We all slept in this morning until 9 AM – so thankful Landen is a good sleeper. We are off to Northampton to ride the Manhan Rail Trail
Northampton is a nice little town with beautiful planters all around, many shops and restaurants. Union Station along the trail has been refurbished and houses restaurants. Very tempting, but if we stop we may not get on the trail again. I had read somewhere that the trail was shaded but most of it was not and it was a hot day.
We road the trail south to Easthampton thru parks and community gardens. One park was busy with food bank distribution.
Mural along Manhan R/T in Easthampton.This mural was really incredible. I wish I could have gotten it all on one picture.Lunch stop on our return to Northampton. Landen loves those PB&Js.
One leg of the trail followed the Connecticut River. As we passed by a small lake the temperature dropped and we felt cool for a few brief minutes. It didn’t last long. These rides have been very hot so far.
Wednesday August 14, 2019 and we have a nice ride on the Canalside Trail scheduled. Lenny had an issue with his derailleur so he spent the morning fixing that issue. Landen rode his bike around the park and went down the slide many, many times.
We began our ride in Montague. We passed Turner Falls Dam and Fishway which are ladders that allow fish to travel up stream. The trail then followed the canal where we saw several trestle bridges, ducks and blue heron.
Near the end of the trail we were on the street for a short distance then into a heavily wooded area and over an awesome trestle bridge.
Beautiful trestle bridge on Canalside Rail Trail.
The views from the bridge were gorgeous. Since it was a short trail and Landen had fallen asleep we rode part of the trail twice.
View from trestle bridge on Canalside R/T near confluence of Conneticut and Deerfield Rivers.
So good to be starting out northeastern miles. Tomorrow we will ride The Manhan Rail Trail
We left Saybrook on Monday afternoon August 12, 2019 to begin our biking in the northeast. Our plan is to ride in Massachusetts and New Hampshire. We may also get some New York miles in on our return to Ohio.
Our first morning – breakfast in motorhome, Utica, NY. Walmart parking lot beside a Bass Pro Shop.
We headed for Bernardston. MA in the morning as we have reservations at Traveler’s Woods. Our trip was uneventful (PTL) with mostly light traffic and of course some construction delays. Sine we are traveling with a 2 year old our site was near the play ground.
Notice Landen is wearing his bike helmet. Couldn’t decide between riding his strider bike or going down slide. Nice quiet campground.
We plan to stay here 3 nights. It is close to 2 trails we plan to ride. Tomorrow we begin our Massachusetts miles. We are so excited to once again that we are blessed2bbiking. Double blessed to have Landen along
After completing our northwest biking experience in October 2019 we were able to spend a beautiful fall in Ohio before heading to Fort Leonard Wood to spend Christmas with Erik and his family. April was with us too.
We had a fun and blessed Christmas.
Then it was off to Florida for the winter. We spent January and February 2019 at West Jupiter RV. We did many miles of biking from the RV Park. Walking the beach is one of our favorite activities and we did plenty of that. Best of all we spent lots of time with our grandson Landen.
Headed for the beach on Singer Island.
Along one of our favorite rides in Cypress Park.
Wild turkey in River Bend Park. We rode here many times and even did a full moon ride. The night sounds and darkness made it a very different experience.Full moon ride at River Bend Park.
March means Strawberry Festival time so we headed for Plant City area. We camped at Colt Creek State Park for a few days. Had a wonderful visit with the Millers and fun times at the Strawberry Festival. Highlight was the Martina McBride concert.
Amazing the way they plant and harvest the strawberries. I love getting pictures of the flag.
Cookout at Colt Creek in cool March weather.
While staying at Colt Creek we road a couple nice trails that were only a short drive from the park – General James A Van Fleet and Withlacoochee State Trail.
Meanwhile back at home.
After our stay at Colt Creek we had reservations at Highland Hammock State Park. The ranger who checked us in spent many summers in Ashtabula. Her grandfather was commodore at the yacht club.
