All posts by rick wojack

2019 Pacific Coast

Day 4, Larrabee State Park to Deception Pass State Park

September 22, 2019 rick wojack Leave a comment

The forecast last night was for rain today, starting at about 1:15am. I got up to go peepee at about 1:30am and it was just starting. At 5:30am, when I packed up my tent, it was still raining. BUT one must still eat breakfast and here are Ryan and Rich chowing down. Dark until about 7:00am!

Dave was getting ready to leave, as was the rest of the gang, by 8:00am . . .

. . . still considering rain gear of not . . . the answer was yes. Rain forecasted for all day.

Out on the road we followed along the coastline, riding up and down gentle rollers . . . very scenic

. . . as you can see, this highway has been a main connector from Vancouver, BC to San Diego, for a LONGGGGGG time!!

A lot of trails cross the roads here . . . and how someone could loose a shoe and not notice it, is beyond me!!!

Around the corner was another great view . . . but wait, what is that out in the water????

Why, the saltwater cousin of the Loch Ness Monster (probably dropped of by an alien spaceship!!!)

As we hugged the coast on the way to Deception Pass State campground, our home for the night, it was clear the tide was OUT!!!!

Oh . . . with all the moisture out here in the NW they can grow some BIG pumpkins. An 826 pounder with her little brother weighing in at 405. Lot of pie potential there.

A Washington State version of a ‘tiny house’. Looked quite comfy on this rainy day.

We stopped at a local bakery in Edison, WA but it was standing room only, and they had run out of coffee . . . they did have some nice looking bread!!!

Denise and Liz had found a place to settle in for a while.

The tide was coming up as we exited Edison . . .

. . . and he river was full of fisherman seeking the King salmon. The season closes today for white folks, while tribe members can continue to harvest . . .

. . . a couple of fisherman with their quota . . .

. . . most were 15 to 20 pounds . . .good eatin’!!

Oh . . . people in Edison have opinions!!!

I tied up with Jenny and we rode together, in the rain, the rest of the way to Deception Passe. She also has a forestry degree and had a 32 year career with the Ministry of Natural Resources, in Environment Canada.

Waiting for the drizzle to stop . . .

. . . then the rain started again during our final 10 miles up to Deception Pass campground . . . LOTS of traffic with all the campers and tourists heading home early because of the rain.

The bridge lookout at the pass is under construction but we stopped to get a quick photo from the road . . .

. . . no shoulder so you need to ‘take your lane’ when crossing.

2019 Pacific Coast

Day 3, Larrabee State Park to Canada

September 22, 2019 rick wojack Leave a comment

Great nights sleep in spite of the traffic and trains going by. Here’s Joe and Ryan explain the morning breakfast procedures. Coffee at 6:00am with breakfast and lunch fixin’s out at 6:55am . . . not a minute sooner!!!

. . . the food table at 6:68am !!!!

Denise has a funny diet. Hard boiled eggs, cheesecake from the night before and blueberries . . . actually sounded pretty good and you have all the major food groups included!

Jennie, from Vancouver, Canada, presented each of us with a maple lollypop, and a small Canadian lapel flag pin. Canada produces 77% of the maple syrup in the world. Mike had his lollypop for his morning dessert!!

. . . and of course don’t forget to fill your water bottles for the days journey ahead.

Now that is quite a name!!!!

In other words, ride defensively . . . note the two deer’s rear ends to the right of the sign.

Nice train tunnel and track connecting the islands with the mainland.

OK . . . .

I guess these were put up by the local Chamber of Commerce????

Today were are biking 35 miles up to the Canadian border and back again. A loop from our campground. Coffee is HUGE up here in the NW part of the country with Seattle being the home of Starbuck’s. But there is still room for the independent coffee entrepreneurs’ like this drive-by shop shaped like a tugboat. Cute!!

Thirty-five miles down the road we arrived at the US/Canadian border where the Peace Arch stands in no-mans land between the two counties. On the left, you can see cars lined up to get into Canada and on the right are cars waiting to get back into the US. Under the arch there was a protest going on regarding pipelines and global warming.

Your scribe, still on the US side . . .

. . . much of our group arrived at the same time so there was chance to take a photo on the Canadian side too, with the maple leaf flower planting in the back ground.

Yikes . . . we are not in Kansas anymore, toto!!!!

Connie had a weird noise coming from her rear hoof that produced a loud squeal, so irritating that I couldn’t ride within 100 feet of the gang. They could hear the high pitch and I couldn’t. The answer was a quick stop at the Bellingham TREK store in located on the way back to the campground. Ryan, who is from Madison and lived in the Shorewood area, diagnosed Connie’s issue as dry parts. A little oil and I was on my way. Another employee, Clay, was also from Madison. They moved out here for the mountain biking!!!

2019 Pacific Coast

Day 2, Bellingham, WA

September 22, 2019 rick wojack Leave a comment

A great night of and deep sleep and we both felt refreshed and had begun to forget about the LONGGGGG journey we had to get to Bellingham. We tied up with the van Rich had arranged for the seven of us who were interested in transport to the park and after a 12 mile ride south to Larrabee State Park, we were dropped off at Sites 31 and 32.

Joe and Ryan, our two ACA trip leaders, were already there with the Adventure Cycling Association van and trailer and had things well organized.

I’ve got too much stuff!!! Before I left I had to decide which of many tents to take. I set these two up to compare sizes and the Marmot won. Although the literature say it sleeps three, you can always subtract one camper from the number (tent companies ALWAYS exaggerate). To get a more realistic volume measurement, and since this trip is van supported and I don’t have to carry the extra weight on my bicycle I chose the bigger one.

As more of our group of 15 arrived the tents popped up like mushrooms. Not the greatest of sites. Lots of tree roots and slopes.

A van supported tour allows lots of luxuries like coolers, food prep tables . . .

. . . and more importantly a nice three burner, elevated, propane stove. No cooking on this trip with one burner Coleman stoves sitting on the ground.

