OST and Luckenbach.

I had a new part I had to put on the bike, and needed a ride to break it in. It took almost two years to get the paperwork processed, and was darn sure not going to delay as long in mounting it.



I met Tom, Carol, and her father at the OST.



After french toast, I planned a route to Luckenbach, tacking advantage of back and dirt roads whenever possible.



It soon began to cloud up, soon leaving only a small patch of blue sky.









I think someone hit a Chupacabra in the road.






Nice rock work:





This place had the most interesting guest houses:






Luckenbach had some great eye-candy.











And some car-candy too:



Home, sweet home:

Blast from the Past: Mt. Hood 2000

Back in 2000, my cousin and her then-boyfriend asked Amy and me if we wanted to climb Mt. Hood with them and a group of their friends.

We were non-committal, until she said, "It's the second most-climbed peak in the world, after Mt. Fuji. About 90% of the people who attempt it succeed. It doesn't require great fitness, or tricky mountaineering skills."

We decided to go.

Here's the group in front of the Hood.


The equipment list for the climb was pretty extensive, specific clothes, sleeping bag, lights, etc. Then they fitted us with these extremely uncomfortable plastic climbing boots, as we would be using crampons for the final ascent to the peak. Helmet and ice-axe completed the load. All told, we were toting about 40-50 pounds on our backs.

We set off from the Timberline Lodge (scene of the exterior shots from "The Shining") around 9 a.m. The first part of the climb is over loose volcanic scree. On the steep parts, I would take a normal length step, and my upper foot would slide back until it was just a couple of inches above the lower one. I felt like Sisyphus. It took us hours to get from 6,000 feet to 7,000 feet.





After about six hours of climbing, we finally reached base camp at 9,000 feet. This is my favorite photo from the trip.




We practiced walking on while roped together, and also self-arrest using an ice-axe. Loads of fun. Then we settled in for the night. Amy was snug in her Swedish-army sleeping bag loaned to her by Tom G.


That night it sounded like sand blowing against the tent all night. Around 3am the guides poked their heads in and said the summit attempt was off, due to weather. We had a good night's rest, and awoke feeling fine.


This is what awaited us outside.


A blizzard had blown in, and we were in near white-out conditions.


The women's bathroom was a little too exposed to the elements, so the girls decided to tough it out and wait 'til we got back down. Amy was not a happy camper.


We survived the trek, bud did not fully recover until the excellent dinner, drinks, and dessert at the Timberline that night.











Allison and Shane: Thanks for the adventure and stories!

A crisp March sunset.

Dayum

Xavier is another blogger I read frequently. This post (link) makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up.


Excerpt:

" ...handed Little Darling her bag and took her hand as we began to negotiate the maze of parked automobiles. I glanced back and saw that the two young men had spread apart, one on either side of us and to the rear. That is when I felt it. They had matched my stride and were circling me. Like an antelope, I knew I was being stalked by jackals, only I did not know why. Time was accelerating at head pounding speed, and Little Darling, blissfully unaware, was along for the ride..."

The Breda Fallacy

I've been reading Breda for many months now, and with this post (link), she has confirmed that she is the bee's knees.

excerpt:

"...the mouse growled at me.

It was a small sound, barely audible, and if the world hadn't been so hushed and muffled under its thick blanket of snow, I might not have heard it. I went very still, holding my breath - I heard it again.

Trapped in the bucket and cornered by a large seemingly menacing creature, the tiny mouse, somehow realizing that flight was impossible, decided to fight for its life..."

Travel plans

Amy and I have a tentative travel plan coming up, so we better get back into the "packing light" mode....

This is all the two of us took for four weeks Down Under.

Faschnacht

Amy and Niko and I recently went to the San Antonio Leiderkranz's German Mardi Gras, also known as Faschnacht.

In the parking lot, Amy was accosted by a wolf.


He turned out to be a friendly wolf.


Amy also got a photo with the Queen and Prince Phillip.


A Highlander joined the clan.


And we all had a drink with Elvis!

Video of the day

Weird animals

Our llamas are not what you would call normal, even for llamas.

Case in point: We feed them pellets and alfalfa hay. The other day, Angela somehow got alfalfa on her back. Was she laying down and rolling in her food? I wouldn't be surprised.



Anyway, she and Pepper came up to the house later, and Pepper thought he needed a little snack, and the hay on Angela's back looked just like the ticket.

It was some kind of weird llama body sushi scene.



As you can see in this video (link), he was not too careful about getting only the hay, and kept biting and pulling her wool, which nearly got him spat upon. Llamas bite the plants/grass they are eating, then yank it to tear off a piece. Angela was not amused.

Groundhog Day Ride to Vanderpool via the OST

The weather here in Central Texas has been pretty darn nice lately, especially right about midday.

Joe, Lee, Tom, and I planned a breakfast run to the Old Spanish Trail to take advantage of Saturday's weather.

Lee showed off his new look, "goateed intellectual." The Duke, looking over his shoulder, appears skeptical.



Is Lee giving me the stink-eye?

You can't tell from this picture, but there about a dozen sweetener packets in that stack, seeing as Crystal had kept us well coffee'd up.



We stopped at the Shell station on the way out of Bandera so Joe could gas up. He finished filling the bike, got on the bike, then back off, then back on. Lee and Tom and I wondered what the hell he was doing.

He finally pushed the bike from the gas pump over to the side where we were waiting, "It won't start," he lamented.

We all unhooked our heated vests and mp3 players so we could gather 'round his bike and troubleshoot.

Headlights and turn signals worked fine, so it had battery. However, the headlight didn't dim when he pressed the starter button. In fact, nothing happened when he pressed the starter button.

Hmmm, sidestand or clutch safety interlock failure? (keeps the starter from engaging if the sidestand is down or the clutch is not pulled in.)

We fiddled with all the wiring on those two parts--no joy.

Next, Joe pulled off the seat so we could check the fuses. Damn, can't find the fuse box.

Just for grins, I held the starter button, and Joe held in the clutch while Tom poked his finger in random places in the wiring. Voila! She fired right up when Tom poked the positive battery terminal connection.

Looks like it was a loose connection.

Joe, Tom, and Tom's "magic finger."



We rode on to the picnic table overlook near Lost Maples. Damn, it's a pretty view:



There was a couple there on their Kawasaki Concours, so we struck up a conversation.

Turns out they were all the way from Illinois, down enjoying our "winter" weather. We asked where they'd ridden, and where they were planning to ride. Joe recommended some good roads, as well as lunch at the OST. (I saw them there on my way home.)

Here they are, Wayne and Ginny Sweet.



Departing the picnic table.



On my way home, via Utopia.



You know, I have no business complaining about how cluttered our 1800 square foot house is.



Hey! There's something by the road. Is it a groundhog?



Nope, unless they've taken to wearing armor.



The animals were glad to have me back.