Today marks the 10th anniversary of All the Pages Are My Days.
Wow! What a long strange trip it’s been, as they say.
And speaking of 10 year anniversaries, I recently noticed a large number of meaningful life events that seem to happen on the 5 year boundaries of my life. Now this isn’t scientific or meaningful, but it is kind of fun. Also, I looked back the past few years, and did the “what happened 5/10/15, etc years back” and there just didn’t seem to be as many big events compared to this year and its 5 year intervals.
So without further ado, the big events in my life, in 5 year intervals:
1957 Sheryl was born.
1962 I moved to Kirksville, Missouri after living for almost 3 years in Spain due to my dad’s Air Force deployment. I attended kindergarten in Spain.
1972 The Grateful Dead performed what was arguably their best tour during April and May, playing throughout Europe. Later in the year they released a 3 record album named Europe ’72.
1972 I ran away from home; it was my first visit to Albuquerque and in retrospect my first road trip.
1977 I hitchhiked to California and then up to Gold Beach, Oregon. I spent some very high quality time with my cousins and aunt and uncle while in California. The ride up the coast was the determining factor in my decision to move to California the following year. I had simply never seen anything quite like the Marin/Sonoma/Mendocino coast before and wanted to be closer!
1977 Sheryl and I were separated for a few months beginning in late 1977. (In fairness, it was my fault/choice.) We seemed to have survived the incident having now been happily married for over 38 years.
1982 Sheryl fell from a ladder (it was old and collapsed) and totally wrecked her knee (the miniscus was torn as well as two different ligaments.)
1982 Attended our first concert at the lovely and beautiful Frost Amphitheater. Due to Sheryl’s recovering knee she was able to gain early access and we had great seats!
1987 We got Kona,
1987 We bought our Toyota Tercel.
1987 As part of an extended tour of Grateful Dead concerts we attended the Harmonic Convergence (I call it the harmonica convention) in Colorado. Met a fellow “nethead” from DEC at the festivities.
1987 Lisa became a teenager.
1987 My very good friend Milton died unexpectedly.
1992 Lisa HS graduation 20 yrs
1997 Moneka was born.
2002 This blog, All the Pages Are My Days was established.
2002 Both of our moms died.
2002 We bought our Toyota Highlander.
2007 Moneka’s 1st (and only so far) trip to Hawaii.
Photos from a late afternoon drive along the hilly backroads southeast of Lindsborg, plus a bonus picture of the moon the night before “supermoon.”
There are a few more photos from this set on Flickr.
Wild Kansas rose.
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The yuccas are blooming much earlier this year.
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I just love these roads!
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Close-up of yucca flower.
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Standing on the moon.
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A couple of days ago I went for a bike ride right before sunset and was able to get a few good photos including a couple with Coronado Heights in the background. There are a few more photos from this ride in my Flickr April Ride set.
My bike, a wheat field, and Coronado Heights in the background.
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I love the color of the sky above the wheat field in this one.
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Sunset at the gate at the base of Coronado Heights.
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Back in Kansas and enjoying the remote, barely traveled roads around Lindsborg. The route I took for this ride is especially quiet, as folks going north take another route, and the same for those going south.
In fact, the road is so infrequently traveled that there were two places that were so rough (muddy with deep ruts) that I barely made it through on the bike and would have turned my car around! No photos there; I was too busy staying upright on the extremely narrow path.
I did take a few photos during the ride. The first was taken as I took shelter from a brief shower and the rest are from various places along the ride (Kansas does have some hills; I climbed almost 500 feet yesterday!), concluding with a map of the ride.
You can view the route I took on Google maps using this link, and view larger versions of the photos on Flickr.
Early March has come on like a lion when it comes to riding my bike! So far, I’ve gone on 7 rides over the past 9 days, totaling 90 miles on 5 different trails and roads. What follows are photos and notes from each of the 5 routes.
Bay Trail
This is my main riding location, and I frequently visit here to take photos as well.
Map of the ride. Click the image above to view an interactive map showing the details of my ride. (Link will open in new window/tab.)
The extremely low tide, coupled with the late hour, resulted in some very nice textures and patterns. Note the twin peaks of Shoreline Amphitheater on the far right.
The headless rider!
Coyote Valley Trail
Years ago, Sheryl and I rode this trail. I did go a little further than in the past, hitting 20 miles one day!
Map of the ride. Click the image above to view an interactive map showing the details of my ride. (Link will open in new window/tab.)
Late winter Early spring in the Coyote Valley.
This is about 6 miles into the ride.
This is about 10 miles down the trail. Nice relaxing spot for a break.
Sawyer Camp Trail
Very nice trail. Sometimes riding through woods, other times riding along side the lake. Ends with a bit of a climb to the top of a small dam.
Map of the ride. Click the image above to view an interactive map showing the details of my ride. (Link will open in new window/tab.)
Only stopped for photos once during this ride; it was worth it!
Lexington Dam
Though my guide book calls this one of the “easiest” rides I knew from experience that Lexington Dam is higher than Vasona Lake. And so it is, but the ride wasn’t really that rough, and it sure was fun coming back down (though there was that 90 seconds of terror on that one stretch!)
Map of the ride. Click the image above to view an interactive map showing the details of my ride. (Link will open in new window/tab.)
That could have been me, as I also had to walk up the back side of Lexington Dam. Fun ride back down! (The scary part came later.)
Canada Road
One of the most bike-friendly roads in the area. On Sundays 4 miles of the road are closed to motor vehicles; very nice!
Map of the ride. Click the image above to view an interactive map showing the details of my ride. (Link will open in new window/tab.)
Upper Crystal Springs Reservoir
This bike lane is as wide as the vehicle lane! (Though it does eventually narrow, it’s still very nice this entire 8 mile stretch of road.)
Pulgas Water Temple
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And that’s my cycling update as of March 12th. I was shut out due to high winds today and it’s supposed to rain all week, perhaps into the weekend, so I’m glad I was able to ride so much early in the month.
