2024-02-05 01:18
I think it's funny how memories that are 60 years old are triggered by sounds and smells and sights. Over the last few days I've been in Yuma Arizona for a geocaching mega event, and h… Read More
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Random acts of blogging....
2024-01-18 22:32
As I'm sure I've noted here before, geocaching is both a solitary "sport" and a competitive individual (or team) "sport". Some individuals compete with other geocachers for FTFs (first-to-fi… Read More
2024-01-16 14:58
Donna and I took a very nice weekend trip to Jim Thorpe, PA this past weekend. We got out of town on Saturday morning, and made good time up to the Delaware Rest Area on I-95 North. The… Read More
2023-11-02 00:52
It's 1 December, so it's probably time for a little chillier weather. It was just above freezing as the sun came up this morning. I've pulled out all the long-sleeved shirts, and… Read More
2022-06-04 19:31
44 years ago today, I was commissioned as an Ensign, USN. It was a great career -- I had a lot of interesting jobs, and learned a lot of important skills that I would use the rest of m… Read More
2022-06-01 22:44
There were five large maples in the backyard when I moved in, in 1990. One (that was far too close to the house, anyway) had to be moved when the addition went was built in 2000. Anoth… Read More
2022-05-19 16:03
It was 56 years ago today that my parents, my oldest sister, and I took a charter Boeing 707 from what at the time was called McChord Air Force Base in Washington to what was called at the t… Read More
2022-04-25 00:13
A lesson I learned long ago was to make hotel reservations sufficiently far in advance of a stay that I wouldn't be stuck having to ride long distances out of my way. That kind of adva… Read More
2022-04-11 01:23
I was going to ride to Indianapolis starting yesterday morning, but my route had me going through southern West Virginia. The one to 3 in of snow that was forecast for last night convinced m… Read More
2022-04-06 01:09
I knew from the forecast that it was going to rain today, but it's still a surprise when you get heavy rain and temperatures in the low 50s. It was very chilly. So, I headed for the hotel (S… Read More
2022-04-01 02:05
I got a jump start on tornado season today. About half the day was either tornado watches or tornado warnings. When it looked like the rain was going to hit, it was time to head for the hote… Read More
2022-03-31 02:28
The 2:15 (duration) ferry from Ocracoke to Cedar Island is pretty on days like this, but it does put a dent in the schedule. I got the cedar Island on time, then headed south to more adventu… Read More
2022-03-30 01:44
Another late start again this morning, which I'm going to blame on low temperatures. It's really tough to get motivated to ride in cold weather unless I am going somewhere. And this week I'm… Read More
2022-03-29 00:47
I got going a little later this morning then planned. It was 33° Fahrenheit when I rolled out of the driveway this morning. It got a little warmer as the day wore on, and I headed a litt… Read More
2022-03-27 22:45
Since I'm trying to get out of town early tomorrow, I did the pre-flight today. The bike is ready to go.The temperatures here in the National Capital Region tomorrow will be 39 deg F… Read More
2022-03-27 00:03
Since we're going to Alaska this year, and will be picking up a lot of national parks along the way, I'm thinking about trying to get at least one unit in each of 49 states plus the District… Read More
2022-03-25 22:50
All good things must come to an end; it's time to change from learning and using one set of skills, to playing around with new things like geology.The next adventure begins Read More
2021-12-26 14:09
This year's end-of-year trip firmed up several months ago, with some last minute (minor) adjustments arriving as late as yesterday (we couldn't go all the way to New Mexico without seeing Bi… Read More
2021-12-23 17:51
It's been a very productive Geocaching county-hunting year (so far)! I'm almost to 1000, after more than 17 years of Geocaching. The Christmas / New Year trip will knock out quite a few in N… Read More
2021-08-19 23:06
The 50th anniversary of the big hike that Don Wilson and I took across the Sierra Nevada is coming up in just two years. I've thought about how best to commemorate that trip, and have settle… Read More
2021-05-29 18:28
