2014-08 Colorado

Ray and LeAnn went out to Denver over Labor Day weekend to visit Mariah.  We left early Saturday morning and arrived in Denver about 7:15AM. Mariah and Adam picked us up at the airport.  We headed tot he Cherry Creek Farmers Market and nibbled and snacked our way through breakfast.  From there we headed up to the downtown area and got our first look at Mariah's apartment/loft.  She is located just a block from the union depot, which she can see from her window, and just a couple of blocks from her new job at PWC. It is very convenient location and she is enjoying it very much.

  

 Our next stop was the Denver Botanical Garden, to see the Chihuly glass sculptures.  We had seen his work in January in Phoenix, and were greatly surprised that there were many different glass pieces here from those we had seen earlier.  Mariah and Adam had also seen his permanent exhibit out in Seattle.  We  all enjoy his work, especially the way he works the colors and shapes into the existing gardens. 

After dinner, we went to a place called Upstairs Circus, which is a bar that is also a build it yourself craft studio.  They have dozens of crafts to choose from, and include leather work, painting, string art, and woodwork among its projects.  The staff helps you with any questions and guides you through the project.  The nice aspect of this place is that everyone can do their own thing, whatever interests them.  They had about 8 tables set up that seated 6-10 people each, with all the common tools needed at each table.  We all enjoyed projects and had a nice keepsake from out trip to Denver.  If you look hard enough, you may see some people you know.  http://upstairscircus.com/social-gallery/

We were up early Sunday morning to head down to Colorado Springs to attend the Colorado Balloon Classic.  The hot air balloons take off from Memorial Park in the middle of Colorado Springs.  The park has an elevated ridge running through it, giving a nice elevated view of the balloon field. On the other side of the ridge, was large lake, and with the direction on Sunday, the balloons were able to go across the lake, with many taking a dip in the lake, showing how skilled the pilots are to be able to just skim the lake surface.  The lake was like glass for the first hour or so of the morning.   the upper elevation winds were blowing opposite of the lower elevations, so some of the balloons were able to make a couple of passes over the lake.  With the lake in the foreground, and mountains in the background, this is a beautiful sight for launching hot air balloons.  We counted about 60 balloons taking off on Sunday morning. 
 

It got a little windy as the morning progressed, so we got to watch some of the tethered balloons get taken down with a little extra effort as the crews battled the increasing winds.

 In the afternoon, we went to Garden of the Gods and revisited one of the places we went to on vacation back in 1997.  Mariah climbed some of the same rocky areas she did back then.  Sunday night, we went cosmic bowling with Adam and his mom, sister and nephew.




On Monday we took the shuttle bus down the 16th St Pedestrian Mall about 10 blocks to the state capital area for the Taste of Colorado.   We enjoyed a few state fair type foods such as sweet corn (but no cheese curds to be found) before heading back on the shuttle bus to Mariah's apartment.  We then headed to Coors Field for the Rockies baseball game with Sand Fransisco.  It was an interesting day at the ballpark, as they first had to finish a suspended game from May, so they played 3 innings and then started the regularly scheduled game.  We had to leave during the 5th inning so that we could get to the airport to catch our flight home. 

The weather was great the whole weekend, and we enjoyed spending it in Denver with Mariah and Adam.  they were great hosts and tour guides as we did some new, different and fun activities together.

2014-08 Lake Wabedo

I was invited up to Dave’s cabin on Lake Wabedo along with my brother-in-law John and his high school classmates Bud and Joel for a weekend getaway.   I rode up with Dave on Thursday afternoon.  We stopped for lunch and happened across an old Studebaker in the parking lot of the restaurant.  We arrived about 7:00 and unloaded our stuff and then headed to the Anchorage Inn for dinner. 

After dinner, we built a campfire and enjoyed a relaxing evening catching up with each other.

Dave built a new garage last fall with an attic above for guest sleeping quarters and a small kitchen an bathroom area while he tears down the existing structure and builds a new house on the property.  The sleeping area is called the bunkhouse, and has various beds and furniture in place for the time being.  He also has a trailer parked next to the garage for him and Vicki’s living quarters.

