Do You Remember, 21st Night of September?

Okay. So, the last week has been insanely busy with celebrations. Mostly, we celebrated John's birthday. If you know me at all, you know that I celebrate birthdays like a mad woman. Birthdays should be celebrated for at LEAST a month, and the birthday person should get to eat and drink and do anything they want. Duh.

John's birthday was on a Tuesday, so we both took vacation days on Monday and Tuesday to give us a four day weekend. Ahhhh.

When we got off work Friday, our friend, Nick came over, and we picked up Pagliai's pizza for dinner (Pagliai's is a local pizza place that uses a VERY thin crust). Then we watched "The Conjuring" outside to make it extra scary. John loves scary movies, and I do too, but I also get a little stressed-out, ESPECIALLY when they are super suspenseful and they have creepy dolls in them. I don't mind telling you that I had my head under a blanket for parts of that movie.

On Saturday, we woke up pretty early. I ran to the Farmer's Market to get a cinnamon roll and some cookies from the Mennonite lady there. If I'm going to ride at least a hundred miles, I'm going to eat as many cookies as I can fit into a day. Did I mention that we were planning on riding 100 miles that Saturday? Did I also mention that I had only done four road rides altogether in the last two months, and all four of them only added up to a little over 100 miles? Am I some kind of an idiot or something? Yes. Yes, I am.

The plan was to take the Cedar Valley Nature Trail all the way from where it starts to Waterloo, Iowa. Then sleep in a hotel, then ride that same distance back. Remember, I am an idiot and thought that was a great idea.

We did that ride five years before when we were heading to RAGBRAI with some friends, and really loved it. Of course, I was younger, and less perimenopausal, and thinner, and in better shape, and I was probably prettier and smarter back then too. Oh, how the mighty have fallen. ANYWAY, it's a beautiful ride and most of it is on one of the rails-to-trails bike paths.

People along the trail will dress up their backyards to make things fun for the cyclists, and you know how much I love a good photo op.

We rode the first 33 miles and made it to Cedar Rapids for lunch at around 11:30. We go to this place called Parlor City that has decent food and a good beer selection. Then we rode and rode and rode some more.

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I made John stop in Brandon, Iowa so we could take pictures in the World's Largest Frying Pan. I mean, who wouldn't? Also, it's probably not the WORLD'S largest frying pan, but definitely Iowa's largest.

There are always cool things along the bike path. I'm assuming these gigantic structures are somehow ag related, but I grew up in the Phoenix area, so I really have no idea about farming. I think they'd be great props for some post-apocalyptic movie, where our protagonists could try to use them as shelter, only to find a gaggle of zombies (what is the correct term for a group of several zombies?) hiding inside.

Okay. So, next we made it to La Porte City. I can honestly say using my expert opinion, that the BEST thing in La Porte City is Tootsie's ice cream place. Look! It has a Volkswagon Bug on top of it. Also, the only time I've been there is when I've been in the process of riding 100 miles on the bike path, so my opinion might be just a little bit skewed.

Ninety-five miles and a VERY sore ass later, and we made it to our hotel in Waterloo. It's the second time we stayed at the Fairfield Inn there. It is a great little place, the people who work there are always so sweet, and most importantly, they are just a couple of miles off the bike path.

We rode seven more miles there and back to Single Speed Brewery for dinner. It was worth riding the few extra miles. They are located in an old Wonder Bread factory, and they use the old walk-in cooler doors for their bathrooms. Pretty cool. They have really good, fresh food, and I like their beer. With my migraines, I can't really drink that much, but I did make an exception and had their Oktoberfest beer. I really like those malty Oktoberfest beers, and Single Speed's was superb.

The next morning we were back at it and left Waterloo by around 8:30'ish. If I thought I was sore and tired the evening before, that shit just gets worse after you let yourself rest overnight.

We rode along and stopped for a few photo ops. I'm not exactly sure what this cross with a bunch of bikes under it is supposed to be. Some kind of bicycle graveyard? I've seen weirder things...

The longer we rode, the sorer (more sore?) my ass got. Apparently, there isn't enough Chamois Butter in the world for this perimenopausal woman. I'm not gonna lie, I was in some pain.

It helped to stop here and there and take photos, but since the bike path seemed to run past a bunch of stagnant ponds, the mosquitos were horrible.

We rode over bridges, and through tunnels, and on paved surfaces, and dirt roads.

Parts of the trail were closed, because they were working on them, but we're always so sure those closed signs never pertain to us. Basically, except for about two miles, that whole section was paved, but the chunks in between weren't quite connected yet, so we had to do some finagling.

I made it about 60 miles from Waterloo to Cedar Rapids on Sunday. We had some friends meet us there for lunch, and then they were going to ride back to Iowa City with us. I was shot, done and dusted, and my butt and legs were so sore that I really couldn't go on. Our friend Doug had driven all the kids to Cedar Rapids and kindly offered to give me and my bike a ride home. Thank jeebus!

 After I left John to ride home and play with his friends, I made myself the biggest, hottest, stinkiest bubble bath and tried to live in it. I had a lovely weekend, I rode my bike 161 miles in two days, and tried to make John's birthday weekend as special as possible, and most importantly, I didn't die.

