2010-07 RAGBRAI XXXVIII

Ray went on RAGBRAI with his brother-in-law John, neighbor Mike and Mike's brother Gary.  RAGBRAI (Registers Annual Great Bike Ride Across Iowa) is a 7 day bike ride across the state of Iowa which starts on the Western border and ends on the eastern border.  This year the ride started in Sioux City and ended in Dubuque. 

Mike had rented a trailer so that we could haul our bikes and equipment with us as we rode.  We drove down to Sioux City and set up our camp between the river and the interstate before heading downtown for the nightly entertainment.  The host cities have bands, food, beer gardens and lots of entertainment.  In Sioux City, the vendor area was very tight with only a few feet of walking space between the vendor tents.  I was disappointed that the food vendors were all within the beer garden area and they were charging a $10 admission to everyone who didn't have a RAGBRAI wristband.  Most places have the food vendors outside the beer garden area.  The headline band was Smash-Mouth, who have a few songs you hear on the radio, but they didn't sound that good in person.

We got up early on Sunday and headed for the Missouri River to dip our back tire in the river.  This is a tradition of RAGBRAI riders at the start of the ride and then they dip their front tire into the Mississippi River at the end of the ride.  The morning was beautiful with clear skies and hardly any wind (even the many wind turbines were not moving).  We climbed the hill up form the river and headed for our first overnight town of Algona, about 70 miles to the east.   The crowds on Sunday were huge as many bikers ride this day since it doesn't require taking time off from work for most people.  For the first few hours of the ride, we filled up most of the 2 lane roads we were on.  Almost all the roads we travel on are closed to traffic in both directions during the ride, and the state patrol or sheriff's control the intersection crossings for added safety.  Sunday was a hilly day with about 3700 feet of total climb.  Fortunately the weather was comfortable for riding, but I could feel my lack of any real training (I only had about 75 miles on my bike before the ride and none in the 3 weeks  before the ride) as I would come to the crest of hills, but then I enjoyed coasting down the hills.

The first overnight town was Storm Lake and we were camping at the high school on the lawn.  We got in about 3:30 and met up with John who had come down Sunday afternoon.  The city had opened the showers in the high school for us to use, but it felt more like a sauna in there.  We set up our tents and a screen tent that Mike had brought and enjoyed the cool breeze before heading downtown for some dinner.  There were lots of choices for dinner and dessert.  We wandered around for a little bit before heading back to camp and turning in for the night.  A full moon was rising as the sun was setting.

Day 2 took us from Storm Lake to Algona.  We had a south wind which aided us on the northbound segments which accounted for about half the ride. The terrain was also a lot flatter with only about 1100 feet of total climb.  We made it Pocahontas around 10:45 and had lunch.  I had a huge pulled pork sandwich that had enough meet for 2 buns.  Just outside of town, I saw a farmer who was sitting and riding a stationary bike along the side of the road.  it turns out he is a 90 year man who has done this on numerous rides, cheering the moving riders on from his exercise bike.  A little further down the road, we stopped at a large water slide that one of the farmers had built for the ride.  Although it always looks like fun and great way to cool off, I never wanted to ride after getting all my clothes wet, so didn't take the plunge.  One of the long time food vendors was also set up at this stop.  Mr. Pork Chop grills pork chops on two large grills that use dried corn cobs for fuel.  The corn cobs are kept inside a compartment on the bus.  The chops are about 1-1/2 thick and served in a napkin so you can eat them as finger food

Our next stop was West Bend, home of the Grotto of the Redemption.  It is built out of stone, concrete and gemstones by a local priest and took over 42 years to build in honor of his survival from pneumonia.  We rolled into Algona around 5:00 and set up camp in the riverside park.  This time the city had set up portable shower trailers, but Gary had found out from one of the city park staff that they had set up a shower at the power plant up the hill.  We walked up and found that no one was using that shower and we were able to have a nice high pressure shower along with a tour of the city power generation station from Kevin in the power plant.  We walked to the nearby shopping center to get a bite to eat, but both the local pizza places were overwhelmed by the number of people and everyone coming out said they didn't recommend eating there at that time.  We tried the Hy-Vee, but they had already closed their cafe, so we ended up at Subway.  They were running low on bread and some of the fixings, but we were able to have dinner.  We didn't make it downtown in Algona.

