Baby Wiley has taken a moment to rest. Notice I said a moment. Most of the time he is going full blast and it is almost impossible to get a photo of him. By the time I snap the photo he is gone.Sunday, March 15, 2015
Baby Wiley
Baby Wiley has taken a moment to rest. Notice I said a moment. Most of the time he is going full blast and it is almost impossible to get a photo of him. By the time I snap the photo he is gone.
My Fortune
Aric and I grabbed some Chinese food for lunch a few weeks ago, and this was in my fortune cookie.
Saturday, March 14, 2015
Critical Mass Chic? -- Austria
I stopped by at the meeting point of the Critical Mass "Bare as You Dare" bike ride in Vienna today. There was a conference at work and I could not get away long enough to take part in the ride -- but I took some photos and said hello to people, then went back after the ride took off.
There was a very friendly, pleasant atmosphere at this event, which I had not been expecting after reading the negative comments about Critical Mass on several weblogs. There were also many lovely cyclists. I have so many photos, that I've decided to split this into a "clothed" post and a "naked" post. The naked will follow shortly : )
First we have our very own lovely Anna, from Cycling Is Good for you! We met briefly and I was charmed by her beautiful socks and sandals.
Here they are up close -- nice! If you don't know it already, Anna's blog is worth visiting.
This delightful woman on a unicycle stood out in her matching green outfit and pirate hat!
A ginger-haired beauty in a green satin dress with red bicycle...
Another lovely red-head, in a pink mini-dress with a vintage orange folding bike. Nice!
1920s film-star looks and a dreamy attitude...
The bicycle is integral in her lady-like, serene posture...
This dashing representative of criticalmass.at looked lovely in black, with contrasting cream lace-ups.
And this stylish young lady relaxed in her orange cargo bike sporting a matching bandana and a happy smile.
A leggy, ethereal beauty was kind enough to pose for me by the fountain...
Of course, some lovely gentlemen graced the event with their stylish presence as well.
Notice that this one is riding one of the Citibikes discussed here.
Of course, the prize for the loveliest bicycle goes to this golden beauty! I would love to see this in the streets of Vienna during the rest of the year.
Friday, March 13, 2015
Thursday, March 12, 2015
Vermont and New Hampshire Landscape From My Window
The landscape is just stunning here. There is green, green and more green everywhere. I found myself snapping like a mad woman today while driving away. I love it here! 
Blue Skies and Sunshine!
Tuesday morning (August 17th) I left Sue and Fred at the campground in Seward under cloudy, overcast skies and drizzling rain. They will be going to Haines, about 900 miles away, with a short visit to Juneau and Skagway before heading back through Canada to the Lower 48.
We had hoped to pay a visit to Exit Glacier but, due to all of the rain, the road to the glacier was closed on the day we arrived in Seward. It is one of the few glaciers in Alaska that is accessible by road and you can walk a short trail from the parking area up to the face of the glacier. That is, you can if the road is open! On Sunday (the 15th) they were evacuating everyone from the area.
I spent most of Tuesday at the Library getting blog posts written and scheduled and reading a few other blogs. I did take several walks around Seward in between the downpours. It was rather nice walking in a drizzling rain but a chill would set in and I'd head back to the Library! I also stopped in at Kenai Fjords Visitor Center to see if the road to Exit Glacier was open, it wasn't. That night I stayed at the Forest View Campground again. About 8 o'clock I noticed that patches of blue were peeking through the clouds.
Wednesday morning I awoke to sunshine and blue skies!! The road to Exit Glacier was only a few miles from the campground so I drove on out. There are several pullouts where you get a nice view of the glacier.
Exit Glacier. So close, yet so far away.
Two miles from the glacier the road was barricaded and a Ranger was directing traffic to the nearby trail parking lot. She said that there had been a tremendous amount of rain the past month over the glacier. It had gotten over 12 inches of rain on each of two different days! The glacier deposits silt in the river and as water comes down it carves new channels to get through that silt.
A new channel had been made and it was undercutting the road. Water was still flowing over the road so they could not determine the extent of the damage yet.
I could have walked the two miles to the parking lot and then another half mile to the face of the glacier. However, I would have had to ford the water streaming over the road and there was no guarantee that I'd actually be able to get to its face. I was happy that I had at least been able to view it, albeit from a distance, and decided to continue on my journey.
Later that afternoon I stopped at Bird Creek Campground in Chugach State Park along Turnagain Arm about 25 miles south of Anchorage. It is nice, for a primitive campground (pit toilets and no water). There were quite a few fishermen getting their lines wet at Bird Creek, which flows into Turnagain Arm.
The Alaska Railroad runs between the highway and Turnagain Arm.
The sunset Wednesday night was incredible. Clouds had moved in and the sun was having a great time in lighting them up!
To the Southeast.
And the Southwest.
And the West.
Fantastic!
We had hoped to pay a visit to Exit Glacier but, due to all of the rain, the road to the glacier was closed on the day we arrived in Seward. It is one of the few glaciers in Alaska that is accessible by road and you can walk a short trail from the parking area up to the face of the glacier. That is, you can if the road is open! On Sunday (the 15th) they were evacuating everyone from the area.