Among my least favorite planning and packing chores is riding gear cleaning. Motorcycle riding gear has armored padding that must be removed before the rest of the garment can be cleaned (an… Read More
2021-05-25 00:32
My uncle Don (Wilson) was an avid backpacker. He loved to hike the Sierra Nevada Mountains in California. In June and July 1973, we hiked across Kings Canyon and Sequoia National Parks… Read More
2021-05-23 23:17
As of today, 23 May 2021, I've found and logged a geocache in each of 775 counties (parishes, boroughs, census areas) in the United States. All the way from Washington County in Maine… Read More
2021-05-23 20:39
Ride preparations are usually tedious -- there are a lot of small chores and maintenance items that have to be completed. Tire replacement is coming up this Tuesday. That's the last major it… Read More
2021-05-15 11:57
In the "it's almost never too early to think about the next trip (or in this case, the trip after that)" category, the early favorite is a long trip to New Mexico, Colorado, and Utah… Read More
2021-03-17 00:06
Under the theory that it's never (really) too early to plan complex trips, I restarted the Alaska 2022 trip this past weekend. This trip has some tricky reservations, and I'm assuming that t… Read More
2021-01-04 04:47
Donna and I took a wonderful end-of-year trip to Nevada, California, Arizona, and Utah this year. We started out in Las Vegas (briefly) -- we picked up a Camaro convertible (?), then h… Read More
2020-12-25 19:49
2020 didn't turn out anything like I'd planned. At this point last year, I was fretting about working around the schedule for the Alaska Marine Highway System -- budget issues were delaying… Read More
2020-01-14 01:33
The weather forecast was for really good weather (meaning: temperatures in the 60's, and at least partial sun) on Sunday, 12 January 2020, so we headed out to Prince Georges, Anne Arundel, C… Read More
2020-01-14 01:30
I took the bike in for service on Saturday, 11 January 2020 -- it was time for an oil change, and I'd gone a little past the recommended 36,000 biannual service mileage. Showing up for Satur… Read More
2020-01-06 01:26
The weather forecast was for "mostly sunny" and mid-40's today, so off we went for a short ride. There were Big Money Rally bonuses to hunt, along with a couple of virtual geocaches. The tem… Read More
2019-12-24 13:57
Making reservations is a tedious process, even with much of the process done online. I've spent quite a bit of time already selecting locations to stay, based on factors such as distance fro… Read More
2019-12-23 16:13
Given the decision to decouple the trip from the Alaska Marine Highway System, it was time yesterday to start getting reservations. I'd been worried about getting places to stay around Denal… Read More
2019-12-22 20:41
It's now well past mid-December, and the Alaska Marine Highway System sailing schedule is nowhere on the horizon. The chatter on the Internet points to a budget impasse in the Alaska legisla… Read More
2019-11-28 15:02
I've begun to frame up the 2021 Summer adventure candidate. As usual, the original plan was far too ambitious (yes, 300 miles / day is trivial compared to any decent long distance rider's pl… Read More
2019-11-28 14:50
Taken right after we brought her home from Accotink Park. Very small and somewhat wild, but always a great companion Read More
2019-11-26 05:23
The Cinder story started, for me, just before Thanksgiving 2005. The staff at Lake Accotink had trapped a cat family, and put out a call for people to adopt the cats. Lorraine and I decided… Read More
2019-11-09 13:49
Yes, I know. I'm still hip-deep in planning the Summer 2020 adventure to Alaska, but it doesn't hurt to think a little past the next one, to what's beyond.I've been thinking about a Pacific… Read More
2019-10-20 18:54
I spent the weekend puttering around with details for next summer's trip. I realized, yesterday, that some of our stops are very popular, and that reservations are going to be difficult / im… Read More
2018-07-14 18:10
As usual, the plan for the next adventure starts before the current adventure ends. While riding along, enjoying the 2018 Maritimes Adventure, we started batting around ideas for next summer… Read More
2018-07-08 15:53
Another summer adventure is in the bag; now comes the lengthy process of compiling photographs, video, and notes to make a coherent record of the trip.We had a great time; just about 5000 od… Read More
2018-06-22 09:51
After months of planning, our trip to the Maritime Provinces and Quebec begins this morning. A year ago yesterday, I headed out for the 2017 IBR, and today we begin this summer's big adventu… Read More