As is tradition, the tour leaders, Joe on he left and Ryan on the right, prepare dinner on he first bight. Chicken burritos with lots of fixin’s.

Meet and greet time . . . .

Guacamole and sour cream too . . . lots of beer and fizzy water

After dinner Ryan introduced everyone on the proper ACA method of washing dishes. A three step process. Sanitation on these trips is vital in preventing any colds or bad germs from being passed around. LOTS of hand sanitizer used, too.

Every first night includes some type of ice breaker and this time it was to go around the circle, introduce yourself, describe your biking experience and state what type of bike you are riding. But you also had to repeat the names of all those who introduced themselves before you and what type of bike they ride. Because of the train trip, and highway noise, I didn’t hear much of it and being the second from the last to report, I flunked the test!!! I’ll have seven weeks to find out all the details I may have missed.

2019 Pacific Coast

On the Road . . .

September 20, 2019 rick wojack 1 Comment

The plan was, as on our 2017 Northern Tier ride, Denise would take the ferry from MI to WI, I’d pick her up, she would stay with emJay and me and the next day Mary Jean would take us to Columbus where we would board the Amtrak Empire Builder to head west!!! The ferry arrived right on time , , ,

. . . and soon we were seated at the Milwaukee Public market having a nice lunchy and catching up on the last two years.

After a dinner at Beuenveutos, we all slept great. Our train did not leave Columbus until 5:02pm so I had the day to show off Madison during a bike ride around the city on the Cap City Tr. A stop at Budget Bike and Machinery Row, so I could buy some booties and a helmet cover (wet weather predicted ahead) and a ride around the Capital rounded out the morning and early afternoon. Ms. Forward in the top circle and Lady D, as Ron coined Denise, in the lower circle.

We got to the Columbus station an hour early and had a nice time catching up with our train buddy, Bob. He works for a contractor that supplies station services to AMTRAK. His day job had been a prison guard for 33 years at one of Wisconsin’s prisons. AMTRAK pulled their employees out of the Columbus station 5 years ago when they stopped selling tickets there.

Bob explaining the finer points of the Empire Builder line line.

The train arrived 1 hour 45 minutes late because of ‘mechanical problems’. One of which was the two locomotives pulling the train were put in the wrong order and the seconded engine kept ‘rebooting’. It took a half hour to switch the engines and there were other ‘issues’ along the way.

Soon the three of us took one last photo, I kissed Smoochie goodbye, and Denise and I boarded the train, heading west!!

After riding in a coach car two years ago, Denise and I decided to ‘upgrade’ to a couchette (sleeper) this trip. 10 roomettes, 5 deluxe rooms, 4 bathrooms and a shower AND all meals, with premier seating times, included. Your choice of anything on the menu and dessert is included. Alcohol is EXTRA!!!!. Our car attendant, Kenny, appeared and introduced himself. He will be attending to us for the next 53 hours. He’s stationed in the berth right behind us so we could bang on the wall if we needed anything during the night!!!

The couchette is cozy, about the size of a closet with two bunks.

But it is big enough to have it’s own closet!!!

Some people don’t do to well with claustrophobic conditions!!!!

. . . but can certainly mellow out later in the day!!!

We were soon in the prairie pothole area of North Dakota . . . ‘land spreading out so far an wide, skip Manhattan and give me that countryside’!!!

Mid afternoon our dinning room hostess, Amanda, stopped by to take our dinner orders . . . nice!!!

The meals are included with the roomette and you have a new set of dining companions at every meal. Here was Kathy and Earl from a small town in southern Illinois heading to Seattle, then down the coast to San Francisco and back to Chicago. All on AMTRAK!!!

With the meal plan you can order anything off the menu, including salads, soups, entrees and dessert. Here was Denise’s ‘surf and turf’ which included an Angus steak and large lump crabcake, $38 if you were in coach and had to order it off the menu (not worth it!!) I had the Norwegian Salmon, with a special sauce, rice pilaf and double chocolate torte, two nights in a row. Veggie burgers for lunch. Vino was extra!!!

After finally arriving in Seattle we had an hour wait for the next AMTRAK Cascade train that would take us the final leg to Bellingham . . .

. . . and of course at this point, about 56 hours into the trip, we MADE SURE our luggage and bikes were transferred to our new train!!!!

Arriving in Bellingham it started to drizzle. We schlepped our stuff about 1/2 mile to the Fairhaven Inn (Denise carried most of it!!!) where we left our bikes for the night with Rich and took an Uber to our home for the night, the Comfort Inn.

This train trip was quite the experience compared to other rail trips. Although we had the roomette, which was nice for sleeping’s, the train ended up being seven hours late into Seattle which meant we missed the bus service transfer from Seattle to Bellingham and had to take another train instead. The seven hour delay was caused by a number of ‘keystone cop’ type mishaps, like starting out from Chicago with the wrong engine in the lead. It took them a half hour to change that and round and after several more issues, arrived in Columbus 1.5 hours late. Along the way, during the middle of the night, a tree had fallen across the track, taking another 1.5 hours to clear the rail. Various other mechanical problems developed, including air conditioning problems. All went into accumulating to a seven hour arrival delay into Seattle

No plans set yet on how I am going to get back to MSN from San Diego in seven weeks, but I think I might fly!!!

2019 Pacific Coast

Lets ride!!

September 11, 2019 rick wojack 5 Comments

It’s only September and it seems like there must be time to get at least one more extended ride in this year . . .

Lets see . . . Trans Am, no did that in 2008. Southern Tier, nope 2015 . . . there is the Northern Tier, ugh-ugh rode it in 2017.

Still on the bucket list . . . the Pacific Coast ride from Canada to Mexico. LETS RIDE!!!

I broke Traci TREK, one of my carbon bikes, last year in Ireland when I crashed. I bought a new TREK Checkpoint (shown above) as a travel bike replacement . . . but I could hear my old steed Connie Cannondale whinnying from out in the stable that she had at LEAST one more big ride left in her and didn’t want to be put out to pasture just yet.

