It was a rather chilly ride into work this morning! The air temperature gauge on the bike registered a balmy 35F (1.7C). ti will be worth it this afternoon on the way home though, it should be sunny and in the 60'sF!
I was properly suited up in the leather jacket, gloves, and chaps; and had a chance to use the new neoprene mask to keep the skin from peeling off my face! It works, but I still need to do a bit of adjustment on it because my breath still comes up, instead of out, which then fogs up my eye protection. Not exactly the sort of thing you want when your up on two wheels!
I'll have to have Lightnin take a picture of me all suited up so you can see the other reason I like to wear the mask! it definitely grabds the attention of the other drive3rs on the rode! ;-)
Later today we'll hit the road heading west and grab some of the best fried chicken on earth! For those of you that know what I'm talking about I'm sure your mouths are watering; and for the rest of you, you have no idea what you're missing! ;-)
Tomorrow should be a good day for a ride, so we'll be out and about and will hopefully catch some photos from the road!
Friday, November 13, 2009
Thursday, November 05, 2009
Newcastle, UK
I know, I know, I've been back for nearly a week and I'm just now posting photos from Newcastle! I tried to post from there and kept betting kicked off the web before I could get the post uploaded, and on top of that my blog site was stuck in Flemish mode from the Brussels trip and it was a little tough to figure out what the error messages were saying, at any rate here it is:
When we arrived in the UK it was a bit of typical weather with cold horizontal rain pelting us. This went away that night though and the rest of the week was unseasonably warm and sunny!
Here's the view from my hotel room, overlooking the Tyne River and the Quayside (pronounced: Key side)
We were able to meet up with one of my "Best Mates" from China and he had found an authentic Mandarin style restaurant for us to try out. It was awesome and the atmosphere really made me homesick for Beijing!
Here's a shot of my "Mate" Arif and another of his "Mates" Tony
This is a shot of Arif and I at a pub called "The Fourth", No I don't know why and didn't think to ask
I did stop at one of the most famous pubs in town, the Crown Pasada, where I was surprised to find the same bartender there from 2 years ago and even more surprising he remembered me!
AS luck would have it one of my favorite pubs, Loyd's Quayside, was having a "Real Ale Festival" where they had over 100 different cask aged ales available for sampling, but only one barrel of each, and serving only six different ales each night. So this became a regular stop on the way back to the hotel after dinner to see what was on tap at the time.
It was a good trip, both professionally and personally, but as usual it was good to get back home!
When we arrived in the UK it was a bit of typical weather with cold horizontal rain pelting us. This went away that night though and the rest of the week was unseasonably warm and sunny!
Here's the view from my hotel room, overlooking the Tyne River and the Quayside (pronounced: Key side)We were able to meet up with one of my "Best Mates" from China and he had found an authentic Mandarin style restaurant for us to try out. It was awesome and the atmosphere really made me homesick for Beijing!
Here's a shot of my "Mate" Arif and another of his "Mates" Tony
This is a shot of Arif and I at a pub called "The Fourth", No I don't know why and didn't think to askI did stop at one of the most famous pubs in town, the Crown Pasada, where I was surprised to find the same bartender there from 2 years ago and even more surprising he remembered me!
AS luck would have it one of my favorite pubs, Loyd's Quayside, was having a "Real Ale Festival" where they had over 100 different cask aged ales available for sampling, but only one barrel of each, and serving only six different ales each night. So this became a regular stop on the way back to the hotel after dinner to see what was on tap at the time.
It was a good trip, both professionally and personally, but as usual it was good to get back home!
Monday, October 26, 2009
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Taking Up Where I Left Off
I was having trouble getting pictures to upload the other day so I'll give this another try!
So here I am in Brussels once again, which happens to be my second favorite city now and I think you can guess which is my first. ;-) After touching down I hopped in the rent-a-car and headed off to the hotel as part of my now ritual of checking in, dropping my bags, showering and changing, then heading down to Leroy's on the Grand Platz for a Kriek. When I first arrived at the hotel it was starting to sprinkle and I feard for the worst, but by the time I was ready to leave the room the sun was out once again and off I went.
Mission completed, with the help of my good friend Joia, so off we went on a foot tour of the entire city. We managed to make it to one of the higest points in the city where I snapped this shot where you can see both the tower of records (the spire to the right), and the Atomium (the hugh "jack" looking sculpture to the left). The Atomium has always been a bit special to me because it was erected for the 1958 worlds fair (I'm going to let you do the math and figure out why that might be important to me)!
This shot is of one of the famous Basilique's in the distance
This just simply caught my eye, I'll call him Mr. Fritte
Well, it's getting late so I think that's about it for tonight, I'll try to share some more of my journey when I can!
So here I am in Brussels once again, which happens to be my second favorite city now and I think you can guess which is my first. ;-) After touching down I hopped in the rent-a-car and headed off to the hotel as part of my now ritual of checking in, dropping my bags, showering and changing, then heading down to Leroy's on the Grand Platz for a Kriek. When I first arrived at the hotel it was starting to sprinkle and I feard for the worst, but by the time I was ready to leave the room the sun was out once again and off I went.
