What’s up

It has been a while, how are you all?  Though a lot of circumstances have led to less riding and less time to write about what is going on with me, it definitely doesn’t mean nothing is happening!  So, in the effort to keep you all up to speed on the happenings, I thought I should post about what has been happening and what is coming up next.

 

Bodie

The last time I posted, I had gone to Bodie State Park to take photos of the park and the Milky Way.  That was almost a year ago, though it hardly seems possible that so much time has gone by!  I’ve been pretty busy for a lot of it, but not really on the bikes.

 

Photography

I’ve done a couple more astrophotography trips, though none on the eastern side of the Sierras where the ability to see the stars and Milky Way is better.  I did travel to some higher elevations and have managed to get a few good photos, including one with the Andromeda Galaxy in it.  Though, I have to admit, I didn’t see the galaxy when I was taking the photo.  It was only later, on the computer that I saw it.  It is always cool when you see something unexpected in your photos!

I did these couple trips in the car because it seemed easier to bring more in the car than on the bike.  I did do a bike trip up there, but just after I took my second trip in the car, wildfires devastated the area and closed most of the roads.  I believe some of them are still closed due to the damage they received in the fires.

 

Farm

Things have been busy on the farm as well, as it always seems to be.  I’ve found a person that teaches spinning, so hopefully my yarn will stop looking like bad dreadlocks!  I’m hoping to take a class with her this fall.  Lately though, we have had some sickness and injuries we have been dealing with and that is never fun.  I lost my favorite goat, Magic Mike, to bladder stones and have been so sad over it.  Another goat got pneumonia and an infection, and the horse severely cut up his face on I don’t know what.  Additionally, he’s been diagnosed with EPM which is a parasite affecting the brain and spinal column.  We are treating him and hoping for the best.  Time will tell.

Our local feed store where we buy our hay, occasionally gets more than just hay in the loads.  When they bail and stack the hay in the fields, sometimes things move in to the perfect home the hay farmer built.  Typically it’s been barn owls, but this time it was a litter of newborn kittens.  My BFG went and picked them up while I was at work and now we have Maeve and Clementine.  They need to be fed from a bottle about every 3-4 hours, but they are precious.  Something new added to the farm.

 My boy Blackjack                              The goats headed out                                         Millie and Bellatrix

Maeve and Clementine

Wedding

With all that has been going on, there has also been joy.  In October of last year, my daughter got married.  It was a beautiful and wonderful ceremony.  We all had a blast and it was the most fun wedding I’ve ever been to.  It was at a farm and the location was perfect.  My BFG built an arch for them to get married under, my BFB made the veil, and I walked her down the aisle.  Now I have the son I never had before.  He’s a great guy and I think they’re really good together.

Quilts

A very good friend, kind of an adopted child really, had a baby and I designed and completed a custom quilt for the baby.  It was my second attempt, as I just didn’t have the skills to make the one I saw in my head.  But, not too bad for a beginner!  I was hoping to meet her straightaway, but she was born right before Sydney’s wedding, and her parents wanted to keep her safe from sickness and limit her exposure to people for a while.  I was going to ride Kymani down to meet here over the Memorial weekend and bring the quilt, but plans changed.  I mailed the quilt off, keeping up the tradition of not getting to see the reaction to receiving a quilt from me (I’ve always had to mail them off).  Now I’m hoping to get to meet the baby sometime this fall.  Though by then I won’t be able to ride the bike because the Sierras stand between us.

Riding

I have done some riding in all of this and even went out in the dirt.  I fell twice, but wasn’t seriously hurt either time, and I would like to think I learned something!  One thing I DID learn is that my back and shoulders cannot lift Kymani, but my jack can and I successfully used it to get Kymani up from her nap.

I definitely scratched the new off her!

I only got photos of the first downing, as there were people behind me when I went down the second time.  They helped me up and made sure I was okay, which was super helpful.  They were all on quads and they helped me pick up Kymani.  The camping trip was really nice and the scenery and ride was beautiful.  Many of the rides and trips I thought I had planned for this year have all been a bust due to either weather or plans changing, so I’ve not gotten in as much riding as I would like.

It was cold in the middle of Nevada, but pretty.

 

Class

After dumping Kymani a couple of times in the dirt, I decided I could definitely benefit from a dirt riding class.  I signed up for one, but the soonest I can get into one is September.  This works perfectly with my work schedule, as that weekend is a 4-day weekend for me, with a 2-day class scheduled.  A day to get to the class, 2 days to take the class, and a day to get home.  How perfect is that?

Alaska

If you remember, I was planning a trip to Alaska in 2022.  With my daughter’s wedding, that trip was postponed and it is now happening this year.  In July.  Like right around the corner!  I am excited and nervous.  The route I’ve planned is long, about 9,800 miles and there have already been some changes.

I thought to ride the Icefields Parkway in Alberta between Lake Louise and Jasper.  This particular road is supposed to be a spectacularly scenic route through the Canadian Rockies.  I was so looking forward to it.  There are some huge fires in Alberta right now and they are impacting the Icefields Parkway.  And, as I learned on my last big trip, it really sucks to go somewhere super beautiful and not be able to see it because conditions interfere with visibility.  Besides the trouble with the fires, it added nearly 300 miles to my route that I would cover in the same amount of time, giving me some hella long riding days.  While I might miss the pretty, I won’t miss the exhaustion that would come from riding more than 350 miles a day for 7 straight days, all while camping.  I’m now planning a more manageable first 7 days.

The plan

There are two main ways to get to Alaska from the lower 48 by road.  You can take the Alaska Highway, on the east side of British Columbia, by far the more popular route, or the Cassair Highway, which is to the west of British Columbia.  I plan to take the Alaska Highway up (mostly) and the Cassair Highway home.  There is also some variation in how to take those routes and I’ve accounted for some of that on the map.  Once you get to Watson Lake, YT, you can choose the Robert Campbell Highway which is mostly dirt and remote, or you can take the Klondike Highway if traveling to Dawson City.  I plan to take the Robert Campbell Highway to Dawson City and ride the ferry across the Yukon River, then take the Top of the World Highway into Alaska.  Of course, depending on the situation at the time.

There is a lot I want to see in Alaska, and the planning has been time consuming.  I want to get all the way up to Prudhoe Bay, and all the way down to Homer Spit.  I’d like to see Wrangell-St Elias, Denali, ride the Dalton Highway, see some amazing waterfalls, old churches, crazy buildings, and tons of other sites, and just see Alaska.  If there is a road that you don’t have to fly or ferry to, I’m going to try to take it!  The major places I’ll be trying to see besides Prudhoe Bay are, Tok, Kennecott Copper Mine, Fairbanks, Cantwell, Paxson, Anchorage, Homer, Seward, Valdez, and Skagway in Alaska.  I’m also looking forward to Dawson City and Whitehorse in the Yukon and several waterfalls in British Columbia.  There is so much I want to see, but I only have so much vacation time available.  Adulting is hard!

Soon I’ll put up another post with more information about what I’m taking with and how I’ve gotten Kymani ready for this trip so far, if you’re interested.

This should be a great trip and an amazing adventure. While I won’t have mobile or wifi for much of the trip, when I do, I’ll be putting stuff up. So, if you’re interested, stay tuned!