Having ridden her on the Big Bend and Northern Tier rides, she needed a little ‘tune up’ before she was ready for another romp . . .

. . . and after everything went back together, with no extra parts left over, a test ride proved she was ready to run!!! She is really the perfect mount for this type of ride. 32mm tires this trip, her built in electric generating front hub that during the day keeps a front and rear light illuminated AS WELL as charging my phone, gps or camera battery, has fenders to help shed the rain were are bound to ride through, has a large handlebar bag to carry my lunch (VERY important and already has racks on for an extra pannier or two and last but not least a kickstand. Turns out that is a big deal when touring. If you don’t have one every time you stop, and there are many stops, one is constantly looking for a safe place to lay your bike down without damaging it. Not so easy to find a place some times. Wouldn’t leave home without one!!

2019 emJay B-day Ride

2019 emJay B-Day Ride

July 2, 2019 rick wojack

Here we go again! Last year’s ride from Madison to Minneapolis to celebrate my big birthday was such a success that we decided to do it again. I call it the “trick my husband into riding with me so we can celebrate my birthday together” ride. Whatever works!! This year’s focus is the Driftless Region of southwest Wisconsin.

We celebrated my birthday starting with lunch and flowers from dear friends, along with a hearty Belgian ale! All at a great bike-themed restaurant in Madison.

Smoochie surprised me with a lovely cake from the excellent Rolling Pin Bakery of FItchburg, WI. We enjoyed it with ice cream at Siggi and Ron’s house.

Oh, this ride has a heavy food theme. Smoochie surprised me the next day with a hearty cream puff and an omelette! He bought one for himself too, of course!

Our ride this year takes us on state bike trails to Monroe, WI, then across the countryside to Mineral Point, then back to Madison mostly by state trails again. Fun!

The traditional departure photo, this time with both of us riding new bikes…”steeds” as I like to call them, hearkening back to my horsey days as a teenager.

We had a marvelous send-off by a group of neighborhood friends including Teddy, Michele, Arthur, Sammy, Walter, Edmund, and Lynne!

We headed south on the Badger Trail. This is a particularly scenic spot overlooking a farm lane.

Rick found a site perfect for a rugged personality shot of his new Trek Gravel bike.

This pup was lost last summer! Hope they found her. The instructions say “do not call or approach her as she will run away!”

The Garmin overly dramatizes the terrain, depending on how you have it set! This was a gradual 3% grade up to the top of a ridge…

…where you cruise through a fairly long, dark, damp, spooky tunnel through the ridge. You must have a light to get through! Woo hoo, then it is 3% grade down the hill into New Glarus where a yummy lunch awaited us.

Little did we know that the Annual North America Vespa Convention is being held this year in Lake Geneva WI. It is in a different locale each year. New Glarus was lousy with Vespas, which are cute little Italian scooters developed after WW II. Packs of riders were on excursions in southern Wisconsin. Nice people!

Aaah…our lunch time destination, the Glarner Stube!

All morning long I had been fantasizing about my lunch of roesti, a yummy cheesy fried hash brown potato dish. To die for! It is a big plate so Rick and I agreed to share. At the Glarner Stube, there is another “can’t miss” opportunity to see the largest of its kind in the whole world, as legend has it….

Read all about it here!!!

We continued south along the Badger State Trail. You see first-hand evidence of the funding cuts that have been made to Wisconsin’s state parks and trails programs over the past years. The trail was not at all as I remembered. Overgrown with vegetation in many places.

And the holes! Someone developed the moniker “Scottholes” for the thousands of potholes that have developed on Wisconsin highways during the past 8 years. Seems like a good fit for bike trail maintenance problems as well! You had to be careful, because there were smaller holes that were unmarked. Only the huge ones got a traffic cone!

Here we are at the intersection of the Sugar River Trail and the Badger State Trail.

Prairie plants like this spiderwort were in bloom.

A garter snake was no match for the mower that had recently been in one area. (This was the only mowed area we saw all day, so I guess the lack of mowing is good for the reptile population!)

Typical overgrown bike path! Shocking, just shocking.

But we do have a spiffy new trail rest area in Monroe.

We arrived at our Monroe B and B, the Victorian Garden, around 3:30.

We were checked into the White Lace Room…

…which boasts a HUGE bathroom and even a chaise lounge!!

We enjoyed drinks at the Minhas Kitchen, associated with Minhas Brewery based in Monroe. Here they make beer, spirits and vino. The things that look like spaceships behind us are beer tanks. There was no one else at the restaurant! Guess I didn’t need to make reservations after all….

We had hearty, cheesy, pasta dinners.

After dinner we strolled around the town square, enjoying the stately Romanesque Green County Court House.

Ha HA! Wisconsin pride…?

A fancy kitchen store offered yet another item you don’t really need, soon to be in the bottom of your kitchen junk drawer…. or for use when biking on gnat filled bike trails!!!

Our room had a faux fireplace which reminded us of our friend Charlie!

The B and B came with a friendly cat named Alania who likes to visit each guest room.

Creme Brulee Frendh Toast for our morning carbo-load!

Alania helps me check my emails after breakfast.

First stop on Day 2 is at the chain-saw-art Apollo astronaut!

And on to the chain-saw-art Potato Chef!

Then out popped the savvy marketer Barb, who offered us a sample of Barb’s Best Potato Salad. It IS the best! You can find it in Monroe, Argyle, Verona, and other hot spots of culinary opportunity.

As we left Barb’s Best Potato Salad World Headquarters and headed west, a police car zoomed by, then an ambulance, then a fire truck. In a few miles we came upon the accident. The white car to the left of the fire truck apparently hit another car that was turning. Police report noted “under the influence of controlled substances”. Doesn’t mix with driving even if it is 9:00 in the morning!

