Visiting Bailey

Oh, and my folks too!

I headed to upstate New York for the weekend to visit with my mom & dad, and of course to visit with the family's new addition, Bailey the dachshund who absolutely runs the household. He definitely gets his way, but he brings a lot of love and he makes everyone smile.

He has definitely attached himself to (our) mom. If she leaves the house without him he continuously searches for her. If she is not in the same room with him, he goes looking for her. And he has clearly shown that he wants to travel with her no matter what! His typical behavior after his morning walk is to head straight for the car because he figures she is heading out to run errand - and he want to go too. If she insists on heading into the house, Bailey will put his chest down on the ground and refuse to walk. And if she manages to convince him he needs to go in the house (and sometimes that convincing involves picking him up and carrying him), then as soon as he is relieved of his leash he runs upstairs and hides. It's a good thing he is well loved because his wacky behavior could upset anyone who didn't feel that he is part of the family!

Visiting Bailey is definitely a source of smiles!

Dad with Bailey in his arms... priceless!

And here's mom too - her shadow at least - walking along with Bailey

I find it amazing that my little camera could actually capture this flower gone to seed. Beautiful...

If I had been walking on my own, I would be calling this a pretty pink flower. But luckily I was walking with my mom (and Bailey too, of course!), and she was able to tell me that this is a sweet pea. After the flower dies there will be what looks like a pea pod hanging from the plant. And my crazy mom actually asked her mom to taste one many years ago. Apparently they don't taste like our favorite vegetable, peas in the pod!

Hot, humid, rain, relief!

It was a week filled with many weather changes, which means it wasn't a great week for commuting to work by bike. The threat of rain on Monday and Wednesday convinced me to drive to work, but I rode on Tuesday even though I knew that the ride home would be very hot and humid. Wednesday evening brought a wild storm; I wish I had run outside to attempt to capture images of that very black sky, but instead I was making sure that the windows that were taking the brunt of the force of the wind was closed. I intended to ride to work today, but when I first went outside in the morning it was like walking through a wall of water. I did manage a decent after-work ride though, aided by the fact that the power at the office went off at 3:30. With the power company estimating that the earliest we would have power would be 6:30, it seemed like a good time to head home!

And this was certainly the week for power outages. I lost power at home during the storm last night - it was off from 7:30 until 1 AM. Unfortunately the smoke detectors in my house beep when the power goes out and beep when it comes back on again too, so I was awakened with the return of the power at 1 in the morning. Oh well, it was a good time to reset the clocks before falling asleep again.

The weather now? I really wish it would stay like this for weeks - or even months! The temperature today was in the low to mid-70s, with overnight temperatures cooler than that - and no humidity. I think I would be very happy living in a place that had this type of temperature year round.

Morning clouds on a day that was supposed to bring rain, but that left dry roads for an evening ride

...and a beautiful floral greeting along the side of the road on the same morning

A cool evening later in the week, wonderful wispy clouds

Camera & bicycle, companions for the weekend

It turned out to be a beautiful weekend for wandering on my bike, sunny, reasonably warm, and much less humid. I managed to get in a 40 mile ride on Saturday and a 41 mile ride on Sunday, and they were really just wandering rides. I didn't have a destination in mind, but I did have a camera with me. Sometimes I carry a camera and take few pictures, but this time the normal sights of the area just jumped out at me. Time to wander & take pictures...

A beautiful purple blossom, a perfect match to my bike!

It's funny, I've ridden down this road many times, and I've never had a side-of-the-road conversation with any cattle before. Hey cow 406, how's your day going?

This owl wizard was clearly guarding the house...

This horse & pony were enjoying their feast of grass. They were on the lawn of the house where I assume that they live; I guess no one there needs to cut the grass!

You're right - that's me, riding down the road...

Afternoon delight!

As I was riding home this afternoon, I saw a woman ahead of me on the road walking what I thought was a very large dog. I was on a very quiet road at the time - quiet in that it doesn't carry much traffic, not quiet in that there is constant road noise from I-93 which runs parallel to it.

It turns out that it wasn't a dog that was walking with her - it was a donkey! A great reason to smile...