While here we enjoyed some biking, hiking, a very informative tram tour and the Civilian Conservation Corp Museum. An excellent history lesson dealing with the depression era.
Then it was off to Ortona South Lock a Corp of Engineers campground. We loved it here. We could walk across the dam and watch boats going thru the lock. There were river otters playing in the stream. Great place for walking, relaxing and biking.
Cattle grazing beside campground. I enjoyed hearing them in the morning. Biggest bull I’ve ever seen!Ortona Tavern was literally the only place in town. Nice place to stop for a beer while out biking.Locks at Ortona COE Campground.Waiting for locks to close so we can cross for our bike ride.Boats in lock at Ortona. Yacht on right was getting a tow. He had hit a rock in the river.
We took a trip to Shark Valley in the Everglades while staying at Ortona. We biked the Shark Valley Loop.
This guy was across the trail!! We saw way too many gators.This turtle was nesting alongside the trail. We saw him from the tram tour on the loop. Love to see Blue Heron, my favorite water bird. We saw many feeding along Shark Valley Loop.
Our next stopping place was W.P. Franklin Lock, also a Corp of Engineers campground. From here we took a second trip to the Everglades for a boat tour in the Thousand Islands area near Everglades City.
Great campsite at W.P. Franklin.Camillia Street Grill a great lunch stop after our Everglades tour.Our first taste of Stone Crab in Everglades City.We took the Eco River Tour sunset cruise. We were back at the dock before the storm rolled in.We were right on the water at W.P. Franklin. I enjoyed seeing a little blue heron feeding in the morning. Visited my cousin Linda and her husband Jim on Pine Island. Wonderful boat cruise. Jim at the helm.
It was back to the east coast of Florida for a couple weeks in April and then back to Ohio. We had an extra traveler with us on our return.
Landen enjoying breakfast in the motorhome on the trip to Ohio.
We had a good spring and part of summer at home. Landen made life there a whole new experience. We had a good time catching up with family and friends.
Visiting the Petersons at Fort Leonard Wood in MayFun with cousins at Fort Leonard Wood
Cheered for Uncle Erik when he became a Warrant Officer. Spent Easter with Aunt Mary and Uncle Randy. Aunt Mary is one of Landen’s favorite Ohio people.Loves spending time with Aunt Mary and Uncle Randy. Fire and s’mores was fun. Aunt Connie and Uncle Sam came from Florida for a visit.Grandma Reese came to visit from New York.Bike rides on Western Reserve Greenway were fun . Snack breaks were always fun.Daddy and Colleen visited in July. Traditional picture by the cow.Celebrated birthday number 2.Aunt April came for a visit and enjoyed playing in Landen’s pool.Natalie came to visit from North Carolina. She took Landen to the arcade at Geneva-on-the-Lake.Met cousins in Toledo at Jamie’s open house. Ate corndog at Ashtabula County Fair. That brings us to now and we are off to a biking adventure.
Sherry and Lea joined us in Custer to attend the Buffalo Roundup. We were camped at French Creek RV in Custer. It was raining when they arrived and sleeting by the time we went to bed.
Up early for Buffalo Roundup with 6 inches of snow.
By the time we arrived at the viewing area there was almost no snow on the ground. We were layered up but it was a cold wait for those bison.
This valley would soon fill with bison.
We really enjoyed seeing the horses and riders. Sherry and I were jealous. We would have loved to be out there.
And the bison came.
And kept coming.
A closer view of bison and horses.
Binoculars are a must. Glad we had ours. It was a really great experience. I would go again and hope for warmer temperatures.
After the bison are corralled they check the new calfs and tag them. There were about 350 new calfs this year. Some of the bison are removed from the herd and sold at auction in a couple weeks. They try to keep the herd at 1300 to 1400.
Sherry and Lea visited Mount Rushmore on Saturday morning. We all spent the afternoon in Custer seeing the bison there.
