Headin' South

Yesterday I took a drive up the Janesville Grade to see if there were any open spots on the road so I could go bike riding. Beyond the upper Clarks Loop road, where they stopped plowing, it looked like solid snow cover on the road, so no bike riding up there yet. Plan B for me was to head out to the valley to a place I had been to about 30 years ago. There is a road that comes off of the road going to the top of Shaffer Mountain that a friend of mine took me on with his new 4-wheel drive truck, back in the 70's. I never have been back all these years even though it's right in my back yard, so-to-speak. It turned out to be a great place to ride my bike, totally closed off to the public from the bottom due to fences and gates.. which don't give me much of a problem when I'm bike riding.

There were many flowers growing out there, these were the prettiest but I guess I need to get myself a good flower book so I can start identifying them. Right Tom? Anyway, the temps were in the mid 60's, the sun was out all day even though there were some clouds in the sky, and life was/is good. Today I have to get ready for my trip down south to the desert where I hope to be wearing shorts and t shirts every day for the next week.

Sun bathing

Yeah, that's right, sun bathing in the middle of March. I took a long walk today up to the first tunnel on the Bizz. I ran into a couple who were walking very close together when they passed me... must be love. They were the only people I saw up there even though the trail was in pretty good shape. I don't subscribe to the bullshit idea that the sun is bad. I tan myself slowly every year, carefully timing my exposure until I can stay out in the sun for several hours before burning. In fact, last summer I never got burnt by doing it that way and I got a killer tan as a result. I never use sunscreen anymore except on rare occasions. All things in moderation I always say, and the sun is actually good for you. Sure feels good too.

As you can see, there is a lot of open ground up there with most of the snow left in the shady spots. Mid 50's today so tomorrow I'm planning on driving up the Janesville Grade to see if I can ride my bike up there. Film at 11:00.