More fame

Stop the madness. I'm in the Wisconsin jersey, with the bro's.

Subject:	Make 2008 the best year ever for bicycle travel
Date:	Wed, 26 Dec 2007 11:14:01 -0800 (PST)
From:	Adventure Cycling

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Dear Seth : As 2007 draws to a close, you still have time to make a tax-deductible, end-of-the-year gift to Adventure Cycling Association. Your gift will help create a world where bicycle travel ...yadda, yadda Happy (Cycling) New Year! Jim Sayer Executive Director Adventure Cycling Association Inspiring people of all ages to travel by bicycle. (800) 755-2453 toll-free, (406) 721-1776 phone, (406) 721-8754 fax www.adventurecycling.org

Standing Rocks

Conditions: Backcountry - good. Classic and Skating - untracked.

A good thing I had my '70's era Fischer SCSs as the skiing was likewise '70s style. About a half-dozen skiers had ventured out from the auxiliary lot. They only ventured a kilometer. From there it was up to Barb and I to forge a trail that hadn't seen a soul for at least a day and a good 5" of freshies. Oh, the humanity. Where's my corduroy?

In spite of the blue skies and intense sunshine, we perservered. Alone through the kilometers. Mile after lonely, trackless mile. We were forced to rely on cunning to pick our way down the 12-foot wide swath through the woods. The calm air mocked us. Flocks of chickadees eyed us hungrily. Eventually, even the Chistmas bloating left me. Actual hunger was mere hours away. Only discipline kept terror in check.

Forced a few first runs down Grizzly Bear. Yikes, no mean feat on 215s!

Southwest Florida

Ended a week in Florida birding and attending a nephew’s graduation from UofF (Gainesville). Birding southwest Florida was good as always. Hit a corner of the everglades ecotype and got our Reddish Egrets, Roseate Spoonbills and Limpkins for the year. Yellow-Crowned Night Heron would be the bird of the trip, and a lifer.

Southwest Florida was otherwise depressing. Like the rest of south Florida, all development seems one continuous suburb, ubiquitous strip malls and oversized cars, oversized trucks and oversized SUVs. Not a lick of character unless you go inland to the poor, depressed old towns. Which surely to have their own problems. Well, least it explains why we seem so out of sync with so much of the electorate. I guess we are. Who ARE these people?

Oregon Reminder

Cool. Got the Adventure Cycling Travel 2008 catalog. We used them for our Brofest 2007 trip to Oregon and Washington. They included three of our pictures in the catalog. Beautiful reminders. Geoff made their website too. Scaling Mount Hood and holding off all would-be attackers before the summit sprint.

Snowbanks

Musta been four years since we had real snow banks. Winter – to date – is shaping up normally. I’ve shoveled three times this week. Hadda put on my Sorels once. Temperatures are below normal due to the snow pack. And our snow banks have reached maybe a foot! Whoopee.

First ski of the season yesterday at Wirth. The skis really wanted to go and my knees are holding up OK today.

So far, so good.