Quick Look III: Flowers, History, and Lighthouses

Our day of exploration took us to Roanoke Island, which lies between mainland North Carolina and the islands that I refer to as the outer Outer Banks.  Specifically, we explored sights in Manteo.

Our 8:00a departure from the campground made for perfect timing.  We arrived in Manteo an hour later, just as the places on our sightseeing list were opening their doors.  Our plans called for starting out in Fort Raleigh, but when we saw three busloads of kids in the parking lot, we made a quick adjustment to the order of our sightseeing stops.  All in all, our day worked out quite nicely.

In the morning, we visited …

The Elizabethan Gardens
(above and below)

Fort Raleigh ... Home of the Lost ColonY
(image from an informational poster in the visitor center)

Although we’d packed a picnic lunch, we toyed with the idea of eating at a restaurant on the Manteo Waterfront instead.  Once there, however, we had another change of heart (actually, I did; but Mui didn’t put up much of a fight).  Spotting a gazebo jutting out into the water, we headed there for an al fresco meal.

My hat stands in for me for the lunch photo op.

The Roanoke Marshes Lighthouse … the view from our lunch spot.

We had planned to spend the afternoon at the North Carolina Aquarium.  That was before we learned that there were several busloads of kids there intent on doing the same thing.  Switching gears, we rounded out our afternoon in Manteo at …

The Roanoke Island Festival Park
(celebrating the first English Settlement in America)

And, on our way back to the campground, we capped off our day with a stop at the last of the four Outer Banks lighthouses …

Bodie  [pronounced “Body”]  Lighthouse

We were back at the coach around 5:00p.  A few minutes to check our emails; another hour to prepare and eat our steak and shrimp dinner (cooked to perfection in our microwave/convection oven since there are no grills at Camp Hatteras, and we’ve not yet bought one for the coach).  It was 6:30p before we knew it.

Although the clouds had moved in and the winds had picked up, we decided to walk over to the section of the campground that overlooks Pamlico Sound to watch the sunset.  Unfortunately, the stiff wind made it impossible to wait until 7:38p to see the sun disappear over the horizon.  Slightly chilled, and more than a little disheveled, we returned to the coach to enjoy a quiet evening at home.

A day of realisations

Sunday turned out to be a memorable ride for a lot of reasons. The Glasshouse mountains were spectacular as always.



I discovered a new route from Peachester to Maleny over Bald Knob (this may be an even prettier climb than Mt Lindesay).





There was the brutal climb over Obi Obi to a great view near Mapleton Falls (not a lot of water over the falls, but who cares?).



There was a spectacular descent on dirt through a beautiful forest into the Obi Obi Gorge to begin with.



There was even a new, out of the way spot which I might just turn into a lunch stop next time I'm in the area.


All that was "missing" were a few extra kilometres to turn the ride into a "century (that would be 100 miles as opposed to 100km). However, as I was standing on the Blackall Range watching the awesome light show provided by an approaching thunderstorm, I came to a realisation. I have been obsessing over mileage too much in recent times. To be frank, who really cares if a ride like this is a century or not? Is it really that important? Sure, I'll probably lose three places in the "contest" over at bikejoural.com, but so what? It's the scenery that will bring me back here next time around, not the mileage. It's the scenery that I will remember from this ride, the distance is something that I will have to look up should I ever think it is relevant in any way (unlikely).
With that, I descended to Nambour just in time for the 2.30pm train home, feeling rather satisfied.

Land of stone

The beach at Dunnet surprised me with its angular stones. I'm used to the smooth, rounded stones of the east coast beaches. In the almost tree-less landscape of Caithness the bones of the earth were much more evident than in the Lowlands.
Stone fences made from upright slabs were everywhere. When I got out of the car to take this photo I was met by the unmistakable and - if you've grown up in the Scottish countryside - comforting smell of sheep.

These fences were a surprise to me. I had taken photos of stone fences in the foothills of the French Pyrenees this summer, little thinking that they also existed in Scotland.

The stone dykes (walls) were of a different construction to the chunky construction that I know. In Caithness they're made from horizontal layers of stone slices, and topped with rough semicircles of upright slabs.

Packing & A Ride

Yesterday, I spent the day sorting a packing for my return trip. Was thinking of riding in the foothills. Looked like some snow might falling up there. I had enough work to do, anyway.
Today, I continued preparations to drive home. Cousin Don and I planned a bike ride this afternoon. We met at the Bosque parking lot on Montano. When we started out from the parking lot, my heart monitor was indicating I was in A-Fib. Stopped to relax, and things stabilized and I was back in normal rhythm.
We headed over the Rio Grande and turned North riding up to Alameda. From there, turned back South, riding to I-40. There, another rider agreed to take our photo on my camera. That photo is here in this posting.
Trunk is packed. Will load the bikes and the rest of the car early in the morning. Planning to be home Thursday afternoon.

Canyons

Was planning to write this posting last evening, but had big issues with the wi-fi here in my motel. I hope it stays connected enough that I can get it done this morning.

Sunday was the time to start heading towards home. Early up and mostly packed in the room in Jackson, Since I had not eaten any solid food Saturday, I started with a full breakfast at the Virginian. Good food, so=so service. The server could not understand that I wanted my "go-cup" filled with ice and then topped with water - NOT filled with water with some ice in it. Oh, well, there was some king of "local resident" discount. I looked like an tourist, but was there when the restaurant opened. Many she thought only locals would be in at 6:30.