2018-06-17 16:32
For some reason, it feels like I've spent significantly more time planning this 2018 Maritimes trip than I have some of the more recent trips (including two IBRs). Everything is either set a… Read More
2018-05-19 21:30
It was some time last fall (October or November) that I settled on wanting to ride to New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, and Quebec for the "big" summer adventure in 2018. Mos… Read More
2018-05-13 14:25
On this day, in 1966, we started the trip north from southern California to Eagle River. Paul, Maureen, Kim, and I left my grandparents home in Ventura, making the trip in our maroon 1964 Ra… Read More
2018-03-10 18:32
I didn't get out to ride at all during February; the weather was somewhat uncooperative on each weekend, and it's tough to get motivated for a ride when it's cold and rainy. It looked like t… Read More
2018-01-06 15:52
It's always good to have goals...goals certainly keep me out of the "lost weekend" syndrome, where I can fritter away large blocks of weekend time without producing anything meaningful. So… Read More
2018-01-06 15:45
Some winters are better than others around these parts. This is one of the bad ones. We're caught up in a mass of cold air that covers much of the eastern part of the country. So much for ge… Read More
2017-11-20 00:07
With a living room full of parts, and a [nearly] stock R1200GSA in the driveway, it was time to take the new bike apart to find out why it worked. Midway through last week, the weather forec… Read More
2017-11-04 21:16
I rode with the new Sargent saddle yesterday, and installed the pillion saddle today.I have a pile of farkles stacked up in the living room, waiting for time and weather to install.In additi… Read More
2017-11-04 21:13
I was fostering / adopting an older cat from Fancy Cats, hoping to give Cinder a nice companion. Sonja turned out to be a bit high-strung, and a real hunter, so she didn't get along with Cin… Read More
2017-11-04 21:04
The run-in period for BMW motorcycles is about 600 miles (100 km). It's +/- 50 miles to Bob's BMW, so I need to get about 500 miles under the saddle before the initial check. The weathe… Read More
2017-10-29 02:54
With great sadness, I traded in my well-loved, and oft-ridden 2010 R1200RT today. I returned home with a 2017 R1200GS Adventure "Triple Black". I'll be farkling this new bike over the next f… Read More
2017-10-16 13:26
I have mixed feelings about getting a new motorcycle. The 2010 R1200RT has gotten me to some amazing places over the ~7.5 years I've had it. It's out of the extended warranty period, though… Read More
2017-09-26 20:00
I took the R1200RT in for needed maintenance today. I've put about 18000 miles on since the last long-interval maintenance -- that included the 2017 IBR, the Void Rally, and a couple of long… Read More
2017-02-21 01:21
I got a very late start on Sunday -- the weather was decent, the list of undone chores was manageable, and there was a [short] list of nearby Big Money Rally bonuses to knock out. The four l… Read More
2017-02-21 01:01
The weather forecast promised much, so Donna and I headed out for a Sunday ride to Lynchburg and other points south. I'd been frustrated, on the 21 January 2017 ride, with missing both the M… Read More
2017-01-08 20:27
I've had a lot of fun doing Team Strange Grand Tours over the years. This year's involves a search for Merci Train boxcars and spelling the word LOVE (up to ten times) using the first letter… Read More
2016-03-22 00:30
It's official -- I'm in Read More
2016-03-19 18:53
The weather so far this year has been pretty chilly (more than a few days in single digits). I’ve only been out for a ride once, and that was in January. Connie hasn’t been ridin… Read More
2016-03-19 18:53
The 2013 Tour of Honor ends on 31 October 2013, so I had just a few days left to visit memorials and do a little sightseeing on a beautiful fall weekend. I crafted a nice route that would al… Read More
2016-03-19 18:53
Saturday, 26 October 2013Got on the road about 1000. Headed right for Bayonne, NJ. Stopped for lunch at the outlet store place. Bayonne was amazing...you really need to know where you're goi… Read More
2016-03-19 18:53
I signed Connie and myself up to ride the 2013 Team Lyle Garden State Rally eons ago…I knew that we wouldn’t be riding the Rendez-vous rally this year, and I wanted more time &l&hell…Read More