Mission completed, with the help of my good friend Joia, so off we went on a foot tour of the entire city. We managed to make it to one of the higest points in the city where I snapped this shot where you can see both the tower of records (the spire to the right), and the Atomium (the hugh "jack" looking sculpture to the left). The Atomium has always been a bit special to me because it was erected for the 1958 worlds fair (I'm going to let you do the math and figure out why that might be important to me)!
This shot is of one of the famous Basilique's in the distance
This just simply caught my eye, I'll call him Mr. FritteWell, it's getting late so I think that's about it for tonight, I'll try to share some more of my journey when I can!
Sunday, October 18, 2009
Fall Colors (delayed) and Eurotrip 2009
Sorry for the delay in posting some of the fall colors promised last weekend, but I was preparing for my current trip to Europe.
First with the fall colors!
Last Saturday Lightnin and I set out on the bike on a rather cold morning, but we were all leathered up to help fight off the elements. We took a trip down through Rabbit Hash, Kentucky by heading west/south on Hwy-50 - Hwy-56 through Lawerenceburg, Aurora, and Rising Sun, Indiana. The return trip was via Ky-20 completing the loop. Lightnin kept the camera on hand to snap some action shots on the way back home.
Markland locks & dam from the restaurant where we stopped to eat lunch, They have deep fried green bean on the menu and they're really good!
Fellow bikers enjoying a ride
Tobacco curing in a tobacco barn
Heading across the Ohio River from Kentucky to Indianna
We were about a week too early to catch the leaves changing color in the hills, but we got a couple of shots of color after we got home.
A tree behind the infamous Dew Drop Inn
One of our mum's in bloom
Sorry, but I'll have to try to continue my post in another edition because I'm having trouble uploading the rest of my photos!
First with the fall colors!
Last Saturday Lightnin and I set out on the bike on a rather cold morning, but we were all leathered up to help fight off the elements. We took a trip down through Rabbit Hash, Kentucky by heading west/south on Hwy-50 - Hwy-56 through Lawerenceburg, Aurora, and Rising Sun, Indiana. The return trip was via Ky-20 completing the loop. Lightnin kept the camera on hand to snap some action shots on the way back home.
Markland locks & dam from the restaurant where we stopped to eat lunch, They have deep fried green bean on the menu and they're really good!
Fellow bikers enjoying a ride
Tobacco curing in a tobacco barn
Heading across the Ohio River from Kentucky to IndiannaWe were about a week too early to catch the leaves changing color in the hills, but we got a couple of shots of color after we got home.
A tree behind the infamous Dew Drop Inn
One of our mum's in bloomSorry, but I'll have to try to continue my post in another edition because I'm having trouble uploading the rest of my photos!
Friday, October 09, 2009
Rain, Rain, Go Away.......
Sorry no pictures, just letting you know that I am still around and intend to post again soon!
Work has just gotten the better of me lately as my new assignment is proving to test my capacity, which is actually a good thing because There's nothing I like more than a good challenge!
Anyway, if the rain stops today and the roads dry out enough we'll be back on the bike tomorrow and heading to such exotic destinations as Aurora, Indiana and Rabbit Hash, Kentucky (I know, we've posted from there before!). Who knows maybe we'll even end up at the infamous Dew Drop Inn in sunny Blue Jay, Ohio.
Hopefully we'll have some colorful foliage to photograph along the way as the leaves are starting to turn here.
Ming tian jian!
Work has just gotten the better of me lately as my new assignment is proving to test my capacity, which is actually a good thing because There's nothing I like more than a good challenge!
Anyway, if the rain stops today and the roads dry out enough we'll be back on the bike tomorrow and heading to such exotic destinations as Aurora, Indiana and Rabbit Hash, Kentucky (I know, we've posted from there before!). Who knows maybe we'll even end up at the infamous Dew Drop Inn in sunny Blue Jay, Ohio.
Hopefully we'll have some colorful foliage to photograph along the way as the leaves are starting to turn here.
Ming tian jian!
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Thunder Hits the Stage in Atlanta
This past weekend we headed down to Hotlanta to help celebrate our Brother-in-Law Dave's 50th birthday. It was a great time seeing their family again and meeting a lot of their friends too.
We travel down there a lot because it's just fun to hang out with them! Ok, that and it's about the 1/2 way point to our place in Florida! ;-) A typical weekend with them is to arrive, go to the grocery store and buy veggies and stuff, then Dave and I concoct some sort of exotic dish while the girls sit and visit. Of course we usually sample different varieties of either beer or wine while cooking which also keeps us entertained.
This time though we attended a big party that was arranged to celebrate Dave's turning a 1/2 a century. It was set up so that he could have to opportunity to play guitar all night while all the other band members swapped in and out on various songs. It was a fun night and the music was spectacular! I was honored to be able to get up on stage with such talented musicians!
Here's the star of the show jammin out
A shot of myself with a better view of the bandI'm looking forward to the next trip down!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)