There were a lot of interesting bikes, including a large wheel direct pedaling old style bike long with multiple recumbents and decorated bikes.  There was even a family of 6 on a bicycle built for 4 plus two in a burley being pulled along.

We stayed at the house of a friend of Gary's on Tuesday night which was great because we had about an inch of rain overnight, and we were cool and dry in the basement.  We went to the Other Place (OP) for dinner and enjoyed a nice sit down meal in an outdoor covered area.  The portions were huge and I had some great baked lasagna in about a 6" diameter bowl.  We then went downtown and checked out the town.  They have done a lot of refurbishing in the downtown area and have a nice waterfront park area that housed the stage for the band.  We went up on the paddle wheel boat that was docked along the water, but it was already full upstairs so we couldn't get a seat.

After the storm went through it cooled down for Wednesday.  The wind was light from the north, so it was mostly a cross wind.  The route was about 52 miles and the total climb was again about 1100 feet, but the net drop was about 200 feet.  We ate pancakes at Chris Cakes in Swaledale.  They have long griddles that have a large tank that rolls across the griddle and spits out 4 sets of batter at a time from end to end.  By the time they have put down the batter, it is time to go back and flip them, then go back to the start and beginning serving, sometimes even flipping them into the air for the next person in line to catch on their plate.  They can feed a lot of people in a short period of time.  The person living across the street from the park had a lot of goofy contraptions that he had made and had on display.

The little town of Cartersville had a very large crowd gathering along the road.  When we rolled up we found out why.  One of the residents had a large swimming pond that they had rigged up a rope swing with trapeze type bar.  There was a $5 charge to enter the pond area, and then a long line to use the rope swing.  We watched quite a few people take the plunge and everyone was having a good time.

The overnight town was Charles City, and we ended up camping in a front yard thanks to Gary's friend Mike who we had stayed with the night before.  We walked downtown and grabbed some food and walked along the river.  Due to the large amount of rain that Iowa has had over the last couple weeks, all the rivers were very high, with some even overflowing their banks.  Earlier in the week, a dam in Manchester was overrun with water and gave way, emptying the local lake.  When we got back to the house we were camping at, we could still hear the band downtown even though we were 10 blocks out,  but it was not enough to keep me awake (not much will though).

Our final day was Thursday as we rode the longest let of 82 miles from Charles City to Waterloo.  The wind was again light and from the north, but the hills were getting larger and closer together.  We climbed about 2600 feet on day 5.  The first 10 miles were paved with brand new asphalt and made for some easy riding.  Towards the end of that stretch we cam upon a serious accident that had just occurred recently in which the rider eventually died.  Even though you are cruising along, something like that makes you think about how things can change so quickly.

We rolled into Parkersburg, which had been hit by a couple of tragedies in the last few years.  About half the town was wiped out by a giant EF5 tornado that hit in 2008.  We rode through the new and rebuilt area on top of the hill on our way out of town.  Basically, everything has been rebuilt since then, down to the streets and roads.  The other tragedy was the murder of a beloved football coach by a former player.  The Parkersburg football program has produced 5 NFL players over the years, out of town of about 2000 residents.

Our last stop was Waterloo.  The campground was set up in a field outside the casino, but the field was very muddy with a lot of low spots, so we were glad we didn't have to camp there Thursday night.  The water provided was in a large 4' diameter by 10' tall tank with a couple of spigots on it.  The casino area was also very far from the downtown area, so there were a lot of people very disappointed in the Waterloo facilities.

We packed up our gear and bikes and headed back to Minnesota while dropping off Gary along the way.  We had an enjoyable time with great weather overall and a lot of good memories.  Thanks to Mike for all the coordination and thanks to Gary and John for their time behind the wheel.