Sherry and Lea with one of the many Custer bison.
O-H-I-O
These bison were so creative.
This may have been our favorite. So many images to see.
Saturday evening Sherry and I were glued to the TV watching the Buckeyes silence the “white out”. Sunday morning Sherry and Lea headed for Denver and we headed for Ohio. Our next adventure will take us to the northeastern states.
The hot springs in Thermopolis were purchased from the Shoshone and Northern Arapaho in 1896. The purchase included a promise that the hot springs would be available for people to use free of charge. So, the bath house and hot spring pools in Hot Springs State Park were all free of charge.
Hot springs area.
Hot Springs State Park
After relaxing in the hot springs and having a nice lunch at the One Eyed Buffalo we made our way to Riverton to ride the Wyoming Heritage Trail.
There were many bridges on Wyoming Heritage Trail. This iron bridge was dated 1853.
This trail was an excellent choice for our first ride on our Salsa bikes.
Lots of bridge crossings.
The trail was rough, with rocks, sand and even railroad ties. We saw several ATVs, a couple people on horseback and only one other biker.
Got Salsa?
Ancient bridges on Wyoming Heritage Trail.
Some of these bridges had large holes in the wood. Couldn’t take our eyes off the road for a second. We really enjoyed the ride, burned lots of calories and got familiar with the new bikes.
Lower Wind River Campground.
We spent the next couple nights in the Wind River State Park campground close enough to Thermopolis that we couldn’t resist another visit to the hot springs.
Wind River Canyon was beautiful.
The second night we were there we had the campground to ourselves. Just us and the wind!
Our next stop is Custer, ND. We will be joined by Sherry and Lea to experience the Buffalo Roundup in Custer State Park.
Lenny really likes this mailbox – near Thermopolis
We left the campground in Teton National Park early in the morning. It was perfect timing because we saw 3 moose on our way out of camp. We’d been hoping to see moose all week. We were headed for Cody, WY.
Buffalo have the right away – Grand Teton National Park
The trip through Grand Tetons and Yellowstone was beautiful.
Areas in Yellowstone that had burned. Good to see new growth amongst the burnt pine.
View from Sylvan Pass (8542 ft.) exiting Yellowstone going east.
While in Cody we visited the Buffalo Bill Center of the West which is comprised of 5 museums: Buffalo Bill, Natural History, Plains Indians, Whitney Western Art, and Cody Firearms. My favorite was the Natural History and Western Art. Lenny enjoyed the Firearms Museum and History.
Buffalo Bill Center of the West – we spent several hours here.
Our second day in Cody was supposed to be laundry day. Lenny had other plans. He had contacted Chris at JoyVagen about a new bike for me. I was reluctant to try a new bike because, “I love my bike!”. I’m so glad we visited Chris and his awesome shop. I took a Salsa Journeyman out for a test ride after Chris patiently tweaked the seat and stem for me. I may never ride my other bike again. I love my new bike!
Chris at Joyvagen, which means “path to happiness”.
This bike was such a pleasure to ride that it was easy to convince Lenny he should have one too.
Love those new bikes and that fine looking dog. We took bikes, dog stayed with Chris.
New bikes loaded, covered and ready to go.
We are now headed for Thermopolis, WY to soak in the hot springs.
It’s with heavy hearts that we continue our Wyoming 100 without our sweet Flo. She has been with us in 35 states.
Ouray, Colorado September 2017
We got a late start and drove a couple hours south of Jackson, WY to Soda Lake near Pinedale. The drive was beautiful. We saw a small herd of mountain goats and herds of pronghorn antelope.
Mountain goat wearing a monitor.
Mountain goats on way to Soda Lake.
Soda Lake was 9 miles out of Pinedale on a dirt road. No crowds here. We saw some beautiful work horses – no fences just free range.
Free range work horses.
Soda Lake was beautiful. We road the dirt roads around the lake. Some sketchy sand areas.
