Even though I'm super tired tonight due to a late board meeting at work, I wanted to post this photo. I had to hold a secret in for almost ten days....couldn't say a word. But now that our daughter is back, here's a picture of Becca and her friend Whitney. Becca and her housemate Artena flew to Anchorage to visit their friend Whitney. I'm so envious of our daughter. I hope to visit Alaska someday as well. 
On Saturday October 16th, Bike man and I took off from Eau Claire and headed southwest towards the Mississippi River. The beginning of this trip was a little different for us since we had to drop off BM's car at Anna's house in Eau Claire. From her house we navigated towards Phoenix park, where we picked up the bike trail through the city and then connected with the Chippewa River trail, which took us southwest to Durand.
We finally arrived at Rieck's Lake park near Alma and camped for the night. The weather was beautiful, around 65 degrees, sunny but very windy, which made for a tiring ride that day. Rode about 60 miles the first day.
Dinner plans consisted of freeze-dried camp food and cold Foster's.....well, maybe two! Crawled into our tent by 7 pm. and feel asleep immediately. Woke up a few times but slept until 7 am. Wanna know my trick for sleep 12 hours? Ear plugs! They work like a charm and drown out someone snoring, trains passing by every 30 minutes and car noise. It took me three years to learn this handy trick on bike trips.
This is what I saw went I crawled out of our tent. Simply gorgeous. The ducks & geese were all awake and squawking madly. I'm guessing the morning temp at this point was about 35-38 degrees. Brrrrrr!
Now how did we mange to find this in Alma? Must have been the balloons that caught our eyes while biking through town. This is an awesome bakery with a history dating back to 1922. Of course it's changed owners, but the new owners/bakers, Chris & Stephanie know how to make delicious scones and cinnamon pull-aparts. Chris was really pumped up with much enthusiasm, since beginning today, he and Stephanie will begin making homemade pizzas. Dang, I wish we lived closer to Alma. Sounds like a road trip for pizza, hey Krissy? Check out the Vintage Oven Bakery in Alma. Their webpage is working right now, but look for them on Facebook.
It was great talking with Chris, and his coffee was excellent! Chris just happens to be a bike enthusiast himself.
We continued on our way. The weather started to warm up, but Bike man and I continued to wear our warm gear until 2 pm. By then we changed to lighter cycling jackets and mid-tights. I don't know, something happened when we reached Onalaska near La Crosse. I think a cool front moved in because by 4 pm the temperature dropped and lots of clouds started to move in. Kinda looked like rain.
We finally reached West Salem for the next camping night. Rode another 60 miles. This was actually my final stop since I needed to go back home for work. The Son came down and picked me up. After getting some food for Bike man, we headed home. 
Does this look like a mess? Your right, it does, but don't worry because we are slowly getting all our bike stuff together and packed into the BOB. We are running behind tonight....way behind. Guess it was a busy week with work and other activities.
Sometimes I just feel tired, like no extra energy or zip in my step. Today was one of those days. I put my day in at work, and just came home. No bicycle ride, no walk, no exercise of any sort. But hey, I washed both our vehicles tonight until they were clean and shiny. Been meaning to do that since mid August. Gosh how time flies. 
After getting home later tonight, Bike man had something to show me. I was shocked......to see this little Clematis flower way high up in this tree. I think the flower must have climbed like 15 feet or more. How did this flower climb so high? It climbed via a wild grapevine. Isn't nature amazing?
It was a very long day today. Actually, a ten-hour day at work. I ordered a couple new computers for work, so everything had to be set up and files needed to be transferred. Thank heavens I have a personal tech guy that helps me in situations like this. Bike man spent about nine hours with me today getting the new computers up and running. We still have a few more computer glitches to work out, but all in all things are good in the technology area. 
Another great day of warm temperatures and filtered sunshine. After church, I met Bike man at the Red Cedar River trailhead. Lots of activity on the trail today. Kinda of weird since there is no one riding the trails during the week when I'm out there, but lots of people show up on the weekends.
We stopped by my favorite waterfall since the angle of the sun is just perfect now. During the summer months, the waterfall stays shaded.
We just happened to stop at a trail junction since nature was calling! I spotted this pretty little garden snake on a wooden bench along the trail. I took lots of pictures and was so careful not to scare this snake. After about five minutes, the snake never moved.....very weird. Bike man finally took his hand and tried to touch the snake. Yup, it was dead! The joke was on me. Not sure what would cause this little snake to die, but it sure fooled me.