ate an early dinner. Still feeling restless, and the days are long. So - at 6pm my bike and I headed out the door for my first ride since the accident. I managed at 13 mile ride at about a 13 miles per hour pace - slow, but respectable for a first ride. I'm a happy cyclist!

And - I didn't feel that (previously broken) pelvic bone complain while I was on the ride. It was a bit sore when I got off of the bike and started walking around the house - but that's what ibuprofen is for, right?

I repeated the ride today. Well, first I went for a hike with some friends for about an hour and a half. Then we had lunch. Then I took a shower to wash off the bug spray we had to use to stop the ever-biting mosquitos in the woods, then reapplied my heavy-duty sunscreen. And then - I went for another bike ride - 19 miles this time. I have to admit I was moving very slowly today. I can blame some of the slowness on a headwind, but some was probably just me. Who knows what tomorrow will bring?

Am I doing damage to my still injured head? I don't think so, but i have to admit that the swollen spot above my right eye was a bit annoyed and seemed to be more swollen at the end of the ride. Hmmm... well, now that I've started riding again I don't think I can stop...

I was hoping to see the neurosurgeon today

...but I received a phone call cancelling my appointment about 20 minutes before I was about to walk out the door. I was told that there are multiple emergency surgeries that the doc is involved in today. OK, shit happens. But as of the cancellation phone call I don't have another appointment. Apparently the practice is to call everyone and cancel today's appointments, and then call everyone back and make new appointments. Am I missing something here? This doesn't make any sense to me...

It's amazing how expensive....

...healthcare is. I received a bill from a lawyer's office that apparently works with Lawrence General Hospital to collect money from patients. Luckily for me they incorrectly had the bill indicating that it was an auto accident, which apparently makes the auto insurance company the primary payor and the health insurance company the secondary payor. I called to get this straightened out and to have the Lawrence General Hospital bills forwarded to Blue Cross. Actually I think Blue Cross already has part of the bill based on a conversation I had with the ambulance company who took me from the hospital to the hospital's helipad. But I digress. I spoke with Blue Cross too and in the process was told the total amount they'd been billed so far from Mass General Hospital. Wow! The Lawrence General Hospital bill was for $6400, and that can be added to the Mass General bill of $42,000. To say nothing of the bill from Spaulding Rehab. And not to mention the individual doctor's bills!

It's amazing how expensive healthcare is - and I have to say I'm very happy that I have good insurance. I can't imagine having to pay bills this large when I didn't expect them in the first place. I really didn't plan to crash my bicycle and to end up with such interesting injuries. Interesting to the docs, perhaps - I really could have done without them!

Still walking, no biking yet

It's been just over 5 weeks since my somewhat spectacular crash. My body has been taking baby steps at getting better even though my mind wants to take giant steps. But baby steps have to do for now. I'm walking every day - two to three times a day for 20 to 30 minutes each. The othopedic doc told me yesterday that as far as my bones are concerned I can get back on a bike - although he said he didn't think sitting on a bicycle seat would feel too good right now - but he also cautioned that I need to talk with the neurolgist first. That makes sense (even though I don't want it to!) and I'll be seeing the neurosurgeon on July 1st. In the meantime I'll just keep moving my feet against the pavement...

A mouse in the house

Imagine my surprise when I went into the first floor bathroom this morning to find a mouse in the toilet - and unbelieveably enough it was still alive! Where did it come from? I don't know, but I suspect that it snuck in the front screen door sometime last evening - maybe through a small opening in the bottom of the door, but maybe not. Crazy person that I am, I went into the kitchen and got myself two plastic containers to use as a mouse house. We (the mouse & I) had a bit of a scramble - still in the toilet - until I captured it and marched outside to let it loose. I trust & I hope that this mouse doesn't managed to find its way inside again!

Slow progress...

Tomorrow marks a full 4 weeks since my bicycle crash - and that's hard to believe. I do believe I'm improving every day, but as usual I expect more than is possible. Slow progress appears to be the name of the game.

If you're interested in what happened to me and my bike back on May 20th, you can read about it and see some photos on the Oops! page of my web site.

May 20th was apparently a bad karma day for me

I can't even tell you about the day because I can't remember anything about it! It's a red-letter day for me though, because it's the day that I crashed my bike on the way to work... I was only 4 miles from my home when I apparently hit something in the road and (I believe) flipped over the handlebars taking the bike over with me. I spent a week at Mass General Hospital and another week at Spaulding Rehab Hospital, both in Boston, and I'm now at home continuing my recovery. It will be a while before I have any more biking trips to talk about - in fact I've already canceled the first planned trip to Nova Scotia in a week and a half, and I'm afraid I'm going to have to cancel my Canadian Rockies trip for the end of July. My first goal is to get some broken bones and some head injuries to heal, then (of course) to fix my poor injured bicycle, and then (I hope) to get in shape for a bike tour of the Big Island of Hawaii at the end of October. I hope, I hope.

