Back in the Saddle (Part 2)

Well, I got us through the tunnel and we continued on for six miles to the charming little town of Monticello. We ate lunch at a great little cafe called the M and M right on Main St. We definitely will return. We rode back to Belleville, got in the car and drove South to a little place called Clarno, WI right on the Il/WI border. We had to park in the lumberyard. We hoped it wasn't a Twilight Zone moment where the town would swallow us up, but we took our chances. We rode one mile and crossed the state line into Illinois. This was quite a moment for us since we had not crossed a stateline before. We rode 2.5 miles on the Jane Addams trail into Orangeville, IL. and then rode back to Clarno. On the way back a tree had fallen down and was completely blocking the trail. For a split second we felt like it was a Twilight Zone episode and our entrance back into WI was blocked, but we simply walked our bikes around the fallen tree and were back on the trail home. We found our car just as we had left it, bungied up the bikes and headed home. It was a great biking adventure and we covered 25 miles! It felt good and right to be back in the saddle again!

Back in the Saddle again!

I was back in the saddle again yesterday after my crash of last Saturday. We decided to ride the newly opened Badger State trail from Belleville to Monticello and what a good decision that was. The trail is lovely with just the right amount of shade and sun to make for a comfortable ride. The grade is quite level and the scenery is a mix of hills, beautiful wild flowers and some stone bluffs. All in all one of our favorite trails so far. We arrived in Belleville, our first time in this cute community south of Madison. Found a place to park near the Library and unbungied our bikes. Since the bike incident in Iowa we now bungie the bikes on with quite a few bungie cords to insure that it will stay on the car. Three miles south of Belleville you ride through the Stewart Tunnel. It isn't as long as the tunnels on the Sparta/Elroy trail, but it curves so you cannot see the light at the end of the tunnel so to speak.

Adoption from Ethiopia

Adoption from Ethiopia? Adoption in general? My knowledge on these subjecam trying to become informed so that when my daughter and son-in-;law bring home my first grandbaby from Ethiopia I will be prepared. I would imagine when a daughter and her husband are expecting a baby from her tummy (uterus, to be medically correct) a grandma just sort of falls into the role. The baby grows, the baby kicks, the baby demands to be born and walla, there it is! But when a daughter and her husband are expecting a baby from Ethiopia, the journey is very different. Time lines are unknown. I am the type of grandma in waiting who would want to buy many things for the baby, but when is the proper time to start this purchasingts is minimal, but I ? For fear of jinxing things, I don't want to start that until they are at least on an official waiting list. Many, many people are adopting from Ethiopia. Will there be enough babies for all who are waiting for these precious little ones? It is just my nature to create these problems where there probably aren't any real problems to begin with.
I also know that there are many unknowns about a pregnancy. Babies can die in utero, babies can be born with defects and babies can develop diseases shortly after birth. So there is uncertainty even in a baby growing in a daughter. That fact gives me much comfort at this point. Adoption vs. Natural childbirth (probably the wrong terminology, but I am still learning, as I said) there are many unknowns and many uncertainties in both. More similiar than I thought...

Biking Fool over 50 goes for a fly

This past Saturday, my husband and I were biking the Glacier Drumlin Bike Trail. This is a very nice trail that runs from Cottage Grove all the way to Waukesha. I think it is a little over 50 miles. We have biked the entire trail, but never in one trip!
Getting back to Saturday's misadventure, we started in Lake Mills because I had to borrow my daughther's bike since as you may recall, my bike is in the shop after if flew off our bike carrier. We debated whether or not we should buy daily passes since I had forgotton our yearly passes at home. We did indeed buy them at $4.00 a head.
We got on the trail with the intention of riding to Jefferson, returning to Lake Mills and then riding the other way from LM toward London. That would give us a nice 20 mile ride, but the bike gods had different ideas for us that day.
Since our ride was going to be short, we did not bring our usually well stocked backpack. All we had along was our cell and a pick for my hair. ( I never do a bike ride without a pick to fix the bike hair) Oh, and our water bottles since the heat index was predicted to be in the high nineties. Our ride to Jefferson was nice. We did comment on the holes in the gravel trail. In fact as I bounced over one hole, I said to John, "Good thing my tongue wasn't between my teeth or I might have bitten if off!"
We turned aaround at Jefferson and headed back to LM. I hit the same hole going at a nice clip and flew off my bike. Let me tell you, there is nothing pretty about a 54 year old woman flying off her bike. Actually, I never flew, just held on for dear life, I think. I got up and accessed the damages. First off, luckily no one had seen me fall-always good for the pride factor. My knee was pretty scraped up since it had dragged along the gravel path, but other than that all other parts of my body seemed to work fine. Of course, we had nothing to put on the bleeding knee. My husband always carries a handkerchief, I know that is gross, but for once I wished he had one! But alas, the one time he doesn't bring one... He offered to tear his shirt for a make shift bandaid, but I didn't think he could get it torn, so I took off one of my small socks and held it on the knee. After a few minutes the bleeding seems to subside so we got back on the bikes and began the five and a half mile ride back to LM. As I was riding along my other leg was really hurting and I checked it out. I could feel such a big bump developing. I think I fell on the bar of the bike . The ride back to my daughter and son-in-law's was quick, I just wanted to get there and fast! I never felt so good to be done with a bike ride. We cleaned the scrape up and went on to Wendy's for lunch.
Now is someone trying to tell me to give up the bike riding? First the bike flies off the car and then I fly off the bike. They say bad things come in threes, so I am waiting for the third ball to drop. The Trifecta of bike riding, I guess.