I carry my camera with me so much of the time, and yet it hasn't made its way into my commute to work stuff. That would have been a priceless photo, but for now it will have to be a photo in my imagination.

A morning rant

Maybe I'm being overly conservative, but I don't think so. I think I'm being safe...

I rode to work this morning, and I was stopped at a red light with a line of cars when another cyclist rode up next to me, said good morning, and then promptly blasted through the red light. After the light changed, he was still ahead of me, and I could see that he was quickly approaching another red light. This time he turned right at the light, pulled a U-turn, and turned back onto the original road, circumventing the stop light.

It really annoys me when I see things like this because it makes it harder for all cyclists when some cyclists take it upon themselves to ignore the law. The vehicle code in all 50 states considers a bicycle a vehicle, subject to all of the laws pertaining to moving vehicles on the roadway. Tell me, how much time do you think this guy would have lost if he had stopped for the lights? And who would have been at fault if he had an interaction with a motor vehicle?

Following the Tour de France

...virtually, that is!

I've been spoiled over the last 2 weeks (and the rest of this one) by having an amazing cycling race to follow. I think I'm going to have withdrawal symptoms next week when there is no longer a bicycle race to watch every night. But then again, I'll no longer have to make a decision about going to sleep in time to get a reasonable night's rest to support an early morning ride to work, or staying up to watch the end of the stage!

Images of cyclists... helmets, that is! (Photo courtesy of the official Tour de France web site at http://www.letour.fr)

Hawk, resting

Amazing. You remember the hawk I saw as I was riding home from work last Friday? Well, I saw him again today. (OK, I know, it might have been a different bird.) As I drove up route 125, in about the same spot as Friday's sighting, I looked up to see a silhouette of a hawk in the trees.

I wonder if I wander down that way with a camera in hand if I'll ever be able to capture (a photo of) this beautiful but probably elusive character.

Hot, hot, hot, and humid too!

Not a riding day today... I would be happy to skip the hazy humid days of summer, and today was definitely one of them. I gave my bicycles the day off and drove into work since there were late day thunderstorms predicted. The rain didn't materialize, but it still wouldn't have been a pleasant riding day. Right now the temperature is in the mid-80s, down a little from the heat of the day, but the humidity has gone up to (about) 95% - and that's according to the National Weather Service, not according to my feelings of discomfort! Tomorrow sounds like it will be almost a carbon copy of today weatherwise, although there are predictions that the heat index will rise above 100. I think tomorrow will be another drive-to-work day, but I'm hoping to ride on Wednesday. Weather wizard, are you listening? Everyone is ready for a break in the humidity. I'll take a break in the heat too if that is an option, but humidity first!

Birds and squirrels...

It's been a good animal sighting week for me. I was riding home from work on Friday, and I was within a mile of home. At that point I was on route 125, which is a relatively high speed (50 miles per hour) 2-lane road with wide shoulders. I thought I heard something, and then - what's that? I saw a hawk (not to far from me) rising from the ground or a low branch, and flying to a perch higher up in the trees. Beautiful. It's times like that when I both wish I had my camera with me, and realize that there is no way I would be able to catch that unexpected flight. Guess that one has to be a mind memory as opposed to a photographic memory!

Then, this morning as I was riding, a squirrel made a suicide run in front of me. I've noticed for years that squirrels seem to think it's funny to see how close they can get to my bicycle wheels. This one definitely made me jump because he came out of heavy underbrush to run in front of my wheel. From where I was sitting, it was a little close for comfort, but luckily the silly squirrel safely ran in front of my wheel, no collision!

The sun returns, a good weather weekend

Ah, the sun returns. Although the weekend started with rain, the pavement was dry and my bikes were calling by mid-day Saturday. As planned, I watched the Tour de France live Saturday morning before striking out on a bicycle myself. It definitely wasn't a stellar day for Lance Armstrong and team, but Sunday's performance (from the part of an observer as opposed to a rider) seemed to be much improved. I'd really like to see him win number 7, although at this point anything can happen.

I set a target of 40-mile rides each day this weekend, and managed to ride 42 on Saturday and 41 on Sunday. I've discovered that I have some really nice 30-mile loops near home, so I rode those (actually I rode one of them in both directions) and then tacked on some smaller loops to get to my desired mileage. It's amazing how different a road can appear when it's ridden in the opposite direction.

