Messing around in Texas

Lynn and I went to Texas to attend the wedding of the son of friends of ours from Wisconsin. They got married just north of Houston in The Woodlands.

The family of the Groom has a few interesting wedding rituals that we've witnessed over the years and even participated in. Even our son, who's good friends with the family, has attended and enjoyed the reception festivities.


The first ritual is called The Egg Drop.
Clear the dance floor, get on a step ladder....
 Nephew of the Groom.

Crack an egg.....

And let it drop. This is the Groom by the way.

 And hope for the best. The Bride did catch it!

The next is called Blowing Fire.
Get a bottle of Everclear, hold a mouthful, light a match and blow it out over top of the lit match.
Father of the Groom.

Different angle.....In 20 odd years of knowing Tim and being to a couple of wedding with him, I haven't tried this stunt, and don't think I ever will.

Daughter of the 1st guy on the ladder, cousin of the Groom.
Me on the far right, duly impressed!

 Bridesmaid...these people are professional!

From there the next day we went to an Astros/Tigers game a Minute Maid Park. It's a very nice venue. Excellent food choices, bathrooms, brews and viewing all good to very good.

 
We left at the end of the 7th inning as we really didn't have a vested interest in the outcome, being Red Sox fans.
We walked around the park and took in the local aesthetics.
Craig Biggio.

 Jeff Bagwell.

Later that day we drove to Galveston Island and spent the night.

Boardwalk.

 

Snowy Egret I believe. Also fun to watch the pelicans diving into the surf.

Stayed on the bay at Palacious of the Texas coast/Gulf of Mexico.  Small cafe didn't sell alcohol but we could bring our own in.  Sweet!

Stayed at the Peaceful Pelican B&B. Nice setup, would go back. Had an old Sears 1902 Catalog laying out. Didn't have any Crawfords in there.

Economy model....

Top of the line.

Biking shoes don't look that comfortable.

Later in the evening I walked out on the fishing pier with a cigar to watch a local family try their luck angling. Father, Mother, 2 sons and grandson. They caught a few rough fish, crabs, turtle and a shark.


There is a real neat fishman's Memorial statue going up. All done by a local former shrimper privately.

From there headed towards Aransas Pass where we stopped for the Goose Island Oak, a 1- 2,000 year old tree.

A sailboat ride. Interesting town....might have some potential for future visits to escape the Wisconsin winter for a week or so.
 The Handsome Sailor.

Captain Tom let me steer while he entertained. Noticed 2 dolphins surfacing.

His Tiki Bar looked interesting.

We then drove into Port Aransas. Quite the tourist trap.
For our Grandson:

We then drove the length of Mustang Island stopping on the beach to swim in the Gulf of Mexico. A rather impressive area once one got away from the "trap" and then on to Corpus Christi.

Got to San Antonio. Spent time at the Alamo and decided to visit the other 4 Missions that the famous River Walk connect. A 14 mile loop that we did on the B Bikes (public rental bikes).
Was a great day.

One of the Missions.

Little buddy.

Would love to get my cactus to look like this.

One of the many bridges on the 14 mile out and back River Walk.

Drive thru liquor store....after lunch we got a brew and Margarita to go!

On the road from San Antonio to Austin on the 4th of July.
World famous Gruene Hall. From Willie Nelson to Ziggy Marley.....iconic place, down to earth just plain fun. Non-stop dance hall since 1878.

 
Outdoor garden.

Local band from Austin.

Bar on the road to the start of the Texas Hill country heading towards Austin. A bit commercialized, similar to Tail of the Dragon in North Carolina. Still, was a good place to grab a brew and talk to a few folks.

Austin...Tour of the Capital and bus tour of the City and surrounding area, both time well spent. An enjoyable night just walking around that included a nice dinner.
Street closed off kind of reminds one of State Street in Madison, WI or Bourbon Street in New Orleans, but not quite as extreme.
In any case, a city worth returning to.

Bike taxis everywhere.

Just north of Austin is the start of the "hill country". Austin reminded us of the bluffs along the Wisconsin River around The Wisconsin Dells and Devils Lake area. Looks like an interesting place to live...high tech is hot and a lot of people, mostly young, are moving in. Property appears to be a bit expensive as compared to the outlying areas and what we're used to.

My cowgirl.
Mt. Bonnell, just out of town. General George Armstrong Custer was stationed here at one time and used to picnic at the top of the knob....of course he had his military band climb up as well so he and his wife has some music to listen to. And the kids today think an ipod is cool!

 We had a real great time in Texas and plan on returning.

Park City, UT

In Salt Lake City for work, got in an after work ride one day.
Glenwild Trail. Right next to the Holiday Inn I stayed at that's at the exit for Park City.
Rented a bike at Jans in Park City. Very accommodating and helpful, great hours, too.

Got a nice Scott 29er.

l

Lots of levers on the loft bar....front and rear suspension controls. Worked ok, unless one wants the front set a different setting than the back.

Way in the top left is the ski jumping in Park City.

92 miles of single track near Park City. This was only a small part of it, across the valley heading east out of Park City.

Tunnel near the Holiday Inn that goes under I-80.

Cheq100, 2014. 100 miles on 90% singletrack

Went out for a little ride with some friends.
Finished middle of the pack...about normal, for those that ride a bike for 100 miles on dirt.