All I can say is that it's a very good thing that I was wearing a bicycle helmet - which now needs to be replaced, of course!

Have you ever felt like the summer was disappearing before it started?

Well, I have. And I do. Every year it seems to get shorter too. Let's see, it's the third week in May, and the official start of summer isn't until the 3rd week of June. Still a month away, and I already feel like it will be over before I know it! I'm still working into my warm weather routine of commuting to work on my bicycle several days a week. I have my first bike tour of the season coming up in 4 weeks, and the second just a month after that. When I get back from my Canadian Rockies trip it will be August! OK, I'm not going to think about it - I'm just going to enjoy the season. Slow down!

Boots on the road

This weekend was a short but very enjoyable visit with my parents (and Mama's boy and king of the house Brandy) in Chadwicks, NY. I headed for home at around noon, and I had to laugh as I was driving down the somewhat high-speed road to get to the NY Thruway. All of a sudden, there was a boot in the middle of the road. (Yes, a boot, one of those things you wear on your feet.) Hmmm... a half a mile later there was the other half of the pair. Do you think the boots flew out of a vehicle accidentally? Maybe the first one, and maybe the owner tossed the other one later realizing that the first had disappeared. Very strange.

Back on the bike, a nice commute

The weather forecast was good, and the sky way clear as I headed to work on my bicycle - my favorite mode of commuting. But wait - what are those clouds up there? It got grayer and grayer as I got closer to the office. I was sure that I'd be riding home in the rain. But what a beautiful day, no rain on my bike!

Don't believe the weather forecast, ride your bike!

Bad decision this morning... the weather forecast called for possible thunderstorms this afternoon, and I let it guide my commuting vehicle for the day. That is, I drove to work. Turned out to be beautiful out, if a bit muggy. Luckily I had enough sunlight left when I got home to get in a good bike ride. Nice!

A birthday card and a nice quote

My friend Sue sent me a birthday card with a very fitting quote in it: "Happiness is not a state to arrive at, but a manner of traveling." I liked the quote, and I wondered who wrote it, so off I went to Google... and the quote is attributed to Margaret Lee Runbeck.

Hawaii reservations...

I started calling to make reservations in the B&Bs and somewhat funky hotels I chose for my October escape to Hawaii. When I called the Kona Tiki Hotel last night, the person who answered the phone made it sound like it was probably a problem that they only had a room with a kitchenette available - because the room has two beds, a queen and a twin, and I am only one person. I assured him that having an extra bed in the room wouldn't cause a problem for me. I stopped short of telling him that my bike would be happy to have a bed...

Brandy says thanks for your good wishes...

He's home after a 2-day stay in the dog hospital. The vet suggested a visit. Hmm... how does that work? Visit the crazy dog in the hospital and he insists its time to go home. Luckily it was time to go home. He keeps trying to tell our Mom that she didn't get what she paid for since he's sure he was supposed to get real food, not just IV food!

The trees are dressed in new green finery!

Wow! It's amazing what a few days of warmth followed by some rain will do. Yesterday at the office I noticed that the trees and plants were really popping, green and flowering. And this morning as I drove down route 125 the canopy of leaves was filling out. Wonderful!

Send your wishes to help Mama's boy Brandy...

...who is in the doggy hospital with another bout of pancreatitis. Brandy, you don't really want to join your brother Caesar, do you? Our mom & dad need you at home, and we're all sending good thoughts your way to help you heal!

Vacation decisions... not one, but three!

After having major vacation indecision for what seems like months (it really wasn't that long...), I've finally figured out how to maximize my vacation time and my biking time. It was about four weeks ago when I settled on my first trip - a week (in late July) riding in the Canadian Rockies, starting in Jasper and riding south to Banff and then on to Calgary. OK, one week covered, but that's not enough for the year. I settled in to travel planning with plane, train, hotel, and hostel reservations. All set...

Next my thoughts turned to Hawaii again! Well, why not? I did ride there just last year, should I go back? When? Fall sounded like a good time, a way to extend the biking season but to still be in reasonable shape with lots of mileage on my legs. I kept checking air fares, and they were crazy expensive, so I checked for available seats using miles. Excellent, I can use my miles for a late October trip. That's it, back to Hawaii with my bike. That decision was made just last week, so I'm still working on the reservations. I know where I want to stay, just have to make some phone calls to the B&Bs and the funky hotels.

Not done yet... I've wanted to visit Nova Scotia for a long, long, time. It's supposed to be beautiful and a wonderful place for biking. But I just didn't want to go for an entire week. I think I've figured out a reasonable long weekend trip that will give me almost 4 days of cycling in Nova Scotia and a day in Maine. Sounds good, that's slotted into mid-June. This is the trip that's the closest on the calendar, and the one for which I've done almost no planning. It figures that I'd do my planning in reverse! Guess the Nova Scotia planning is next on my agenda.

