How sweet it is

I think I have a reputation as a donut aficionado among my Kiwanis friends.  I could be part of a more generic sweet-tooth.  I dunno...

All part of a healthy breakfast (the unhealthy part) on Wed. morning 6/19

Popular Donuts, Kennewick

Popular Donuts, Kennewick

Vinny's bakery, Pasco WA

 10 miles north of Pasco is Country Mercantile.  The biggest candy store I've ever seen.  They also have Ice Cream, a lunch counter/sandwich restaurant.  Various jams, spreads, etc.  A produce market.
Google Maps link with lots of pictures :   https://goo.gl/maps/jV3eaPpjVegMRtAaA

Some Samples at Country Mercantile, 10 mi. north of Pasco

From Lassen to the Columbia River

Updated map here:  https://drive.google.com/open?id=1VcgH5E3nUHkroyi9MB-IqcSvNsCVAItp&usp=sharing
The map pins that are blueish signify stops that I've already made.  Red pins are stops that are planned.  This should make it easier to figure out where I am.


6/10:  Lakeview, OR to Summer Lake

A 73 mile ride through beautiful open country.  I rode this same route in 2017... so it started to look familiar, especially as I got close to the town of Paisley.  There were signs in the windows of several of the local businesses which read "Beware, the politicians are coming to take your guns!", including at the Summer Lake lodge where I stayed.  Paisley has a population of under 200.  Summer Lake is even smaller. 

6/11:  La Pine, Oregon: Another 73 mile day.  This is a larger town, supporting a couple of grocery stores and a Bi-Mart (like a smaller Costco).

6/12:  Bend, OR
A real city.  Big enough for a Walmart etc.  This was an easy ride.  Only 33 miles, mostly downhill, following the Deschute river.  Best part of the day was dessert at Bonta Natural Artisan Gelato.

6/13:  Madras
Relaxed 50 mile ride with a net 1400 ft descent.  I was staying on the North side of town.  Across the highway from the hotel was Wild Winds Station bar and grill... a local hangout...  where the special was pulled pork.  Big portion.   I can't believe I ate the whole thing!

6/14:  Maupin - Still on the Deschutes river.  This is a town mostly consisting of rafting tour operators.  My hotel was on the river and was also a rafting ooperator with a not-so-great restaurant.

6/15:  Maupin to The Dalles  I decided to ride to the next town for breakfast at Molly B's diner about 10 miles north in Tygh Valley. (pupulation 200)  Good decision.   The Dalles is a significant sized town on the south bank of the Columbia river, about 1 hour east of the end of the scenic port of the Columbia River Gorge.  It's a big rail hub, To the east is mostly desert.  On 2 prior trips through here, I came from Portland and continued east along the river (sometimes on I-84) .   This time, I'm approaching from the south and heading across the river going North.  Overall a tough ride (3400 ft climb, but 4300 drop), but only 41 miles.

 

The Dalles bridge and dam.

 On the hill on the north bank of the Columbia

6/16 :  Goldendale:  After a lovely breakfast at Petite Provence in The Dalles, I headed across the river and up the hill to Goldendale.   Nice motel (Ponderosa) for $85 included a full kitchen, so I had corn on the cob and beans for dinner.  This being Sunday night, there wasn't much open in town anyway.

6/17:  Toppenish :  50 mile ride with 3200 ft vertical.  This is a farming town.  There are 6 Mexican restaurants... so it has the feel of a small Central Valley town.  This is part of the Yakima valley.  This town grows a fair amount of hops.

6/18: Kennewick:  70 mile ride, but fairly flat.  Tomorrow morning I plan to hit Popular Donuts for breakfast.  Last time I was there was in 2013 with Elias, our exchange student from Argentina.  On the way to Glacier

Up the Feather River

Tuesday 6/4:  Toughest day of the ride.

The climb to Scooter's café comprises most of the elevation gain.  The 1700 ft drop occurs just after Scooters at the peak.  Then you descend to ride the rest of the journey to Belden along the beautiful Feather River.  Because of this year's heavier than usual precipitation, the river was running full.  I passed many waterfalls and fast running streams that cascade into the river.  A stunningly beautiful day!

Wed. 6/5:  Rode about 35 miles uphill to Taylorsville, where I stayed at Gary's beautiful house on Indian Creek.   We stayed for 3 nights at Gary's Airbnb overlooking the Bay of Islands in Opua, NZ in February.   We chose his place because it's right next to our friend's house in Opua.  Gary was a terrific host, and even took us out for a sailing race on the bay.   It was really nice to see him again.  The food, lodging and company were excellent.

Thu. 6/6:   Rode about 40 miles to the town of Westwood.  Stayed in the Walker Mansion Inn, (click link for pictures) which is a lovely B&B with warm hosts and a great breakfast. 