Beautiful views of Soda Lake. Love those blue skies.
As we were on our way back to Pinedale, down the very dirty, bumpy road in our very low clearance Fiat, Lenny remembered he had put his phone on top of the car to sync it with his Strava app. So back we went. Bumpity bump!!
Hooray! We found it. No damage done.
Friday morning we picked up ebikes at Hoback Bikes in Jackson. We packed the bikes and headed out of Jackson and onto the North Pathway which would take us to Jenny Lake. The southern section goes thru the National Elk Refuge. We enter the Grand Tetons National Park and cross the the Gros Ventre River. Our campsite is in the National Park along this same river. We enjoyed awesome views of the Grand Tetons.
Grand Tetons near airport.
There were more bikers as we traveled further north of Moose and some good climbs. We crossed the beautiful Snake River and saw fly fishermen.
Near Moose
This is one of the most beautiful trails we’ve ridden while on this wonderful journey. It’s difficult to describe the beauty here. Fall is coming soon so the Aspen are turning gold.
More awesome views of the Tetons.
We were disappointed with the crowd at Jenny Lake. It was a congested mess. So glad we could just turn our bikes around and flee. Our trip from the bike shop in Jackson to Jenny Lake and back was 47 miles.
We returned to the bike shop to have the bikes recharged. After lunch we took the Community Pathway to Teton Village. We are on the opposite side of the valley for this ride.
Crossing over Snake River on way to Teton Village.
We traveled past beautiful cattle farms. There was a osprey nest near the trail. He protested loudly each time we passed.
Bridge over snake river.
We enjoyed seeing the ski run and gondola in Teton Village. Got a bit lost on our return to Jackson – received some quick directions and were on our way. Think we were biked out after 73 miles today.
Look at those smile. So happy our northwestern 100s are done.
We completed our Wyoming 100!
Platt River Trail – Sept. 2017
Soda Lake
North Pathway
Community Pathway
Our map is filling up. 11 states in the northeast to go. The LORD willing.
We had a beautiful trip on the Redwood Highway from Grants Pass, OR to the ocean. We were even in California near Crescent City for a few miles. All along the highway were signs from residents thanking the firefighters. We saw many firefighters with trucks full of gear, looking tired.
View from Harris Beach Campground.
Treated ourselves to dinner out and just enjoyed being near the ocean.
Rocky shores and driftwood strewn beach.
Trail to campground
The fog was rolling in for our morning walk. Good thing we were out early.
The trip back along the Redwood Highway was exciting. We could see the Smith River below, a long, long way down. The road was so narrow there really wasn’t a good place to stop for pictures. Especially with the motorhome and our toad.
We made it safely to Lake of the Woods to meet our friend Pete. He had dinner cooking and the wine opened when we arrived.
Beautiful Lake of the Woods.
Pete had a double campsite that accommodated both our motorhomes under beautiful tall pines. We spent the evening around the campfire enjoying remembering old times.
Old buddies – Lenny and Pete.
Short hike through woods for a great breakfast at the lodge. Our waiter was from Painesville, Ohio.
Friday we took a mountain bike trail through lava fields. There were some nice short climbs and fun twisting runs through the tall pines. Making our total Oregon miles 114.
Lava field
You can see smoke coming over the lava field from fire near Mt Shasta, CA.
Friday we packed up our campsite and were off to Klamath Falls. We spent 2 nights parked in Pete’s driveway. We really enjoyed visiting with his daughter Sue and her husband Brian. They treated us to a really good dinner done on the barbecue.
We were ready to head for Wyoming on Sunday morning when our slideout would not retract. Most of the day was spent figuring out the problem and then working around that to retract the slideout. Problem was broken wire in one of the motors. Solution to get slideout retracted was to remove motor and use 5 people to push slideout in. So by late afternoon we said our goodbyes and headed for Jackson, Wyoming.
A closer view of bison and horses.
I may never ride my other bike again. I love my new bike!
