Biker Gangs in Waco and in Washington

Waco:

Washington:

Anniversaries: The years go so quickly

Eight years ago today I arrived at my new home, Whidbey Island.  I knew nobody on the island.  Can it really be eight years that I have called Whidbey Island my home?

Coincidentally, it was also my official retirement date.

Now for the real coincidence:  May 15 is also the four year anniversary of my first official date with Vicky, the date we decided we would date, if you can follow all of the dates in that sentence.

Time passes so quickly.

As Ferris Bueller said:  "Yup.  I've said it before and I'll say it again.  Life moves pretty fast.  If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it." 

We are going out tonight to celebrate.  Dinner at the first restaurant we went to together and then dancing.  We do our best to make sure we "stop and look around." 

Springtime on Whidbey Island

It's so beautiful here.  Everything is green once again.

Yesterday our favorite bird, the Western Tanager, was spotted on our bird feeder.  We already had hummingbirds, Grosbeaks (including the Evening Grosbeak which is a wonderful yellow, white, and black), Crossbills, Purple Finches, and Goldfinches.  Saw our first Pileated Woodpecker on one of our trees last week.

We have six or seven bird feeders hanging all around, and have to fill them every other day or so.  We spend a lot of money each season feeding the birds, but they reward us in so many ways.

Each spring, like it is for so many other people, is flower planting time.  We love going to the garden shops and grocery stores and picking out flowers for our hanging baskets and planters. 

 Behind Vicky is our day lily garden.  I started it seven years ago, and each year it grows.  Later this summer they will all bloom and it will be magnificent.

It may appear as if Vicky does all of the work regarding our flowers, but that's not true.  I have the task of sitting on our front porch drinking wine and enjoying them.  I approach this task with gusto.

In the "yes, people can change" domain, I have found that I like yard art.  I never did.  But, then, I never thought I'd like cats but fell in love with Jack and Alley who I had for about 20 years.  And ended up telling cute cat stories.  I still don't really believe I did that, but I did.

This year's yard art is an old bicycle.  Makes a terrific planter don't you think?

 

 Springtime is also project time.  I have detailed three of the projects already:  trees,  gravel, and moving the propane tanks.

Another big one is a summer-long one:  replacing four outside doors and repainting all of the inside ones.  More on that when it is completed sometime in August.

Others?  Well, there is the inevitable repairs to the camper.  I had to build a clothes rod that wouldn't crash when we hit bumps.

Vicky doing pull ups on it to test its strength.

Replacing the cabinet door support:

 Building latches to keep the two overhead doors closed when the camper hits large bumps:

 

Building a way to keep the refrigerator and freezer doors from coming open when hitting big bumps:

We installed new tie-downs and new door hardware.  All of these things take time, but everything we do to the camper makes it more suited for our purposes.  And we enjoy doing it.

Other projects:  We have been clearing salmon berry bushes and cutting ivy off of trees.

All of our projects are fun and serve the purpose of keeping us moving and active.  

And this doesn't include our biggest project every summer--preparing for the STP (Seattle to Portland bike ride in July).

Since we arrived back on Whidbey Island March 1, we have ridden our bikes 35 times (writing this on May 13).  Many of these rides are on Whidbey Island, which is a great place to ride.  It is beautiful, there are a lot of hills which is good for training, and the motorists are great about being careful.

And some of our rides are organized bike rides with clubs or service organizations.  Thus far this year we have done the Tulip Pedal, Daffodil, Bike-N-Brews, and Inland Empire rides.  These rides take us all over the state.  One nice thing about these rides is that we get to do a lot of them with Jules, although "with Jules" needs to be clarified a bit--he's so much faster than us that he either gets done a long time before we do or he does a longer ride so we get done about the same time.  But, still, we get to do the event with him, and that's special.

Last weekend we did a ride called the Inland Empire in the southern part of the state.  We particularly enjoy this ride because there is a long climb (6-8 miles depending on how you count it) up a canyon (Weber Canyon).  After reaching the top you have a 10 mile ride along an area that is other-worldly.  It is flat with fields on both sides.  And quiet.

This year Vicky and I were on this stretch practically all by ourselves.  Only one other vehicle was on the road with us during this stretch, and no other cyclists.  

 Weber Canyon:

The flat on top:

 And, finally, springtime on Whidbey Island is for enjoying the island.  We get to sit outside on either or front or back porch and just enjoy the beauty--the birds, the wildlife, the flowers, the plants, the solitude.  It's great, and we love it here.