Biking Fools Over 50

My husband and I turned 50, bought Treks, and hit the trails and we haven't looked back, well except for last Sunday when on our way home from a ride in Iowa, my bike flew off the bike carrier on I-35 going 65 miles an hour. But in true Trek form, the bike had only minor damage and is presently in the shop where it will be fixed for a slight fee.

I began a search for good trails to ride in Wisconsin and was frustrated with the lack of information out there that dealt with the concerns of bike riders over 50, things like:

• Are there bathrooms along the trail and if so where are they located and how many miles are between these bathrooms?
• Is the trail level or will there be steady grades that will require some tedious work to ascend?
• Are there restaurants along the trail and places to get a soda?
• And, lastly, where is the closest health facility in case of heart attack!!!

Wisconsin is blessed with lots of wonderful rails to trails bike trails and we have enjoyed lots of them, but we wanted to share our favorites here:

1. The White River State Trail - Hop on the trail in Elkhorn behind Eastowne Manor on Highway H and ride to Springfield where you can have lunch at the Cup & Pedal. The restaurant is in a restored Depot and serves great food and drink. Also has clean bathrooms. I think it is the only building in Springfield. Not sure how much farther the trail went past Springfield, but we turned around and headed back for a total of 16 miles or so. Nice scenery along the path, too. Going back to Elkhorn is slightly uphill, but not too bad and after a lunch to refresh it seemed fine. Also take a ride around Elkhorn, a nice flat city to explore. Lake Geneva is just up the road, just hop in the car and drive there, no need to ride a bike any longer.
2. The Interurban Trail - We really enjoyed this trail. Hop on it by the City Pool in Grafton and ride to Port Washington. Have lunch at the Dockside Deli right on Lake Michigan and explore the city. Port Washington is pretty hilly so walking is best. Bathrooms at the restaurant. You can actually get on this trail in Mequon or Cedarburg, but we didn't see any reason to ride any further.
3. Oakleaf Trail - This trail winds through Milwaukee and goes on for miles and miles. We like the stretch through Greenfield Park going toward Whitnall Park. I will warn you, there are not alot of places to stop for a soda or food even though you are riding in a city. Bathrooms were also a problem on this section of the trail although I am sure the parks had them. Another section we enjoyed was through Wauwatosa. Lots of onstreet travel which breaks up the monotony of a trail. We actually saw deer on this trail in the city and we never saw a deer on any other trails!

I am going to close this chapter of my bike trail info. I will continue later.

Thanks for checking it out!

Another Day, Another Blog

Here it is another day, another dollar, another blog...

Actually, I won't get another dollar for this unless I pay myself.

I really want to get a picture up here on this blog so I will work on that today. It wasn't working for me yesterday for some reason.

Here I am!

I have been wanting to blog for quite some time, but never really knew how to go about it. It seemed quite simple today as I just typed in create a blog and walla here it is. Now what to write about... At this point of my life, I am waiting to become a grandma. Neither of my daughters is pregnant or anything, but I am still waiting patiently. My oldest daughter, Courtney 29, has been married for three years and they are in the process of adopting a child from Ethiopia. Thus I am waiting to become a grandma but in a different way than most people wait. There is no belly to watch as it grows, there is no nine month time frame, there are no sonogram pictures to look at and ooh and ahh over. It is a different thing, very foreign to me. I didn't quite know how to react when they told us about their adoption plans. Is it as exciting as if they had said they were pregnant, No. Is it exciting, yes, at least I think it should be.

My first reaction was, "Does this mean you cannot have your own children?" I didn't want to ask them that right away, but I did pull my daughter aside later and ask her. She assured me that no doctor told them they couldn't have their own children, they were just anxious to get their family started and since nature wasn't working so well they decided to adopt. (They had talked about adopting from the time they started seriously dating so the idea was not foreign to us) I breathed a sigh of relief when I heard they could still have their own children because a part of me just wants my daughters to experience the growth and birth of a baby. I am being so selfish here, but I want to see a grandbaby growing in their tummies. I want to see a baby created by them and look to see whose eyes it has and whose hair it has. I want my legacy to live on.
Another reaction I had was, "Why Ethiopia?" I still don't know the answer to that, but there must be some good reasons why they chose that route. I wonder will I do okay with a child from a different culture? I know how to be a grandma, I have been practicing with other people's children for a long time. I am a preschool teacher and I have a great love for children. I have no doubt that I will be a wonderful grandma, but can I get used to a grandchild from another part of the world?
More later...