Three vacations to three beautiful places - what riches!

Riding into a strong wind is good for me, right?

It was a windy ride today, and I kept telling myself it was good training... My bike didn't care, but my legs did! Today's loop ride was mainly out and back, heading to the west along the north side of the Merrimack River, and heading back to the east on the south side. It's an interesting route in that I had no jump out points to make the ride shorter - other than turning around and riding the same road back. It's quite a distance between the two bridges that I used. I must say I was very happy to reach Lowell and my turn around point. The wind that was trying to push me backwards on the outbound leg became my friend as I turned in the direction of home.





Carrying a camera as I wander on my bike lets me capture some of the strange (and/or beautiful) things that I see around the way. This statue was in a yard not too far from where I live. I'd definitely categorize it as somewhat strange!

Commuting decisions based on the weather...

OK, I'll admit it, I'm a fair weather bicycle commuter. It's still early in the season, with weather iffy enough for me to wait until morning to make my final commuting decision for the day. The alarm went off this morning, and my immediate thoughts were it's too dark, it's too cold, I could sleep longer... No Denise, get out of bed! The weather was beautiful. 45 degrees, a little chilly but easily handled with knee warmers, arm warmers and a wind vest (along with my normal biking shorts and jersey, of course). And by afternoon it was supposed to be (and was) in the 70's. It's so nice to ride to work - no wonder I get cranky in the winter when I can't ride!

It's been a good start to the commuting season for me. My first ride to work was on Patriot's day (marathon Monday) when the afternoon temperature was forecast to be in the 80s along with 30 to 40 mile an hour winds. Luckily it wasn't windy in the morning, and the afternoon wind was out of the southwest so it actually helped push me home. Two days of riding this week, and I'm hoping for at least two next week. A good start...

Nice rainbow!

Pretty day today, but there were dark gray clouds on the horizon as I drove home. I was on totally dry pavement, and I saw what looked like swirls of dust up ahead as the traffic came to a crawl. Dust? No, a downpour... The rain followed me home, but as I turned into my drive and watched the wipers taking care of the rain drops, the sky was blue and the sun was shining.

Out of the car, I turned, and look! A wonderful rainbow...

Peanut butter, peanut butter, peanut butter...

Funny, I didn't even like the stuff when I was growing up, but now I have to have it! And I have to have the grind-your-own kind, pure, unadulterated, ground up peanuts. Well, almost - I got hooked on grind-your-own honey roasted peanut butter last year. Whole Foods had it for several months, and then it disappeared. My options: peanut butter or almond butter. It had to be peanut butter for me. And now, guess what - I stopped by Whole Foods on Friday, and there was a third grinding machine, stocked with my favorite. Yum. Honey roasted peanut butter!

Swirling winds and sunshine...

Ah, 60 degrees and sunshine, a good day for a ride...

Have you ever noticed when you're riding that when a strong wind is directly at your back that it is totally silent? That's amazing to me, given that it can be quite loud when you're fighting a crosswind or a headwind. It was a knee-warmers cool kind of day - protect the knees, and maintain a warm and cozy feeling. But the wind - wow! It was a battle on the leg into the wind, but what a pretty day!

It's a gray, cool, and rainy day, but...

The forsythia are adding cheer to the day with their bright yellow smile, and there are buds on the trees. Maybe it's really spring!

Hey, who said you could leave work at 4?

I did! I woke up early this morning hoping to ride my bike to work, but the forecast was for rain, and I just wasn't ready for that! So - I drove in, but early... It turned out to be a beautiful day, with the sunshine teasing me all day long. I checked the weather at 4, and there was still rain predicted for the afternoon, but there was still that sunshine, and it was 80 degrees out. My bike was calling me! I had a wonderful ride. I'm happy!

Tired...

Yesterday's first (bicycle) commute of the season felt great - but man am I tired today! I forget that I need to ease into this ride 35 miles plus work all day stuff. Oh well, the weather for the rest of the week doesn't look like prime biking weather, so I may get more of a rest than I want!

A hot day, and the first commute by bike of the year (with a push from the wind)!

The forecast for today called for temperatures in the mid-40s in the morning, rising to the high 80s by the end of the day. Not an ideal temperature for the Boston Marathon, but it sounded reasonable to me for my first bicycle commute this year. That is, it sounded reasonable until I heard about the projected 30 to 40 mile an hour winds by late afternoon. Oh, wait - the forecast called for the wind to be out of the soutwest. That works, since to get home from work I need to ride to the northeast.

I'm so glad I rode today - it felt great - and I'm also glad that the wind behaved. Yes, it was very windy, but for the most part it was a tailwind or a slight cross wind (but still from the back). It would have been hard to get home if I'd been headed into that wind!