We didn’t stop. Later we got a report from train-aficionado-friend Ron that the barn is enjoyable for kids, but not so much for serious train collectors!

We took a pretty detour into Yellowstone Lake State Park, which I had never visited. It is an impoundment, which I always look down on in the great state of Wisconsin. We have so many amazing natural lakes, but not in the Driftless Area. So impoundments we get.

Pretty view of lake. Cloudy day. Rick made friends with everyone, from the guy at the lunch counter to the ranger on duty. He knows no strangers!!

Traveling along a rural road we came across this “cattle stairway”. We felt like city slickers being mystified by this engineering feat. There was a gradual route, on the right in the photo above….

…and a steeper stairway nearby. For emergencies? The cows definitely use it because there was evidence of their….presence on the steps.

When we were about to turn onto the highway into Mineral Point, this team of three beautiful draft horses appeared, along with three young Amish men, making hay bales alongside the road.

Yeehaw downhill into Mineral Point!! It was a hilly fun day all day today.

We stopped to see Dr. Gibbons, the Friendly Dentist, but they have summer hours and are closed on Friday afternoons! This is where Rick has gone for dental care since his Dodgeville days.

In Mineral Point our digs are this groovy recently remodeled apartment, owned by the Mineral Point Hotel proprietors.

It has everything we need and is fresh!

We biked over to a local arts venue, Shake Rag Alley. This was the home of Cornish miners. Wives would shake a rag to show their husbands, who were off digging lead in the hillsides, that lunch was ready. Today it is a center for art and craft workshops.

Rick says this is the most interesting “little library” he has ever seen!

Historic building at Shake Rag Alley.

Today the buildings are used for workshops, and some for lodging.

This is Buddy who really wanted Rick to join the upcoming blacksmith metal forging workshop. Here he shows off some of the finished products from the last class!

Based on our innkeeper’s advice, we decided to enjoy a drink in the brewpub prior to crossing the street to enjoy the Italian restaurant in Mineral Point. This nice couple scooched over so we would fit at the bar. then we got into a big discussion! They are recently retired raptor rehabilitators from southwest Wisconsin. She is a nurse and he is a falconer, and together, for over 30 years, helped many hawks, falcons and eagles regain their health after accidents. Great folks!

Here is the back view of our home for the night. We were on the lowest level, the stone basement that looked out over the back patio and yard. Nice!

Patriotic expressions from the Heartland.

Rick relives the early 1990’s with a visit to the house he rented in Dodgeville.

No visit to Dodgeville is complete without a stop at the old-fashioned bakery. Looks like Cookie Monsters!

I enjoyed one of Rick’s favorites from his time here, the chocolate eclair! Hope we burn lots of calories today.

Soon we accessd our route for the day, the Military Ridge State Trail.

We paused at the DNR headquarters and reminisced about how things have changed. Used to be open and service-oriented. Now it doesn’t have front-desk staff and you must make appointments in advance to meet with conservation experts.

This trail is known for its bridges over streams, and its leafy environs!

At the Grumpy Troll in Mount Horeb, I just had to have a Swiss-mushroom burger. No vegetarian lifestyle for me today!!

This trail is in much better shape than the Badger Trail. Perhaps it gets more traffic.

We stopped in Riley for a water break. As we prepared to leave, this nice man named David appeared on the trail. He was from California and was headed to a wedding nearby, and while driving his rental car, got lost. We got him back on track, and learned that he was headed to the wedding of our neighbor’s daughter! Small world.

The calorie count keeps piling up! We HAD to stop at Culver’s in Verona for custard.

Almost home! We came from the south today, and we are headed just a wee bit to the east to our house along the Capital City Trail.

Deep Thoughts:

It is brilliant to go on a June bike ride with my hubby so we will keep up this tradition!
It is lovely to live the vagabond trail life. Especially with Rick!
Now that I have made plans to retire, I can see more of this in our future!
Wisconsin tourism benefits from taxpayer investments. Right now I cannot recommend our bike trails to my out-of-state friends unequivocally like I used to. Very bad! Public investments in conservation, very good!
People are essentially good-natured and helpful. We had nary a bad experience with any one on this trip. Midwestern nice!

2019 Horsey 100

Horsey 100

May 31, 2019 rick wojack Leave a comment

A cold and rainy spring in Wisconsin meant some of the madison sunday cyclists’ were anxious to ride and decided to head south to Kentucky for the ‘Horsey 100’ weekend ride. Weather while we were there was sunny and in the 90’s!!!!

The BluegGrass Cycling Club out of Lexington, KY sponsors this ride and it was very well managed. Four loops offered each day ranged from 25 -100 miles, GREAT rest stops, well provisioned with all kinds of goodies, lunch in the afternoon and wonderful helpful staff. They have been sponsoring the ride for over 40 years!!! Above are the route options from Saturday, all lopping from the Georgetown College Campus.

But first we had to get down to the ride. Becky, Charlie Terry and Pam all went down the Wednesday before the Saturday start and were able to ride the optional 22 mile loop on Friday. emJay had a meeting until Thursday afternoon and we didn’t get on the road until Thursday at 4:00pm. We overnighted in Campaign, IL. Easy Interstate Highway the whole way there. Oh . . . and those southerners like to take their casks of hootch wherever they go!!!

The event is held at the Georgetown College Campus with dorms and camping available as well as cafeteria food , a vendor show, food trucks and music!! Whatever loop you decided to ride had an ‘official start time’ used to space the 2,500 riders out on the road but everyone seemed to start around 8:00am. Since the 25, 50, 75 and 100 mile loops all use the same first 20 miles, the roads were CROWDED!!!

emJay, Pam, Charlie and Terry heading down the main drag out of town . . .

. . . past lots of cutesy shops!

But once we were out in the country is was easy riding . . . the road surfaces were all paved with narry a crack to be found . . . a far cry from what we have in Wisconsin!!

Great scenery along the way . . . .