Fri. 6/7:  Another long day...  82 miles to Fall River Mills.   I had done the same ride in 2017 from Chester, about 10 miles longer than this ride.    Since 2017, a new restaurant has opened in FRM.  Very good food.

Sat. 6/8:  Headwinds going the 75 miles from Fall River Mills to Alturas.  Another wicked elevation profile.

but excellent views of Mt. Shasta on the first climb of the day.

Sunday 6/9: Uneventful 56 mile ride to Lakeview.   A fairly small town, but big enough for a Safeway.  Today and tomorrow, there are no towns with either restaurants or convenience stores along the route, so I'm carrying enough junk food from the Dollar store to get through the day's ride.

It's on...and I'm off!

Good trips start with good baked goods! 
 https://goo.gl/maps/gaRdED2YsV9foPua7

Best croissants in the country!

Alcatraz in the fog through the dirty window on the Ferry to Vallejo

At China House in downtown Vacaville

It's now Monday 6/3.  Heading out from Yuba City to Oroville.  Tomorrow is the BIG CLIMB (3750 ft) up the Feather River canyon.

For updated map, click here

2019 Cross-country bicycle trip preview

This year, I'll be starting in Palo Alto on June 1.  This year's route will climb the Sierras via CA 70, Feather River Canyon.  Proceeding through Northern California, Oregon, Washington through Spokane.  Through Missoula MT, then back up to Glacier National Park to ride over the Continental Divide via Going to the Sun Road.  Then onward to Shelby MT, where I will take Amtrak to 750 boring miles of N. Dakota and eastern MT arriving in Grand Forks MT.  Proceeding to Duluth, then crossing Lake Michigan by Ferry.  Across Michigan, into Canada at Sarnia.  Continuing through Toronto up to Montreal, then back down to Burlington VT. where I will be taking Amtrak to NYC to ship the bike home on Amtrak, and fly back to Palo Alto.

Click here for interactive map.

Auckland (North Island)

Like Melbourne, Auckland has lots of bays, inlets and islands.  We've been making use of the ferry system to explore a couple of them.   The city is attempting to expand its fledgling metro rail system, so may streets are torn up with that activity, and only 1 of the 3 metro train lines are running.   The bus system works well, however, and we were able to make effective use of it to buy a bike for my upcoming Auckland to Christchurch bike ride.   New Years Eve here was fun, as there was an amazing fireworks display
Alexandra will be heading back to the Philippines next Wed, and I will depart on my trip on Thursday Jan 9, morning.

Click here for route map .

Down Under, another Summer Solstice

We touched down in Sydney, and immediately flew to Brisbane, which is directly north, but has a 1-hour time zone shift, because they did not adopt daylight savings time, and Sydney did.
We spent the next 3 weeks meandering our way down to Melbourne where we spent 10 nights before flying down to Auckland, where we are now.
Highlights of our travels in chronological and geographical order (North to South) :
Tambourine Mountain area:  Several parks and some lovely waterfalls.  Unfortunately, most of the streams that have rock pools for swimming had too little water to swim in, but the rain forests were beautiful  (80% of the original Australian rain forests vanished after Europeans arrived), and the Koala bears, cockatoos and other wildlife unique to Australia were very interesting.

Central Coast Area:
Especially enjoyed the laid back coastal towns of Port Macquarie, and Port Stephens / Nelson Bay areas.

Sydney:
It's surrounded by water.  This strikes you when visiting the Sydney Tower Eye.  We enjoyed the city life, restaurants, and parks, especially the Botanical Gardens, and various municipal ferry rides up the river.

Melbourne:
The highlight of our stay was a visit to Phillip Island, where we went to see the Penguin Parade, which occurs after sundown.   Click here for video.  We also got to watch pelicans being fed, and seals nursing their pups
(a boat ride out to an island with thousands of seals.) and playing in the water.
Spent Christmas in Melbourne.  then off to Auckland on Dec. 28.

The last of the Northern Hemisphere - Executive Summary

I took a long break from updating the blog after finishing the bicycle trip in Madrid.  The first item of business was to sell the bike.  Happy to say, I sold it for about 100 euro less than I paid for it (200 E after accessorizing).  That turned out to be reasonably inexpensive for a 1-month bike rental.
Alexandra joined me in Madrid on Sept. 25, and we remained in Madrid for about a week before departing by train to visit:
Segovia (2 nights) :  Highlight - Cathedral
Toledo:  (2 nights) :  Highlight - Jewish Quarter
Valencia:  (5 night) :  Great aquarium, bike friendly, fabulous beaches and good restaurants

Then rented a car to get us to Seville by way of:
Granada
Cordoba

and finally departing to Porto, Portugal from Madrid, which we reached by high-speed train from Seville.   A few nights in Porto, followed by 5 wonderful nights in Lisbon finished up our stay in the EU, just before our 6-month French visas expired.   We high-tailed it out of the Schengen area on Sat. Oct 20 to Casablanca.  Had a lovely dinner with Alexandra's friend, Wendy, from Cebu, who works there.  Then proceeded to Rabat to visit Soukaina, who invited us to join her family for dinner.  We met her and Chaymae, her sister at the Hassan Tower. 

