Retirement 2015

Welcome to Bikes, Birds & Byways blog.  Since retiring late June of 2015, we have been on the road with our little house (casita) in tow.  It is an 18' Whitewater Retro - just right for the two of us.  Our plan is to camp for a week as we head from Seattle to Idaho for the month of July.  Thanks for joining us on our travels.   Jake & Susy

June 24 - 26:  We camped in our favorite Oregon spot, Catherine Creek.  It is a little campground between La Grand and Baker .. no hook-ups & few campers.  Three wonderful days of birds, a great bike ride around Anthony Lake & an easy hike above the creek.
Birds:  Black-headed Grosbeak, Western Wood Peewee, Hummingbird of some sort, Blue-gray Flycatcher, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Western Tanager, Cedar Waxwings, Hairy Woodpecker!

Relaxing by the creek

Evening Sky

Hiking above the creek.

That afternoon we headed for McCall, Idaho - a town neither of us had experienced.  We stayed in a modern RV park .. not our favorite (next time Ponderosa Pines!) but we really needed to plug in!
June 28 - 29:  Our biking adventure was Brundage Mountain.  Again, masses of wild flowers .. all the usuals (Indian Paintbrush, Sego Lilies, sun flowers, small purple daisies of some sort).  It was a great bike down the mountain - a bit technical for me, but we made it with no mishaps.

The next day was our 41st anniversary.  We rented a kayak in the morning and the birds certainly exceded my expectations.  Many, many Western tanagers, kingfishers and a Swainson's thrush singing its beautiful upward spiral.  That night we celebrated at the Shore Lodge.

I don't look too happy, but really, I was!

June 30: We drove through beautiful country heading to Sun Valley, especially on the Banks to Lowman pass.  The windy road traveled along the south fork of the Payette River .. so beautiful and inviting we knew we would have to return to raft this portion of the river.  And, that we did!

Salmon, Idaho (Sawtooth Mountains in the background)

Iron Creek - our last night of camping for some time.

July 1 - 8:  Our first week in Sun Valley, we stayed in Tom & Norma Evered's Elkhorn condo.  Dave & Sheila (Jake's brother & sister-in-law) joined us here for the week.  Jake started coaching tennis for the Allen Company, and Nike camps.  I biked every day:)

Coral Creek (Trail Creek)

Elkhorn Pool view

Fox Creek

Motown Concert - Sun Valley Pavilion

End of my favorite ride out Warm Springs Road - 18 miles round trip.

July 8 - 26:  Dave & Sheila headed home to Seattle, and Indira (our youngest granddaughter) joined us for the next two weeks.  We moved to Terry O'Brien's condo, the Edelweiss, out Warm Springs.
Birds: Western Tanagers, Lapis Lazuli, Red-naped Sapsuckers feeding the last chick in an aspen cavity, Rufus, Calliope & Broad-tailed hummers, Black-headed Grosbeak, Yellow Warbler, House Wren.
Also saw two beautiful bucks crossing from the river to the safety of a covered hillside.  This is my magical place ...

Didi and her dog Kaya arrive.

Sweet girl & sweet dog.  

Song Recording in the Sun.

View from our deck of Baldy's Warm Springs Ski & Bike Runs.

We often see deer crossing from one run to another, and paragliders soaring in the updrafts of wind.

Horseback Riding Copper Basin - Elkhorn Stables at Wild Horse Ranch.

After our ride, we headed down to the town of Mackey, for lunch, and then drove to Idaho's National Monument, Craters of the Moon.  This is a 750,000 acre lava flow that occurred 6 million years ago.  Quite an unusual site in the middle of Idaho's high dessert.  Jake and Didi hiked to several caves that were open for exploration.

Birds: Mountain Bluebirds, Turkey Vultures

Craters of the Moon

Returned to Ketchum for a bike ride and dinner at the Pioneer.

Bike Ride to Town with Kaya & Didi

Waiting for Dinner at the Pio

Ketch'em Alive Concert - The Heaters

This is what Jake does.

This is what Didi & Kaya do:)

Our final "hurrah" for Didi's trip to Idaho, was a fantastic river trip down the Middle Fork of the Payette River.

Oops

July 26:  After 3 weeks in Idaho, we packed up our trailer and headed for Colorado.  On the way, we had one quick overnight to meet up with childhood friends, at Spruces Campground, Big Cottonwood Canyon.

Bill & Keri Brown - friends from Idaho Falls

We did it!

