Looking out to Sea

Wordless Wednesday - Hosta Leaves

Tri-Lakes, Indiana. July ...Copyright © .. by Rebeckah R. Wiseman.

Badlands :: An Incredible Landscape

Wednesday, August 24th - - Badlands National Park is comprised of the North and South Units consisting of 244,000 acres. The South Unit was added in 1976 and is managed by the Oglala Lakota Nation. It contains many sites sacred to the Oglala Lakota people as well as a great quantity of unexploded ordnance – the area was used as an aerial bombing range during the Second World War. The South Unit is largely undeveloped with few roads or trails; it is primarily a protected natural area.



The North Unit, sandwiched between Highway 44 and Interstate 90, is the one that the vast majority of visitors see, myself included. The main route through this section is the Loop Road.





I entered the Park on the northwest end, from Wall on route 240. After exploring the Sage Creek area (where I was engulfed by a herd of bison) I returned to the Loop Road and continued eastward.





The Pinnacles Overlook area.













The Ancient Hunters Overlook. This is where evidence has been found that the Ancient Ones stampeded herds of bison over the edge of the cliff and butchered the fallen animals.





Yellow Mounds Overlook.

The yellow and red layers in the formations are fossilized soils, called paleosols. Fossil root traces, burrows, and animal bones found within the soils provide scientists with evidence of environmental and climatic changes that occurred in the badlands over time.







Driving through the Conata Basin.



The Conata Basin. See the car on the road in the lower left corner?



Homestead Overlook.

According to a sign posted at the overlook:

Homesteaders poured into the Badlands when the Milwaukee Railroad completed track through the White River Valley in 1907. Most of the homesteads turned out to be “Starvation Claims” and were abandoned or sold. Starved-out homesteaders moved on to build towns and cities, or to seek another homestead in a land less harsh. Today the ranches of this valley are measured in thousands of acres, and heavy equipment does most of the work once done by callused hands. Even so, unpredictable drought and economic crisis test ranchers today as severely as they tested homesteaders yesterday.

Fossil Trail.



Exiting the park through Cedar Pass.

Want a Drink?

Traveler drinking from the water hose while getting his bath. He did a lot better than I expected for his first one. Me, I just look really hot and tired. And I was.

Finally, Maine!

Saturday - September 8th - - It was shortly after noon when I left Lancaster. Today and tomorrow, the Interstates would be my friend. I hoped. In the afternoon and evening I ran into some nasty weather in Pennsylvania and New York with lots of rain and strong winds but it eventually tapered off as I drove into the night.



Sunday - September 9th - - It was a long day of driving starting at 6:30 am and lasting until 4:30 pm when I finally arrived at Camden Hills State Park, about 15 miles south of Belfast, Maine. It was one of those rare state parks that has wifi available and, even rarer, it happened to be very good wifi at that! Van Dora had been making some rather odd sounds after leaving Pennsylvania and the ABS light had come on too, but there was little that could be done since it was Sunday. I just kept on traveling, hoping that it wasn't anything serious. There was a Dodge dealer in Belfast so that would be my first stop Monday morning...



Monday - September 10th - - The day dawned bright and clear. A good omen, perhaps? Before heading into Belfast, I drove to a viewpoint in the park that overlooks the bay.








Penobscot Bay and the town of Camden.








A zoomed-in view of the town of Camden.


Upon arriving at the Dodge dealer in Belfast, I explained what was happening with Van Dora. They said it might be an hour or two before they could look at it, which was to be expected since I arrived unannounced on a Monday morning. They had a nice waiting room with wifi so before handing the keys over to them, I grabbed the laptop to catch up on email and to write a few blog posts (which did not get completed at that time). I also contacted my friend Joann to let her know what was going on.



About 90 minutes later, I had the bad news. Van Dora needed new tie rods and a wheel bearing! Apparently, heat from the bearing had damaged the ABS Sensor, so that had to be replaced too. Some other major repairs had been done before leaving Indiana (shocks, struts, tires, etc.) so I was disappointed that this problem had not been discovered at that time. According to the maintenance manager at the Dodge dealer it was something the other repair shop should have noticed. No point dwelling on that though. The parts wouldn't be in until the next morning and the repairs might not be completed until late the next afternoon.



I called my friend Joann (on the dealer's phone since my cell had no coverage!) and she was about half way to Acadia. She turned around and came back for me. We decided to continue on to Acadia (about 90 minutes away) since fees would have to be paid for the campground reservations there anyway and it sounded like there was a good chance that the van wouldn't be ready until Wednesday anyway.



It was late afternoon when we arrived at Seawall campground in Acadia National Park. We got settled in at our campsite and enjoyed a pleasant evening together. Joann has a little Casita trailer with enough room for two to sleep, more or less comfortably. I'm used to sleeping in a narrow space in the van but my bed that night was several inches narrower and the six foot length was a little tight. However, I was very thankful that I had a place to spend the night - Thank you, Joann!



the url for this post is http://kinexxions.blogspot.com/../09/finally-maine.html

6 Inch Howling Coyotes

Mountain Dandies

A lot of the mountain meadows were covered with dandelion flowers. Carpets of bright yellow. I don't think these dandies are native to the mountain but sure are pretty when blooming. The wild goose berries were blooming, too. Tiny little orange blossoms that will make a berry favored by birds, and other wildlife. We saw a bird nest in one blue spruce near a small creek. The open seed cones of pinon pine trees, New Mexico's pine tree, and aspen trees that had their back rubbed by the deer and elk last fall when they were rubbing the velvet off of their antlers. The deer and elk damage the aspens when they do this leaving unique designs in the white bark that are black. Some people carve on the aspens but shouldn't do it and I hate to see it.