They live across the river in Sale.  In spite of the gathering dark storm clouds, we took the "ferry" (a large row-boat) across the river, and got soaked by a violent downpour just after disembarking.  We were soaking wet, with our destroyed (from wind) umbrellas by the time we got to their house.  They lent us some dry clothes, and her dad spent most of the time we were there trying to iron my jeans to dry them out.  Dinner was a feast of Lamb Tajine, sweets, Tea, and wonderful Moroccan hospitality. 
Alexandra still wears the pink pajama bottoms that Chaymae gave her.
We then took the train from Rabat to Marrakesh.  Stayed there for 5 nights, then left for a 1 night stopover in London before flying back to SFO. 

Arrived in SF on November 1 and settled into an AirBnb in Mountain View for the next 10 nights.  Checked in on the house.  It's still there.  Then departed for DC to visit my nephew and d'Niece (Baltimore).  Then took the train to Philadelphia, did a drive-by in Allentown, where I grew up, and then went to a family friend's 90th birthday in Phila before departing for Denver, where Janine, our daughter, now lives.  We spent her birthday there and had Thanksgiving at my cousin's place nearby, then departed for the new new world, Sydney, Australia.

Madrid - end of bike trip

Sunday 9/16:  Biked about 65 miles from Lerma to Valladolid, which is a significant-sized city that has direct train service to Madrid in case I was ready to give up ... which didn't happen...  Many stores and restaurants are closed on Sunday, so dining options were limited.

Hamburguesería Gigantes - the name says it all.

So... on Monday I rode to the small village of Coca where I had a lovely B&B overlooking the main town square.  Not much to do in Coca.
Tuesday I headed out for Segovia, a major tourist stop.   I stopped for breakfast in Nava de la Asunción... and yet again encountered a parade.  It was a festive but short affair, after which many of the band members dropped into the bar I was having breakfast at .

Apparently this was just one event in some major affair, as the main road was totally cordoned off to through traffic, and I had to push the bicycle and myself through the fence to continue (detours were not well marked).

Typical Municipal fountain

These are common in Spanish villages, and allowed me to survive while only carrying one 750ml bottle

Arrived in Segovia ... tourists are everywhere.  The top 2 attractions are:
Segovia Cathedral

They build their cathedrals BIG in Segovia. 

 and, the Romans, being great builders, built a huge aqueduct that runs through Segovia.

So... on Wed. morning, I headed out for my last riding day... which was to San Rafael, about 40km from Madrid, where I took a regional train to Madrid and settled into my hotel a vender mi bicicleta y la espera de la llegada de Alexandra,   who is returning from a month in the Philippines.
Total bike trip stats:  1200 Miles, 36,000 ft total vertical.

Entering España

Sun 09/09:  Stayed an extra day (Sunday night) in Arachon, since it was raining.  This afforded a nice opportunity to ride up to the waterfront to sample the local seafood.

Excellent Mussels and Frites at Le Routioutiou in Gujan-Mestras

Decide to take train to Bayonne on Monday, which involved a 12 mile bike ride back to Biganos.  While waiting for the train, I got myself a haircut... I´m noticing there´s less and less hair to cut these days.

The French town, Bayonne, bears no resemblance whatsoever to its New Jersey namesake.

On Tuesday (9/11) rode into Spain.  Noticed the difference right away.  The towns were a little more hard-scrabble in Spain, but the larger cities (like San Sebastian) were very much on par with similar-sized French cities.

My hotel (Parma) was directly across from a huge public beach and right next to the main bar-restaurant area.  Like similar towns in France, much of the ¨Old City¨ was pedestrian only.   Lively bar scene.  Lots of young'uns.

Wednesday´s ride was to Segura, a very small 1-hotel town.   
On Thursday, I rode out of Segura, which started with a long climb

 then a little descent close to the town of Olazagutía. Google Maps then directed me into a dirt road (it does that sometimes) While trying to find a way out of that one, I kept hearing what I thought were gunshots. I headed into town, and discovered the sound was firecrackers. I asked the lady at the bakery what was going on. She said ¨festival¨

I asked what the festival was about... she said ¨eating and drinking¨  My Spanish was insufficient for a follow-up question... so I left it at that.

I am now in Vitoria-Gasteiz where I had a nice dinner of Tapas and beer . Most dinners here are at bars that serve little sandwiches and skewers etc. They eat late too... kitchens don´t typically open until 8:30 PM.