Rainbow Riders 10th Annual Christmas Gathering

Oh what fun we had. We have been doing this for a while now, and every year seems to bring more fun, more interest and more traditions!

‘Twas the week before Christmas,

            our annual times 

To gather together

            for fun of all kind.

The stockings were hung

on the stairway with care,

With hopes that everyone

            Soon would be there.

Soon the creatures were stirring

            in and out of each house,

Strewing lights and candles

            and Santas about.

Outside arose a noise we could hear.

All in our sneakers

            and warm outerwear,

We ran to the front

            to see what was there.

We tore open the screendoor

            and ran to the porh

When what to our listening

            ears should appear,

The cars were arriving

            with bikes on the rear.

Coupeville so close that a little call

            brought pizza for dinner to feed us all.

We talked and laughed,

            and one by one

We drifted to bed

            as our day was done.

All snuggled up

            in our bedroom of choice

In our fuzzy heads

            we could hear a small voice:

On Vickie and Gerry, Vernetta and Liz; on Susan and Nancy, on Maridee and Carol; on Angela, Christina and JJ too; on Kristi and Kristin, on Cheryl (at last); on Jody and Lisa who could not come,  for a food borne illness kept them home.

Now ride away, ride away, ride away all.

Merry Christmas to us, let’s be of good cheer

As we all ride together for another good year.

Saturday brought us sun and blue sky for a fantastic riding day. We cycled along on tree lined, lightly trafficked rural roads with water views and mountain views and just a few modest hills for the heart.

There was delightful lunch in Coupeville and some shopping afterwards. The 50% off shop got a bit of our business, and some got red tickets from venders to bring with them the next day for a drawing to win $1000.  I have not heard if anyone of our group won?

Now it was a few short miles back to the cabins where we would prepare for the evening’s event. Vickie researched and reserved the officer housing at Ft. Casey and we felt we were in luxury accommodations. Everything was provided – bedding, towels, cooking apparatus and utensils!! Those of us that have participated in our minimal weekends, bringing all of that gear with us to sparse housing, were confused to not have to bring anything! Don’t mistake – those minimal adventures were fantastic as well, it is just that this felt decadent! We even had separate bedrooms upstairs from kitchen and living room areas. We took up three “cottages” (duplexes actually) plus Vernetta’s quarters. Vickie had brought lights and decorations for each cottage, and Cheryl had bought a bigger tree for us for this year. Each of our “homes” had a warm and welcoming glow as we entered, and it definitely felt like Christmas.

Breakfast had been prepared by Kristin this morning, dinner would be ala Vickie, and Sunday Christina and Angela would feed us.  With snacks, drinks and side dishes, (as usual) there was no shortage of food. But first we had to get the table working correctly!

Now it was time for the gift exchange part, which was much calmer this year than most. There was not a lot of gift stealing, and we were anxiously waiting to get into those stockings! A new tradition has begun  - Vickie has put our names on each stocking for filling each year.

We ate breakfast and packed up our stuff on Sunday morning, then went for a wonderful walk. We strolled through Fort Casey campground and all around the fort, around the gun turrets, over the grounds, to (and up) the lighthouse, and back home.

Time to say our goodbyes until next time. We never look forward to that! But – we will be riding together again soon,  will be back here for our Christmas weekend next year under Vickie’s flawless coordination! Thank you Vickie for all you did to not only make this happen, but to make it such a warm and memorable holiday for us all.

Pedal Up,

Nancy

Lake Sammamish Trail, trees and shopping December 2-14, 2011

Earlier this month we saw the colorful warming of the bike rack.

This day we have the colorful warming of trees ...

       My friend Dorothy and I had a good ride on the trail. It was cold at 42 degrees, but we were bundled up for it and kept warm enough. We were happy to have a dry day even if cloudy and cold. We made it to  our snack stop at the outdoor shelter, enjoyed a quick bite and retraced our path back to the cars. Of course if felt colder after a good warm up stop.          

