Flashfloods

As soon as we left the Valles Caldera it started raining. It poured for a while so we pulled over and had some snacks of canned beans, chips, and cookies. When we got back down to Jemez Springs we could tell it hadn't rained as hard there but there are several low places on the road through town where the water pours across it when it rains in the higher elevations causing some smaller flashfloods. Flashfloods can be deadly if you get caught in a big one. We had seen were the road crews had be doing some work in these same areas when we had come through in the morning. Now they were going to have to work them again. In fact we had to wait about 15 minutes at one place to let the grader make it safe enough to cross. Here are some cars that were in front of us as we went across the bad places and some of the water running on into some natural ditches beside the road.



In this wash out the pavement had let go and there was a drop off of about 5 or 6 inches and then you had to go back up on the other side.



















Much worse than these and the road would have been closed.

Thanksgiving Snow

Minnesota Northwoods on Thanksgiving Day, - Grand Portage, MN. A different world from the shoreline of Lake Superior where only an inch or two of snow had fallen, a few miles inland was a different story. Here nearly a foot of freshly fallen snow blanketed the landscape on Thanksgiving Day!

Abandoned Gear

In the 05/06 winter, three separate climbing teams reported being caught in significant storms. Two were below Camp Muir, and one was higher on the Ingraham Glacier.

While getting lost or pinned down in a storm on Mount Rainier isn't that unusual given the time of year, it was interesting to note that all three teams retreated to snowcaves. Pure and simple, shovels are mandatory. And that means one for each person. One team said that they broke three of their shovels while digging. Thankfully, there were four of them!

These teams were helped by their size; two were 4-person, one was 5. It’s a lot easier to pull through a storm with extra people around. And as the storms relented, each team made their way back to Paradise without assistance, but not without some cost.

Two of the teams abandoned a significant amount of equipment; gear such as tents, bags, stoves and pads. Each stated that they could not retrieve all of the equipment because of the intensity of the storm and snow accumulation. Tents, for example, were nearly impossible to dig out. To them, it seemed safer to retreat; this is a tough decision to make.

It can’t be overstated, winter AND spring storms can be particularly fierce on Mount Rainier. If you’re pinned down and must abandon camp (high winds, snowfall, avalanche/icefall exposure), do all you can to retrieve at least your stove, pad, clothing and bag. One tip is to pack your pack before exiting the tent.

Though a rapid exodus to Paradise or Camp Muir may seem appealing given the current circumstances, it has also led to many notable accidents and fatalities. Caught on the mountain with only a shovel and few odds and ends is a downright brutal experience to live through.

Photo by Mike Gauthier

So Random Things We Found Today

While we were out looking at covered bridges, we came across a few things that make you go hmmmmm.



The first was not that unusual of a thing, except for where it was located. We saw a pair of abandoned shoes on one of the bridges. I wondered as a mom, what happened here? Did they get home and wonder where they left their shoes long after they forgot where they left them? Did they hate the shoes and want them to be lost? Or did they want to leave them there as a symbol of something?

This wasn't a random thing, but we also saw this beautiful creature here:

After we left this bridge, we saw something else that caught our eye. This was the funniest thing we've seen in quite awhile. We had some interesting conversations about who could own this fine piece of machinery. Someone full of life I bet.

Yes, that is Super Scott's car. Isn't that the coolest car? I can see Austin wanting something like this for his first car!



You just never know what you'll see when you drive around looking for local sights.



Living the life in Ohio!

Tall Boots, Zippers, and Mixte Stays

If you ride a mixte with twin lateral stays and wear tall boots with zippers along the inseams, you may notice that the zippers can rub against the stays as you pedal, which, over time, can damage the paint. This was a big problem on my vintage mixte - whenever I would wear boots like these, the entire length of the zippers would rub. On theRoyal H. this is less of a problem -either the stays must be closer together, or my feet further apart on the pedals. The zippers themselves clear the stays and only thepull tabs hit them occasionally. Still, it won't do to have metal tabs repeatedly hit parts of the frame.



I am going to try covering the pull tabs with black electrical tape or something similar. If that doesn't work, then I guess I just can't wear these boots on the mixte. Unfortunate, because I don't own that many pairs of footwear. My previous pair of tall boots had zippers along the back, but after wearing them out I was not able to find a replacement with the same design. Just a little glitch to be aware of when it comes to mixtes and tall boots!

Douro River Valley Tour 5: A visit to a Port wine estate — Quinta do Tedo

This is the last stop of the Douro River Valley Tour, a visit to a Port vineyard located in Armamar (Viseu district) along the Douro River and Tedo River just before reaching Pinhao. Maria told us that this estate is a very small, single Quinta A classification. Quinta in Portuguese is equivalent to an estate, hacienda or domaine.



