Crex Meadows
This morning I had the pleasure of waking up to this view.
The lake is full of coots and Canada Geese, along with some flying overhead. The birds were quiet last night due to heavy wind that blew all night long until the thunderstorm in the wee hours. In the morning, I got a couple pictures before I had to head back home. When I was driving out, about 30-40 sandhill cranes flew overhead. Good thing the roads are rarely traveled out there, because I found out that I am not good at driving and birdwatching. We saw a lake full of trumpeter swans on Saturday. More than I've ever seen before in one place. And mom spied a snake in the parking lot of the sand blow, and some unidentified reptile eggshells. The scrub oaks were red red red , and the other trees were starting to turn. Just a beautiful time of year to visit .

Wild River State Park

We camped at this MN state park this weekend. The weather was beautiful, as you can see from the pictures. 70's, no humidity. We put ourselves to work, gathering wildflower seeds (our job was to gather Penstemon seed pods) so the park can spread the prairie plants to reclaim the areas that are being converted back from farm fields. We also saw an astronomy presentation, got to look through a 10-inch telescope at the binary stars in the handle of the big dipper, and went to a presentation on snakes. It was a very educational 24 hours.

The trees are starting to turn and the park is just beautiful in the fall.

YIKES!

I just had the best/fastest bike ride ever. I was going to head out for an hour or so and do some intervals since I haven't been riding as much as I'd like, and could use to get in better shape. So I start down West River Road and I feel good, so I start to cruise. I figured I had a tailwind, because I was going a couple mph. faster than normal. I think I see a flash and I look up, the sky is dark to the north and it's getting windy. I ride faster, harder, determined to make it at least to the Ford bridge and back before I get drenched. I'm going faster, I go across the bridge, look to the north and east and see dark, dark sky. The kind of sky that will make you completely soaked in seconds. I ride faster across the bridge, now it's definitely a race against time. I see my friend Linsey from NOW bike club, who is running across the bridge in the other direction, say hi and keep going, faster, faster. I didn't know I could go this fast for this long. Where was this adrenaline during my time trials? I'm riding up East River Road now, heading back home, and I hear the tornado sirens going off. Haven't heard those in awhile, so it must be pretty serious, and the sky is now dark above me. I'm going fast, hard, in the big ring, but feeling very little effort, as if my legs are just going by themselves. I get to the little uphill by Summit Av. and finally feel some exertion and have to go back to the easy gear, but only because my lungs are burning, legs still feel fine. I go a few more blocks, now big droplets are falling and it's pretty dark and I don't have a light and I'm wearing my Bella kit, not exactly high visibility. A car turns left in front of me, I slow down to let him go, and the car behind him goes next and almost turns into me. I swerve, and the guy driving yells something out the window. I assume it was "I'm sorry." But I'm in too much of a hurry, and need to get home now, so I keep going. I get to the Lake St. bridge, and the rain starts coming harder. A runner goes by, looking unhappy. I'm really going all out now, around the corner, under the bridge, and the last half mile home. I look down, I'm going 20 mph. Still, seemingly no effort, just a strong desire to get home. I start to feel something pelting like hail, but not a lot. I worry about my car that's in the driveway. I go, go, go to beat the big rain, to beat the hail, to save my car. I pull into the alley and it really starts to rain just as I get into the garage. I look at my computer. avg. speed: 21.1

My best time trial speed ever.

Adrenaline is an amazing thing.

The winds that came right after I got home, as I was standing in the garage, actually scared me. I ran into the house, right to the basement. Luckily it passed quickly with a lot of rain but no damage. I did have rain coming down my chimney, though. That's a hard rain.

Just in case there was any doubt...

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Higher U.S. gasoline prices may slim more than just wallets, according to a new study from Washington University in St. Louis Entitled "A Silver Lining? The Connection between Gas Prices and Obesity," the study found that an additional $1 per gallon in real gasoline prices would reduce U.S. obesity by 15 percent after five years.

The report, written by Charles Courtemanche for his doctoral dissertation in health economics, found that the 13 percent rise in obesity between 1979 and 2004 can be attributed to falling pump prices.