Sunny Skies and Open Road Blues: Friday, June 2nd!

The capacity to produce social chaos is the last resort of desperate people. -Cornel West, author and philosopher (b. 2 Jun 1953) 

Good Morning Patrizzio and Mme Cariandre: So good to hear from you. How is life treating you. And you and the house have not floated away yet? I’m still in the midst of Renos. The floors are being laid this week………hurrah……and hopefully things will come to a close soon on the inside. Still stucco and outside work to be completed. Yes I am planning to be there next Friday, and will bring a dessert. Been up since 3:00 am and was in Kelowna already delivering my son to the airport. Hopefully it will be nice and hot for the next few days to dry things off a bit. Have a great day. Love of Hugs from Von Bingen. 😊 Hi Reno Woman! Great that you can join us! Missed you last time. Trust  on-going work on your home is going well. See you on Friday! Cheers, Patrizzio!

See you then. Will bring your extra key and the bowl + the infamous salad. 6:00? Judi Hi Dame Judith! Etta and Duke can hardly wait to see you! Pleased that Super K will join us for dinner. See you both on Friday! Cheers, Patrizzio!
I will be happy 😊 to attend and will bring a dessert. Let me know if you want my table....Happy weekend all!!! Judy most things being accounted for so we'll bring fresh bread and a bean dip Good Morning bridge friends We made it home, still jetlegged, but looking forward to Tuesday night,and will bring a vegetable dish, or some sort of salad.. Doeii Jos

Skort (skirt + shorts)

Photo: Doug Ellis

Hello Weary Travelers! Welcome Home! Pleased you are back home, safely and soundly, even if you are finding that the dikes of polderland you cycled endlessly upon have taken on a new meaning with the historic rise in Okanagan Lake! I have not ridden to Crescent Beach in a few weeks but understand things are pretty rough in Lower Town. How fare the tennis courts? 

Look forward to seeing you next Tuesday and hope Aarturo will join gathering as he can visit with other non-playing significant others, (and serve drinks!), while the bridge players bid! Stay well. Rest up. Fondestos from Volunteer Woman, discharging her duties at PGH and then playing Mah Jong. I'm off to ride shortly. Hope to make for Oliver and Black Sage Road before looping back home.

Cheers, Patrizzio Pics: Let Sleeping Cats Lie! Hello Chloë, Rosie-The-Riveter, et al!! Glad pics of GF were useful, Chloë. Cheers, Dad/Patrizzio/Favourite Son-in-Law! Pics: Latest blooms from bulbs Dusty gave us from his garden, planted two years ago! As you can imagine, Corinne is especially moved, (as am I), each time she sees these lovely flowers. Her Dad's spirit remains and comforts! Hello Newly Minted Grandparents! Trust all continues to go well with Arlo. [Keep forgetting to thank you for snap of flooding in Lower Town, as I believe it is called!]  Cheers, Patrizzio!

Hello Northleach Wellington Boots, Dog Walking Cotswalds People, et al! Great to hear from The Landed Gentry and see how wonderful your trip, obviously, has been and continues to be! Do you give sermons at the neighbouring church, Calamity, aka The Vicar of Dibley? We look forward to seeing one and all when opportunity presents itself. Stay well everyone. Travel safely, On-the-Road People. When are you back? Cheers, Patrizzio! Left at 1:30 pm, after spending the morning digitating, all alone as the kittens were outside and Lady Dar was on the Info Desk at PGH. Once I'd determined that the wind was out of the south at between 17-21 kph I knew it was to Oliver that I would eventually head. However, beforehand, wanted to log a few km's so I did my basic route regulare, down Ellis to PTC and then Lakeshore/Riverside and then back up to start of KVR, turning around here to "attack" Vancouver Avenue. Once I looped around the parking lot at Township 7 I hit Upper Bench Road and was soon swooping down Haven Hill to run back past Burns Street and then turn onto Eckhardt to make for Government. 

Did enough dipsy-doodles around Skaha Lake Park, studiously avoiding any deadly stanchions while scoping the few curvaceous sun-worhippers, to have 45 km on my trusty odometre before I hit Eastside. Knew I would be battling the wind and it was a protracted fight. By chance I saw Jack Rabbit and Phillipo, heading north, shortly after I left the Penticton city limits, and envied them thier tail wind. Waving hello and goodbye, I continuing on into OK Falls, having changed my plans for the run to Oliver. By this time, I simply couldn't face the prolonged ride into the fierce head wind so opted to rack of the distance on the Oliver Ranch Road/Stag's Hollow Loop.

This alternative worked well as once one crests the two small hills out of the residential part of OK Falls, rest of the way is downhill so the force of the wind is mitigated. The more gradual grade past Stag's Hollow and Wild Goose was made much easier with the wind now behind me. Did five of these loops to have 75 km worth of distance by then and knew, from past calibrations, that I would have most of what I wanted to register this ride as an "official" 100 km + outing. Must say that I enjoyed the return leg as I whistled along and was very pleased to note that I'd reached a Max speed of 62.6 kph at the bottom of the  hills past the intersection of Sun Valley Way and ORR.

