Small Town USA Parade

There’s no place quite like small town USA on the Fourth of July

And this year we found ourselves in the middle of a parade with a host of riders from the Northwest Tandem Rally!

P1150501Canadians got to participate too…

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The mayor led the charge…

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along with a friendly Indian…P1150512

…and the local stagecoach.

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But the winning entry was none other than the Tandem Rally folks! And now there’s a trophy for the organizers to tote through life…

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Back at the rodeo grounds when all was said and done…the mute beasts wondered what was the big deal…and where did all those tents spring from?!

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If you look really close, almost dead center you’ll find the tiniest tent in the field—that’s ours—and contrary to my significant doubts (and initial complaints) we both fit in it, as did the air mattress (just barely).  And sleep was not a problem–we logged 182 miles in three days of riding in the hot summer sun.  Sleep is sweetest when you’ve worked for it!

–LS

[Don’t miss the pics once the rally got underway—awesome scenery on the rides!http://lindaskelton.blogspot.com/2014/07/amber-waves-of-grain-by-tandem.html]

Ferry Life…

We had a quick trip over to Vancouver Island this weekend to catch up with our daughter.

Didn’t seem noteworthy in pictures. We are so used to taking ferries whenever we go anywhere… P1140327

Then again, maybe our ‘normal’ is not your normal, so I snapped a few pictures…

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Dock upgrades and changes to ferry schedules and routing  have been BIG small town news of late.  But everything is now returned to order on our routes…well, almost everything.  This ferry is ‘out of place’ on this route actually.  But there are new ‘dolphins’, new ramps, wider lanes for loading and off-loading and… well, you get the idea.  Big small town news.

 

After a beautiful hour and a half of sunny sailing (spent out on the deck dozing in the sunshine)

we’re almost home!P1140339P1140341

Time to return to our vehicle for off-loading.P1140345

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And that’s it.  Our ‘normal’ mode of travel.  Try it, you’ll like it—well, except for the price tag.  Such is ferry life…

–LS

Home, Green Home

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We dug out the car one last time and hit the road,
leaving snow country behind…

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It’s picturesque and nice to visit, but nicer still to get back to GREEN!

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Care to join us for the next-to-the-last winding leg of our journey?

The Coast of many curves—the land between ferries.

 

Whew!  A welcome sight: P1140141P1140142cr

And what a treat to be welcomed to our Sunshine Coast with SUNSHINE!

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And to walk in the door and be greeted by forsythia in bloom:

P1140153The barren branches I’d snipped before we left

have come into bloom!P1140162

And other buds are swelling…

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It’s good to be home.

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…for quiet walks around the block as spring approaches softly…

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–LS

(And quiet dinners for two…)

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(on new custom placemats!)