How annoying...

OK, OK, I know this is Massachusetts. But I still don't accept it! I decided I needed a change of scenery for my ride today, so I consulted my biking map and decided to drive to Cape Ann for a bike ride. Sometimes I just have to use that fossil-fuel-powered vehicle of mine to get somewhere different to bike... I haven't biked in the Cape Ann area in ages, and I guess now I know why! First, the road I was looking for wasn't marked. Hmm. The map showed route 128 intersecting with 127 and 127A. I found 127 easily enough, but 127A. Nope, not easy. I did eventually find it though, and I even found a beach park where I could leave my car. I took off on my bike only to find that almost all of the roads leading to the coast were marked Private, No Trespassing. I had an OK ride, but next time I'll head to New Hampshire or Maine. Guess I have to go to Cape Ann about once every ten years. And today was it!

Vacation dreaming again - or should I say still?

You'd think having a July vacation planned would be enough, but of course it's not! A week in July in the Canadian Rockies.... what else? Well, I'm still seriously thinking of repeating last year's Hawaii trip. It wouldn't be a total repeat in that I probaby wouldn't do the two Arnott's Lodge day trips again (or then again, maybe...), although I'd definitely stay there again. Instead I'd add a ride to South Point, and maybe some riding south of Hilo. Hawaii could be a nice extension to the riding season, so I'm keeping an eye on air fares in an October/November timeframe. Right now they are outrageous!

What else? Well, I'm trying to figure out if I can pull off a long weekend trip to Nova Scotia. It's so close, but it's so far away... a 12-hour ferry ride from Portland, or an under 3-hour ferry ride from Bar Harbor (which is a good 5 hour drive from here). First I need to figure out how many riding days I would need to make it worthwhile, and then I have to see if I have enough vacation time for both trips... more decisions coming!

A taste of early summer

A bit hazy, but you could tell the sun was there. Warm. Breezy. Oh, it's getting windy... was that a temperature drop?

Most of the trees are still brown - except for the willows which are showing their early spring yellow-green color - but the grass has turned green, and the early spring perennials are showing their green. Not too many blooming flowers - just crocus - but it's a start!

The temperature was predicted to rise into the 60s, but it was still in the 30s when I woke up. I used the cool morning hours to run errands and do things in the house, then headed out with my bike at noon for a loop I hadn't done since last year. It's always nice to ride on roads I haven't been on in a long time! My loop started at home, wandered through Middleton and Danvers to Topsfield, where I made the turn back to the west. As I got closer to the coast (heading toward Beverly) I could feel a very cold breeze. Hmm... maybe I should have worn my knee warmers! Not to worry, the temperature resumed it's warm feel once I turned for home. A nice ride...

Bikes belong...

There is a sad story floating through the biking forums of a cyclist killed by a drunk driver in a town in northern California. What struck me though was the Santa Rosa Press Democrat article by Chris Coursey. It was a story of caring and grieving, but it was also a story of educating those with whom we share the road. One of his statements: "We're not in the way of traffic; we are traffic". How true.

Gobble, gobble!

It's too bad I can't really capture the sound a turkey makes in writing! I arrived at the office this morning to find a flock of turkeys - 13 of them - standing in front of the office door. There was a very loud protest and some scattering of large birds, but they did allow me to enter the building. Happily as I walked toward them they went the other way!

Rain, rain, rain...

Another two days of rain, heavy, loud, wet. Ah, but it is April, isn't it? The good news is that I'm at work not at play, and (keep your fingers crossed) the forecast for the weekend and Monday is favorable. My bikes are waiting...

A chilly but very rideable weekend...

The weekend was chilly but dry, and Saturday was even sunny! A good time for a couple of (still early season) decent rides. Every year it feels like I'm getting slower, but I keep reminding myself that it is still early April and I didn't ride much during our cold winter. And I'm still much better at endurance - I was never much of a speed cyclist.

It feels good to be out on the road, and I even got my skinny-tired bike out. Very nice.

Welcome home Brandy!

Brandy escaped from the dog hospital. Well, not really, his mom picked him up... She said that he barked all the way home. Yap! Yap! Do you know that they didn't feed me for two days? Yap! Yes Brandy, we know - your stomach had to get ready to accept food again. Right now he's fed and sleeping - and happy!

Suze and Coco (her cat - oops, Suze just emailed to tell me that Coco is her daughter!) are visiting. Coco wants to know where the other noisy dog is. You see, Caesar always wanted to play, but he didn't have a clue how to play with a skittish cat. It should be interesting to watch the interaction between cat and the quieter dog (yes Brandy, I mean you) on this visit!