200 some riders total
100 or 62 miles in the woods
1 house...around 15 of us in it....plenty of room
too many beers to count afterwards
over 5,000,000,000,000,00,000 mosquitos that joined us...during the race in the woods and those that tried and made it into the house.

So glad my 2 punctures sealed....fixing a flat would have been very unpleasent.

Kayaking for a Cause

In early spring Lynn came across this and I decided to make contact. Two young men that had just gotten out of the Marines are out to raise money to help their buddies that weren't so lucky and who ended up with very serious injuries.

I wanted to see about offering to help them out (mainly with my contact in northern Minnesota, Jim Lewis who wrote a book after he and his friends make the trip a few years ago) and possibly kayaking down the river with them for a day or so, like I did a few years ago with these Vets, but only use a kayak instead of a bike.

They have a website where you can read about their "mission" to help fellow Marines and donate, if you're so inclined.
They're the real deal and they did their research so as to pick the best charity to donate to so the people the actually need the funds get them.

On the river below Little Falls. Gabe, Nic, Jim.

 Taken just before Gabe and I launched below the Blanchard Dam. Gage, Nic, Jim, me.

Blanchard Dam.

Dinner.

Gabe, me.

Gabe and Nic.

Gabe resting as we wait for Jim and Nic to catch up to us after we launched below Blanchard Dam.

Gabe.

Nic, Jim, Gabe

Nic.

Getting ready to head out.

Canoe Weekend

Spent the weekend on or the near the water. Great weather, friends and "companion".

First stop, Copper Falls in northern Wisconsin. A series of Falls and ledges.

The Friends:
First day was on the Brule....during one of the most prolific mosquite hatch in recent history. Most of the day was fine, but towards late afternoon it was horrendous.

Second day we hit the White River SW of Ashland, WI.
We might have had as good or better days on the river in the past 30 years, but none of us could remember when.

All photo credits to Cole...who along with his buddy Dan were the rookies this year.
This annual trip started as a college fraternity activity over 40 years ago.

Arnie (Paul) and Bill.

 Cole, Tom, Pat, Bill, Vinod, Dan, Tim, (standing) Arnie, Me

 Me and Pat.

 Tom.

These were taken on Lake Superior a couple of weeks before our trip. We had decided to push our start back a few weeks due to the amount of snow and cold winter/spring we had in WI this year. Worked out well, except for the a fore mentioned mosquitoes.

The Companion. (a word Jason started using initially to describe his dog)
The third day it rained so no canoeing so I drove the 4 hours home to central WI. The next day was again fantastic so I took Jason, our 5 year old Grandson, for his first canoe trip on some water only a few blocks from our house. His grandma had gone out the day before and snagged him a sweet life vest...."with NO tail, grandpa!" (the strap that goes from the back to the front on little kids life jackets) We had been talking about canoeing all winter and he took to it in grand fashion.

I let him paddle as he saw fit for awhile, then suggested that he turn his pulling hand from an underside grip to gripping over the top. He stuck with that....and paddled steady for the 2 hours we were out there.

A few pontoon boats putted around with us, some faster than others. It gave me the opportunity to explain why sometimes it's best to head into a wave versus riding it out sideways and risk tipping. He loves to learn and was excited about the whole adventure.

After awhile Jason observed that he was making "tornadoes" in the water as he paddled.

Spring 2014 bike stuff

Various spring rides and activities.

Plover to Appleton on the Tomorrow River Trail and the Wiouwash Trail on my fat bike.
On the way stopped at the Greg Marr Memorial that's on the TRT near Waupaca, Greg's home town. Greg was the original editor of the local silent sports magazine...and some say coined the phrase for a national movement. Greg died at age 52 while skiing of a heart attack.

Picked up an 18" bike for Jason to have at our place. The 12" was too small for him and the 16" is at his house.
He took to it fast even if it is a just a teeny bit too big for him. He isn't afraid to fail. He started calling it is "magic" bike because it went through the grass and "everywhere". First time on it he tried the hand brake, without success.

Then we went on some singletrack behind our house. He was concerned how I was going to get my bike which I had left behind to clear some branches out of the way.

Plover to Appleton South/Fastest Route? This was a running time. Stops included. 1st stop to buy a hot dog and coke at mile 42 and the unexpected 15-20 minute stop at mile 50 or so at an auction where I spied an old AMF tank bike that I thought might be nice to get to use a flower planter (should have taken a pic of it). I had to ask a few people if they'd bid on it for me. Finally found a guy, but it went for $30 when I told him $5-6 was my limit.  Garmin Data.

WEMS North Kettle race. Mid-distance. 50 miles in 5:50. 6-8+ mile loops. 100% single track. Finished 9th out of 20 some racers in this catagory. No age divisions....I could have been the oldest guy out there. Got off the bike maybe 4 times for a total of 5 minutes or so.
Got to say hi to a lot of friends in the local racing scene for this type of racing.
The course was very rocky from the till deposited by the glaciers and although not overly technical, if you didn't pay attention it could get ugly in a hurry and after 3-4 hours it begins to wear on you. I should have been more generous on my fork setting and maybe my neck and shoulders may not have hurt 3 days after the race.
Wish I'd have worn my Garmin chest strap to get the HR info. I forgot to turn it off right away so the Garmin data is a bit off compared to actual race data.
First time video work done by race director Brittany....go to full screen mode to get a little bit of an idea of the rocks. 
A little history of the Park which was formed by the great glaciers 20,000 years ago.

Photo credits Brittany Nigh