July 2, 2007 – Gretchen’s Wedding and Our Vacation
We left on vacation Monday, July 2, 2007. We stopped in Redding, CA and stayed at the Bear Mt. Camping and RV Resort where I went biking down to the lake. Ilene stayed in camp and shared her dinner with the yellow jackets. When I returned, we watched a movie on our laptop and went to bed.
We got up early the next morning, ate breakfast, and drove into own to the rails to trails bike trailhead and I rode my bike on it. We went to Turtle Bay and saw the newly constructed expansion foot bridge. I walked and Ilene wheel chaired over it. It was made with colored glass and granite on the floor. We also hit the Liquor Barn and presto I was $150 lighter.
We arrived in Concord, Ca. around 3:15 p.m. We were here to see Ilene’s niece, Gretchen, get married. We checked into our motel and met Matt and Zida and the kids about 10 minutes later. Showered and left for the rehearsal dinner where we met Marci and Tim. We had a great Chinese dinner.
July 4th – I rode my bike about 20 miles before the wedding, and then we drove to the church for Mike and Gretchen’s wedding. Charis, our 2-1/2 year old grand daughter was flower girl. She stood through the whole thing and it was a pretty long service. After the ceremony we drove to the reception. Katie talked Byran into dancing his “wiggle butt” dance. Not to be made the only fool; Byran dragged Lee up to the dance floor to do his own version of the “wiggle butt” dance. Everyone had lots of fun. It was a very warm day – around 105.
When Matt left the church after the wedding, the throttle stuck open on his van. Marci and Tim were directly in front of them. Tim heard them coming and got the “heck out of Dodge.” It was the cruise control cable that caused the problem. Matt fixed it the best he could with the tools in the field.
Lynn and Lee did a great job. We went over to their house for leftovers that evening and had a nice visit. Most everyone went up on their roof to see the fireworks.
July 5th – I went for another bike ride, about 15 miles, got a flat, and rode another 3 miles on the flat tire. I tried to get room service to fix my tire – NO LUCK. We left Concord and drove to Lompoc, Ca. to see Ray and Carolyn.
I went for a bike ride with Ray’s biking club. Ray, Carolyn, Phil (Ray’s high school friend), and Ilene met all of us at Mother Hubbard’s in Buelton for breakfast. Ray was still on crutches and he and Ilene (who was also on crutches) caused a lot of stares. When we left, a small miracle happened. Someone honked their horn at me because I lost my bike Friday jacket off the back of my bike. As we were riding along, a BIG miracle happened. I was having an intestinal problem when low and behold there was a roll of toilet paper along the side of the road. As all my friends know, I pick everything up. This was one of my more useful items, and yes, I did use it. I felt much better after that.
Ray and I got into a discussion on whether my Friday bike needed more revolutions of the peddles to go the same speed as a regular bike. So, Ray and I did the math and it turned out that it was the same – 189.34 revolutions per mile. This even surprised me. We were watching Tour de France every evening.
During our visit, Ray and I went to the golf course and I hit a bucket of balls. We went to a big Log Cabin called AJ’s (I believe) and had a nice steak dinner, rented Norbit with Eddie Murphy (very funny but not for kids), went to a movie matinee and saw Robin Williams in “License to Wed.” We also went to the Chumash Indian Casino and had lunch at the golf club.
From Lompoc we headed east across Nevada to Pitkin, Colorado. Our friends, Joanne and Jim, returned from their vacation the day before we arrived. We did a lot of visiting. Jim took us 4-wheelin’ in his jeep to see elk. Yes, we all know there are no elk in Colorado. Jim has tried to show me elk for 40 years and I have only seen one that was on three legs and it had a fence around it. Didn’t see elk but saw some beautiful buck deer in the velvet. One day Jim drove us UP to the Alpine Tunnel which was built around 1881 to bring supplies to the miners. You couldn’t go in but at the entrance it was 11,581 feet. I rode my bike Friday down the VERY rocky road from the tunnel (13 miles) What a blast! Glad I didn’t have to ride up. You can check out www.pitkincolorado.com and click on Alpine tunnel. We learned a new word, “Birga” which means rain that does not hit the ground.