. . . and everyone was very accommodating. Only had one car driver ‘act obnoxious’ the whole weekend!!!

The rest stops were well set up and located about 25 miles apart. LOTS of Gatorade. In fact the woman with the green top standing on the wagon was mixing the power into the water with a canoe paddle!!!

. . . and lots of choices for chowing down . . .

. . . which also had an accompanying guide regarding caloric intake. What planning!!!!

Pickle juice is supposed to help relieve leg cramping. These cups had pickle juice with a pickle spear to munch on to control the cramps.

. . . soon four of us were full and ready to ‘ride it off’ during the 25 miles to the next rest stop!!

. . . happy rider . . .

. . . happy horses!!!

Oh there is quite a Certified Farm Market system in Kentucky, too.

Scenic farms and homes along the way . . .

Houston . . . do we have a problem??? Not today . . . no wind, nice temps, no skeeters and no cars!!!!

. . . and LOTS of great riding and scenery.

Soon we we were at the Finish Line where someone tried to join our photo at the finish. a madisonsundaycyclist wanna be???

Pam and Terry were camping and the BaVo’s and WoHu’s were hoteling it at the Country Inn and Suites . . . where we squired a nice supply of after ride goodies to get some salt back into the old system!!!

That night we all went out to the Broussard’s Delta Kitchen which had only been open for a couple of weeks, Great art, great food and . . .

. . . well earned desserts. emJay and I split one!!

No problem sleeping tonight and soon it was time for breakfast and back on the road for our Sunday loop.

. . . more great scenery . . .

. . . and rest stops, including this one where one of the volunteers, Kelly Jo, was serving up ice. We had met the the day before in a store and learned she was from Wisconsin Rapids but had lived in Kentucky for 20 years because her husband didn’t like the cold!!!

. . . back out on the road the numbers were a lot fewer today . . .

. . . on Saturday there had been 2,500 riders spread across the four loops and today there were only 1.500!!!

. . . I was surprised this was the only roadside memorial I saw in all of Kentucky. Way below the ‘national average’ I have seen on other bike trips. That’s a good thing!!!

. . .on we pedaled down country lanes until we arrive in Paris, KY, our next rest stop . . .

. . . where photos ops were available . . .

. . . with a French flair!!!

. . . more great settings along the way . . .

. . . we even passed over the interstate highway three or four times. Here emJay points to the sign indicating the town she worked in 34 years ago as a new Nature Conservancy employee.

One last rest stop at a local winery . . .

. . . the last stop of the day being know as the ‘Zombie Zone’!!

Fifteen more miles down the road . . .

. . . with several more large horse operations along the way, we arrived back at Georgetown College . . .

. . . for a little late lunch in the cafeteria. Happy pigs . . .

. . . but we opted for salads.

. . . Terry had a little BBQ pork . . .

. . . and we had a nice time sitting outdoors at the ‘Sláinte Public House’ tavern.

No trouble sleeping Sunday night. It was a great two days of riding, we covered over 100 miles and we had all decided to stay over in Georgetown on Memorial Monday to avoid traffic returning home for the holiday. We had two tours set up. One of Buffalo Trace Bourbon Distillery and one of the Old Friends Stable for retired race horses.

Along with lunch and a stop in Frankfurt it was going to be another full day!!!!

Our first stop, Buffalo Trace gets it’s name from the bison. . .

. . . that many years ago, on their annual migration, would cross the Kentucky River at the site of the current distillery. Thus the name.

Oh and they make some terrific products. So much so that in the gift shop they were completely out of the three brands shown above and only had Bourbon Creme, similar to Baileys Irish Cream left for sale. YUMMIER!!!!

The buildings date back to the mid 1800’s

Hard to believe a distillery could run out of liquor for sale but they had over 5,000 visitors come through in the three days prior to our arrival and they bought it all!!!!

The four story warehouses have bars on the lower windows . . .

. . . originally used to keep the company from sneaking out barrels of bourbon in the middle of the night before taxes had been paid to the revenuers !!!

The nature airflow through the warehouse full of 500 pound full barrels continues for 9 to 25 years, depending on the navigate you buy. The below ground level is the coolest and ferments the best bourbon. The barrels on the top floor produce a more’ modestly price’ version!!! During the fermentation period a barrel can loose up to 47% of the liquid due to evaporation though the wood.

Freddie, our terrific guide, led us on our tour into the basement . . . and explained the whole process, quite nicely.

Their is a ‘railroad’ between buildings to move the barrels of bourbon that includes a train track signal!!! The arrows show the special mechanism that rights the barrel into the correct position so, as it travels down the little hill will, not fall off the trolley!!!

In the special bottling room, for the highest quality vintage, a machine is used to create a wax seal . . .

. . . around the decorative cork top. No production today because of Memorial Day.

After the tour it was time for the tasting . . . where we started with the raw product . . .

Pam gives her approval of the more refined and aged version . . .

. . . after four samples it was time for the Bourbon Cream. YUM!!!

They even had home made root beer for the little ones and non drinkers!!!!

emJay and Freddie had become fast friends. Cary and Scott had been down in Kentucky for the Derby, toured Buffalo Trace and recommended Freddie to us. He was a great guide and nice guy.

After the tour we walked around the vast grounds for a while. Here was a Trompe l’oeil style painting that fooled the human eye as you walked in front of it. The floor lines ran always ran towards you regardless of your position in front of the painting . . . or maybe we had too much BT tasting!!!

Near the river was the ‘special vault’, a building that only held one cask of bourbon, every millionth barrel that is.

This was the 10 millionth barrel produced at BT and it was signed by all the staff that were working the day it rolled off the line. FUN!!!!

Oh . . . and they ship the Buffalo Trace bourbon in generic, non descript trailers . . . maybe to prevent hijackings????!!!!

Pam and Terry bought some of Freddie’s Special Root which we would enjoy with some Bourbon Cream, think alcoholic root beer floats, later in the evening!!