 

Having shown Jaydon meeting Santa in a "screaming" manner, perhaps this photo indicates that he would be happier being Santa. He remains anxious for Santa to come to his house and his wish for a Christmas gift from Santa is ..... an apple. As his Dad Jeremy says, let's enjoy this for the moment. Next time to wish it may be for another apple, but that could be an Apple iPhone, iPad, iBook or any new "apple" there is.

This month also included a shopping trip to Seattle (Nordstrom) with Lynne. She has titled this photo she took as Shopping with Nancy. Well, Lynne had accidentally locked herself out of her adjoining dressing room when she came out to model something for me to see. I went out to see her, and to see if I could help her open her door, and had not guarded my own door from slamming shut, thus locking me out of the other adjoining dressing room. 

There was no one around at the moment (our stylist was out looking for clothing choices for us) so what to do? I have crawled under doors in worse places! So I slithered under her door and let her in. Then I had to crawl under the dividing wall to get to my own room. It worked! Our stylist was a bit taken aback when we told her of the episode, and was so sorry she had not been able to leave the doors unlocked for us.

Christmas Tree Lighting Festivities and the Opera

At two years old, Jaydon is not too happy about Santa. He had been so excited to go see Santa to ask for an apple for Christmas. As he neared his turn in line he started to back up a little each move someone made that brought him closer.

Once near to his lap he resisted heartily to sit with him!!!! When we got about two feet away he stopped crying and waved bye bye to Santa and said "he's a big guy". When we got home to his mom he told her that Santa was a "tough guy".

The bus had brought us from our house to the festivities at the town center. We decorated cookies, crafted a decorated crown, listened to singers from the High School (Jaydon loves any kind of music and kept asking for more each time they finished a number), and watched the tree lighting in the outdoors. Jeremy arrived and Jaydon was happy to see his Dad join us for the lighting of the tree and the drive home.

This was the extent of my "activity" for this day as I mainly sat at the opera for four hours! I went to the HD Met broadcast with Bill and Frank and three of their other friends for "Rodelinda". It is an opera that is not performed often, and even these seasoned opera goers had not seen it. It was a bit boring, but Renee Fleming as the lead was her wonderful self. (I wonder if Jaydon will like opera.)

Lunch after the opera was enjoyable with all of us sharing a bit more time together before going in our separate ways to home.

December 1, 2011 ride - Centennial Trail

I will not try to "catch up" with my entries! I have found it is much easier to keep up with a blog when on vacation then during my normally usual days. But I do like to write about things I do, so will try to do that a bit more often.

November did not hold many cycling days for me (as in one is not many), so I was looking forward to doing a ride on this first day of December with Vickie and Kathy. It was a cold 38 degrees when we were ready to ride, and would warm up only to about 41 as our day progressed. But it was not raining ;'-)

Our plan was to start our ride from a different trailhead from our usual start, one that was a little further north and would allow us to explore the newly added portion of the trail within reasonable miles. First we had to research how to get to that trailhead by car. We pass it by bike all the time, but driving there added some question. The three of us arrived at the appointed time and layered up with plenty of warm wear to buffer that 38 degree temp.

Being an old railroad bed, this trail has only mild inclines - up from the start to the top in the middle, down to our turn around in the town of Arlington, and then reverse the up and town for our return. We stopped in town long enough to eat our packed lunches and to appreciate a little of Arlington's "flavor". Vickie demonstrated the "woollies" someone had thoughtfully knitted to keep the bike rack warm. Bike racks get cold too you know.

We found the "co-ho-ho" too good to pass up. 

Kathy runs an annual photo contest that starts in December and ends the following November. Anyone who takes a photo of her doing an outdoor activity through the year has a chance to win a dinner with her at a place of their choice. Kathy uses that photo for her Christmas card greetings. Of course this meant taking any advantage of avIalable photo ops. Vickie watched the workman hang lights in the gazebo as we tromped through wet grass for those photo ops.

By the time we were heading back the fog had set in for part of the return ride. We had all, fortunately and with experience, dressed appropriately for the weather and kept as warm as we needed. The fog added some artistic views through the trees and into the valleys, and we were soon back at the trailhead loading up for our drives home. Nice day in the saddle with good friends -- doesn't get much better.