We loaded up the van with everything we could squeeze into it, including the dog, and then put as many bikes on top as we could make fit. We left early on Friday morning, the second day of April. We drove all day in a tremendous wind. I was sure the bikes were going to fold up, or the rack would break, or the whole contraption would simply blow off the van. Most things I worry about never happen anyway. We made it all the way, arriving at the Roark Estate late Friday evening. Whew. What a drive.
We spent four days at Grandpa Nick and Grandma Bonnie's. We had loads of fun working on the model railroads (HO in the basement, G in the garden), riding horses, riding bicycles, playing trumpets, and drinking lots of coffee.
Abbey on Roy:
Quinn on Roy:
Amos rolling in manure:
Grandpa and Quinn working on the train:
We took an Easter morning bike ride on the roads around the Roark Estate. The kids rode their single bikes and Cindy and I rode big yellow tandem (bus). Grandpa and Grandma were on their Burley tandem and Dale came along on his blue bike. It was a short ride because after just a couple of miles, Quinn took a big downhill a little faster than he was able to handle, and wiped out at about 24 mph (Grandma Bonnie recorded all the speed and distance data on her GPS unit, but we didn't get any pictures). After that we had to ferry Q home on the yellow tandem while the rest of us played musical bikes until we had a functional distribution. Quinn was scratched up all over, and completely freaked out, but he wasn't bleeding too badly and recovered quickly. I should note that Abbey rode that hill at 24 mph, too. She didn't crash, but her new Kona, formerly Heather's, has quite a bit of experience with hills.
The next day we road the K-96 path with Nick, Bonnie, and Debbie. Debbie and my mom took turns on Debbie's single bike while the other stoked for my dad. It was a very, very, very, windy day. Sustained winds, if I recall correctly, were over 100 mph, with gusts approaching 200 mph. It's a good thing the kids were on the backs of our tandems, because I'm sure they would have blown away like strands of dog hair trying to outrun a vacuum cleaner. It was a good ride, despite the wind. It was nice to finally ride that K-96 path. I think our mileage for the day was around 35 miles. We had nice smoothie stop along the route, too.
Tuesday we made a trip to the zoo with Debbie and Alan and my parents. It was a fun trip; we fed lots of animals; watched the grizzlies play; the river otters eat; saw the new tiger exhibit (it was almost scary to see Quinn standing just two feet from 500 pound tiger into whose mouth Quinn's head could easily fit); those big male gorillas are something else. I find them quite frightening.
After the zoo, we migrated from the Roark Estate to Sharon's place in heart of west Wichita.
Wednesday we went to lunch with Cindy's dad and spent the afternoon with her golfing and bowling grandparents (note that recently their doing more Wii bowling and golfing than doing the real thing, but they keep going).
Thursday was a quilting day. Cindy and Abbey joined Sharon's quilt group for the afternoon. Quinn and I went to the River City Brewery.
On Friday, realizing the end of the week was approaching and we hadn't done enough riding yet, we pedaled the length of the River Trail in Wichita. We started the ride with Amos in the trailer behind Quinn and me, but he wasn't in the mood for it, and I wasn't in the mood for hearing him bark and whine back there, so after about a mile we took him back to Sharon's. Amos did better in the trailer here in Michigan. For some reason, maybe the wind, he whined and yipped when we tried to trailer him in Kansas.
Our ride took us through Riverside Park, the home of Wichita's original zoo, which now has a display of rescued local wildlife. Quinn finally got to see a bobcat. He had spent perhaps two-thirds of the entire K-96 ride quizzing me for info on bobcats. He seems to love bobcats. Who doesn't?
This nice pond was right beside the wildlife exhibit. We ate our lunch on the rocks by the pond. To our surprise, Quinn didn't fall in.
A little later, same Friday ride along the River, we went through Wichita's Riverfront area. I'm not sure what to call that place. It's the place by the Keeper of the Plains where there are now some interesting bridges.
We stopped for a break, and heard some strange grunting noises and a lot clanking -- like a chained animal trying to escape. What's down there?
Whoa, dude, there's a troll down there!! Maybe it's the Tridge Broll. Someone dropped a pink ribbon on his (her?) face.
After the ride, we went to Debbie and Alan's house for pizza with Great Grandma and Great Grandpa Dickeson. We had birthday cake for my dad and tried out Brian's trombone.
On Saturday we drove home. Did I mention what a long drive it is? We got home at 2 a.m. Sunday morning. I'm tired just thinking about it. Time for bed.
G in the garden? I'm jealous. We have too many pine trees that drip sap on every thing in a 50 mile (N scale) radius.
ReplyDeleteI can see that Nick knows how to deal with Kansas' gravel roads. He rides to the side where there's no gravel.
Somehow I didn't get any pictures of the garden train. It was much less elaborate, but made a compact figure 8 near the southeast corner of the house. There was no sap, but we had to clean the dust of the rails before we ran it, some of the natural vegetation required trimming, and once the wind blew the train off the track. The biggest problem was various animals -- dogs, cats, and kids -- would walk on the track.
ReplyDeleteAbbey also tried riding along the side of the road, but often found herself sinking in mud. Many of the roads had some a few paths down the middle where car tires has swept or compacted the crushed rock.