Wanted: a dog angel to look over our friend Brandy

I hope this isn't the start of another sad story. Brandy, the 13-year-old dachshund who owns my parents, is in the dog hospital with a recurrence of pancreatitis. He had a bout with it earlier this year - before his brother Caesar got sick and went to doggie heaven (see my March 9th blog entry if you want to read about him) - and the docs managed to get it under control. Brandy's been on a very strict diet, and he's been OK. But now he's not... So if there's a dog angel out there, please look out for Brandy. Mom and Dad need him to come home well and happy!

A beautiful day for a walk...

By the end of the day yesterday I was pretty cranky. Hmm... what's going on? Nothing out of the ordinary at the office, the same craziness - but maybe seeing the sunshine and knowing I was wasting it got to me. So today I decided to walk to the bookstore at lunchtime - a quick jaunt to the store (I'd guess about one and a half miles away), a 10 to 15 minute browse through some travel guidebooks, and another quick walk back to the office. That was a really good break!

But - no sidewalks? There actually were sidewalks a good part of the way, but there was a fairly nasty section (nasty means busy road with no shoulders and sidewalks) along with the need to cross a major road with no walk lights. It was short, but I really don't understand why the sidewalk wasn't continued!

If you're looking for me the last week of July...

My bike (or should I say one of my bikes?) and I are planning a trip to the Canadian Rockies. And yes, I'm only taking one bike with me. It would be interesting to haul a second one on my trailer for a change of pace, but I'm not going to do it!

It took me a long time to settle on some vacation plans - but I finally did it. I have a one-week trip planned, which means you'll be hearing more about other vacation decisions as the weeks roll on. This will be a reverse trip for me since I rode a good chunk of these roads in the other direction on my first solo tour back in 1998. Believe it or not, roads taken in the other direction look different!

I'll be headed to ride in the magnificent mountains. I'm flying in to Edmonton, and taking a train from there to Jasper. From Jasper, I'll bike to Banff and then on to Calgary. From Calgary it's back in an airplane again for my return home. I'm glad I made the decision - I have a vacation to look forward to (something that is very important to me), and I'm excited to return to the Canadian Rockies. Now I just have to finalize plans and focus on training!

Water, water, everywhere!

How much? When I checked the National Weather Service spotter reports for the wild rain storm that finished this morning, I found that North Andover - my home town - had a total of 6.38 inches of rain. Wow! And I'm really happy that it was rain and not snow...

A dry ride on a rainy, rainy night

I can't believe I'm saying this - but I'm actually glad to be cycling no where in my dining room tonight. Perched on my bicycle on a trainer in my dining room, pedaling, pedaling, and pedaling some more, and listening to the rain pelting down from the sky. When I checked the National Weather Service statement when I got home from work tonight I saw that we've already had 3.3 inches of rain in the storm that started yesterday morning, and it's forecast to continue through tomorrow morning. Some days it's good to ride indoors!

So that's what riding with bare legs feels like!

The weather wizard created a stellar day today. It was gray and damp in the morning, but once the sun peeked out from behind the clouds everything changed. I'd been watching the forecast all week, and it really looked like today would be the prize day. The forecast kept saying "pay attention Denise - you need to plan to leave work early on Friday". So I did. Two o'clock, and I was out the door!

It was close to 70 degrees out when I got home, so this early spring day turned into my first ride in summer cycling togs. Now that felt really good! I'll probably be back to covered legs for the rest of the weekend since the temperature will be below the magic 60 degree mark (protect those knees!), but today's 20-mile ride gave me a much more cheerful outlook. I really needed that!

A sign of what's to come

Home from work, I walked into the dining room, and there he was - my first robin of the season. See, the birds know that spring is one the way!

Vacation dreaming, no decision yet...

Let's see, a few weeks ago I thought I had decided on this year's bike tour. Then I experienced three seasons in three days during my escape to Sedona, and I started rethinking my trip. Why? I was concerned about spending a week (or a day or 2 less) on Vancouver Island, which I thought was a rain forest. As it turns out, the west side of the island is rain forest, and the east site - where I would be cycling - is not. It could still rain, but in late July the odds are about the best that they could be. I started to get excited about the trip again, but then as the days went by the indecision set in again. I still think it would be a very cool trip - cycle up the east coast of Vancouver Island, take a ferry up the Inside Passage to Prince Rupert, take the train to Jasper, and cycle from Jasper down Icefield Parkway to Banff and then on to Calgary. It still sounds interesting.

So what's my problem?
Is it that I wanted to do a credit card tour and this one will require some camping since the northern half of Vancouver Island is very sparsely populated and has a large stretch with no towns? Probably not, because many of the other options I'm looking into now will also be part camping.

Is it that to do this trip I'll need to take all of my vacation time at once? I think I'd rather take two trips and spread the time out a bit, but some of the other trips I'm thinking of will need all of the time too.

The geographic area fascinates me, and I think I want to take that ferry trip and the train ride. But - the ferry is 15 hours, and the train ride is two full days. That's 3 days in a row with no activity, and I have a feeling that I could be stark raving mad by the end of those three days. Oh. Maybe I should rethink this.