Saturday after I got home I went to get my mail, still in my cycling clothes. I stopped to talk to a couple of neighbors, and one of them asked how far I had ridden. When I responded "42 miles", he said "no really, how far did you ride?". I finally convinced him that I wasn't kidding. It's funny, to me 42 miles is a normal riding distance, and I forget that to people who aren't serious cyclists that a distance like that seems like too far to ride on a bike. Definitely a different point of view...

Ah, purple flowers. It's been fun trying to catch shots of the beautiful summer flowers.

It's amazing the things that jump out at me as I ride or walk through neighborhoods. What a marvelous sculpture to be watching over someone's house!

Again? Rain, rain, go away...

I guess I was really lucky with the weather during my week in Maine. I knew that vacationing on the (northern) east coast brought with it the possibility of unsettled weather, but my time in Maine had more than acceptable weather. Well, except for that heavy morning coastal fog...

And 4th of July weekend was a stellar weather weekend too. Unfortunately, the week that followed was gray and damp. Those conditions more than extend into today as the remains of a tropical storm drive through our area. The forecast for today and tonight calls for a 90% chance of rain. Not only that, but the forecast amount of that wet stuff is for "New rainfall amounts between one and two inches possible" both today and tonight. That's 2 to 4 inches of rain in total. Yikes!

It sounds like it could still be raining tomorrow morning too. The bright spot in that is that if it's raining I can watch the Tour de France live instead of following my normal routine of riding first and then watching a replay of the racing action. There has to be sunshine in every cloud, right?

Hey sun! You are going to come back soon, aren't you?

Weather wizard, are you listening?

It looks like this (garden) frog is all set for both sun and rain!

Riding and resting

An active recovery from a busy and active vacation...

It was definitely nice to have a 3-day weekend. Time for relaxing, getting caught up on sleep, watching the start of the Tour de France, and getting some decent rides in too! Saturday was the start of the Tour, and the (prologue) time trial was scheduled to be on OLN at 11:30 - so for me it was an early morning ride day. I won't be able to watch the tour live most days, but I made an exception for the first day. Sunday was a long ride day - 53 miles in total, a big loop from home to Newburyport and Plum Island. I was amazed at how crowded the beaches were, but the roads (other than the one leading to the beach) were lightly traveled. Nice.

On Monday - our extra day off - I did a beautiful loop ride not too far from home, then added another (different) loop to come up with a reasonable and acceptable amount of mileage for the day. This was the second or third time this season that I did the initial loop, and this was the first time I realized that I could be quite happy doing this loop twice to get in a close to 40 mile ride. Usually when I ride 40 to 50 miles I do a big loop, but sometimes I'd rather stay a little closer to home. I suppose it's possible that I could get bored with this loop, but somehow I don't think so. It's nice to have another close-to-home alternative!

Finding this stable with a couple of young horses enjoying the grass made me smile. I wonder what this young horse is thinking!

Gazing inland from the bridge to Plum Island

I found it interesting that this "WAY TO THE RIVER" was clearly marked as a DEAD END. If you really wanted to cross the Merrimack River the right road to take was the next one!

Memories of Downeast Maine

Ah, home again. I have good memories of my trip to Maine floating in my head, but I've also uploaded photos to my smugmug gallery so you can share too.

Photos from my wander in Downeast Maine can be accessed at http://denise.smugmug.com/Travel/89603.

And just to whet your appetite, here are a couple of examples!

Tell me, how does this seagull know that the waves won't wash her (or him) away? Near Thunderhole

Sitting in a blind and watching the puffins definitely brought a smile to my face.

Red-clad feet on a purple bike

Looking for me? Surprised that there are no new blog entries? I'm off on a week-long bike tour in Maine, and while I won't be posting new blog entries while I'm on the road, I will be updating a tour journal. Please join me there!

A glorious first day of summer

Somehow, I managed to stick with my plan to rest and managed to stay off of my bike today. It was a walking day though - a little less energy expended, but exercise nonetheless.

