Oklahoma's OK!

First Stop is Fort Smith, OK where the Visitors Center is located in an old Brothel.





Forth Smith, OK





Take Route 66 to Tulsa





Tulsa has alot of parks. This one featured a 4 tiered Rose Garden.







View under bridge on walk along the River



Oklahoma City and the Memorial.

A portion of the wall remains.



At each end of the reflecting pool is a wall,

one with the time of the start of the explosion

and the other with the end



Chairs are arranged in rowsfor each floor where victims died . They are different sizes according to whether the person was a child, man or woman.



Names are etched in the clear base which are lit at night.

"We come here to remember those who were killed, those who survived and those changed forever. May those who leave here know the impact of violence. May this Memorial offer comort, strength, peace, hope and serenity."

Outside the Memorial is a fence where people have left pictures and Momentos.



I can't begin to explain how viewing this Memorial in person makes one feel. The reality of seeing it and realizing that these were just everyday people like you and me living their life, going through the normal day to day things we all go through and their lives, hopes and dreams snuffed out in minutes by a madman. There by the grace of God . . .

It saddened me even more to think that 9 years after 911 there is still no Memorial in place. The Oklahoma Memorial was done within 2 years, I believe, andis a beautiful tribute to the victims.

Don't Mess

Come to Rainier and see the "Biggest scissors you’ve ever seen.” It’s true. More people are impressed by these scissors than they are with the flowers, glaciers or the entire mountain! The conditions are excellent up here and after being inspired by “The Scissors” many climbers summited in the last week.
We’ve had a few wet and cloudy days down low lately, but the upper mountain has remained nice. The freezing level has stayed around 11,000' and is forecast to drop to 8,000' early this week, followed by high pressure and warmer temperatures.

As for general route beta, we would have used our scissors to span the crevasse pictured below, but instead there has been a ladder placed across it. The crossing shown is around 13,800' on the Disappointment Cleaver route. The guide services maintain ladders and other fixed gear at times along the DC. Before using any fixed gear you find, take a moment to check it out and not just assume the other guy made it safe.

If you recall last year the lower sections of the mountain were already melting out and exposing bare ice. Not the case this year, which means you should be here enjoying these terrific late season conditions. Come see our scissors and then get out and crush it!

Choosing a Miracle

"There are only two ways to live your life; One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle." Albert Einstein
And all the difference in the world is in the choosing.

Paul Bunyan Country

Ya Betcha, that's olde Paul himself. Took this photo when I stopped for lunch after my ride. But, I am getting ahead of myself.

Plans were to ride the Paul Bunyan Trail this morning. When I stuck my head out of the hotel door, it was overcast and threatening rain. Weather.com was showing showers moving in the area, but looks good by 9/10 am. After light breakfast, I went back to bed for some more recovery. Before I knew it, the sun was shining.

The Paul Bunyan State Trail runs some 110 miles through the northcentral Minnesota woods from Brainard (Baxter) to Bemidji. Its a Rails-to-Trails on old railroad bed. The trail is paved the whole length.

Kitted up, prepared supplies, and loaded the road bike onto the car for the drive to the trail. Planned to park in Jenkins, ride South (into the wind) to Nisswa. There is no "trailhead" parking lot for the trail in Jenkins. At the convenience store, I was told most park along the road at the trail, or across the highway at the old "Dollar" store.

As it started heading South on the trail, it was 80+ degrees, humid, and partly cloudy. Wind was gusting, with some places no air moving. Stopped it several times to take photos of the trail. Rode on through Pequot Lakes.

My legs were telling me it was not a good idea to make Nisswa, even if I have the wind with my on the way back. At a little over 8 miles, I came across a bench with a view of Little Cullen Lake. Looked a great place to turn around and head for the car. Drank some of G2 and back on the bike.

Now, I thought I would have the wind with me on the way back, but it seamed at times I was back into the wind! Stopped at the old Depot in Perquot Lakes for a rest and finish my GC. Chatted with a couple others at the depot. I though the trail was very busy (at least Perquot Lakes and South. I was told that the traffic today was actually pretty light today.