2010-07 Expo 2010

The Expo 2010 is a 6 month long (May-October 2010) world’s fair and exposition being held along both side of the Huangpu River in Shanghai. The fairgrounds are over 5 square kilometers. Almost 200 countries are taking part and either building or sharing pavilions to show off their countries culture and/or products.

I arrived on the expo grounds a little before 9:00 when the gates open. Once the gates opened, it took almost an hour to get through the metal detector and x-ray screening as so many people were in line for the opening. Almost 500,000 people were in attendance the day I went. A very large majority was of course Chinese, but I was surprised I didn’t see more foreigners. On my way over, I was surprised the flight was not totally full, thinking that there would be a lot more people flying in and out of Shanghai than normally. A lot of tickets were provided to the locals free of charge to give them the opportunity to attend. The cost was 160 RMB or about $25. The expo is open until midnight every day.

After I entered the grounds, I saw huge crowds lined up under the pedestrian bridges. As I walked by, I noticed signs indicating the wait from that point of the line was 5 hours. I was hoping that not all pavilions would have waits that long. I never did figure out what that line was for.

Many countries have their own pavilions which are usually designed to represent some aspect of the county or culture. Some counties and regions group them selves together into a single larger building. Many Pacific Island countries did this as did many African countries.

The river that splits the area in two has a very large fountain system that is designed to put on a water show that is choreographed to music. Also near the river is a large area full of misters that create a fog across the plaza. This feels very good on a hot and humid day.

 

Many people brought their own fold up stools that they would use for seating.  They would open them up and make a seating area wherever they were.  The stools were only about 6"-8" tall, and I don't think I could have been comfortable on them.

Some of the pavilions have rides or shows, but most have displays of culture, history, products and/or artifacts. Some sell products or food (Belgium had waffles, ice cream and beer). One pavilion featured a 4-D show (3-D movie with interactive, moving seats), while another had a small ride on its rooftop.

To get back and forth across the river, large ferry boats crisscrossed the river every 15 minutes from 5 docking points. These boats had to also navigate through the regular heavy river traffic, which includes coal barges and large ocean going vessels.

The expo sells “passport” books which can be stamped at the various pavilions. These have become very popular here with long lines just to get stamps at some of the pavilions. Some countries even stopped doing the stamping, or limited the hours because the felt that many people just got the stamps and didn’t actually spend any time looking at the displays.  The Cuba pavilion moved their outside the building to keep the building from getting to crowded.  They were selling their main two exports inside--rum and cigars.  I tried the rum, but not the cigars

As it got dark, many of the buildings came alive with colors and special lighting affects. Even the bridges that crossed the river were lit up with moving light displays.

I ended up leaving the expo about 8:00 after a long day of walking and standing in lines. I took the subway (one of 4 new lines added to support the expo) back towards the hotel. Even though I was there a full day, I did not see everything or go in to all the pavilions.

2010-07 Florida Vacation

This summer we headed down to the beaches of Florida for our summer vacation.  We stayed in Indian Shores, which is about halfway between Clearwater and St. Petersburg on the Gulf side of Florida.  There was no impact from the oil spill in this part of Florida. 

LeAnn, Mariah and Hailey went down on Saturday, and Ray and Kara followed on Sunday.  Kara returned from a mission trip to Cortez, CO on Saturday afternoon, which is why we went down on 2 different days.

Saturday and Sunday were rainy, and even the locals were complaining about the constant rain compared to the normal daily showers that come and go.  Fortunately on Sunday it quite raining around 6PM and did not affect the 4th of July fireworks in the area.  We went down to the beach across from the condo we stayed in to watch the fireworks.  We could see the large displays from both St. Petersburg and Clearwater from our location on the beach. 

More interesting was the local displays done by all the locals.  These ranged from sparklers and small fountains to full mortar style aerial displays.  A group not too far from us had a full 30 minute display including a 30' tall dancing fountain for the finale.  They had brought down a box  that was about 6'x2'x2' and full of the various fireworks they were shooting off.  There were a lot of families and small kids running around and playing during the fireworks, so we were a little surprised that such large fireworks could be so freely used on the beach.