We had notice these large, long, buildings along the highway as we had arrived and wondered what they were . . . ends up they are more bourbon aging warehouses, circa 2010!!!

Buffalo Trace is banking on the bourbon craze not ending any time soon . . . in fact the bourbon boom we often hear about just got a bit louder as has they recently announced their first large scale structural expansion since the 1950s. The expansion is part of the $1.2 billion (yes, that’s ‘B’ for Billion) dollars improvement and expansion plans to spend in the next ten years to accommodate not only more visitors, but more bourbon barrels and more bottling lines.

In to Frankfurt we went to tour ’emJay’s old haunts’. She had not been back to Frankfurt for 30 years and things had changed . . . but Ruth Ann’s Famous Bourbon Balls (think chocolate truffles with a kick) were still in production. Of course we had to buy a box, but no tour today because production was shut down due to the holiday.

. . . in fact it looked like they had raised the tour price from $2 to $5 for the holiday weekend. The ‘temporary’ sticker was peeling off and I could’t help but look behind it!!

The pedestrian mall emJay remember now allowed cars to park on it. . . she was aghast . . . .

. . . but her old apartment still looked well maintained, at least the outside of it!!

A few miles down the road we came to ‘Old Friends’, the retirement farm for past racehorses. Click photo to find out more . . .

It was a beautiful afternoon . . .

. . .as Tom, our volunteer tour guide, gave us a fantastic tour . . . who knew horses could be so interesting. emJay did. As our resident former horse owner, and a prior Kentuckian (we still annually watch the Kentucky Derby, Preakness, etc, etc. ) she was in 7th heaven!!!

Charlie was the first to step up and feed Sun King a few carrots. . .

. . .as emJay fed Eye of the Tiger.

They even have a horse cemetery for the over 200 horse they have on site. Some prior owners have moved their prized horses remains to the cemetery here on site . . .

. . . of course the two Polska of the group were especially attracted to Polish Navy. He was a strong contender for three year old champions, among one of the best crops in recent history. He won 7 of 12 starts, earning $1,118,076.

Pam says Hi to this handsome team . . .

. . . even horses can eat too much resulting in weight issues and hoof problems . . . the solution? put one of these muzzles over their mouth which allow them to graze, but not get too much. mmmmmm . . . wonder if that would work with for humans and the forks we use!!!

emJay was especially drawn to one of the more famous steeds on site, Silver Charm.

Born in February of 1994) Silver Charm is an American Champion Thoroughbred race horse. He is best known for winning the 1997 Kentucky Derby and the Preakness Stakes in the Triple Crown. He also won the Dubai World Cup (of which he is the oldest surviving winner), and stood at stud in both America and Japan. Upon the death of Hansel, Silver Charm became the oldest living winner of the Preakness Stakes.

After a quick clean up at the hotel it was off to Lexington for our farewell dinner. We ate at Carson’s . . . .

. . . a terrific venue where I had Salmon Oscar . . .

. . . and emJay had scallops on slabs of fried pork belly. VERY Rich tasting . . . she ate it all, along with the grits!!!

Soon it was time to have a bourbon root beer floats back at the hotel, say our goodbyes and turn in for the night. We would all make the 8 hour drive home tomorrow.

Along the way home it became clear that Isaac ‘The Hammer’ was a very successful personal injury lawyer. There are LOTS of billboards for other PI lawyers, too but he took the cake for the most, at least one every ten miles all through Kentucky, Indiana and most of Illinois.

There must be something about the law in these states that precipitates so much advertising by so many lawyers . . .

. . . see ‘The Hammer’s’ 2019 Super Bowl ad by clicking the photo above!!

There is always a choice though, and as emJay pointed out, “In this case it is either the Hammer or the Hottie!”

On the way home we stopped at the ‘Steak and Shake’ restaurant for lunch. Started in Normal, IL, Steak ‘n Shake’s slogan “In Sight It Must Be Right” originally referred to the owners practice of wheeling a barrel of T-bone, sirloin, and round steaks into the public area of his restaurant, then grinding them into burgers in front of his customers. This practice was intended to reassure customers of the wholesomeness of the product; at that time, ground beef was still viewed with some skepticism by the general public, based on the likelihood of its having deliberate impurities introduced into it. No mention of what is in the burgers today.

BUT it was one of Charlie’s favorite hang outs when he was in Champaing during his college years. He is shown above, by the red arrow, seated with another guy both looking for girls!!!!

It was a great trip! Relatively close to home, some fabulous riding, great weather, great food and great friendship . . . and we got to help celebrate Becky’s birthday (one that did not end with a 0)!

2019 SE Asia

Day 1, Chicago to Ho Chi Minh City

March 9, 2019 rick wojack

So other than getting a bad cold two weeks before the trip I was pretty much on the mend, through the running nose and hacking stage but then . . . nose bleed problems.

Two trips to the clinic and one to urgent care, over a week period, still produced no good solution. Dry air they said . . . use petroleum jelly to coat the inside of my nose! Didn’t get that advice until after three nights of bleeding in bed. My nose started gushing each night about 3:00am and by the time I woke up from the event, the pillows and sheets looked like a murder scene. BUT . . . the p-jelly coating seemed to work and I was ‘flow free’ the last two night before the flight.

Oh they had the ‘nose kit’ ready when I went to urgent care but no cauterizing of nose blood vessels took place.

With my cold and nose problems hopefully under control the next issue was the weather. Rain, snow and sleet predicted for MSN and ORD, the day before, and during my departures. emJay was able to take me to the bus stop and soon I was on the way to O’Hare. No delays. Did I mention she is ‘so nice” . . .can’t wait until she retires in a couple of years an we can do all these things together!!!

I went down the night before my flight , to hopefully avoid any local travel issues and had a nice nights sleep, as it continued to snow outside. Lots of ‘white real estate’ in my bed. Hopefully no nose bleeds . . . and there were none. Now I just got to get my nose through the 23 hours of flight time.