Checking out of the motel, I stopped in downtown Jackson - scoped out goods for sale and stopped in at the visitors center. Mostly had to use the rest room! Headed North for Moran Junction. Did my final "Good-bye" to Grand Teton, heading for Buffalo.

My route took me (on purpose) through Wind River Canyon (upper photo), Had discovered this canyon during a trip to Yellowstone in the early 80s, The canyon ends near Thermopolis, WY. Did not remember the large hot spring at a state park there.

Up to Worland then East to Ten Sleep. This was my second scenic drive of the day. US 16 through Ten Sleep Canyon was called the "Cloud Peak Skyway" (see lower photo).

Found my motel in Buffalo (stopped in a convenience store for directions - they said they did not have a Days Inn in Buffalo!) The motel had changed name in May. Anyway - the frustrating evening started.

Could not get a reliable wi-fi connection from the room, The staff at the motel was mostly worthless. One person came to the room and verified the problem and rebooted the router. Never saw him later.



Waiting the router to re-boot, I was going to head to dinner at Winchesters (recommended by the desk clerk). Winchester's Steakhouse was closed for 5 days - over Labor Day weekend! Saw Bozeman Trail Steakhouse. Like breakfast, the food was good but the service was lacking.

After dinner, the internet was in the same condition. Keep telling me there was not problem - even though I was having the same problem on my tablet and laptop. Finally I gave up the internet and just processed my photos.

Calmed down and got some sleep. Should get ready for the day, soon. Devils' Tower and Black Hills today.

To Paint or Not to Paint?

This black and white checkerboard floor is in my laundry room/sewing room. I painted it twenty years ago this month, so it took that long to wear down this much.
The raspberries and leaves were picked one morning. I'll post later about what I do with the leaves.
I'm thinking about painting my kitchen floor to match. The two floors run together. You can barely see the kitchen floor in the top picture. It's pine boards. I LOVE black and white checkerboard kitchen floors. Or I could paint a floor cloth to go under the table instead.
So I'm taking a poll. Come on all you friends of mine that I know read my blog but never comment. What should I do? Paint both floors b/w checkerboard or just do a floor cloth for the kitchen? I think I'll repaint the laundry room floor regardless of what I do in the kitchen. I hate to cover over the patina, but it's pretty worn.
What would YOU do?

Early autumn colors on Wauswaugoning Bay

This afternoon's view from the Highway 61 pullout on Mt. Josephine in Grand Portage. With the rain showers we've been getting over the past couple of days, the leaves seem to be taking on a bit more vibrancy than they had before the rain. The colors are popping out everywhere now and the next couple of weeks should be good for leaf watchers!

Reunion and a Bike Ride

Didn't do much in the morning. Breakfast buffet at the hotel with army buddies. Visited in the hospitality room. Today was the day the most folks are arriving.

HAD to get out for a bike ride. Headed to Boulder City to ride per bike shop suggested. Had some problems getting out of the Strip are - which streets go through, or goes under/over the strip and I-15. When I got to Boulder City had to stop at a gas station for direction to the bike trail parking.

Where I parked, I could ride down hill as far as I could see or up hill (where I could see for about 1/2 mile). Started down hill to see how steep the hill is. Steeper than it looks.

Decided to turn around and ride up. Did not want to ride up hill at the end of the ride to get back to the car. Topped the hill at about 1.5 miles from the car. Could have ridden on down the a casino - but did not want to climb back up. Photo above was taken while riding back downhill to the car. Interesting mile markers on the trail.

With a little research, I found out the trail I was on was the River Mountains Loop Trail. From the mile marker, I a thinking the mile 0 was at the Casino at Railroad Pass.

Guessing the hill was 4-7% grade. Most at or above the grade across the Bob Bridge (at max 4.9%). Legs were tired by the time i finished.

Back at the hospitality room for a whole. Looking for food. Buffet was $17 and more food than I wanted. Same with the pub in the hotel. Checked another restaurant on the strip - almost as much $$ than the buffet. Ended up at Denny's - chick-fried steak, fries, and salad. Just about that I needed.

More of the group arrived. Visited for a while. All were getting tired - early "get-up" to shoot the golf tournament.

The fly

What is crawling on my tyre?

Isn't it remarkable how some of the smallest things in life can restore a sense of perspective to a temporarily irrational mind? For some reason I took yesterday badly (as evidenced by the post below). I really don't know why I took it so badly -- often I've consoled friends who have failed exams by pointing out that one exam is not going to ruin a life. However, I wasn't thinking that way yesterday -- nor early this morning it seemed.

I knew I needed to get on the bike in order to get over this, but this morning I woke up feeling lethargic. It was almost like I didn't care. Eventually I forced myself to get out there, heading for Tallebudgera Valley. As usual, it was a beautiful ride once I got away from the urban sprawl of the coast.



It was only after getting back to one of my special places by the banks of the creek well away from civilisation that I started to restore some perspective to my mind.



Yet it was only when I walked back to my bike for the ride home that I noticed that little green fly sitting on my wheel. Strangely, I've never noticed this creature before. As far as I was aware, flies only came in one colour -- black (apart from the glow worms at Austinville of course). It was at that moment that I realised that this indeed wasn't the end of the world by a long shot. Heck, my problems are minute compared to what some others are suffering at the moment. I have been reminded once again that in pursuit of our goals and ambitions, we shouldn't lose sight of the little things that make the world such a special place.

As far as the journey goes, I will get there eventually. In this case, it might just take a little longer than I had anticipated. So who would have expected such insights to come from a fly?