Once on the flat of Eastside Road I was able to inch up the AVG so that I was at 19.9 kph by the time I was on South Main. Held this climbing up Dawson and after another set of dipsy-doodles, climbing to Dartmouth, one block above Government, I made my way to Carmi. On the descent back to Government, near PGH, I managed to hit 20 kph. I made all the lights on Government and this fairly long, flat run allowed me to push my AVG to 20.1 kph by the time I dismounted in our driveway. Pretty pleased with ride as I'd met my various goals in terms of AVG and distance although I would have liked to have made the run to Oliver and environs. Perhaps on Sunday, depending on the whims of Aeolus! Cheers! Map and Stats for ride:

https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/1774507365#.WTIU0gn--O0.email 

That sounds like quite an operation, breaking into the second story with a ladder!!!  Best of luck, including working with the local politicians to try to get treatment for unfortunates. I have been following, at least loosely, BC political turmoil and the pipeline that the seemingly not so angelic Trudeau wishes to build across from the tar sands.  The struggle to go green in both our countries seems to be a tough fight, although no one can possibly be as bad as Trump.

Thanks for the initial tips for Agnes. I will let her know we are working on it.  There is no real rush as she's not going til September I think.

As for us, I am still trying to nail down a house-sitter. Once I have some sense that we can find someone to stay here and take care of our feline (who shocked us by bringing in a mouse yesterday, dead at least) or giving up on that and asking neighbors. [Winston thinks all those lazy cats should be out mousing!!]  But I would hope to get something going within a week or so. Made some pesto pizza yesterday, came out grand, alas, there wasn't a scrap of pineapple in the house! Cactus

 

Hi D, Thanks for pics, sounds like there is lots going on in the neighborhood! I just wanted pictures of you so no need for the scenery pictures but thanks. Kisses to kittens! Chloë  

Pat, Good to hear from you. Sylvia is in England at the moment for Jenny and Sean's wedding which took place today. They are off to the Basque Country, (Biarritz, I think,) on Sunday. Sylvia visited the Brownlees earlier. Christine has MS, as you know, but seems to be managing it quite well although she fatigues easily. Sylvia did some cycling with Jim and they all visited Saltaire which is a Unesco Hertage site with a gallery of David Hockley's art work.
 

We have a very busy summer with numerous guests and Jenny and Sean will be here also. We have been invited to Savory Island again which we will probably do as we both enjoyed our stay there last time. Cardio fitness is not as good as it should be but I haven't done as much cycling this year. I'll get going again once I finish my teaching in about 2 weeks time. You garden looks good and the zuccini and garlic are thriving. Another task I need to invest more time in, soon.

The Carters went to Philadelphia and New York to visit relatives. They might be back by now. Glad you both seem to be doing well. Ray Hi Raymondo! Thanks for all the interesting news from England. Congratulations on wedding. Pleased to hear that Chris seems to be managing. Cheers, Patrizzio! Hello Federico del Sagrado Corazón de Jesús García Lorca! Enjoyed your "poems" immensely. No wonder your pad on Galiano took so long to complete if you were scribbling most of the while, instead of pounding nails! Now I understand why you felt you needed to get away, to be able to get away from the "madding crowd" and fellow porch climbers!
 

Thanks for all the interesting news from Malaga and environs! Brought back some very, very powerful memories of my time, relatively near where you are staying, Torremolinos, back in 1969/1970. Unfortunately, a development blight, even at the time, not the wonderful palm lined boulevards of Malaga, [We stayed, for a couple of nights, in a wonderful hotel, right across the street from the fish market, with marble floors and steps and after ten too many cheap, champagne cocktails, (About 25 cents each!), I spent the night curled around the toilet, resting my fevered brow on the cool marble surface of the bathroom floor!], and its lovely cobbled streets winding up to the castle. However, we did take a number of hikes up into the hills behind Torremolinos and they were much as you describe. Magic, indeed! Trust you survived horse hike! Reports here had it that a number of rowdy tourists were thrown from the cliffs, sacrifices to the Cult of the Virgin. Can hardly wait to hear you rhapsodize the details!

With respect to "montar el camino en la República de Galiano", we hope to do a Grand Island Tour following the VWF in October so will certainly be in touch as time approaches and plans evolve. Thanks for your book tips. Fondestos from Lady Dar to you and Calamity, Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra! Cheers, Patrizzio!

Hi Champagne and O Susannah! Thank you both for the lovely card, your kind thoughts and sympathy. Clara seems to be managing well and spent this past weekend in Winnipeg, shopping, with Pamela for outfits for Alexander's wedding this July! Cheers, Patrizzio!