Monday June 20, 2016

Happy Birthday Big Brother, love you.

It looks as if we are in England – Eaton to Oxford, but no we are in rural Ohio.

Not a good night’s sleep – too hot and sticky. The alarm went off at 5:30 and once again we were up and packed and on the road by 7:00 a.m. Breakfast was pancakes which were o.k. but no coffee.

Headwinds, hills and heat!! Although very tiring it was a nice ride.

Today was Covered Bridge Ride today. Three covered bridges, two historic and one built in 2012. We had to walk our bikes through all the bridges for safety.

There were some nice houses along the route but the area was mainly farming.

The rest stops were a little further apart – first stop at 24 ks, the second one was at 62ks. If the rest stop hadn’t been there I would have had to stop for a snack. I had pizza and a slice of homemade cherry pie, very nice pie. Not things that I usually eat on the road. Surprisingly, I digested it well, it didn’t sit there like a lead weight. The last rest stop was only 8 ks from the end. It seemed like a waste of time to stop, but it was a nice little spot and we enjoyed a freezee ice-pop to cool down.

The lunch stop was in a school that “sat” on the State line – Indiana/Ohio border. The school had two doors with signs above that read INDIANA and OHIO – established in 1860.

We cycled through Hueston Woods State Park which had some interesting switch back downhills.

The afternoon and last rest stop was at a pioneer museum, which was interesting. The buildings were used to help escaping slaves on the “Underground Railroad”.

Tomorrow is a rest day or an optional loop route. I will take the rest day and Ralf of course will cycle 43 miles tomorrow.

I will do the washing and have a wander around the downtown of Oxford, which is actually called Uptown because it is at the top of the hill!!

We surprised Dick in the Dayton Tent. His response to Ralf was “What are you doing here?” Then he gave me a big hug.

We found a German Restaurant in Uptown and had schnitzel, spaetzle and good dark German beer.

When we got back to the school we chatted to Dick until after 10:00, we could have chatted longer, but we were soundly told off by a fellow Dayton Rider. He came out of his tent wearing a headlight (almost blinded me!) “It is past 10:00 p.m., some people want to sleep, if you want to stay up Take It Off Campus”. We blamed the “noise” on Dick, we are quiet Canadians (lol).

Great Ohio Bike Adventure (GOBA)

As soon as I received confirmation that I could have the time off work, I booked GOBA, it is an organized ride in Ohio with approximately 1500 to 2500 other cyclists. We have done this ride three times before and met some great people. Most notably are Richard and Beverley, Richard commented regularly on our Grand Adventure. We didn’t tell them we would be at GOBA, we wanted to surprise them.

We headed south on Saturday June 18, 2016 and made really good time to Hamilton, Ohio. Ralf used his new GPS and it worked perfectly, it took us approximately 9 hours to get there. We join the Dayton Cycling Club and are able to enjoy their SAG wagon they provide shade awnings, cold drinks and snacks at the end of each days ride. We also enjoy the company of some really nice people and have some good discussions.

As the drive down took us 9 hours, and I wasn’t scheduled to work on the Sunday, Ralf suggested we stop and have a visit with his Dad and Margaret on the way back. They live in London and it would break the drive back. Fortunately, they were going to be home and we could have a nice visit with them before heading home on Sunday.

Beverley surprised us at the GOBA registration tent. We were picking up our information package when I was tapped on my shoulder, big hugs all around. Beverley is volunteering with the GOBA organization this week and may ride part of the ride, but not everyday.

Sunday June 19, 2016 – Hamilton to Eaton 77 kms

First day of GOBA, I hope I am ready for the distances. Although I have been cycling to work (12 kms return) the longest distance I have ridden is 70 ks! because of our weather and work schedule it has been difficult for me to get any time on the bike for the longer distances.

Of course while on the Grand Adventure we found that most campsites are located near train tracks. Although last night we were camping in a Fairground, we were located near train tracks. At 3:00 in the morning we were woken by two musical trains. Maybe it was Thomas the Tank Engine and his friends talking to each other.