On Friday morning, we did a few chores around the lot, and then went for a 4 wheel ATV ride.  This was my first time riding an ATV, and it was a lot of fun as we drove through the state park land just down the road from his place.  This has long been his hunting grounds, so he knows the area very well.  There are both wide main trails and some smaller trails shooting off into the woods

The rest of the group arrived around noon, and we had a tee time set up at Ridgewood, one of the local golf courses north of Longville.  The course was in really nice shape, even though our golf games weren’t.  However, on this trip, it was more about the friendship and good times than the score.  We went back to the Anchorage for dinner after our round.

Lest you think we ate every meal out, this was the last restaurant meal.  Dave and Vicki had prepared sausage gravy and biscuits for breakfast on Saturday.  After breakfast we headed back out on the 4 wheelers with the whole gang.  Dave had picked up his son-in-laws ATV so that everyone could ride together.  It was another beautiful day in the woods.  We had one minor issue with a sled overheating, but after letting it cool and towing it part of the way, we were all back up and running for the ride home.

In the afternoon, we took the pontoon out for a tour of the lake, and the adjacent Little Boy Lake.  These are connected by a channel and you have to go under a couple of bridges, with not a lot of head clearance.  Since there is no canopy on the pontoon, we fit under just fine.  We saw a lot of loons while on the boat ride, and also hear them all weekend long.  We took a little swim out in the middle of the lake before heading back to the cabin for dinner.  Dave had prepared some smoked ribs for dinner, along with potato salad and corn on the cob.  The evening ended with cocktails and conversation around the campfire, discussing some of life’s greatest issues.

Sunday was a relaxing morning at the cabin, and then another round of golf at Ridgewood.  We played a little better today, as it helped having seen the course a couple of days earlier.  Even though it is relatively flat, there are some hidden trouble spots that can surprise you on your first round.  We came home and barbecued some huge rib eye steaks along with potato salad and corn on the cob again.

Monday morning, we finished off the left over food with a skillet fried concoction of potatoes, steak, and summer sausage before heading out on the lake for another pontoon ride.  Besides the loons on the lake, we saw a couple of eagles keeping watch over the lake.  We had great weather all weekend with mostly sunny skies and comfortable temperatures.  A sweatshirt in the morning would feel good, but then give way to shorts and t-shirts in the afternoon.

Dave was a wonderful host and we had a great mix of activities and down time to enjoy the cabin, the lake and the north woods.  

2014-07 RAGBRAI

Ray and LeAnn rode in the RAGBRAI bike tour this year, going from Rock Valley to Mason City.  We rode for 3 days (about 155 miles) and then drove the support vehicle one day.  We rode with Mariah's friend Meghan's dad (Ken), sister Emily and her boyfriend Greg, and a friend of Ken's, Dan.  They rode the entire ride this year (418 miles).   We were Team 13 Rhinos, named after the 13 kids in Ken's dad's family.  We all wore colorful rhinos on our helmets, which made it much easier to spot each other in the crowds.  this was Ray's 5th time doing some portion of RAGBRAI, and LeAnn's 2nd. 

We drove down to Mason City on Saturday to drop the van off for picking up later.  We parked the van at a Wal-Mart that was just off the main route.  Ken then picked us up and we all headed for Rock Valley. 

We got to Rock Valley and set up camp at a driving range, which had been flooded earlier this year, as Rock Valley suffered great damage due to heavy rains.  We went downtown and got a bite to eat and listed to the music at the beer garden.  We had to meet a fellow biker to pick up our wrist and bike bands, since we had decided to go late and didn't get our credentials ordered.  there were lots of rider credentials available through the RAGBRAI website for those who's plans had changed.

Rock Valley had created a bunch of statues and artwork that was on display Saturday night.  On Sunday morning we got up and headed out of town.  We had a least a quarter mile of walking through the street lined with flags before we could actually get on the bikes and start pedaling.  Sunday was a warm day in the upper 80's to low 90's but a high heat index over 100 at some time.  The wind was form the south, so mainly a cross wind for us.

