Living on Island Time

After a 6-week separation while Robin was in England and then a few days suffering together with nasty colds we were eagerly anticipating our mini vacation on Whidbey Island. A very generous friend had offered the use of his weekend place (NOT a beach cabin - rather a luxury multi-level home right on the beach). Up til the last minute we were plotting how to include a RUSA permanent ride to continue our quest of the R-12 but then bagged it and headed up with no bikes. A stop at the Skagit Co-op store in Mt Vernon (a premium store) for supplies, a short visit and lunch with friends in Anacortes and then back south along the island to our desination.

It was fabulous. NO agenda (last time we could remember a vacation like that was our honeymoon 19 years ago - ack!). Walked on the beach, watched waves, sea animals, and birds, read, sat by the fire, slept a LOT - it was incredibly quiet, ate, talked, laughed. Absolutely brilliant. Thanks to our benefactors for use of their home and to Dian and Steve for the yummy lunch and always fun conversation. We even got to stop in to see Bellevue fugitives now living on Whidbey, Greg & Kathy and tour their place with the incredible view.

Now, still gotta get that permanent in before the end of the month...can you say hypothermia???

We've got the suds

We've had some great bike rides recently but I haven't taken the time to post anything and now Robin and I are both sick. When we are in the UK we can watch Spongebob Squarepants (we don't get the channel here) and in one episode Spongey gets the suds. That's how we feel.

Hot Chocolate Stand

I blew it on Sunday. The newly established SIR Team Ride was scheduled to start at 9am at Great Harvest Bread in Lake Forest Park. I'd been there once before but I got balled up on the way there, thinking I'd gone too far along 522, turned around, stopped to ask, and when I finally got there I'd already seen the gang about a half mile down the road starting their ride. No problem, I headed out on my own and explored some roads I hadn't ridden before, found a cool pedestrian bridge over 405 and ended up on the Sammamish River Trail after an hour or so of hill climbing. Great! As I headed back towards Lake Forest Park near the end of the Sammamish Trail before it meets up with the Burke Gilman there was a guy with his 2 young kids. They'd made a hot chocolate stand out of an abandoned door. It was really cool and the kids were as cute as could be. I had to stop but then realized I only had a $20 buck bill. They insisted on giving me one on the house and told me they'd be there next weekend too.

I likely won't be riding up there next weekend but if you are be prepared with $.50 to buy a hot chocolate. And if you ride, run, or walk by and don't buy one SHAME ON YOU! In fact, give them $.50 for me and I'll pay you back.

U-Haulin'

On Tuesday I flew to Santa Rosa, CA to help my niece, Courtney, move back up to Washington. Stepping off the plane to 80 degree weather was heavenly! The first day and a half were pretty easy. Courtney and her mom and gotten most of her things packed up over the weekend and had hired some movers to pack the U-Haul trailer. That left us with cleaning the apartment and getting the last few items crammed into the trailer and the jeep. Things got a little ugly there and a few items were left behind because they just wouldn't fit. After the apartment inspection on Thursday morning we were on the road. The 12 foot trailer was not as bad to handle as I had feared but we were limited to about 60mph to keep it under control. After a night in beautiful Roseburg, OR we got to the Portland area around 11 am. That's when things got really interesting as we had several stops to make related to Courtney's new job and temporary living arrangements. Unloading the trailer at a storage facility was a challenge as the unit was approximately the same size as the trailer. I announced at one point that we weren't going to get everything in and Courtney went off to find out about renting an additional unit. In the meantime I just started cramming stuff in the unit all the way up to the top and somehow managed to actually get it all in. I am terrified of what I did in there however and have given grave warnings to any who might be there to unpack it in a couple of months. The last item was placed right up to the doorway as we back out and shut the door, yikes!

So, mission accomplished and Wednesday Courtney leaves to do a 2 week Italian cruise working as a sign language interpreter before returning to Vancouver/Portland for the next phase of her career. After moving the contents of her 1-bedroom apartment I am thinking I either need to stay in this house until I die or get very serious about a clean out. Craigs List here I come!