We Are a Family, Get Up Everybody and Sing

 

One rainy morning last week, John was giving me a ride to work. Unfortunately for John, I spent most of the ride telling him about my concern for one of my siblings. I'm sure I probably went into too much detail in vent/worry about that person, but I felt like I was helpless to aid someone who didn't want the help, and who wouldn't care for themself. As I was about ready to get out of the car I said, "I'm sorry for going on and on about my family. What a great way to start your day..."

John responded, " That's okay. I have to go to work and return my mom's email asking me why the doctors can't tell her exactly when she's going to die."

"Okay. We can end our day with me listening to you vent about your family tonight."

I'm sure everyone's family isn't weird and concerning and I don't wish that on anyone, especially John, but it is nice to be married to someone who knows first hand what I'm going through.

May all of your families be normal (whatever that means) and not concerning. There has to be families out there like that, doesn't there?

I'd Like to Rest My Heavy Head Tonight On a Bed of California Stars

On Tuesday we spent our last hours in San Francisco. We had our granola, yogurt, fresh berries and tea breakfast on our rooftop deck. Apparently, John was REALLY into it.

We had a couple of hours to kill before we had to be out of our motel, so we wandered the Castro. I hadn't been there since 1988, and I missed it. I also missed Double Rainbow Ice Cream. They used to be all over San Francisco when I lived there, but it seems like there was only one left and it was in the Castro. Of course, it was too early so it was closed. Which got a pout from me. It is NEVER too early for ice cream in my world.

Oh, The Castro, with its rainbow colored sidewalks...

...And its naughty sense of humor. I have never had a manicure, but I was tempted for the first time by this place. Who wouldn't be?

The Castro wouldn't be complete without this rainbow painted Harvey Milk mural. 

We got some coffee for John and Chai tea for me, and got in our car and headed North.

Highway One is so beautiful, but if you have motion sickness like me, you spend a lot of time with your eyes closed in the car. Don't worry. I wasn't driving.

We stopped at Stinson Beach for a bit. It was the first beach I played on since 2008. I really needed the therapy of wave sounds and the salt air, and the sand between my toes.

Stinson Beach was lovely, as usual, and I had the extra added bonus of making fun of my husband for rolling up his jean shorts. He thought it would keep him from getting soaked, but all it took was one big wave, and he may as well have not gone through all of that trouble. At least I got some funny photos out of it. Which is the most important thing.

 There never was a happier old lady than me to be in the ocean.

Although, John looks a little tense, I think it's because his rolled up shorts did NOT protect him from soaking. I didn't ask, but it was cold, and there may have been some shrinkage.

So, here's the part where I actually tell a little story. Very little. Maybe more of an amusing anecdote?

Anyway, we drove up to Point Reyes Station, and had to wait a few hours to get into our Air BnB in Inverness. PRS is an adorable town. Except, earlier in the week, nothing is open...Or very little is open. One of the places that was open was the Old Western Saloon. So, we stopped in and had a beer. I did notice the pictures above the bar, but I just assumed the frumpy looking older couple were the owners of the bar.

While John and I were sitting at the bar, these two couples walked in. One of the women was super outgoing and hilarious. At one point she came up to me and said, "Hey! Didn't I see you at Stinson Beach this morning? Do you live around here?" I told her that we were on vacation and we were from Iowa City, Iowa. She said, "Wait. Really? I know some people from Iowa City. Do you do the RAGRAI?" I said we did do RAGBRAI sometimes. She asked me if I knew some people, and I didn't recognize their names. I told her that Iowa City was a big college town, and people move in and out of it all the time. She tried again, and asked me if I knew a woman named Buffy. Ding ding! I did know that woman. She was on a RAGBRAI team that we had a dance-off with a few years ago. So, the woman Facetimed her friend and we all had a good laugh. What are the odds? Really.

Then she started talking to me about the photos above the bar. It turns out that the pictures were not of frumpy middle aged bar owners, but really of Prince Charles and Camilla. Oops! 

Anyway, according to the woman, The town of Point Reyes Station wasn't do that well, but Charles and Camilla's visit revitalized the town. So, she asked me if I would take a picture of her and her friend from grade school recreating the photo. Of course, I would. Then she started laughing about how us women were all so much more social than our husbands, who were all sitting quietly at the bar and NOT making spectacles of themselves.

She asked me if I wanted her to take a photo of me and John pretending to be Charles and Camilla. I said I thought it would be fun, but my husband hates to have his photo taken. She said I should tell him I needed him to take a photo, and he would want to help, and once we got him in the doorway, he wouldn't be able to say no to her taking a photo. She was right, and it was stupid and goofy fun taking photos, which, as  you know, is one of my favorite things.

Then it was time to head to our AirBnB in the town of Inverness. We said, "See you soon!" to Point Reyes Station, with it's old guys sitting on rocking chairs on the porch of the general store, and dogs coming for pets and scratches, and bicyclists stopping to refuel on their way down the coast.

Our place in Inverness was just lovely. They had chickens and dogs and cats. We were missing our cats the whole time during our trip, so we were happy to hang out with other people's animals.

Out AirBnB hostess designed what looked like a huge porch turned into an apartment in a French country style.

Our bedroom was super cute too.

Since almost everything in both towns were closed on Tuesday, we drove the five minutes back to Point Reyes Station and the only restaurant was open. We took the opportunity to have our first fresh oysters of our trip. MMMMmmmm. Slimy goodness.

 The food was great, we got to dine outside and after a couple of margaritas, we were both ready to fall fast asleep. We knew we had to get up early the next morning for our plans, so we were out like lights. What a great introduction to an area.