Minneapolis MN - Loring Pasta Bar with Lynn and Jocelyn

Always a good night when Jocelyn, Lynn and I get our schedules coordinated and rendezvous.
Lots of laughs and many good stories told again and again. And always a great spot to hang out - the Loring Pasta Bar.

Minneapolis to Plymouth - good weather and the bikers arrive

Absolutely perfect Saturday morning. We took the Luce Line Trail from Minneapolis to Plymouth - about a 30 mile ride.
It was a full crew as well - an even dozen. Barney came back for more, Linda finally showed and Carly just ran out of excuses! So we gave her a few rolling hills to remember the ride...

Saint Paul MN - Barney joins us for the Saturday ride

It has been a strange a crazy year for the Saturday bike group. We have seen a few new faces and many of the regulars in previous years have had better offers or schedules have just not worked on the good riding days we have had.
Barney arrived today. Barney joined us a few years back and has never come every week but we haven't had Barney join us until today.
Barney lets me look 20 years ahead and visual doing the right things...and having the right genes and I too may still be on my bike and keep pace with the group!
A lovely Saturday by the way...a luxury this summer in Minnesota.

Serbia - Petar getting ready for year 2 at Mac

It looks like Petar figures year 2 is going to be a tough one and he is doing all he can to be ready to go at it at every level.
Look forward to having him back on our side of the world soon. Gotta love a wonderful Serbian with a great smile!

Los Angeles, Burbank, Sacramento, Fremont and San Francisco CA - Busy couple days

Zoomed in and out of California this week. Left Minnesota and landed in LA. We went up to Burbank and then headed back through rush hour to get a flight to Sacramento. Did our stuff in Sacramento and then drove down to Fremont. Finished up on the train in to San Francisco and a memorable taxi ride to the hotel. Cool, brisk evening in San Fran and back to Minnesota in the morning.
Not much time to take a few pics - caught a bit of the neighborhood in San Francisco.

Minneapolis MN - A great night at Walter and Jane's

Is Carly really that old...OH we didn't gather to celebrate that. But there was a gift book given "Porn for Women...of a certain age". Hmmmm why did we gather?
Another great night at Walter and Jane's on Mississippi River Boulevard. We don't gather as often as we should but certainly enjoy it when we make it happen.
I see Tucson with "young" Carly on a horse one day soon......

New York NY - Adventures at the Newark Airport

Another NYC trip.
The Newark Airport always seems to be an adventure. Its close proximity to NYC and the "usual" easy train ride from Penn Station makes it a great choice when the price is right.
They have spent lots of money upgrading the security check zone so that is actually a civilized experience. It turned out that did not mean it would be a good or more efficient experience. Wow in my few trips through there recently it seems to take even longer than it did in the old "mess" they called security check.
But this past trip the real adventure was getting from the train stop at the airport to the terminal building. On a slow day it usually takes about 15 minutes to get from train stop to the terminal on the airtrain. 90 minutes on Saturday. It involved lots of waiting, in and out of many airtrains at more than one station, screaming and ranting airtrain staff, a bus and lots of people that didn't speak English that were just trying to figure out what could possibly be going on. And as one of those that should have understood what was going on and the ranting employees I had no clue either. It went from odd to questioning to over the top bizarre very quickly. Terror attack would have probably been dealt with better.
Did make it home and revving up for the next airport adventure - in the current environment every airport experience is an adventure.

Minneapolis MN - remembering those lost when the bridge collapsed

I remember the night. It was terribly hot and humid and I was debating about a bike ride. Biking around and possibly even under the bridge would have been in the route in the head that evening. The heat and humidity pushed me to run a few errands instead. I hopped in the car after one stop and couldn't understand at all what they were saying on the radio. I had to get home and see the pictures on tv to understand the bridge that collapsed was the bridge I ride around.

The new monument is a couple blocks from the office. A serene spot along the river - just down river from the wild and overactive waterfall that 2011 has brought us.

Glenwood Springs CO - a bit of history and a great old friend

We made several trips to the Glenwood Springs Area to do things. Finally, I made a trip to rendezvous with an old and dear friend from my days in Hastings Nebraska. Shortly after I moved on to Saint Paul Steve and his family moved on to Glenwood Springs and have called it home ever since.
Took a tour of the Historic Hotel Colorado and mountains in the surrounding area. Mostly we just got caught up since the last time we got together.
The last time was in 1997 when I was living in London and Steve was on his way to Greece with his son and a group. Not sure post 9/11 we could pull that rendezvous off as easily as we did back then.

Edwards CO - hanging out before the first wave heads home

We had plenty of space for everyone to spread out at the house in Edwards.
Cousin Tim stopped by on his way to Denver from his new home in Glenwood Springs.
And all the women finished off the evening in the hot tub.