I don't know why none of the areas that currently are high on my list for this trip are good candidates for credit card tours. Maybe it is time to buy that camping gear! (Lighter is better, right?) The Vancouver Island / Canadian Rockies two trips in one is still a potential. What else? I'm still seriously looking at visiting British Columbia and Alberta. First I thought about taking a shorter trip and focusing on Vancouver Island and the Sunshine Coast. Then I started thinking about flying to Vancouver and biking to Calgary - but maybe that's too far. Maybe flying to Vancouver, taking the train to Kamloops, and biking from Kamloops to Calgary, maybe via Revelstoke and Glacier, two Canadian National Parks that I want to see. Maybe I'll fly to Edmonton, take the train to Jasper, and ride from there to Calgary.

And as long as I'm rethinking this, how about Australia? Or maybe... well, there is no end to the ideas. One of these days I'll have to make a decision, but for now I'm still having fun dreaming.

This is a good type of problem to have!

It's spring, it's spring, but...

The weather wizard clearly hasn't figured this out yet, but yesterday was officially the first day of spring. It was still chilly yesterday, a little warmer today, but it is warm enough to keep melting that snow from last week. The brightly colored weather map was a storm blown out of proportion - about 6 to 8 inches of snow - enough to mess up the roads, and enough to keep snow melt on the sides of the roads. Yesterday I was a big baby - I didn't feel like coming home with a bike covered in grit, so I rode on the trainer in the dining room. Today was a different story. I had to get outside, and my bike was screaming to hit the road. It was a short ride, and I stayed on major roads that were dry instead of riding through puddles on the smaller roads. Another good early season ride... Now I just hope that the weather wizard fulfills the current forecast for next weekend. I won't tell you what it is because I don't want to jinx myself!

The world of the ultralight...

I'm still trip-dreaming, and realizing that my desired credit-card tour seems to be morphing into a partial camping trip, I've started looking into ultralight gear. I took a wander down to REI in Boston to check out a lightweight one-woman tent. (OK, it's billed as a 1-person or solo tent, but I'll call it a one-woman tent.)

When I was on my cross-country adventure I spent some time talking to Gerald at Yellowstone National Park, and he started filling me in on the world of ultra-lightweight hiking. When I was younger and more foolish I thought that I could buy one of everything and that would be enough. Well, the backpacking tent I bought back in the late 70's probably weighted 7 pounds. It was state-of-the-art back then, but no more. I replaced it before my first solo bike tour with a Sierra Designs Clip-Flashlight 2-person tent. It's still a good tent, it's easy to pitch, and it's a comfy home. The current version of the tent is listed with a minimum weight of 3 pounds 15 ounces and an average packed weight of 4 pounds 8 ounces. What's the difference? I think the minium weight it someone's idea of a joke - and the average packed weight is probably more realistic. It's good for comparison purposes if nothing else... So the tent I wanted to check out is the Mountain Hardware Waypoint 1. It's a solo tent, with a minimum weight of 2 pounds 2 ounces and an average packed weight of 2 pounds 8 ounces. Wow! It surprisingly didn't feel claustrophobic at all. My one big concern is condensation since it's a single-walled tent. I've seen some reviews on the web complaining of condensation, but then I ran across a mention of the tent in a backpacker's journal. I signed his guestbook and asked what he thought, and his response was that he hadn't had any condensation problems - his thought was that the mesh along the bottom of the tent wall along with vent holes on the peak took care of the condensation issues. The other option is to go with a tarp, or more correctly a tarptent. They have more mesh and less privacy, but weigh a whole lot less.

Then there's the sleeping bag. My current bag - a North Face Blue Kazoo is rated to 20 degrees and weighs 3 pounds. For the summer trip I'm planning I think a 32 degree bag is good enough - and I've found 2 that weigh 1 pound 5 ounces. I know that some of you probably think I'm nuts - but all of the weight adds up when you're hauling it aroung on your bike!

Hmmm... I have more thinking to do.

Hey - who colored in the weather map again?

The National Weather Service Boston page shows a map that is just covered with colors. Winter storm warning, winter storm watch, winter weather statement, special weather statement... What I want to know is who let the weatherperson loose with a set of colored markers? That map is supposed to be clear of color, all ready for spring. Oh, OK, no one told the weather wizard that I have a very very bad case of spring fever.... I guess I'll just have to wait and see what tomorrow brings. In the meantime I'm sending messages to the weather wizard that I think are getting ignored.

Yes, I know I've been doing too much complaining about the weather. But I've had enough! Is it time for me to seriously think about moving?

I hear that Brandy is picking up some of Caesar's old habits...

