It seemed like they had every single kind of rose on Display. I eventually got tired of the roses and explored some more of Washington Park part of the old zoo: a trail: The Holocaust memorial: The statue "the coming of the white man" I then went to the logging museum: you could sit inside the locomotive: I then took the light rail (via the world's second deepest subway station) to downtown. I was going to eat lunch at a Sushi resturant, but I had some trouble finding it. It was worth the bother. I then found the niketown store, which wasn't. Some pics of some public squares: Eventually, it cam time to head back to the Hotel: I was debating wether to try to go to Multinomah falls that day or the next, I decided to go ahead: I then went to Bridal Veil falls, here's an overview of the Columbia: They didn't appear that impressive at first: , but hiking further: I was going to go see the Visa house, but at this time, the alternator light on my car light up, so this journey will be continued...
I got an early start, actually too early to get in on the Travelodge's free breakfast. I also realized that I forgotten some thing, so I headed off to Walmart, and had an egg Mc Muffin. I also stopped at an AM/pm, and got a surprise! Full service. The Drive up to Portland was uneventful. I stopped several times at rest stops, lost my Daughters of the King cross (yet again!), and missed the the turnoff for the 205, which worked out, as I found a Baja Fresh and had lunch. here's a pic from a rest stop. I had some spare time, so I drove out to the old Crown point and the Columbia gorge. Very pretty! I found the hotel and got changed. Dave Van Gundy and Joe Keenan showed up, and we were on way. The trip was uneventful. we found ourselves in the middle of a road construction project, so we did off roading. we road along the river and crossed the 205 bridge to Vancouver, Washington. Dave and Joe weren't sure of the Route to Ft Vancouver, but the city had provided directional signage. Neat! we stopped at a Diary Queen so Joe could check his blood sugar (he just had a liver transplant and that made him a Type II diabetic.) After a scenic tour of vancouver, we wound up at ft. Vancouver. We got there within a half of closing, which was good, since it meant our admission was free. We had to laugh, as Dave had never been there, and got so involved the park ranger let us stay an extra 10 minutes. we then took a tour of the old Army Installion, which I did not know existed. After going through downtown Vancouver. we crossed over the Columbia again. Once we got back into Oregon, we paralleled the river until we had climb back up to Gresham Dave's wife Enda, met us after she got off work at Team Estrogen. It had been raining off and on all day, so when go to some railroad track that crossed the street at an odd angle, the pavement rose up to meet me :( But it was all good. I've got a little bruise, and scraped up a brake lever. I'll live to pedal another day.
I'm sitting here in a room at the Travelodge at Grant's Pass, OR. I spent most of the day going through a par of California most people don't think about: the Central Valley. Which is a shame, not because it's scenic (not compared to the rest of the state), but because geographically, it's the largest region of the state, and maybe it's because it may the most important region to the rest of the country. Why? you know that pasta sauce you picked up today? Where do you think the tomatoes came from? Yep, the San Joaquin and Sacramento Valleys. It is an odd place, as naturally, it's a semi desert. They were signs protesting the water rationing (click here) I also passed several DrDained lakes. Lots and lot of pistachio and almond trees, Plus the tomatoes. I did almost turn back in Kettleman City, since I thoughI had lost my debit card. Thankfully, I found it. I had lunch in Sacramento, and the scenery changed to look more Illinois or Northen Missouri. Execept for the Brown grass. It changed again in rdding, plus I got treated to the sightt of snow in august on Mt Shasta. I slowed climbed in to Oregon, and found the scenery Changing again toPine forests. I would wrote more, but my little 7 inch PC isn't very conducive to blogging
Today, My bent "club" did the San Diego creek trail I go there a little early and didn't want to ride the trail. I noticed that there was a loop around the neighborhood, so I did some laps of that: a nice lake: The creek was unusual in that it did not have a concrete bottom: A nice scuplture: Gradually, the gang began to gather And I assumed my usual position: Instead of taking the San Diego creek trail all the way down, we took one paralleling the 405 freeway. We were soon at the bay, being serenaded by planes taking off from John Wayne/Santa Ana airport The next section was odd in that we going the wrong ay on a one way street: We made it across the bay, took a break, and pedaled up to scenic viewpoint: We wound our back through the neighborhoods, doing the BMW's, Lexus, and Bentleys. I thought about taking a picture of the Bemtley, but did not. The Unphotgraphed Bentley? it sound like a dance group!
Before we knew it we were back in Irvine, We stopped at a Trailside Del taco (sorry no photos) I did some exploring on my own afterward. Found and under construction bridge
Today was a fun day especially since it started for me at 2:45AM. You see, I had a 200k brevet that started at 4 am in San Bernardino, but I also wanted to do the club coffee night. Well no one showed up for coffee, so I could have gotten a hotel anyway. I got to the starting control with plenty of time to spare, plus I got to listen to a neat interview with the CEO of Red Hat software. Cool! The start went fine, only expecpt my lights were little bit underpowered vis a vie everyone else's. I've been told I very excellent night vision(By a special forces Sargent), so I tend to rely on that rather than having a blowtorch. any way some of light did tend to blind me, and the upper section of the Santa Ana is twisty. Then my helmet headlight went about the time we hit the 'dirt' section. Well, deep sand is dirt, isn't it? needless to say, we walked. Then the trail made it a 90 degree turn, I found, but found the equestrian path. I was riding along and noticed another trail - pavement at last! we stopped at the first control, A circle K (no Bill and ted, Bummer dude!) Since the Circle did not have bathroom, I had to make secondary stop The ride down went fine I was at the beach before I knew it:
Jack and Kath Twitchell dressed appropriately: The RBA, Greg Jones brought his family along: one of the many wooden bridges on the SART: I caught a soccer game on the way back:
but no baseball: and no hockey: It stooped at Green river for a choclate milk and a payday bar Things were still going well when passed this factory: in case you can't read the sign:
I Made it back to Circle k in Norco. Norco bills itself as Horestown, USA. All the buildings are wild west themed. The was an RV dealer with two large plastic sculptures of a horse up on its hind leg with a rider on its back. The street was too busy for photos: I was planning on inserting another control by Mt Rubidox, but decide I could make it with the calorie, well I could but my neck was bothering me. My seat may too reclined , or I need stronger muscles. I took several break and pedal slowly, but still set a best time! I hung around, the Control was at a Coco's restaurant, and I thought I could covinced some folks in to going for lunch (I would have like to pay them back for the parking lot), but no takers. So next time, don't skip stops!
This is going to be short but hopefully sweet I was watching the Tour de France stage yesterday when I noticed a sign for the Côte d'Azur. Normally, you would think of swankiness (after all this is the Rivera) Only except I've been studying French, so I saw "blue coast". quite a difference. I was think about how perception color our reality. I've been wearing some arm coolers lately to help with my sun problem (too many Irish ancestors). Most people think I'm nuts or have a medical problem (well, my genes are more suited for Northern Europe than Southern California :) ) but they do work. I've got the leg coolers, too, but I haven't worn them in public yet. I look too much like I walked of the set of "The Mummy enters the Tour De France". And there's my new $150 laptop. yes that's not a typo. how did it get down to $150? plus it doesn't run Windows, but is Penguin powered. sounds too good to be true? click here
