Grand Marais, MN

Another lovely annual fall trip to the north shore. Nothing like hearing the waves crashing into the shore all night long while tucked into a cozy cabin across the road from Lake Superior.






The only thing that may come close is this view from about 25 miles north, a little ways off the Gunflint Trail. Couldn't you just LIVE there? Ahhhhh...

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.

August is just about over (two more hours) and I feel pretty glad to say goodbye to it.

1 Bridge collapse
1 Crash of teammates
2 Power outages at home
1 Bat in the bedroom
1 Incident of me standing in the backyard in my pj's at 1:00 a.m. with the house lit up like a christmas tree and back door wide open (due to item above)
4+ Nights of less than optimum slumber due to thunder and lightning

Now for the good stuff...

1 Team Time Trial completed
1 Baby niece born (hi Ella!)
1 Visit from Kerry (I missed you!)

I hope September's good things list outweighs the not-so-good. Time will tell.

Starting next week, it's time to bust out the fall clothes!

Power Outage and Team Time Trial Weekend

The weekend started out at 4:00 a.m. on Saturday with a terrific lighning and thunderstorm. Unfortunately it knocked out our power. Just our half of the block, not the neighbors across the street or at the end of the block, they were enjoying their lights, A/C, refrigerators, dryers, dishwashers, radios, t.v.'s, garage door openers, outdoor fountains and computers all weekend long. We were sweating, and spending time outside because, really, on a clear day, without electricity, what does the indoors have to offer?

Number of times I flipped on a light switch when I knew darn well the power wasn't working: 2
Number of times I tried to turn on my computer when I knew darn well the power wasn't working: 1
Number of times I flipped OFF a light switch in a room when I left, when I knew darn well the power wasn't working: 1

I was glad that I had one clean/dry cycling outfit to wear to my race on Sunday. The only thing that wasn't clean was my team socks. At least I didn't have to resort to wearing a dirty jersey or wet shorts to my race.

The team time trial was fun. The weather was in the 70's, a bit windy, but pretty nice. Brook, Manda and Sara were my awesome teammates, who waited up for me just long enough when my chain fell off in the first 1/4 of the race, for me to catch back up and hang off the back for a few rounds. Our practice days paid off when we completed our turn arounds with smooth precision, nobody crashed and everyone worked together like a well-oiled bike chain.

Race number two is officially under my belt. I'll post pictures when they become available.



Tonight the power came back on after a day and a half. Amazing how dependent on electricity we've become.

I was surprised that what I missed the most was my computer!

But I did get some reading and quality napping time in.

Tonight I'm going to sleep well with the chiller buzzing away in the background. zzzzzzz