The Quest for the Dry R-12

Update: a few photos nicked from David Rowe's (readytoride) flickr account:






Randonneurs USA (RUSA) offers an award to those members riding a minimum 200km qualifying ride each month for 12 consecutive months. I've decided to add a twist to my pursuit of this award and have declared I will attempt a Dry R-12. Living in the Pacific Northwest this is a lofty goal but a worthy one in my opinion. I have the 4 easiest months in the bag (June, July, August, and September) and managed to squeak an absolutely gorgeous 200km permanent ride in yesterday (October 1) to start the questionable months off right.

A surprising number of riders showed up on a midweek day at the Black Diamond Bakery to share in a beautiful and WARM ride up to Sunrise. We even finished in the daylight which was a wonderful bonus, especially given the fact that we were quite leisurely in our stops. Thanks to Mark for organizing and to Robin and Matt for patiently riding my pace and even supplying a push or two.

So, month 5 of the R-12 down and now to retire the shorts I was wearing that my husband kindly waited til after the ride to tell me had grown a bit too thin in the butt area. Like spandex swimsuits we must rely on the kindness of others to tell us when things are becoming revealing. Friends don't let friends ride or swim with see-through spandex.

MS Ride

Robin and I used to be very involved with the MS Society in planning, organizing and riding the 1 and 2 day bike fundraiser events. After several years of being frustrated with the seeming lack of commitment on the part of the organization to dedicate resources and move the event forward we finally gave up and turned our efforts elsewhere. A few years ago my friend Desiree started riding the newly revamped MS Ride after a family member was diagnosed. I got the feeling from her stories that things had changed and was curious about it. Finally this year I asked to join her company's team (Point B) who were also presenters of the event. It was great to see just how much this event had turned around!

During the MS150 days we were thrilled when we got 400 riders. The MS Ride now gets 1500! I'm sure the dedication of both the MS administration and a strong and active board have been the keys to this turn around - all for the benefit of MS research and support. The format has changed drastically from a 2 day rolling event requiring riders to do a minimum of 75 miles each day to a centralized event with route choices from 20 to 100+ miles. Usually at funraiser events the riders tend to be pretty novice so this makes the event much more palatable for them. Having a central location where you return each night to familiar surroundings is another plus. They now get many more teams and corporate sponsors involved making it professional and just a little glitzy. A big rider village with team hospitality tents, information booths, and eating and entertainment venues really make it nice for the riders. Prior to the ride MS had a very user-friendly way of setting up a webpage and sending out emails to friends and family for your fundraising use. It made that part of it much easier than going around with my little sheet and envelope for money in the past.

Desiree's company put up a great beach/tiki themed tent complete with music, leis, and a frozen margarita machine. They fed us snacks and provided a fabulous catered dinner on Friday. I had 2 great days of riding in the sunny Skagit Valley with Desiree and her husband Steve. I saw a few folks I know from randonneuring and from other bike events and enjoyed riding some roads I've never been on before.

If you'd like more information about MS and/or you'd like to donate to my efforts (pledges can be paid until October 21) please visit my page at:
http://main.nationalmssociety.org/site/TR/Bike/WASBikeEvents?px=5415474&pg=personal&fr_id=7600

Labor Day in Rockford IL

We spent Labor Day in Rockford IL to celebrate an aunt and uncle's 50th wedding anniversary. All of my siblings and their spouses or significant others went along with my dad so we had 14 of the Seattle/Portland area Carolan clan on the flight together. It was a great weekend starting with a family gathering at the McGuire home in Rockford. Aunts, uncles, cousins, in-laws, out-laws - they were all there.











Saturday was the big day. Other family members arrived and we spent the day greeting them walking around Rockford first with my cousin Mary Ann and then with brother Paul and his girlfriend Anne.




















Saturday evening we attended mass at Boylan Catholic High School where my uncle Vince was the Principal until his recent retirement and then back to the Lexington Cliff Breakers hotel for dinner, dancing, and partying.

































































On Sunday Robin and Scott required some "down time" to recover from all the family exposure but they bounced back quickly and then it was back to the McGuire home for some goodbyes.





















Then off to Boylan again for a pool party and BBQ.

























Finally on Monday Rockford could rid itself of us but first I had to get a photo of Alan with the famous "spitting boar" of Rockford before we gathered at the Stockholm Inn for breakfast and then the drive to O'Hare to head back home.