I spent most of Tuesday at the Library getting blog posts written and scheduled and reading a few other blogs. I did take several walks around Seward in between the downpours. It was rather nice walking in a drizzling rain but a chill would set in and I'd head back to the Library! I also stopped in at Kenai Fjords Visitor Center to see if the road to Exit Glacier was open, it wasn't. That night I stayed at the Forest View Campground again. About 8 o'clock I noticed that patches of blue were peeking through the clouds.
Wednesday morning I awoke to sunshine and blue skies!! The road to Exit Glacier was only a few miles from the campground so I drove on out. There are several pullouts where you get a nice view of the glacier.
Exit Glacier. So close, yet so far away.Two miles from the glacier the road was barricaded and a Ranger was directing traffic to the nearby trail parking lot. She said that there had been a tremendous amount of rain the past month over the glacier. It had gotten over 12 inches of rain on each of two different days! The glacier deposits silt in the river and as water comes down it carves new channels to get through that silt.A new channel had been made and it was undercutting the road. Water was still flowing over the road so they could not determine the extent of the damage yet.
I could have walked the two miles to the parking lot and then another half mile to the face of the glacier. However, I would have had to ford the water streaming over the road and there was no guarantee that I'd actually be able to get to its face. I was happy that I had at least been able to view it, albeit from a distance, and decided to continue on my journey.
Later that afternoon I stopped at Bird Creek Campground in Chugach State Park along Turnagain Arm about 25 miles south of Anchorage. It is nice, for a primitive campground (pit toilets and no water). There were quite a few fishermen getting their lines wet at Bird Creek, which flows into Turnagain Arm.
The Alaska Railroad runs between the highway and Turnagain Arm.The sunset Wednesday night was incredible. Clouds had moved in and the sun was having a great time in lighting them up!
To the Southeast.And the Southwest.And the West.Fantastic!
Purchasing Power
The economy is terrible, but my purchasing power has just undergone a significant increase. How, you ask? Ah, keep reading!
Yes: a set of Wald folding baskets - filled with enormous grocery bags, the contents of which I could never have fit into my previous set-up. We passed a bike shop today that happened to have the black Walds in stock, and I ended up buying them. Now that I no longer have the front basket on my Pashley, I needed something ASAP - at least to tide me over until I can get panniers.
Well, the Wald baskets did not disappoint! You can't quite tell from these pictures, but the grocery bags are very full, with the level of the contents extending far beyond the brims of the baskets. Technically, it is possible to haul more than twice the volume of each basket. We tied the handles of the bags together on top, so that the contents wouldn't bounce, and had no problems at all.
The bicycle remained just as stable with the grocery bags inside the baskets as without.
Just as easy to maneuver, too.
As we were about to head home from the grocery store, we ran into Biking in Heels. Talk about a sense of community! We compared notes about panniers and tires, as I eyed her rear rack with longing (I've been looking for a suitable rack for my vintage Raleigh DL-1 with no success).
I was a bit nervous about what it would feel like to cycle with so much weight in the rear of the bike, but once we took to the streets it was effortless. Mind you, I am cranky and picky when it comes to carrying stuff on my bike - so when I say "effortless", you can take me literally. When I carried groceries in a front wicker basket, I had to lower the gearing on this bike in order to cycle comfortably. With these baskets I happily remained in the same gearing as without the groceries.
These passers-by are clearly envious of my amazing baskets and of the abundance of groceries I was transporting.
Can't say I blame them - this is great!
Yes: a set of Wald folding baskets - filled with enormous grocery bags, the contents of which I could never have fit into my previous set-up. We passed a bike shop today that happened to have the black Walds in stock, and I ended up buying them. Now that I no longer have the front basket on my Pashley, I needed something ASAP - at least to tide me over until I can get panniers.Well, the Wald baskets did not disappoint! You can't quite tell from these pictures, but the grocery bags are very full, with the level of the contents extending far beyond the brims of the baskets. Technically, it is possible to haul more than twice the volume of each basket. We tied the handles of the bags together on top, so that the contents wouldn't bounce, and had no problems at all.The bicycle remained just as stable with the grocery bags inside the baskets as without.Just as easy to maneuver, too.As we were about to head home from the grocery store, we ran into Biking in Heels. Talk about a sense of community! We compared notes about panniers and tires, as I eyed her rear rack with longing (I've been looking for a suitable rack for my vintage Raleigh DL-1 with no success). I was a bit nervous about what it would feel like to cycle with so much weight in the rear of the bike, but once we took to the streets it was effortless. Mind you, I am cranky and picky when it comes to carrying stuff on my bike - so when I say "effortless", you can take me literally. When I carried groceries in a front wicker basket, I had to lower the gearing on this bike in order to cycle comfortably. With these baskets I happily remained in the same gearing as without the groceries.These passers-by are clearly envious of my amazing baskets and of the abundance of groceries I was transporting.Can't say I blame them - this is great!
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