Lutak Inlet, Tahini Point, Upper Lynn Canal, Alaska Mike

The FULL MOON is 4:54PM tomorrow 10/9/2022. Wife, 82yo neighbor lady and I will be leaving the evacuation house we have been staying at since IAN went past our house in SW FL last Tuesday AND heading back home. Once home, settled back in and relaxed I hope to air up the tires on FIREBALL (DAY 6 Semi-recumbent) and go out right before MOONRISE for an evening ride under an almost full moon.

Moonrise 10/9/2022 is @ 7:10 pm ↑ (84°)
Meridian Passing is @ 12:47 am (59.3°)
Distance from Earth 234,247 miles
Illumination 99.4%
Moonset 10/10/2022 is @ 8:03 am ↑ (279°)

The highlight of my summer was riding up to the east side of Mt. Hood and exploring the borders of Badger Creek Wilderness. I drank cold, fresh, artesian spring water that was gently flowing right out of some rocks on a hot day. It was so perfectly flavorless, yet delicious, nothing but a wonderful sensation going down. Every day I fantasize about going back there. I have had the best summer in many years, yet I am happy to see cooler temps.

Any pics?

Sorry, but I'm not much of a photographer. The cloud and the snow were a brilliant white that no camera can capture.

I have a better version somewhere at home. Summer solstice near Troy, MT during a two-week tour in MT and ID in 2017. Every 30 minutes or so the wind would kick up out of nowhere and create small whitecaps on Bull Lake for a few minutes then cease as quickly as it started. You cannot see it, but my campsite with fire going is only a few yards behind me. No shower that night, but the view was worth it.

Later during that 2017 trip I set up camp at Sprague Creek in Glacier National Park and took a day ride up the west slope of Going to the Sun Road to Logan Pass and back down to camp. Unfortunately, the NPS opened to road fully to auto traffic that morning. I was only about a third of the way up the climb because I had been taking my time based on the belief that the road would not open to vehicles that day. But it was still a nice ride. I took this shot heading back down.


In between I ventured into the sparsely populated area in and around Yaak, MT for a couple of day, stopping to have lunch by Yaak River Falls on the way to the campground. My dream is to retire up there (at least during spring, summer and fall), but what developed properties are available are mostly crazy expensive these days.

Idaho is a similarly excellent place for a two-and-a-half season retreat.

If only it weren't in Idaho.

Fun fact about Idaho: About 84% of it is owned by the federal government.

Gorgeous!

Good stuff Indy. We need more people to jump in with their happy.

Cool country road on a hot day. That's another cyclist up ahead. It's these brief moments in time.

I am happiest when my speedometer hits 40 MPH on downhills (happiness fades at 45+) and when I take fastest segment times for my age group on Strava. I also dig nature and how the bike takes me to gorgeous places.

My bike takes me past Walmart .... oh, well .

That makes me happy every time my bike does it!

That’s actually a good thing. If it takes you there and then stops……

As seen in “The Revenant.”

I am ready for another cycling vacation!

I’m hoping to take a short one next weekend. Three or four days from my house to S. Jersey. Morning coffee when I was there this summer.

C’mon, folks. More happiness.

And imp of a cat I met in Rockwood, PA during my 2020 tour across the state that included the entirety of the GAP.

You said you started this adventure at an organized event. Was it the Bourbon Country Burn? I was there two weeks ago at that event, and it was a lot of fun. I had a great time there and plan to return next year. I was planning to return in 2 or 3 years but three different guys I met there all independently said, "I'll see you next year, Bob." When I explained I would return in a couple of years, they said, "I'll see you next year!" Actually... they convinced me to return next year. I sounded so enthusiastic about it over the phone during my drive home, my wife even said she wanted to join me next year.

There you go. Some more positive bike stuff.

Not all dogs are bad:


Good dog!

This pup ran with us for about four miles downstream from Cave in Rock. He chased off maybe two dozen coyotes who poked their noses out of the underbrush, saw the dog, and then turned around and disappeared. We'd get ahead of him, then slow down on the hills and he'd catch up. This picture was about half of the distance he "escorted" us.

We had a husky run alongside us for a few miles during a day ride from Kennet Square, PA to Baltimore, MD. He never once bothered us or got too close to be of concern.

*bump*

We need more happy, especially on a Monday. Made a meme out of a photo I took when I rode the GAP back in 2020 during a cross-PA (with a dip into MD) tour. It's the house where Buffalo Bill lived in "The Silence of the Lambs." (I believe the basement scenes were filmed elsewhere.) A lot of people don't know that it's a short out and back ride from the trail at Layton, PA. The house sold again in the last two or so years and has been turned into a sort of "say experience." The on-line gift shop sells, among other things, Skinsuit So Soft Body Lotion.