We were awake at 5:30 and on the road by 7:00. We had breakfast of egg & cheese on a bun with coffee $8.00 for two.

We are back on our road bikes and trying not to go back to the “heads down and go” mentality, but the bikes just want to go.  We did stop and take some photos.

The route today was hilly leaving Hamilton with some good short steep climbs. The flatter section came at the right time, as I was getting a little tired from the hills. The weather was hot, but for the most part the roads were shaded.

GOBA organizes three rest stops – the local schools, fire departments, clubs stock and man the rest stops as fund raisers for their organizations. The nice thing is that the prices are reasonable – 0.50cents for a banana, pasta salad $1.50 for a small container, PB & J sandwiches for a dollar.

We finished the ride in Eaton at about 11:30. After setting up the tent we relaxed for a while under the Dayton shade awnings and had a cold iced tea. The High School allowed us to use the indoor showers, which were very “refreshing” – cool.

After my shower I was combing my hair in front of the only mirror in the changing rooms, when a taller woman stood behind me to comb her hair at the same time. I commented on the fact that she made me feel very small by doing that – she apologized and then realized I was joking and we had a laugh about the convenience of our height difference.

The schools/campsites are often located on the outskirts of the Town. GOBA puts on school bus shuttles to take us to local attractions and the downtown of the area where we are staying. We headed downtown, most of the stores were closed so we window-shopped for an hour or so. We saw a covered bridge which we will cycle past tomorrow. This bridge is the oldest double covered bridge in Ohio.

Are we crazy! We knew when we bought the condo that it needed some upgrades. The kitchen was one, the bathroom was another and a new entrance door was the third.

The kitchen reno was full of ups and downs and we were dreading getting the bathroom done. Then we managed to get hold of John Ridgwell!! John had renovated our basement and bathroom in our old house and did an excellent job. We spoke to him about the bathroom reno and he said he would be available to do it for us in June.

What an opportunity, if we could get time of work we could cycle GOBA and John could renovate the bathroom while we were away. We confirmed that he could get it done in a week. He said if we were out of the condo, he could work from dawn to dusk and get it done.

I was able to get the time off work, Ralf got fired from his job.  I booked GOBA the last week in May. We didn’t tell Dick or Beverley that we would be at GOBA, we wanted to surprise them.

We spent time with John picking tiles, cabinets, bath and surround etc and gave him the keys on Friday June 17, 2016.

What a difference having a great contractor makes to getting a job done.

We arrived home after a great weeks cycling and had a new bathroom, a few minor touch-ups to be completed the following week and it is done.

I don’t think I will be letting Ralf put his bike in the new tub.

“The Sound of a Car Door Opening in Front of You is Similar to the Sound of a Gun Being Cocked”– Amy Webster

We got a call last week (April 11, 2016) to say that the kitchen was being shipped from Winnipeg – yeah the new kitchen will be in shortly.

Of course that balloon was burst pretty quickly. Our kitchen is very small and the installers had scheduled for two days to install. One day for ripping out the floor and cabinets and laying the new floor and the second day for installation of cabinets. It didn’t quite work out that way.

“Best Laid Plans . . . .” The job was due to start on Monday April 18. We had to clear everything out of the \”tiny Kitchen into the tiny condo\”!

The floor tile guy didn’t show up until 10:00 am, went for a two hour lunch at 11:30 and left at 4:30. The kitchen was empty, the front foyer tile was laid but no grouting.

He came back on Tuesday and same deal late arriving and long lunch, I thought Ralf was going to lose it when he said he needed to come back on Wednesday to grout. Both of us were working on Wednesday. He came in at 7:00 a.m. to finish the grouting!!

The delivery guys for the cabinets could not deliver the cabinets until Thursday April 21, no worries the cabinet installers were rescheduled for Friday. The installers arrived on Friday and discovered that not all the pieces had been delivered and they could not install the kitchen without these two important pieces.

Ralf (not Lowes) arranged for the remaining pieces to be delivered on Saturday. Two o’clock came and went and no extra pieces. I would not have liked to have been on the other end of the phone when Ralf was calling the delivery company to find out where they were!! They had to make a second trip to Barrie, because they had forgotten to put our extra pieces on the first truck.

