dragonsblog

Claudia and I like to spend time outdoors to celebrate our wedding anniversary, so this year we decided to try our first cycle-camping adventure. We rode from our home north to Illinois Beach State Park near the Wisconsin border. We took the longer, more scenic route along the North Branch Trail on the way there. The paved trail winds its way through a forest preserve, offering us some cool relief from the heat and a sense that we were getting out of the city, even though we were still surrounded by it. Spotting two little fawns along the trail helped reinforce the effect.

Aside from the heat, the only adversity we encountered was a flat tire on our way through the Skokie Lagoons.

At one point about 2/3 of the way there we were shaded from the intense sun by what looked like the mother of all cumulonimbus clouds. I was fairly certain we wouldn't make it to the campground before the "Come To Jesus" thunderstorm hit, followed closely by the "Hallelujah God Almighty" hail storm. Some faith and a good tent could protect us from the thunderstorm, but faith, a decent tent and even a good helmet wouldn't protect us from the hail storm.

Fortunately the clouds seemed to just miraculously dissipate into lovely gold-trimmed cumulus and shift the wind around enough so we got a wonderful cool breeze off of the lake. We still set up our tent as soon as we got the the campsite, but then just took a leisurely walk around the campground and on the beach, which is just on the other side of the bushes in this picture.

The beach was almost deserted and the lake quite calm. A fog lay over Lake Michigan so we couldn't see far out, but it and the cool breeze enhanced the tranquility of the beach.

I braved the cold waters to try and limit the swelling in my knees. The expression on my face may look familiar. Judging by the numbness in my legs, I estimated that the water temperature was even colder than when we swam in Lake Pukaki last December.

Click on this little image if you want to experience the serenity of the beach. (Warning: large file download for high-speed Internet connections only! 3.5 MB AVI video file)

This view down the road to the end of the campground shows the friendly neighborhood nuclear power plant in the distance. It's gentle hum lulled us to sleep later in the evening.

Two days before we left I checked the weather forecast and the wind was forecast to be at our backs both days. By the time we left the wind was, predictably, in our faces both days. But all in all it turned out to be a great experience and a refreshing 90-mile bike ride.

For a long time I've admired the aircraft designs of Burt Rutan and have dreamt of flying one someday. My friend, Kurt, has owned a homebuilt design of Rutan's, a Vari-Eze, for several years and I've tried to go flying with him whenever I can, but that hasn't been very often. I'm thinking about getting more involved in aviation again, so when Kurt offered to let me help him with some repairs to his plane the last couple weekends I jumped at the chance.

This past Saturday I drove out to Kurt's hangar and hung around most of the day. He had the plane up on jacks in the hangar. Mostly I just hung around and offered opinions and encouragement regarding how to attempt improvements.

I think it looks pretty good without the main gear. It's hard to convince Kurt to make it retractable--seems to be a sore point for some reason.

I'm looking forward to hopefully helping Kurt out some more this summer if I can fit it into my schedule. Going to work is overrated, especially on the weekends, which I seem to be doing more of lately, so maybe that will have to go...

My buddy, Tom, convinced his friend, Marty, to take us out sailing on his new 33' Beneteau out of Montrose Harbor last Thursday. It turned out to be a great evening for a sail--not too windy, not too wavy, not too cold.

Here's a photo of Captain Marty demonstrating the proper technique required for keeping such a demanding boat under sail.

And here's a photo of the gorgeous sky and First Mate Tom. Note the intense focus required for Tom to man the helm.

The views of the city skyline were fabulous.

Again, Tom at the helm with the focus thing...

OK, so getting back in the harbor did require a bit more attention what with all the dinky little boats flitting about as Marty's yacht came through. I suppose it would have been rude to just run them over. Decent sunset, eh?

Thanks, Marty!

My bike finally got wet last night! I've been too lazy to clean all the salt and dirt off of it from my rides last winter, so I've been hoping for some rain to wash it off a bit. I got my wish last night, but it was combined with a cold northeasterly wind off of the lake (in my face) and lasted for most of my ride home, so I was cold and soaked by the time I got home. Most of the ride I was saying to myself "The colder and wetter I get, the better that hot shower at home is going feel!" And I was right!