And it was a packing day too. I'm almost ready to take off for Maine with my bike and panniers. I'll be driving as far as Bangor on Thursday afternoon, then driving the few remaining miles to Ellsworth Friday morning. Then it will be time for me and my bike to hit the road.

Walking with my camera... I can't seem to stop taking pictures of all of the beautiful spring (into summer) flowers

Nice of this ladybug to pose for me, wasn't it?

Riding, then a planned pre-tour rest...

It was a beautiful evening for an after-work ride, and I hope that today's ride will satisfy me until I'm in Maine later this week. My sensible exercise plans for this week call for a ride today, followed by a short break. I'd like to be well-rested at the start of my tour, so I'm planning to just do some walking over the next couple of days. It's supposed to be a beautiful weather day tomorrow though, so I'll have to see if I can manage to stay off of my bike!

I was hoping for flowers amid these lily pads. There were buds but no blooms - I wonder, do they close at the end of the day? No matter, they were beautiful anyway.

This birthday announcement and celebration of blow-up toys caught my eye as I rode by, and my bike wanted to play too... She said that it's close enough to her birthday that she thought the display must be for her. I didn't want to disappoint her by telling her it's probably for a child living in the house.

A Canada Goose parade

Ah, the joys of spring with flocks of Canada Goose (or can they be called Canada Geese?)...

I took a back road "get me out of traffic" loop on my way to the office this morning, and all of a sudden traffic came to an absolute halt. At first I couldn't figure out what was happening, but then I saw them. A flock of Canada Geese - multiple sets of adults and their teenage offspring - decided that it was a good time to cross the road. I suppose most people would call this a big annoyance, their antics always bring a smile to my face. My only regret is that I didn't have a camera with me in the car!

What, no bike this morning? I had considered riding in today, and the weather supports a commute to work for the first time in a long while, but I'm trying to have a sort of a rest week before heading out to Maine at the end of the week. I plan to ride after work tonight, a ride that is half the length of my usual commute. And I will probably get in some walking for the next couple of days. It's time for a rest before the ride...

Gary and cool, but ending with sunshine

I didn't trust the weather on Friday enough to bike in to work, but I did leave early enough for a late afternoon ride. That was my intent when I left the office, but somehow I just didn't feel full of energy when I arrived home, so I decided to walk instead. It turns out that was the best decision I could have made. I got a good hours worth of fast walking in, stopping every so often to snap a picture. And 10 minutes after I got home, the skies absolutely opened up. It was hard to believe how hard the rain was falling, and it was even harder to believe it when I could look outside and see patches of blue in the very gray sky. If I had ridden, I would still have been out, and my bike & I would have been soaked. I was very glad I decided not to ride...

Saturday and Sunday were both gray and cool days, although after I got home from riding Sunday afternoon the clouds finally cleared, and the sun and blue sky appeared. My rides were slightly shorter than I had planned - in the 30-mile range instead of the 40-mile range - but I think that's OK. I feel like I'm ready for my upcoming wander in Maine. I may ride tomorrow, but I'm going to try take a couple of rest days in preparation for close to a week of riding days.

This is a glimpse of the sky Friday evening just 5 minutes before I finished my walk, and 15 minutes before that absolute deluge.

A wake-up surprise

I woke up this morning to find that my brain was trying to skip a day. For some reason, I thought it was Saturday. My first question was "why is my alarm going off at its early weekday time?". My second question came up when I checked the National Weather Service forecast for today. "Hey, why is it still showing the forecast for Friday? What's wrong with this picture?"

What was wrong with the picture was a not-so-obvious brain cramp. "No Denise, it's not Saturday. You have one more work day in the week, so you'd better get moving!"

I certainly hope that this weekday / workday that feels like an extra day goes by quickly...

My bike says... it's getting closer

Only one week to go before I head out with my bike for a wander in Maine...

The general vicinity for my tour? Ellsworth, Acadia National Park, and north. I've published the start of my journal. Right now it contains my thoughts (and plans) leading up to the tour.

I'm still busy sending wishes to the weather wizard for dry weather with relatively warm temperatures for my (close to a week) of wandering. I doubt that my wishes have anything to do with it, but I'm really hoping for temperatures in between the extreme heat of last week and the 40 degree drop in temperature to the 40s and low 50s in the last couple of days!