Installers returned on Monday to install the cabinets. They had to have the install done by Tuesday lunchtime as the counter top was being measured at 1:00.

Of course, because of the mistake with the deliveries they were now rescheduling other work to fit us in. It was very obvious that we were not happy customers and so they rescheduled their work.

Other fun problems! The cabinets had a plastic cover on them as they are European style high gloss cabinets. The installers hadn’t realized that the sides were covered in plastic and now we have pieces of plastic showing on some of the cabinets that have already been installed, we had to get an exacto knife to cut it level. Fortunately the counter tops will hide the plastic.

The sink cabinet was supposed to have a flip drawer for small items, that was not sent! We have two ‘fake’ drawer fronts.

The install of the microwave was supposed to include installing an outlet, the installers were not qualified electricians and needed to send another guy to do that.

The dishwasher didn’t fit in the space it came out of. For some strange reason the dishwasher grew and is now too tall for the space!

The installers had left two shelves in two of the cupboards and we couldn’t remove them, because of the door hinge and the screws attaching the cabinet to the wall. They had to remove the cabinet so that they could remove the shelves.

After the measure of the counter top it was supposed to take two to three weeks to be delivered. I knew it would take three weeks and penciled that date on the calendar (May 20, 2016). That date coincided with the Victoria Day long week-end. Ralf called Lowes on the Thursday to see if it was anywhere close to being ready. Once again he received no satisfaction from Lowes and called the company who was making the counter top directly. They were very helpful and informed him they were doing the final quality control and arranged with Ralf for delivery and install. Four weeks after the measure we received our new counter top.

The kitchen looks lovely, but we will never use Lowes again as the \”project managers\”. We have opted to use a different contractor for the back-splash, who has done work for us before.  I wish he had been available to do our kitchen.

The funny thing was that I work with a young man at the Greenhouse, whose parents were also redoing their kitchen at the same time – and I mean a major renovation – walls removed etc. Their kitchen was completed in the same amount of time as our tiny galley kitchen!!

“Every time I see an adult on a bicycle I no longer despair for the human race” – H.G. Wells

We had about 6 inches of snow on Sunday night. Where is spring, when can I get my bike out? Dick commented that he was glad that he was enjoying his winter in Ohio rather than ours in Barrie. Be very careful Dick, we might head south and move in with you until spring arrives in Canada.  A 30 miler sounds perfect at the moment. I think both Ralf and I are suffering from cabin fever.

As I said before this is really weird weather, Monday we had rain and there were flood warnings. All the snow disappeared. Then more snow and more rain and then cold, cold temperatures.

I started at the Greenhouse on Thursday April 7, 2016. Up and out of the house by 8:30 a.m. wow that is early!!

I love working at the Greenhouse, I have priced and set out mini baskets of succulents, I trimmed bonsai trees, unpacked stinky recycled rubber planters, moved tulips and bulbs from one table to another, and my favorite job set out pansies by the hundreds. Pansies are such happy looking plants and a greenhouse full of them makes me smile.

I also noticed the general public walking into the Greenhouse covered up in winter coats and boots,  shoulders raised up to their ears looking slightly glum and within seconds smiles on their faces. Plants are good for you.

My only concern with working at the greenhouse is – I could be handing my paycheck back to them. Thank-you for paying me, now I will buy one of these and two of those and a few of those.

“One of the Most Important Days of My Life was When I Learned to Ride a Bicycle” – Michael Palin

I have been trying to keep the winter weight of, but seem to be fighting a losing battle. I did reduce the food intake when we finished the Grand Adventure, but obviously not enough. The pounds keep creeping on.

I have been working out on the trainer, but it is not the same as being on the bike outside – going somewhere or cycling for the fun of it.

I start my new job next week and I am hoping the weather improves sufficiently enough for me to ride to work. As some Norwegian guy said “There is no such thing as bad weather only bad clothing.” I know I can dress for the weather, but I really hate getting my bike dirty, especially after I have spent half the day cleaning it and making it look beautiful.

