On our last day in Eugene, our plan was to ride over to the Bike Friday factory/showroom in town to order a new stem for my ten-year old Pocket Crusoe folding bike. We didn't get a sunny, beautiful day for it, but we did have a fun day and ride nonetheless. On the way there, we donated a few paperbacks at one of the few Little Free Libraries in town. In the spirit of constant downsizing and simplification, I donated four and only took one! Here's a fun mural we saw celebrating biking in all its forms on the way to Bike Friday. And we're here! We've always hoped to visit after ordering our Pocket Crusoes in 2004. Only took us ten years to get here. The showroom provides lots of colorful Bike Friday models to drool over. Love this new model -- the Haul-a-Day. Looks like you could haul a lot of groceries home on this one. I loved the colors of all of these. After having a test stem installed, I am giving it a try on the Fern Ridge bike path. We saw this very tame fellow along the path. Since I read that muskrats live near water, good chance this is what it is. I also read that they smell bad, but fortunately I didn't get close enough to smell him. Note the pretty duck hiding in the grass behind as well. This pretty community garden was alongside the path. It was nice to see some color on such a dreary day. Check out this beautiful kale and zinnia art! After returning the test stem to the good folks at Bike Friday, we wanted to get some more miles in, so we pedaled over to the Ruth Bascom Riverbank Path. This trail system runs along both sides of the Willamette and through numerous parks. We also rode right by the Owen Rose Garden, which was gorgeous! I had to get a closer look at my favorites. Some of them were old-fashioned roses that still had an intoxicating aroma, unlike some of the newer odorless hybrids. We rode across this cool suspension ped/bike bridge over the river on our way back. On the way back to the motel, we spied this cool mural on the side of a building. Looks like you could just walk right into that street scene, doesn't it? And here we are, back at The Timbers, after seeing quite a bit more of Eugene. The skies stayed gray all day, but the temperature did warm up enough for shorts and short sleeves by afternoon, and it never rained, so we can't complain. And we accomplished two errands (library and Bike Friday), which is a lot for us in a single day! Stay tuned: Gorgeous Crater Lake is up next!
0 Comments
It's pretty quiet here at Ocean Isle Beach, NC, and we've settled into a nice routine. Walking on the beach, riding bikes, reading, watching the sun set, eating simple, healthy meals in the condo (saving our eating out dollars -- and calories! -- for when my mother, step-dad, and brother arrive next week), and researching future travels online. It's not as exciting being here (where we've been several times before) as exploring a new place would be, but we certainly can't complain -- we're at the beach, after all! And after today, temperatures are supposed to warm up to 70+ for four days straight. We will really enjoy that! Here are a few photos from the past week -- has it really been over a week since I posted last?! We've had variable weather from quite chilly to almost warm. Barry was excited to wear shorts and a t-shirt for one of his beach walks! Barry took this series of photos of Paisley and me on the beach that I really liked. She was resisting me the whole time, trying desperately to go wherever I wasn't to investigate all the interesting smells in the sand, but I think that made for better photos. Sometimes obstinance can be cute, right? Finally I gave in to her whims and did a little running. I love that Barry caught me with both feet off the ground in this photo -- looks like I am walking on air! And she hangs out on the condo's balcony whenever the sun is warm. She even asks to go out there when the temperature is in the 40s, so long as the sun is out. We had an especially beautiful sunset the other night. Hard to choose which photos to show, but here are a few. Yesterday afternoon we took a walk when the tide was at its lowest. The beach here is so wide, and this time of year, so empty! There will be more folks here spending Christmas week, but for now, we're enjoying having this beautiful place almost to ourselves. We'll happily share it with these guys, though.... This morning Barry returned from his walk and told me that there is a Little Free Library here on the island! There are a few of these in Prairie Village, and we ran into one in Hill City, South Dakota on our fall trip. I love these! So, when we took our bike ride today, we swung by there, and I exchanged a paperback I'd just finished for a new one. I finally came up with what looks like a perfect beach read from one of my favorite authors. So that's a little slice of our life here on the beach. It hardly feels like we're less than a week from Christmas!
|
Emily & BarryWe're a long-married, early-retired couple who are currently traveling as nomads with no fixed home base. After years of living in North Carolina (Emily's home state), we spent 18 months living oceanfront on Ambergris Caye, Belize, a year road-tripping the US in a Honda CR-V, a year in Playa del Carmen, Mexico, and are now roaming North America in our 32' motorhome, Pearl, following warm weather whenever possible. Archives
July 2019
Favorite Travel Blogs |