Colorado!
 

Dead Horse Nat'l Park

Moab, Colorado

Our first bike ride on slick rock.

To add variety to our various bike rides, we signed up for a zip line experience over the Moab "mountains."

The Scariest part of our adventure!  Straight up, driven by a crazy 24 year old male!

Well, quite scary, walking over this swinging bridge while our guide pushed on it to add "fun."

And, the best part.  Six lines of various lengths, with 
Arches National Park in the distance.  Beautiful!
 

! Arches National Park

Beautiful natural arches and uplifts, due to retreating seas, 6 million years ago, leaving a salt layer then covered by years of soil.  Extreme heat then caused these incredible arches & uplifts.

Colorado

We visited my sister and her husband, in their beautiful Macus home, near Durango.  The day we arrived, they had just decided to sell and move to Colorado Springs to be closer to their children and grand children. A very hard decision....

Black-chinned Hummingbirds, and Rufus Hummers fighting over the feeder.

Coyotes laughing and calling during the night, deer in the morning. 

A Turtle?  A Lizard?

Trust Me to Hippie Hut

Cortez, Colorado

Suggested by several bikers, 
we visited one of the most beautiful 
and interesting rides .. Phil's World.
Some slick-rock, but enjoyable:)

   

  On our ride, Jake stopped suddenly. 
 He thought he saw a turtle!  In the desert? 

 Here is a greatly enlarged picture of ...

Birds:  Bluepgray Gnatcatcher, 
Gray Flycather, Mourning Dove, 
Western Kingbirds, American Kestrel.

Mammals:  Chipmok, Squirrel, 
White-tailed rabbit

 

Liliuokalani

Teddy and littler

Lili at 1 day old

Born July 27th, she is named for the last queen of Hawaii.  We will call her Lilli or Lili-oo, joining us around the 24th of September.

Mesa Verde

 Cliff Palace

For thousands of years, beginning around 500 BC, this beautiful mesa was inhabited by native Pueblo tribes.  .  About 1100 BC, many moved into the sandstone walls, carving out homes that were protected by natural caves.   For unknown reasons, these dwellings were abandoned around 1200 BC.  Incredible! 

August 3rd

Jake's 67th Birthday (OMG!)

We had a lovely morning bike to the Absolute Bakery, then a disastrous (well, very difficult) ride at Ned Overend's Bike park, salvaged by a fun evening at Dalton Ranch for dinner.  The chef was an "old" friend of Jake's from Sun Valley, the view was lovely and the dinner fantastic.  Here is Jake with Vince Ferrero ...  All in all, a good day:)

Birds:  Cedar Waxwings, American Kestral, Western Bluebirds, Meadowlark (singing)

Jake and Vince

 Animas River

A beautiful river and a very fun kayak with class 2 & 3 rapids.  We did get drenched, but stayed upright.  Sadly the very next day the EPA accidentally broke into an old mine with a back hoe, and released 6 million gallons of toxic minerals into the Animas.  It was closed for several weeks, but the damage will go on for years:(

Jake, practicing - sigh ....

Still dry ... but not for long!

That night, dinner with friends from my teaching certification program, Jenny and husband Andy.  They built their own home out of real adobe!

 

Taos, New Mexico

Taos Valley RV.  Try El Cuevo for fajitas!

Birds:  Western Bluebirds, Hummers

Took the chair lift to Taos Ski Valley, at 12,000 feet!

Windy and scary, but beautiful forest pines.

Santa Fe: Spent a day there, touring the Georgia O'Keefe Museum.  An artsy town, with a museum or gallery every-other store front.

Town Center

The last day in Taos, we toured the historic Taos Pueblo.  It is aproximately 1100 years old, and is still a working "town" with 12 families living in the pueblo.  No running water or electricity, so most families move just off site.

The main town

This church still holds services for the townspeople.  There is a catholic service, as well as a native service.

A home and a shop for native art, jewelry and clothing.

Colorado Springs

My sister and husband at their "Springs" home.  We visited them

in the big city to get hair cuts & do laundry.  School starts early

in Colorado, so they had baby sitting duties.

Chris and Blue

 Nancy & her "good dog Blue"

The Grand kids

Giles (12)

Annabel (15)

The Daughter

Jessica getting her Elementary Library ready for students.

The Son

Adam and his beautiful bride, Alexis!