Wine estate classifications runs from A to F with A being the highest. You can find more information here: Portuguese Quinta Classification







Quinta do Tedo on a much better weather (blue skies!) day. Picture from wiemax.com



Quinta do Tedo



From my seat in the mini bus (I was sitting in front), I could see Quinta do Tedo coming into view, the estate is perched on top of a hill and is waiting for us. Maria said the views up there are beautiful. I am sure I will not disagree. This part of the Douro River Valley is very peaceful, raw and pure. It was raining when we drove up the private road leading to the estate but when we jumped out of the mini bus, the rain drizzled down a little bit providing us the opportunity to enjoy the breath taking views while we took the obligatory pictures.



The place is soooo lovely, even on a bit gloomy and rainy day!







There are 3 dogs in the estate but this one is the sweetest. He came to greet us.









Breath taking views are they not? Even for a bit gloomy day...









The man from the winery welcomed us as we stood there in awe of our surroundings. He told us that the valley we are looking at—35 acres of vineyards including the body of water, all belong to Quinta do Tedo. There are another 22 acres of land planted with olives and fruits that belongs to the estate as well.



Then he urged us to follow him to the cave where they store and age the wines in oak barrels. The cave is located at the other side of the estate and as we rounded the corner, we were again confronted by the beautiful scenery, he had to patiently wait for everyone until we were done snapping pictures. I can probably hear him mutter under his breath, ‘Ah, tourists…’ Haha, he must be used to this.













Port Wine Cave



Mr. wine man explained to us the aging process of Port wine and all that stuff, yadda, yadda, etcetera. Anyway, there’s a ton of information about Port wine available online for those who are interested. There is google for that so I will not be posting that here. But in this winery, I learned that for Port wine to be called vintage, it must be at least 10 years old. Naturally, the value of a bottle of vintage Port follows its age.



The wine estate is actually now owned by a Frenchman coming from the Bouchard wine growing family in Burgundy, France.







Isn't she just too cute? This is the little girl of the Japanese couple living in Frankfurt, Germany.

















Here I am smiling reluctantly (disapprovingly!) at the camera because of the bad weather. Unfortunately, after our short Port cave session, it rained again. Here I am walking back to the main part of the building for the next part of the agenda which is the Port tasting.



Port Tasting – Vintage is my favourite



I really would have wanted to buy a vintage bottle of Port from this winery but I came by plane with a carry-on luggage. It is also too much of a hassle to have to ship a bottle of wine to the Netherlands but I really enjoyed their vintage here very much. So smooth and elegant.



Read here my entry about the types of Port wine and my visit to the Calem Caves in Vila Nova de Gaia: Port cave tour and tasting at Calem: You drink Port at the end of the meal!







We had a tasting of Port wines, from left to right: 10-year old Tawny, a Ruby 2007 and a Vintage .











The estate also offers Bed & Breakfast accommodation. In fact, many quintas offer this in the Douro River Valley. My wish would be that during the warmer months, I’d be able to come back here and stay in the valley for a few days.



So we have come to the end of the tour and as we drove back to Porto, my last memory of the drive and everything else were these pictures below before I dozed off.







I woked up just in time when we entered Porto. The streets seem to be dry, so I am grinning and hearing hallelujah ringing in my ears. The evening is going to be promising!



Previous entries:



Douro River Valley Tour 4b: Lunch in Peso da Regua at Restaurante Douro In

Douro River Valley Tour 4a: The flood in Peso da Regua

Douro River Valley Tour 3: Wine, Cheese and Presunto tasting in Lamego

Douro River Valley Tour 2: A rainy and misty 'Douro viewing point' stop

Douro River Valley Tour 1: Amarante village, Vinho Verde (green wine) and some Travel Agency rant

Bull Riding

I got some of my best photos of the bull riding. Most of the bulls were gray/white and it kind of looks like the same bull in a lot of photos but there were different ones as can be seen in the last photo of the pen of bulls. Last photo is of the area after the event.

Tail Lights and Auto Settings

What do you think of using bicycle lighting with automatic sensory settings? Several of our bikes are equipped with lighting systems that allow for this, but I have mixed feelings about the auto-mode.



Last week the Co-Habitant installed the Spanniga Pixeo tail light on his bike (very thorough review of this lighthere) and set it on auto. Cycling together later that evening, I switched my own lights on when dusk fell. As I rode behind him, his Pixeo tail light would switch on and off in response to slight changes in lighting conditions. For example, as we entered a stretch of road with fewer trees, it would switch off; then on again when the trees became more dense. Not only did I find this annoying while cycling behind someone, but I was also surprised that the light did not "think" it was dark enough to just stay on the entire time. It wasn't quite pitch black, but getting there. I wonder how the settings are configured, and whether they can be adjusted.



I have an auto ("senso") feature on my Busch & Muellerdynamo lighting as well, that I sometimes use and sometimes do not. Because this system includes a headlight, I can tell whether the auto mode is performing the way I want it to. If it gets dark but my headlight does not automatically turn on (which means the tail light is not on either), I will just switch it to the permanent "on" position. With a battery-operated tail light like the Pixeo and others, there is no way to get this feedback. Since you can't see you own tail light while cycling, you have to be confident that its "idea" of when's dark enough is the same as yours. For me that is not always the case with the lighting I've tried, which is why I am not that crazy about auto settings. What has been your experience?