It seems that Brandy is showing us how he misses Caesar by claiming some of Caesar's habits as his own. On the food hound front, Brandy usually just tagged on to Caesar's requests for food. He knew that if Caesar got a treat that he would too. Well, while Caesar was still in the hospital, Brandy asked Dad for his morning bananas. And now, he's picked up the bark while looking for a good "whiz" spot. Brandy used to go outside, find his spot, and go. Caesar used to bark while he was inspecting all of the possible spots. And now? Brandy has started barking while looking. Caesar, are you watching and laughing? Don't worry, I've never seen him twirl like you - that's all yours!

Ah, my bike says it had a good ride today...

It was a little cool, only in the high 30s, but the wind was behaving today so it seemed like a good time for a ride. It felt really good to be out on the road again - even though I still needed to ride wearing a lot of layers. I can see that I've got a bit of training to do to get into good riding shape. I've been exercising all winter, but for some reason it's been harder to stick with riding my bike in the dining room... boring! Well, now I think I have a reason to focus - spring must be just around the corner! The equinox - the first day of spring - is next week. How long will we have to wait for the weather to catch up with the calendar? I'm dreaming of riding in shorts!

And speaking of dreaming, I'm still noodling on my 2004 vacation. My thoughts today turned back to Hawaii. Hmm... should I make another circuit around the Big Island this year? It's awfully tempting...

Escape to the west, but not from the weather

Three days, three seasons... you can see photos from my February trip to Sedona in my smugmug photo gallery. I think there are enough photos to give you a good feeling for the place, red rocks, rain, snow, and event a shot of my crazy red dog Rover sitting on a snowman's shoulder!

A river of tears...

Today was the day that Caesar said goodbye to all of us. It was a day full of tears, and conversations, and memories. Caesar & Brandy - brothers, a pair of very funny miniature dachshunds, joined our family 13 and a half years ago - more than enough time to reserve a space in everyone's heart. Brandy, you're just going to have to fill the empty spot for everyone, even though we know you miss him too.

Pets are very special people. They give love, they make you know that you are needed, they make you laugh. They become part of your life, and it hurts when they leave you - but the joy that they bring overpowers the hurt of their loss.

I remember some funny things about Caesar... he was truly a food hound, which makes it particularly sad that his last days were plagued by problems keeping food down. He just loved to eat. It started with twirling for his food. And no, it wasn't a game or a trick that someone taught him. He twirled from when he was just a puppy. Prepare his food, and as the dish is picked up and is headed for his spot on the floor, he just started twirling. Can I describe it? Well, he wasn't chasing his tail - he was dancing, almost as if he were mounted on a merry-go-round pole, spinning around that pole, and twirling with joy. Funny. He always made me laugh! That was breakfast. Then he liked to share our dad's morning banana. Sliced banana, hand fed to him... yum. Then there were the evening snacks. It was almost as if he had an internal clock - at the same time every evening, he told his people very clearly that he wanted a biscuit. It was very funny to watch him actually lead someone into the kitchen, and to the area of the kitchen where he knew his biscuits were kept. Like I said, a true food hound!

He learned from Coco Loco - Suze's cat - that he could walk on the back of a sofa. No Caesar, you're a dog, not a cat. The back of the sofa is really not a stable place to stand. Watch out - you're going to fall and hurt yourself! Oh, OK, you're safe now, back on the cushion....

Then there was the day he practically levitated onto my lap... at least it seemed that way. Remember - he was a miniature dachshund, not very tall at all - it's amazing how he could leap through the air with no apparent effort. I was sitting on the sofa in the living room with a cup of coffee in my hand, and the next thing I knew Caesar flew out of absolutely no where and landed on my lap with his nose in the coffee cup. He did like coffee, and herbal tea too. Brandy turns his nose up at these drinks, but Caesar thought they were great. And every year at Thanksgiving, he somehow managed to leap from the floor over the dining room chair arm, and into someone's lap. After all, there were always good food smells at the table!

Oh, and there was the mad escape day. Caesar was out on the (enclosed) deck. He figured out how to open the latch to the gate, and he escaped! Brandy - the little tattletale - went to inform our mom that Caesar had escaped. She was beside herself, very worried, and she thought she lost him then. It was a long hunt, but she did find him, and he came home to spread his special form of joy for many more years.

He loved to have his chest rubbed, and he let you know about his desire by rolling on his back on the floor. Makes sense, right? But it really didn't, because Caesar would look around the room and pick one of the people lounging on the sofa. He would then start toward that person, stop just far enough away that he couldn't be reached without the person getting up from their comfortable seat, and then he'd roll on his back and look at that person - seeming to say "come on, be nice to me"! Come on Caesar, can't you come a little closer? Nope, I came partway, now you have to come to meet me. He would always bring a smile to my face when he did this. It's true - he knew how to make us laugh.