When we left Pitkin, I rode my bike out to the main highway (around 15 miles). It was down hill, but I had to peddle all the way because there was a very strong wind blowing up the canyon. People are very funny sometimes. There was this farmer that I rode up to on my bike and he was kind of hostile toward me and my bike. He quickly changed his tune when I told him his cow 283 was loose on the road.
I also rode around the top of Monarch Pass which is 11,000 ft plus. From there we met Rene’ and Robert (Joanne and Jim’s daughter and son-in -law) in Canon City. They invited us for dinner at their house in Florence, Co. and we stayed the night. Mike, Rene’s brother was working up in Denver so we didn’t get to see him. I took Megan for a bike ride before we left. (She’s 8.)
We made it to Valli’s house in Denver by 3:00 p.m. that same day. Valli and her son, Gary, arrived home from work by 4:00. Valli took us to Black Hawk for a $3.99 Prime Rib dinner, then she went and won 4 jackpots on one machine. Byran and I made our usual deposit to help the natives.
While waiting for Valli to finish her week out, I took a bike ride, about 10 miles, with a new friend, Nancy. When everyone got home, we got ready for a fishing trip to Willow Lake. Gary barbequed chicken and Valli made a nice pasta salad. We left the next morning for the high lake. It was beautiful, around 8-9,000 ft., clear and cold. We met Karen, a nurse Valli works with, and her dad. Fishing was excellent – we caught about 56 cut throat trout in two days. On the way home I rode Friday down from Berthoud Pass (11,000 ft), about 13 miles. It was disappointing because I had to peddle all the way down because of the head wind. Gary fixed stuffed trout for dinner – mmmmm-good. I am still watching Tour de France. Ilene and Valli took another trip to Black Hawk – there is just something about those Prime Rib dinners that are cheap but end up costing mucho bucks.
We left Denver and drove straight through to this side of Ontario, OR where I splurged and let Ilene sleep in a motel instead of the truck. We got up the next morning and drove a few miles to Farewell Bend State Park. The Snake River Reservoir here is about 40 miles long. We took a boat ride to the end and back with a stop along the way for a cool down swim. Cat fishing was good here.
We left Thursday morning, July 26th and headed for home. We were gone for 24 days and home looked good! It’s always nice to go, but “there’s no place like home.”
We left on vacation Monday, July 2, 2007. We stopped in Redding, CA and stayed at the Bear Mt. Camping and RV Resort where I went biking down to the lake. Ilene stayed in camp and shared her dinner with the yellow jackets. When I returned, we watched a movie on our laptop and went to bed.
We got up early the next morning, ate breakfast, and drove into own to the rails to trails bike trailhead and I rode my bike on it. We went to Turtle Bay and saw the newly constructed expansion foot bridge. I walked and Ilene wheel chaired over it. It was made with colored glass and granite on the floor. We also hit the Liquor Barn and presto I was $150 lighter.
We arrived in Concord, Ca. around 3:15 p.m. We were here to see Ilene’s niece, Gretchen, get married. We checked into our motel and met Matt and Zida and the kids about 10 minutes later. Showered and left for the rehearsal dinner where we met Marci and Tim. We had a great Chinese dinner.
July 4th – I rode my bike about 20 miles before the wedding, and then we drove to the church for Mike and Gretchen’s wedding. Charis, our 2-1/2 year old grand daughter was flower girl. She stood through the whole thing and it was a pretty long service. After the ceremony we drove to the reception. Katie talked Byran into dancing his “wiggle butt” dance. Not to be made the only fool; Byran dragged Lee up to the dance floor to do his own version of the “wiggle butt” dance. Everyone had lots of fun. It was a very warm day – around 105.
When Matt left the church after the wedding, the throttle stuck open on his van. Marci and Tim were directly in front of them. Tim heard them coming and got the “heck out of Dodge.” It was the cruise control cable that caused the problem. Matt fixed it the best he could with the tools in the field.
Lynn and Lee did a great job. We went over to their house for leftovers that evening and had a nice visit. Most everyone went up on their roof to see the fireworks.
July 5th – I went for another bike ride, about 15 miles, got a flat, and rode another 3 miles on the flat tire. I tried to get room service to fix my tire – NO LUCK. We left Concord and drove to Lompoc, Ca. to see Ray and Carolyn.