As I was feeling a little bit like a little porker, I decided I needed some other form of motivation. I bought a Vivo Fit – like the fitbit, only Garmin. I like Garmin products and the Vivofit has a watch as well. I can actually view the amount of steps I take as I take them. I also thought it would be fun to track how many miles I walk when I am working. The greenhouse is pretty big.

Anyway, I got it set up on Sunday and realized I could become a bit fanatical with this thing. After dinner I check how many steps I have taken and even if I have worked out on the trainer, I have to go out to make sure I reach my step goal. End of week one and I lost 1.5 lbs. Feeling good.

This week Ralf and I celebrated 31 years since we met. I know most people cannot pinpoint the exact day they met their husband but for us it was fairly easy. We met in Israel. Ralf returned to Canada on April 11, 1985 and we had met about two weeks prior to him leaving Israel. Amazing, we knew each other for about 10 days and were married less than 5 months later.

I joined him in Canada July 5, 1985 and we were married on August 14, 1985. We had only been together for about 7 weeks!! Thirty-one years later and I still fancy him.

Saturday we had a winter storm warning, snow squalls and white out conditions on the highway. We only got a dusting of snow but the temperature dropped to minus 14 over night.

“A Bicycle Ride Around the World Begins with a Single Pedal Stroke” – Scott Stoll

First day of Spring and it is +4 degrees, the sun is out, a slight breeze blowing. Ralf is working and I went for a 5 km walk. The walk was lovely, I could hear the birds singing it feels like spring.

What a tease Mother Nature is, Sunday was lovely, Monday March 21^st, it snowed! and the rest of the week the weather just got nastier each day. The forecast for Wednesday and Thursday was a “Winter Storm Watch” for Barrie and “Freezing Rain” for Toronto.

The freezing rain hit Barrie with a vengeance and our parking lot does not lot look like a winter wonderland, it looks like Jack Frost went insane. Trees and branches are down all over the property, so sad.

The tree on our patio has a thick layer of ice on its branches, you can see the buds encased in ice.

Thursday night the power went out and didn’t come back on until 1:00 p.m. on Friday afternoon!!

It was supposed to be in like a lion out like a lamb – it looks as though it is going to be in like a lion and out like a lion. Come on spring I want to ride my bike to work.

My first day at work will be April 4, fortunately I was not scheduled to work on Easter Sunday. Fortunate for the kids who attend the Easter Egg Hunt at Bradford

“A Bicycle Ride Around the World Begins with a Single Pedal Stroke” – Scott Stoll

The above quote sounds so simple, I will hop on my bike and cycle around the world. Unfortunately it isn’t always that easy, the planning, the saving, the equipment and the courage to actually do it.

We are now in the next phase of planning our next trip. A shorter time away, although I keep wanting to go for a year again. I recently made a list of what we need for our next trip, not too many things really.

Our panniers held up really well, although the cam-lock system (attachment for the bike) on Ralf’s rear panniers needed repair, his front pannier mesh pockets were worn through and one of the seams on the front pocket of my rear pannier was coming apart, on my other rear pannier I had caught it on a nail in Scotland and had taped it with duct tape for the rest of the trip.

I emailed Arkel and asked them if they could repair my panniers and told them about the other problems. Arkel responded within a couple of hours: They would send a new cam-lock system for Ralf, new mesh to replace the pockets. As far as my repairs were concerned they couldn’t repair the panniers as they are waterproof but offered me a replacement pair for $100.00, instead of $269.95. All I needed to do is swap the back and cam-lock system to the new pair. I opted for a new set of panniers, what a difference in the colour.

Ralf also needed a new front rack, the one he had used for the Grand Adventure was a little lower, which is why the front mesh wore through.

The order was made on March 2, 2016 and we received the parcel on March 7, 2016. Excellent service once again from Arkel.

“I thought of That While Riding My Bicycle” Albert Einstein on the Theory of Relativity

O.K. Not such grand thoughts or brilliance while we were out on the road, but you do have a lot of time to think while cycling half-way around the world. I did think a lot about what I wanted to do when we were finished The Grand Adventure Part One. Of course, one of the things I thought about was to go again, and again, and again.