2016-02-15 00:20
Well, I posted my application for the 2017 IBR this evening...the draw is soon, so I'll know in just a few weeks if I made the cut Read More
2015-06-28 15:03
The three day ride from Virginia to Albuquerque was a good shakedown ride. I ran at about a rally pace, and picked up Tour of Honor, Whispering Giants, and Virtual Cache "bonuses" along the… Read More
2015-06-27 18:16
The intermittent headlight problem that appeared on the ride west turned out to be a short -- the hot wire is discolored, and there is some bare conductor. The tech at Sandia BMW is going to… Read More
2015-06-24 01:52
As it so often goes, the plans I have (in this case, blogging about my preparations for the 2015 Iron Butt Rally) go unexecuted. It's not that I haven't thought, oh so many times, that I had… Read More
2015-01-01 14:55
Another year is upon us...a year in which all kinds of good things can happen. One of the several highlights ahead is the 2015 Iron Butt Rally, which will involve significant preparatio… Read More
2014-09-02 00:52
The rally masters distributed the rally books at about 0900. The good folks at Lone Star had tables out for us, so those who were interested could plan their Leg 2 route (which I did). As i… Read More
2014-09-01 23:53
Today marked my fourth visit to the Maryland Renaissance Festival in Annapolis, Maryland. Connie, Britt, and Casey and I enjoyed the food, festivities, and people-watching in the 90+ de… Read More
2014-09-01 00:23
With a route in mind (and loaded into two GPS receivers), I packed my bike on Sunday morning. I’d only unloaded what I absolutely needed to spend the night and plan the route, so I did… Read More
2014-07-27 23:43
It’s been a while since I got back from Butt Lite 7, and I thought it would be a great idea for the two of us to take a nice Sunday ride to West Virginia. The Northern Virginia weather… Read More
2014-06-09 02:06
Time for another ride! There were a few nearby bonus locations that needed to be finished, so they constituted today’s ride. A Grant County (WV) sign (for the Team Strange Airheads Pr… Read More
2014-06-09 01:05
I picked up the bike from Bob’s BMW on Saturday, and needed to get out for a shakedown run. Connie mentioned that she wanted to return to a place we both enjoyed in Washington, Virgini… Read More
2014-06-06 21:49
I noticed that the Powerlet outlet on the left side wasn't working after I picked the bike up from the first clutch repair. Ugh. I tried to debug it before Connie and I went on a ride, but r… Read More
2013-09-02 01:15
Connie and I rode the 2013 Hot Buttered Goat Rally on Saturday, 31 August 2013. The rally was organized by our friend Jonathan “Hammy” Tan, and it was tremendously fun. The form… Read More
2013-07-28 17:21
I’m trying to get out on a long ride at least once a month, and with Butt Lite 7 (VII? Se7en? IIIIIII?) on the horizon for next summer, there’s some serious training to be done… Read More
2013-06-09 17:38
I wanted to get a little riding in this weekend, and the weather cooperated perfectly. Friday featured a thoroughly miserable frog-strangler (that I endured, so I could get the left combo sw… Read More
2013-05-11 17:42
The Big Money Rally is rapidly coming to an end, and I needed to scrounge up 28 points to be a finisher this year. I planned a route that would take me south, somewhat west, then north again… Read More
2013-04-30 03:32
Connie and I needed to do a little practice riding in advance of this year’s Mason Dixon 20-20, so we planned a nice Saturday ride. It was a great excuse to knock out a few more Big Mo… Read More
2012-12-24 00:20
Report: Virginia's Traffic Loopholes Lead To Unsafe ConditionsI can hardly wait to read this year's report. Its arrival will be reported, once again, by WAMU 88.5 Read More
2012-11-03 21:46
Wow…another great Void Rally is in the bag. The Void is essentially the end of the rallying season here on the east coast. There are one or two short local rallies after the Void this… Read More
2012-09-25 23:13
Here we go! Read More
2012-09-15 16:03
It was great to have a nice night’s sleep before saddling up again for a ride home. The bad weather of the previous day had cleared out, and we were all set for a nice riding day. The… Read More
2012-09-15 15:30
Getting ready. There were two options for breakfast available at Auberge Harris – a full breakfast, and a toast, coffee, and juice breakfast. I knew that my on-the-clock riding style… Read More
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