Home safe and sound. Rode home today across Washington’s North Cascade Highway (Highway 20). It was a fantastic ride and the temperature was just right for a change! I’m a bit wiped out but have started sorting through photos, I’ll be uploading them in bits and pieces in the coming days.  Have a ton of video to sort through also but you’ll just have to be patient for that!

I was originally planning to return home today, but I’ve decided that I’m having enough fun that I’m going to stay out an extra day and ride back to Seattle tomorrow. Seems like I do that a lot, you’d think I’d just start planning to take Monday after a weekend ride off… hmmm.

I’m back in Penticton, BC at Dave’s place.  We had a lovely ride back today.  Our modus this weekend has been to rise early and ride in the cool early morning air before the temperatures rocket up towards 100F. We did that today, the ride through the mountains was so wonderfully cool and beautiful to boot.

I’ve taken a ton of photos, having three digital cameras (counting my smart phone) and a video camera along for the ride.  I’ve remotely uploaded just a few teaser shots taken on the smart phone, plenty more will pop up on Flickr after I return home!

I’m about to hit the sack, but when I get up in the morning I’m off to Canada for a long weekend. I’ll be riding through the Cascades tomorrow on my way to Penticton, BC. I’ll spend Friday night there with a friend and his wife, then we’ll both head to Castlegar, BC for an organized ride called the Kootenay Borscht, Burn and BBQ 2007. I should be back home at the bunker sometime late on Sunday.

I’ll be taking plenty of photos, including using a new digital still camera mounted on the bike so I can shoot while underway. Hopefully that results in a few interesting shots! If I can get a signal on the smart-phone, or find a wi-fi connection it will talk to, I may try to provide a couple of updates while I’m out.

Hope you all enjoy the rest of your week, I certainly plan to!

This is rapidly becoming the “Year of the Concert” for me.  On kind of a spur of the moment, I caught a live show of Joan Jett and the Blackhearts tonight. Fantastic concert! They played all of their old classics and new material off their recent “Sinner” album. All of it was wonderful. Joan Jett has a great stage presence and comes across as very humble and down-to-earth. I’m very happy I decided to go!

I’m even happier that the pre-show announcer mentioned that Cheap Trick is coming to the same venue in November. I’ll will absolutely be in the audience!

One advantage to living near the airport… when I notice it has stopped raining and it’s shaping up to be a beautiful evening, I can hop in the car and go snap a few photos!

A few more shots in the usual spot!

Stole this from Silverwillow… you can take it here!

My Score: Loser - INTP

Talked to another human being lately? I’m serious. You value knowledge above ALL else. You love new ideas, and become very excited over abstractions and theories. The fact that nobody else cares still hasn’t become apparent to you…

Nerd’s a great word to describe you, and I seriously couldn’t care less about the different definitions of the word and why you’re actually more of a geek than a nerd. Don’t pretend you weren’t thinking that. You want every single miniscule fact and theory to be presented correctly.

Critical? Sarcastic? Cynical? Pessimistic? Just a few words to describe you when you’re at your very best…*cough* Sorry, I mean worst. Picking up the dudes or dudettes isn’t something you find easy, but don’t worry too much about it. You can blame it on your personality type now.

On top of all this, you’re shy. Nice one, wench. No wonder you’re on OKCupid! Now, quickly go and delete everything about “theoretical questions” from your profile page. As long as nobody tries to start a conversation with you, just MAYBE you’ll now have a chance of picking up a date. But don’t get your hopes up.

I am interested though. If a tree fell over in a forest, would it really make a sound?

(Mostly accurate, though I’m more optimistic about life than pessimistic and I’m rarely critical.  Sarcastic and cynical, ok maybe but I tend to play it for laughs! Definately shy one-on-one.)

Added more photos to the set from this past weekend!

Yeah, this mini-vacation was definitely too short! Made it home safe and sound though. Lindsey and I both enjoyed the trip.  Saturday we drove out to Westport, WA as planned and goofed around a while.  Couldn’t figure out exactly where the kite event was so we punted on that. Spent the night in a hotel in Aberdeen, WA right on the river. Enjoyed spending time in their indoor pool!

Sunday morning dawned cold, gray and rainy. We decided not to head back to Westport and instead headed north along the coast to do the loop around the Olympic National Park. The weather on the coast eventually cleared up and it became a beautiful day. We jagged back and forth between the coastline and the interior as we followed Hwy 101 north.

Lindsey’s goal for the day was to walk on the beach and look for rocks and seashells. After stopping at Lake Quinault for a snack, we chatted with the clerk and he recommended we visit Ruby Beach. Boy was he right, it was beautiful and exactly what we were looking for! Definitely the highlight of our trip!

As usual, more photos at Flickr!

My daughter Lindsey and I are off on a two-day photo safari to the Washington coast. The general plan is to head out towards Westport, but who knows where we’ll actually wind up.  I’ve got a motel reservation out in that general area for Saturday night at least.

I know that there’s a kite flying event nearby and a maritime museum with a lighthouse that sounds interesting. Aside from that we’re going to follow our instincts and see where they take us. I suspect a fantastic seafood dinner should be included at some point. I know the motel has an indoor, heated pool and Lindsey is looking forward to that also!

Hope you have a great weekend too!

Lindsey and I went to see Walking With Dinosaurs at the Tacoma Dome today. This was the opening venue for this Australian show on its North American tour. If you or your kids like dinosaurs, I highly recommend you see it visits a city near you! It’s an entertaining and dramatic history lesson featuring life-sized dinosaurs operated via animatronics and puppetry. Hosted by a live actor in the role of a paleontologist, it is surprisingly humorous and touching at times. We both had a blast!

A few more photos at Flickr.