Anticipating TSA staffing issues at the airport due to the government shutdown, I got to the airport three hours early rather than the recommend two hours. No problem. It took 15 minutes to get through the JAL airline checkin process, mainly because of all the ‘packages’ visitors from the US were taking back home. A surprising number of what looked like TV’s from Walmart!!!

Then it was on to TSA security where there we only about 15 people in front of me and I was through the process in 10 minutes!!! Easy, Peasy!!! I thanked each of the staff who assisted me through the process for showing up for work during the slowdown. Might have something to do with the good old fashion ‘work ethic’ so common in the Midwest.

The concourses we’re we’re basically empty. Funny considering the hotel was full of people whose flights had been cancelled. Most were flying domestically.

So . . . at this point I had some time to work on this, as I looked out the window watching the ‘de-icing’ process of our JAL airship that will carry me to Narita, Japan and then onto Ho Chi Minh city. More to come!!!

Oh and there was more to come . . . after ferrying out to the run way, the airport was closed for several hours. Our captain had the choice of sitting out on the runaway or returning the jet to the concourse , which is what he decided to do

The door of the jet was opened and folks were allowed to get out and mill around the waiting area. After an hour and a half it was time to refuel the plane. So were told to unbuckle our seats belts in case there ended up being a fire! After that we needed to be de-iced one more time and them it was time to load everyone up and head for the tarmac again. We finally lifted off 4 hours after our schedule departure which of course made the 12 hour flight even longer!!!

Our route . . .

. . . would take us right over Watertown and Fond du lac, emJay’s ancestral homes. She had been up in Kolher for a meeting and was driving back to Madison about the time we flew over. I looked down and thought I saw her driving on Hwy 41!!!!

. . . finally we were touching down in Tokyo . . .

. . . all in all my Gamin watch told me it had been a stress free day . . . got to stay in the frame of mind!!!

Japan Airline (JAL) has there act together. When we landed at Narita, they had a sign at the end of the concourse with the names of the 50 or so of us who had missed our connecting flights because of the delay. Dashi walked up to me, to ask me my name, and went and got my ‘dossier’ that had: my lodging voucher, dinner and breakfast vouchers (all paid for my JAL), my rescheduled flight info for the next day on Vietnam Airlines and a map on where to catch the shuttle bus to the Nikko Hotel located adjacent the airport.

I went to station 33, there was the bus and 10 minutes later . . .

We pulled up to the Nikko . . .

which had very festive lighting!!!

I checked in at reception and went right dinner, had a nice Japanese dinner with of course a nice plate of desserts. Felt I earned it after all the delays!!!

Then it was up to my room. spartan but very . . .

clean and with everything I needed for the the night . . .

. . .and my first exposure to the infamous Japanese toilet system which have heated seats . . .

. . . and should com with a users manual!!!! I climbed into bed planning on having a full nights sleep before my 5:30 wakeup call . . . but unfortunately only slept until 2:00am and then tossed and turned for the rest of the night. A chance for a good nights sleep wasted because of jet lag!!!

2019 SE Asia

Day 2, Tokyo to HO Chi Minh City, REDUX

March 9, 2019 rick wojack

After a fitfull night of sleep it was time for breakfast, a HUGE buffet with a more options than one could even sample, western and eastern cuisine . . .

I had never seen one of these gadgets at a bread service table before. Honey for your toast that is SO FRESH it was literally dripping out of the honey comb, into the chute and down to a serving pitcher . . . IT TASTED GREAT!!

The phones that TommyH and I own, the Google Pixel, are powered by Googles Project FI and supply service in 147 countries similar, Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand included. Same $10/mb of data with NO ROAMING CHARGES!!! Interestingly the ‘free’, with ads texting program I use, Textra, always has an ad at the top trying to sell me something.

. . . they are tracking me . . . it’s just they don’t know I am retired.

Interesting at the Vietnam Airline check-in the amount of ‘stuff’ people were taking back with them to Vietnam from Japan. Some folks had 5 and 6 boxes of ‘goods’. You would think whatever they were buying would be just as cheap in Vietnam!!

. . . with over 2 million motor scooters in Ho Chi Minh city, I must have seen at least half of them on the drive from the airport to the Alagon Hotel. As far as the eye could see in front and behind us. Just a sea of humanity making their way home on a Friday night. Utter chaos but yet everything flows along . . . and hardly and horn honking!!!

I tied up with Tom at the Alagon and moved into our room. We went down the street for a nice dinner, dodging motor scooters heading towards us on the sidewalk. If the street traffic is not moving fast enough, some scooter drivers just come right up on the sidewalk! I ate those greens on the plate of spring rolls, which afterwards I thought might have been a mistake, but no ‘tummy issues’ Yippee!!!

We were both in bed at 9:00pm. I slept until about 2:00am and woke up ‘fully awake’ but fell back to sleep by about 4:00am, I think, and then slept until 7:00am. YESSSSSSSSSSSS

2019 SE Asia

Day 3 & 4, Ho Chi Minh city

March 9, 2019 rick wojack

Today we woke up after about 8 hours of sleep with another blue sky day in Ho Chi Minh City, 76 degrees, 72 percent humidity, no wind. A view out the back window of our hotel.

We had some infrastructure problems today. Steaming hot water coming out of both the HOT and COLD water faucets and our air conditioner was on the ‘frtiz’, not cooling. I was busy working on the journal, and since TommyH religiously watches ‘This Old House’, we decided he would take care of the problems by talking the universal language of home repair with the staff. Contacting the front desk resulted in one gent coming up to our eighth floor room to work on the AC. He ‘worked’ the AC remote for about 30 seconds and the unit started blowing cold air again. Problem solved: The problem? Two old Americans that can’t operate a remote control!!! Another guy came up shortly after to fix the water problem. He was in the bathroom turning water on and off for about 5 minutes and soon declared the problem solved. The problem? Not sure but he did get us our cold water back again!!!