I have been planning the next trip and also planning on where and when we would like to go. However, I have also been thinking about the condo and the things we would like to do to make it comfortable. So many things to decide on.

In the interim, we decided we should look for some employment. I have been working for Chris and looking at other secretarial work. Should I really be promoting my business if I have to tell people that I will not be around for the summer or the winter.

Ralf was hired by Simcoe County Airport Services – his first run on his own is tomorrow Sunday March 13, 2016. Basically, he is doing something he enjoys – driving – but doesn’t have to put in the long hours of being a transport driver and he can tell the Company when he wants to work. The days are about 5 – 6 hours and he drives people to the airport. He has always enjoyed driving, but was getting very tired of the long hours. We had discussed him working for a delivery company or something like Simcoe County Airport Services. Ralf got his wish and I got mine.

I also found my perfect job! I have been hired by Bradford Greenhouses. While on the road I had decided that my perfect job would either be working at Bradford Greenhouses or in a bike shop. I am so excited, there were a lot of people at the Job Fair but I managed to bluff my way through the interviews! I have an orientation on St. Patrick’s Day and then I will get my work schedule. I will be working in the greenhouse, putting out plants and helping customers. It is only a seasonal job, which means we could still do a late summer trip to Europe.

I have a small patio at the condo with two small patches that I can add some annuals too and some container pots and that is it. At Bradford Greenhouses I get to enjoy working with flowers and plants, advise people on what they should plant where and what will survive. This is my first foray into retail work for years, I am hoping I will enjoy it. I know it is going to be hard work, however I think I will really look forward to going to work everyday.

The Greenhouse is about 5.5 ks from the condo, downhill all the way and a cycle lane for some of the way! Of course coming home it will be uphill, I will be able to extend the route to make it 7.5 ks if I want to get some more exercise. My hours are part-time, I will be able to go out on some training rides when I am not working – Life is Good.

Of course I will still help Chris out when he needs me.

“Learn to Ride a Bicycle. You will not regret it, if you live” – Mark Twain.

What a strange winter we have been having. On Sunday (Feb 28, 2016) the temperature was +9 degrees and sunny. After breakfast we headed down to the lake shore and had a lovely walk along the bay into downtown Barrie and back to the car, about 5 kms. People were smiling, jackets were open and everyone was enjoying the sunshine and the warm weather. The lake is still frozen with ice-huts and kite surfers out there, I am not sure I would be out there right now.

The park area around the bay is undergoing major renovations and is a bit of a mess. The realigned the road while we were away, moving the road to the rail-line and creating more parkland. By the time they have finished all the upgrades it will once again be a great place to visit in the summer and winter.

It really felt like spring but then on Tuesday evening (March 1, 2016) the winter came back  with a vengeance, we had almost 45 cms (about 18”) of snow dumped on us. The condo corporation had cleared the lot by 7:00 a.m. and the sidewalks (including up to the front doors) by 9:30 a.m. Ralf had to go to the dentist this morning, it took him 20 minutes to dig the snow out from between the cars!! I am so glad I don’t have to drive to work!

March: “In like a Lion out like a Lamb” – let’s hope so.

I’m not a baker, but occasionally I get an idea that maybe I should try baking muffins. This idea came to me recently when we seemed to have a collection of very ripe bananas. I bought all the ingredients and decided I would bake muffins for Saturday morning breakfast. While Ralf was working out, I went into the kitchen to prepare the muffins. One of the bananas was missing, on asking my dearly beloved if he had eaten it, he admitted he had. We had a discussion about why he had eaten the banana when he knew I was making banana bran muffins for breakfast. “It was on the counter, you have to put your name on it if it’s yours” was his response. Oh my dear hubby, how come he can make me laugh when I am cross with him.

His response referred to our stays in hostels, while we were on the road. While we were staying in hostels you had to label your food that you put in the fridge or on the shelves, if it was not labeled and/or in the “free box” it was up for grabs.

The muffins were not too bad, although in my opinion not moist enough or banananery enough due to the lack of one banana.