Caesar, it sounds like you're in a better place for you now. You've joined grandmother Bella, who died many many years ago on this date. She used to share fudgesicles with "old Caesar", one of your predecessors - in the days before we knew that chocolate was bad for dogs. Just think, you can eat anything you want now - no more special diet! And you've joined Etta too. You never met Bella, but you did meet Etta. She wasn't a dog person then, but she put up with you because you were her sister's baby. And I'd bet that she'll feed you treats too.

Caesar - thank you. Everyone misses you, we're sad, but we're glad we knew you. You brightened the lives of many people.

Memories of Brandy can be found in my February 4, 2005 It's time to say goodbye blog entry.

More pictures of Brandy & Caesar at my photo gallery titled The ‘guys’ - hey, are we really dogs? We think we're people...

How very sad...

Caesar came home today, but he's very, very sick. I think the vet really called my folks - who are also Caesar's people - to come and say goodbye. He'd had a bad weekend, and was in the same shape he was in before his surgery. Not cancer, but inflammatory bowel disease that so far hasn't been controlled. My folks went to the dog hospital, and Caesar perked up. After a while his doc came in, surprised at his reaction. So, thinking Caesar might improve with Mom and Dad and Brandy (his brother) around him, the decision was made to send him home. And I really don't think the vet would have sent him home if he didn't see Caesar perk up this morning. I talked to our Mom tonight (yup, we're sharing), and things sound pretty grim. My sister and I both think that Caesar wanted to go home to say goodbye...

Dreaming of biking in sunshine...

Ah, a decent riding day today. My bike and I took a spin in the sunshine. It was in the low 40s - so I was still dressed layers - but it was sunny, and the roads were dry. It was a treat to get home after my ride with a clean bike and no crud on my clothes!

I thought I had decided on my bike tour for this year, but I'm rethinking it. My almost tour was to be a ride up the east coast of Vancouver Island, followed by ferry & train trips to Jasper, followed by biking from Jasper to Calgary - a two in one trip. But let's see, I'd probably spend around a week on Vancouver Island, which is supposed to be absolutely beautiful but is also situated in a rain forest. I'm not acquainted with the right weather wizard (is there one?), so with no weather guarantees, the big question in my mind is if I want to risk a week of potentially riding in the rain. (OK, OK, I'm a baby - but riding in the rain is not my favorite!) The trip still tugs at me, so it still could win. But before I make definite plans I'm going to dream of a sunny place to visit. Then I'll decide!

March musings - it's still winter!

Let's see now, why do I think it's supposed to be spring and biking weather when it's just early March? Technically it's still winter! Just time for a bad case of spring fever.

Someone needs to straighten out the weather wizard - today is supposed to be in the low 60s and raining, tomorrow in the low 40s and sunny. Can't I have a switch in the days? I want a warm sunny day, and I'll accept a cold rainy day as the alternate weekend day. Yes, I know, my bike and I are not going to get our wish - I guess it's just too early in the year. Where's springtime?

A twisted road story

An uneventful (though late) flight home... I was very glad I didn't need to check any baggage in Phoenix because the airport - at least the America West section - was an absolute zoo! I arrived in Boston, caught a bus to that funky overflow parking lot by the harbor, and headed home. No signs at the airport to tell me the ramp from the Sumner Tunnel to I93 north was closed... I exited the Sumner and headed into the new highway tunnel. What's that? There's a row of orange barrels with a police car behind them blocking the entrance to I93. Uh oh! The road I'm on now heads to Storrow Drive, definitely not where I wanted to go. I watched the cars in front of me, and just followed their probably illegal maneuver. Look - cars are coming out of the tunnel onto the ramp to Storrow Drive. It turns out that it was (just barely) possible to turn hard left across the ramp traffic leaving I93 north, and then turn hard right onto I93. I wasn't going to do it, but everyone else did, the ramp traffic was allowing it, and hey - why not! Home again (safely)...

One more hike - out in sunshine, back in serious snow!

After my stop at the library I took advantage of a change in the weather to head out to the Soldier Pass Trailhead. The sun was peeking out, and the red rocks still had quite a covering of white powder. It was a very pleasant walk out along the trail. There were a couple of other cars in the parking lot, but I didn't see any other hikers this afternoon. I heard some other people, then saw them up ahead. I thought I caught up with some other hikers, but it turned out that they were on a jeep tour. The jeep and foot trails intersected at a couple of points.

I walked, took pictures, walked, tried to miss the mucky mud, walked, took pictures, forded a stream, walked some more. I don't think I quite made it to the end of the trail, but the trail started looking like it was heading up a rocky streambed, and I decided that was enough for today. I turned and started heading back, and it immediately started snowing again. It was mild at first, but it became a more intense storm. I tried to capture the snowflakes with my camera, but I think the camera screened out all of those white blobs! Snowflakes? Not really, more like soft pellets.



A beautiful hike, a beautiful day, a beautiful place!