It rained again most of the day on Monday, so we decided to go to the Tampa Rays baseball game.  They have an indoor stadium (the last non-retractable roof style dome in the majors), so the rain would not be a factor.  We went down to the stadium late in the morning to get tickets and spent the afternoon in St. Petersburg.  We first went to The Pier, which is shaped like an inverted pyramid.  We were a little disappointed since there The Pier is relatively small and there just was not that much to do there. 

From there we went to an early dinner to celebrate LeAnn's birthday.  She had wanted lobster, so we found a nice seafood restaurant down near the waterfront.  The food was very good and the restaurant had a very pleasant atmosphere.

The rain had stopped and we headed down to the ballpark.  It was a giveaway night at the ballpark, but it was only for people in their Ray's gear.  When the gal handing out the statues asked where our Ray's shirts or hats were, I told her that we were from MN and we had just lost the last series to the Rays, so she gave in and gave us the statues.  As long as we weren't from Boston (who the Rays were playing that night) we were OK in her book.

The stadium is pretty plain, although they have tried to spruce it up, but is still has the industrial feel of the Metrodome.  The roof is slanted with the high end towards the plate and most of the seats are along the foul lines and behind home plate.   It was a fun night and the Rays won (part of a sweep of Boston), so the hometown fans went home happy.

On Tuesday, the weather cleared and we spent the day at the local beach. It was very relaxing and enjoyable.

Wednesday we got up early and headed to Orlando to go to the Universal Studios theme park. Kara and Hailey enjoy the roller coaster rides and so they spent most of their times doing those rides. We also did some of the 3D and interactive rides. Most of the rides were less then 30 minute waits, but the river boat tour took almost an hour, even though the time only showed 30 minutes, and it was probably the most disappointing ride of the ones we did.

There was a lot of variety of foods and beverages available in the park (and the prices were reasonable). We did go to the Hard Rock Café for dinner in the late afternoon. On the back side of the Hard Rock there is a large section of the Berlin Wall. It is tucked behind the restaurant and wouldn’t normally be scene unless you were looking for it. We then headed next door to the Islands of Adventure sister theme park. This is where the new Hairy Potter section had just opened up. It was very crowded with much longer lines for the rides and activities in this section compared to the rest of the park. There was even a pair of 20 person long lines for getting a glass of something called butterbeer (butterscotch, vanilla cream soda and ginger ale) from a cart.

We went back to the Universal Studios for the closing video show and fireworks in the central pond area. We headed back to the car and made our way back to Indian Shores.

We slept in on Thursday and then headed down to St. Pete Beach. St. Pete’s Beach is a long public beach with soft white sand. The water was calm and comfortable. We spent about 3 hours on the beach then stopped at a local ice cream shop for a treat before heading back north for the evening

We ate dinner along the boardwalk in John’s Pass and then walked up and down the boardwalk. We saw a manatee swimming in the dock area. We also watched one of the fishing charters cleaning their catch and feeding the remains to the pelicans. They dumped the carcasses into the bay, and they were being eaten by a bunch of crabs. After getting back to the condo, we went next door to the Smugglers Cove miniature golf course. It was really busy and it took about 2 hours to play the 18 holes. They had some live baby alligators in one of their ponds, and we bought some meat chunks to feed them with.

Friday we got up and headed down to Ft DeSoto so we could take a ferry across the bay to Egmont Island. This is a small island that was originally a fort to protect the bay. It is now a bird sanctuary and national park. It still has a working lighthouse that has been in continuous use since 1858. After spending some time on the island, we got back on the ferry for a snorkeling adventure. The area we snorkeled was ruins of buildings that were previously on the island, but the island has been slowly eroding back into the ocean. The ruins are now some 200-300 yards from shore. There were huge schools of small fish all around the structure and then some bigger fish in some places.

On the ferry trip back, we took a longer route in search of dolphin and other sea life. We saw multiple dolphins, some sting rays, and even a manatee.