Lois, Eileen, Ellsworth and I decided to head to the War Remnant Museum, a facility built by the Vietnamese to explain the war from their perspective. We decided to take a taxi over to the museum and probably walk back to the hotel. Total taxi charge for the four of us 13,000 dong, about 50 cents, USD!!!

We spent about 3 hours at the museum and it was a life changing experience. Here, we as Americans, saw the war from a completely different perspective than the Walter Cronkite reports of the ‘daily body count’ on the nightly news, which was widely recognized as the militaries measure of success.

Outside there was a a fair amount of captured US military hardware, all in pristine shape, on display.

In all the journaling I have done through the years, this experience caused me the most internal strife on what to ‘report’. It’s a long ways from reporting on what kind of place we stayed in overnight, what great desserts we had and how the biking has been. Once we got inside to the exhibits it was mind numbing. It showed a side of the US military that is hard to imagine. Sure some may have a ‘propaganda’ slant to it from the Vietnamese but it is hard to deny what one sees in photos and the capturing of the detailed information. I really struggled on whether to present anything further than the photo above as a report on our visit but feel I need to share some of what I saw inside. So here are a few of the photos I took.

For those of you who do not want to see or read about our experience, click here to skip down to the next section.

As American’s, I think we like to collectively think we are different from the rest of the world but when it comes down to it . . . people are people. We are all innately good and just want to have family, and a safe, secure life. War can changed that I think, regardless of nationality or governmental beliefs. Taking an 18 year farm boy from the middle of Iowa, sending him to basic training, making him a killing machine where within five months he is on the front lines seeing and experiencing things he has never dreamed of in his worst nightmares, has got to have a life long effect on you. Seeing your new family of ‘squad members’ being slaughter could bring out the worst in any person, reducing your survival to the basic instinct of . . . staying alive. It probably has been happening since the Revolutionary war and every conflict we have been involved with since. How anyone who has seen the atrocities of war could ever return to a normal life is beyond belief. I guess it really speaks to the resilience of the human mind and spirit to leave it behind, as best you can, and move on with your life. Hard to describe . . . and I am really at a loss for how to put it into words. Read the photo captions

The sewer where the children were hiding . . .

The museum had four topic areas, one being the results of the Agent Orange spraying operations. Interesting in how the military picks names for operations to maybe simplify or minimalize the notion. The spraying operation was known as ‘Ranch Hand’ . . . I guess like clearing brush!!! Eventually of 25% of the country was sprayed,. 11% of the area more than once. The room of photos showing the aftermath of juvenile birth defects due to Agent Orange was unnerving. It almost made me sick to my stomach and I left the room after viewing about a quarter o the displays.

We left the museum with heavy hearts . . . lots of discussion on what we had just experienced.

On the street are were many food vendors working off the back of there scooters. These ‘Waffle Men’ were very common, cooking their waffles over a little charcoal burner.

Ellwsorth lead us through the Central Park area he had walked through the day before . . .

. . . which had some really interesting palms!!!

We were on the way to the largest indoor market in Ho Chi Minh city, on a mission with Lois to find her a new pair of ‘jammies’, having forgotten hers back in CA.

We went by a store where the staff had been cleaning something and were carting the wash receptacle outside to dispose of the water . . . down the drain!!!

Tommy H, (Ellsworth), wants us to change hotels. He misses his kitties!!!!

New scooters for sale, still in the box!!!

Although scooters seem to have taken over the lowly bicycle for local transportation, bikes are still used for the ‘heavy hauling’!!!

The market was something to see. A full city block in size, with hundreds, maybe thousands of vendors. The merchants are very tactile, reaching out an touching your shoulder or side, encouraging you to stop and buy something. One young girl poked TommyH and said ‘Big Belly’ . . . he did not stop there to buy anything!!!

About a quarter of the market was vegetables including these Durians which are one of several ‘stinky’ fruits sold in the local area.

So bad, that if you are caught with any remnants of one in your room there s an extra 50 USD cleaning fee!!!

We walked by a large park selling trees including these flowering quince which are evidently a good luck purchase made during the Chinese new Year

. . . lots of orange trees . . .

. . . and the Vietnamese have developed a new cultivar of grapefruit that is grown with it’s own plastic bag attached. Brilliant!!!

Eileen had told us about the ’High Tea’, offered from 3 until 5 pm at our hotel, so we all proceeded down for some strawberry tea and assorted yummies. Notice ‘pinkies’ extended while sipping the tea. Got to fit in you know!!!!

Before you know it was time to eat again. We had such a nice experience at restaurant we went to last night, we decided to go there again and Eileen agreed to join us. Lois needed to ‘veg out’ after the jammie market shopping experience!!! The streets were jammed again, and as usual, if the traffic is not flowing fast enough, which it rarely is for many, they take to the sidewalk to pass cars and other scooters to move ahead . . .

. . . a pedestrian REALLY needs to be on the look out, especially when they are coming up from behind. We’ve learned you just need to keep moving . . . DO NOT STOP. The riders are planning on navigating around you, using your present speed an trajectory in deciding their route. Stopping screws the whole thing up!!!

We got to the restaurant and I REALLY had a hard time deciding between the two versions of stomach being offered . . .

. . . so instead, had the soft tofu which was REALLY delicious. Soft gooey pieces of tofu, fried in a light crispy, batter. I REALLY have to get the recipe!!!

There are what seem to be thousands of ‘scooter officers’, like the two picture on the left of the photo above that handle the parking of scooters along public spaces. Not sure who employees or pays them but they do bring an order to the chaos!!!

You got to go with the flow, DO NOT STOP!!! There are traffic lights with pedestrian ‘Walk’, ‘Don’t Walk’ flashing lights which are generally observed by the sea of scooters but on roundabouts, like this one, it’s every person for themselves!! TommyH and I made it across while Eileen hesitated and had to wait for the next ‘break’ (which doesn’t mean NO SCOOTERS . . . just fewer scooters’)