North from Perquot Lakes to Jenkins, almost no one on the trail. Think met 2 folks total (counting both ways) on the 3 miles. Getting back to the car, I probably couple have made the extra miles making it to Nisswa. But, it was better to be safe. Did not want to bonk.

As I rode South from Jenkins, I noticed a crowd at A-Pine Restaurant at the South end of Jenkins. Looked it would be a good place to eat my late lunch. It was. After a sandwich (grilled ham & swiss) and wedge fries, treated myself to a slice of wild berry pie with ice cream.

Now that the photos are processed and blog entry is written, time to get horizontal and relax.

Search on hold

The prognosis on my shoulder is a grade 2 muscle-tear (whatever that is). The good news is that I can ride my bike, the bad news is that there won't be any dirt roads or gradients over 20% for a good couple of weeks. Fortunately, this morning's 50km in the rain had none of those things. Some of you may be aware of my obsession -- my need to find Horseshoe Falls, on the western side of Springbrook. There are two possible access routes, and some time ago, I decided to explore one of them. Since I won't be able to complete this search for a little while, now seems an opportune time to discuss my most recent progress.

This particular trip involved heading through the hills of Advancetown (an ironic name if ever I've heard one), alongside Advancetown lake. This is actually quite a pleasant ride, but one that I don't get to do very often these days. In the past it was my chosen route to get to Numinbah Valley, but today I was using it only as an access route for Chesters Road, which is one of the two possible access points I mentioned above. Chesters Road itself is an extremely scenic dirt road which isn't actually as steep as Google maps suggest it should be. Today there was a bonus, an unseasonal display of Banksias.


The road "ends" after a few kilometres, replaced by a dirt track that continues up the mountain. Here, I could see the falls in the distance, but I still needed to find a way to get to them. I continued up the mountain, the number of spider webs I rode through suggested not many venture in this direction. A few tracks branched off mine, and I did take the time to explore a couple of them, but none of them led the way to where I wanted to go. The views did open up at times on the higher areas. Eventually, the "main track" that I was following became impassable on the bike, so I continued on foot for a while. Time constraints, along with the time I had wasted on the side tracks meant that this wasn't a viable option today, but a pink ribbon tied around a tree suggests that this route has potential on another day.



All that was left now was the ride home, after descending the "track" and Chesters Road, I now had two options -- the return via the way I came, or the climb up the western side of Springbrook on the infamous Pine Creek Road, complete with 24% gradients. I opted for Pine Creek Road for the variety, and this ride, too, didn't seem as difficult as I thought it might with one climb in my legs already. At one stage on the climb I could see the falls (now that I knew where to look). Of course, riding home this way provided it's own scenic rewards.

I am close to fulfilling this particular obsession. I have now pinpointed the exact location of the falls, and may have unearthed a potential access route when time and my shoulder get around to co-operating. This is going to happen, one way or another.

Gift From the Sea-Revisited

We're taking a few days vaca at Jekyll Island, GA. I'm reading Gift From the Sea by Anne Morrow Lindbergh for the ninth time. It's a book that I never get tired of. If you've never read it, you must. It speaks to every stage of a woman's life.
As I was reading today, a sentence resonated with me. It said, "One falls under their (waves) spell, relaxes, stretches out prone. One becomes, in fact, like the element on which on lies, flattened by the sea; bare, open, empty as the beach, erased by today's tides of all yesterday's scribblings."
I want all my yesterday's scribblings to be erased. I'm up at 1:00 a.m. right now unable to sleep. I'm all out of sorts from all the travelling we've been doing for the past three months. The older I get, the less flexible I get about getting away from my usual routine. Or maybe it's just the back-to-back trips we've been making. Whatever it is, I'm topsy-turvy, and I don't like it.
So while we're here at the beach, I hope to lie flat and let the sun and surf do its good work.

Any Improvement???

Before



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After