I went for a bike ride with Ray’s biking club. Ray, Carolyn, Phil (Ray’s high school friend), and Ilene met all of us at Mother Hubbard’s in Buelton for breakfast. Ray was still on crutches and he and Ilene (who was also on crutches) caused a lot of stares. When we left, a small miracle happened. Someone honked their horn at me because I lost my bike Friday jacket off the back of my bike. As we were riding along, a BIG miracle happened. I was having an intestinal problem when low and behold there was a roll of toilet paper along the side of the road. As all my friends know, I pick everything up. This was one of my more useful items, and yes, I did use it. I felt much better after that.
Ray and I got into a discussion on whether my Friday bike needed more revolutions of the peddles to go the same speed as a regular bike. So, Ray and I did the math and it turned out that it was the same – 189.34 revolutions per mile. This even surprised me. We were watching Tour de France every evening.
During our visit, Ray and I went to the golf course and I hit a bucket of balls. We went to a big Log Cabin called AJ’s (I believe) and had a nice steak dinner, rented Norbit with Eddie Murphy (very funny but not for kids), went to a movie matinee and saw Robin Williams in “License to Wed.” We also went to the Chumash Indian Casino and had lunch at the golf club.
From Lompoc we headed east across Nevada to Pitkin, Colorado. Our friends, Joanne and Jim, returned from their vacation the day before we arrived. We did a lot of visiting. Jim took us 4-wheelin’ in his jeep to see elk. Yes, we all know there are no elk in Colorado. Jim has tried to show me elk for 40 years and I have only seen one that was on three legs and it had a fence around it. Didn’t see elk but saw some beautiful buck deer in the velvet. One day Jim drove us UP to the Alpine Tunnel which was built around 1881 to bring supplies to the miners. You couldn’t go in but at the entrance it was 11,581 feet. I rode my bike Friday down the VERY rocky road from the tunnel (13 miles) What a blast! Glad I didn’t have to ride up. You can check out www.pitkincolorado.com and click on Alpine tunnel. We learned a new word, “Birga” which means rain that does not hit the ground.
When we left Pitkin, I rode my bike out to the main highway (around 15 miles). It was down hill, but I had to peddle all the way because there was a very strong wind blowing up the canyon. People are very funny sometimes. There was this farmer that I rode up to on my bike and he was kind of hostile toward me and my bike. He quickly changed his tune when I told him his cow 283 was loose on the road.
I also rode around the top of Monarch Pass which is 11,000 ft plus. From there we met Rene’ and Robert (Joanne and Jim’s daughter and son-in -law) in Canon City. They invited us for dinner at their house in Florence, Co. and we stayed the night. Mike, Rene’s brother was working up in Denver so we didn’t get to see him. I took Megan for a bike ride before we left. (She’s 8.)
We made it to Valli’s house in Denver by 3:00 p.m. that same day. Valli and her son, Gary, arrived home from work by 4:00. Valli took us to Black Hawk for a $3.99 Prime Rib dinner, then she went and won 4 jackpots on one machine. Byran and I made our usual deposit to help the natives.
While waiting for Valli to finish her week out, I took a bike ride, about 10 miles, with a new friend, Nancy. When everyone got home, we got ready for a fishing trip to Willow Lake. Gary barbequed chicken and Valli made a nice pasta salad. We left the next morning for the high lake. It was beautiful, around 8-9,000 ft., clear and cold. We met Karen, a nurse Valli works with, and her dad. Fishing was excellent – we caught about 56 cut throat trout in two days. On the way home I rode Friday down from Berthoud Pass (11,000 ft), about 13 miles. It was disappointing because I had to peddle all the way down because of the head wind. Gary fixed stuffed trout for dinner – mmmmm-good. I am still watching Tour de France. Ilene and Valli took another trip to Black Hawk – there is just something about those Prime Rib dinners that are cheap but end up costing mucho bucks.
We left Denver and drove straight through to this side of Ontario, OR where I splurged and let Ilene sleep in a motel instead of the truck. We got up the next morning and drove a few miles to Farewell Bend State Park. The Snake River Reservoir here is about 40 miles long. We took a boat ride to the end and back with a stop along the way for a cool down swim. Cat fishing was good here.
We left Thursday morning, July 26th and headed for home. We were gone for 24 days and home looked good! It’s always nice to go, but “there’s no place like home.”
posted by Byran on the side at 2:23 PM