 After visiting Adam and Alexis in Boulder, we drove to see our first house.  Jake and I lived here for a year, in 1976/77.  We paid $32,000.00 for this little place - no grass, no trees, but great neighbors. Still friends with those neighbors, 40 years later:)

Back in Colorado Springs, and just up the street from my sister's house is a majestic national monument.

We had a lovey, and hilly ride through the park.

Breckenridge
Visited those good friends, John & Carolyn Bliley at their summer home.  Took a great bike ride one day,  and another we watched the finish of the Aspen to Breckenridge US Pro Stage Race.

Colorado Trail (tooo hard!)

John & Carolyn

Waiting for the Stage Race from Aspen to Breakenridge.  

Here they come!

Bristle Cone Tree

These trees are only found at high altitudes, and can live for 4000 years!

Rocky Mountain Goats on the cliffs above Blue Lake. 

Lunch at the South Park Saloon.  Oddly enough, the fish tacos were terrific!

Birds:  Calliope, Rufus, Turkey Vultures, Green-tailed Towhee, Clark's Nutcracker
Mammals:  Red Fox


Steamboat Springs
Concert at the base of the ski
area, by John Brow's Body.  Great group!  Lots of families and young ski bums waiting for winter snow.        

  


Great bike ride on the South Fork of the Elk River,
  beautiful, isolated and long!

Well, we hit a few obstacles ...











And met a few friends ...

Ended the day at

Strawberry Hot Springs - with a few other folks:)

Birds:  Mountain Chicadee, Juncos & LBB's











 August 23, 2015, Day 60
Jackson Hole, Wyoming
Camping at Hoback Junction, on the Snake River

Well, the typical Jackson Photo ..

Visited the Wort Hotel & Silver Dollar Bar. 

Silver Dollar Bar

Wort Hotel Lobby

 My sister and I spent many of our young days in this place, running around town, at night, like a group of crazies .. and skiing our legs off during the day.  Good times:)                                             

Snow King Ski Hill.  This was pre-Teton Village.

The Grand Tetons viewed over Jenny Lake

The Snake River

A big ol' bull Moose, chomping on the foliage by the side of the road.

Later, an evening fire on the banks of my river ..

Single Track Jack (really, Jake:)

Cache Creek, north of Jackson,
the end of another great ride.

Yellowstone National Park
 Day 65

The Lodge Restaurant & Bar

On our way, we stopped at 
Turpin Meadow Ranch, owned 
by the Nordstrom's and another 
couple. Very remote, lovely dude 
ranch with an excellent chef.  
So, we had lunch:)

 


                                                         Hail Storm that afternoon, at our camp spot.

Fishing Bridge

 Sleeping Giant Ski Area

View from the top zip line

Jake & Jon

Day 66:  We drove out the east entrance toward Wapiti (Elk) to see John Reveal, a friend of Jake's.   
The area is putting in a 5-line zip line - gorgeous views, scary ride!






Day 66:  When we tried to return to Yellowstone Park, the entrance was closed.  A hiker had found an unexploded
shell, used to start snow avalanches during the winter.  Sigh ... so we had to drive around to the northeast entrance.  
We discovered beautiful country that otherwise would have gone undiscovered:)

Chief Joseph Scenic Highway

Bear Tooth Peak

View from the highest bridge in Wyoming
It was scary! 

Elk and Bison, of course.  What you
can't see are the wolves we were lucky
enough to see through a scope.  Running
and playing with the pups.  Sigh ....







Aug. 30: On our way back to Idaho, we stopped at the cabins where I stayed 
during one summer break between my Junior & Senior year.

Then we headed back to Idaho, to visit another 
of my old stomping grounds, Island Park.
We camped just south of Mack's Inn @ Upper 
Coffee Pot Campground - the most beautiful 
camping spot we have ever had!

Right on the beautiful Snake River, again.  Fishing for Jake & birds for me.  See the Osprey high in the branches?  She came every morning and evening to show off & fish.

 
Birds:  Bald Eagles, Osprey, King Fisher, Mountain Chickadees, White Pelicans.

Aug. 31:  We took our bikes to Bills Island, where our family cabin was.  Sadly we sold it in 1975 .. but it was
great fun to see the island again.  Many, many more cabins now ..

The front door, with a new porch roof

From the back and the side .. with some remodeling, but still the basic cabin.  Two bedrooms down & one large room upstairs with four double beds, for the kids.

The island was named after my rather cranky uncle.
 This is still hanging over his cabin door!