We stopped for lunch at Mr. Pork Chop.  He grills hundreds if not thousands of pork chops a day to feed the hungry bikers.  The pork chops are at least an inch thick and so tender and juicy.  Iowa pork at its best.  He sets up every day for lunch and parks a large pink school bus at the farm he sets up at.  He uses corn cobs for fuel for his grill , and usually has 2 grills going simultaneously with at least 100 pork chops on each grill.  The lines are long and the wait time was close to 30 minutes

After a 75 mile ride, we camped in Okoboji/Milford, and stayed at Boji Bay, a new pool and camping area in Milford.  We used the pool showers for cleaning up, but they only had cold water and were outdoors, usually used for cleaning off before and after getting into the pool for swimming.  The one advantage was that your biking clothes got washed at the same time you did.

On Monday we got up to head to Emmitsburg, via LeAnn's hometown of Graettinger.  We stopped for breakfast outside of Terrill, and as we were leaving, we saw LeAnn's cousin Darwin and his son Brian along with his fiance Natasha in line for the Farm Boys breakfast.  What are the odds of running into someone when there are at least 20,000 people riding every day.  We chatted with them for about 15 minutes before heading off with plans to see them in Graettinger.

Since there are food an beverage stands set up all along the route, not just in the town, we stopped at the Iowa Craft Brewers beer garden for a beer.  They had about 15 different craft brews on tap, just waiting for the thirsty riders.


We came in to Graettinger from the west, ans topped just outside of town where Bethel Lutheran church had set up a stand with food and beverages.  We had a monkey tail (frozen bananas covers with chocolate and nuts), signed their welcome board, and talked with a bunch of LeAnn's friends and relatives. 

We pedaled the rest of the way into Graettinger and had a great view of the town from the top of the hill.  The town was packed as many people were coming through town at lunch time, so stopped to get a bite to eat.  We got a chicken sandwich from the fire department and had a beer in the beer garden.  All the local vendors and establishments appeared to be doing very well. 




We stayed downtown for a couple of hours and then headed to LeAnn's mom's house visit.  She was amazed at the number of people in town, even when she went up town earlier in the morning.  Darwin and Marilyn came over for a visit while we were there and we chatted about how good of job Graettinger did with their RAGBRAI prep.  We headed out of town after a couple hours at Lois', and headed south into Emmitsburg and a 20+ mph headwind for about 8 miles to complete a 45 mile day.  We were tuckered out when we got to Emmitsburg, but a quick shower at the shower truck (with warm water) helped everyone feel better. 
A few clouds were building as a cool front was expected to come in on Tuesday, making for a nice sunset at the campground.

 Tuesday was our day to drive, so we broke camp and headed to Forest City.  We got camp set up and headed for town about 11:00.  We at a boy scout stand, and I had a skinless bratwurst.  It was very tasty and the first time I had a skinless version.  LeAnn got a loaded baked potato, and then found a deep fried, chipotle stuffed, pickle on a stick.  It was very tasty.   We also had sweet corn that was steamed by a wood fired steam engine.   In the afternoon, we toured the giant Winnebago plant that is headquartered in Forest City, and then met up with our neighbor Mike, who was going to ride with us on Wednesday

Wednesday was a very short 35 mile day to Mason City.  Emily and Greg rode their tandem bike in kilts, and were enjoying the slow paced, multiple stop aspect of the day.  We caught up to them at the beer garden outside of Aurora.  The beer garden was next to a demonstration plot, and as you can see, the corn was doing very well in this part of Iowa.   We then took a nice leisurely ride through the neighborhood on the north side of Clear Lake, most of this leg was under the tree canopy. 

As we arrived in Clear Lake, a large group of riders dressed as Waldo rode in.  We later found out they were part of wedding party that was getting married on the beach.  LeAnn had a buca-wich for lunch, which was a 6" hoagie bun that was drilled out from the cut end and filled with meats or stuffing.  It worked well in that the stuffing stayed in the bun and didn't drip out the sides.

We finished the ride to Mason City, where Ray picked up the van and met LeAnn and the others at the campsite at the high school.  We packed up and headed back to Eagan with lots of new memories of our trip halfway across Iowa on our bikes, and thoughts of doing this again in the years to come.