Thoughts on Bar-End Shifters

When I was getting my first new roadbike in spring , I had it built up with bar-end shifters. This decision was arrived at via a process of elimination. I had ridden a couple of vintage roadbikes before with very limited success and found the classic downtube shifters too challenging. I had also tried to test ride some modern roadbikes and found their combination brake/shifter levers ("brifters") to be so uncomfortable that I had trouble using the brakes. Other cyclists I knew recommended bar-ends - an older style that had grown popular again in recent years. Rivendell - the manufacturer of the road frame I was having built up - was also strongly recommending this setup. And so that is what I went with.






A bar-end shifter is exactly what it sounds like: a gear-changing lever installed at the end of the handlebar. There are different styles. Some are longer, others are shorter. Some are friction, others are indexed. I have tried a few now on different bikes, and my favourite remains what I went with originally: Silver friction shifters. The length and shape make them easier for me to operate than other models; I get more leverage. I find the friction mode easy and intuitive to use, and I like the control it gives me. If a gear is imperfectly adjusted, I can simply move it a tiny bit manually. I can also shift multiple gears at a time quite easily.






The shorter, indexable Shimano bar-ends are another popular choice for this style of shifters. The Co-Habitant uses them on his bikes and loves them. But personally I find them more effortful and less comfortable to use that the Silvers.






Over the time I rode with bar-end shifters, I was more or less fine with them. I was able to switch gears and I was able to install the brake levers I liked, since they were independent from the shifters. But I did find two things about the shifters less than ideal. One was that they required me to dramatically change my hand position(s) on the bars in order to switch gears. I got better and quicker at this over time, but nonetheless I was never "in love" with the process. The other issue was that when stopped or off the bike the shifters would often poke me and give me bruises. But both of these points seemed relatively minor at the time, and I was not considering a different lever setup.





My switch to combination levers was a product of accidental discovery. I was discussing test riding a Seven roadbike with the staff of the Ride Studio Cafe, and all their demo models were set up with modern brifter-type levers. I told them about my inability to brake using brifters when I attempted to ride other modern roadbikes. Rob Vandermark asked which specific makes and models I'd tried. It had not occurred to me until then that this could make a real difference. I'd tried quite a few, all of them by Shimano and SRAM. Rob looked at the Tektro short reach brake levers on my own bike, and suggested I try Campagnolo; apparently the shape is very similar. And so it was. I test rode a demo bike with Campagnolo ergo shifters and it was as if my brain became integrated with them immediately. I resisted making a rash decision to make the switch on my own bike, but a couple of months later I finally did switch and have not looked back.






So what do I think of bar-end shifters in retrospect... Pretty much the same thing as before. I have no desire to "bash" them or to proclaim the superiority of brifters; it is really a matter of individual preference. I still like bar-ends and I am fine riding a roadbike set up with them. I especially love the friction mode. If given a choice of models, my favourites are the Silvers; they feel great in my hands. I imagine that bar-ends are well suited for those who prefer their shifters to be separate from their brake levers, who wish to have the option of friction shifting, and who have no problems moving their hands to the edges of the drops swiftly and efficiently when they need to change gears. I am sure there are other contexts in which bar-ends are the preferred choice, and those who have things to add on the subject are welcome to chime in. To me, bar-ends will always be associated with my first road cycling experiences, and I retain a fondness for them despite having switched to another system.

Georgia Sunset :: On The Road Again

Reflection in the side window of Van
Dora. Taken January 31, .. at the Georgia Veteran's Memorial State
Park southeast of Americus, Georgia.





A few minutes later, the colors are more muted.


You may have guessed by now that I am no longer in Indiana! I was ready to leave the cold weather behind in November, but for a variety of reasons was unable to get away until the end of January. After a short stop in Alabama to spend a few days with my friend and distant cousins, Babs, I've been enjoying the much warmer temperatures and very pleasant weather in Florida for the last week (in spite of several rainy days). As an added bonus, I was able to meet-up (separately) with two geneablogger-real-life friends, Charley aka Apple, and Denise Barrett Olson. I thank them both for their hospitality and for the time spent with them.



Even though I am now traveling, work continues on that monster Database Cleanup that was started in December. Once the sun goes down I have several hours before turning in for the night - and those rainy days are put to good use too. It's actually kind of fun - I'm getting "reacquainted" with some of the families that I haven't worked on for a long time and seeing a lot of "data holes" that need to be filled. It is awfully tempting to go searching for the "missing" information but I'm trying really hard to stay on track!



Registration for G.R.I.P. was last week and as much as I really wanted to attend (particularly the new tract with Tom Jones) I decided to forgo that opportunity this year. To be honest, I haven't fully absorbed everything from last year. The syllabus and my notes are traveling with me so when I get tired of working on the database they are available to peruse. I also felt that it was important to get the database straightened up a bit as well as getting all those documents reviewed that I obtained at Salt Lake City in .. and .. - I have barely even scratched the surface with them. Perhaps G.R.I.P. or one of the other institutes will be on the agenda in 2014.



I'm not sure how long I'll be traveling this time around, or even where all I'll be going. There are a few places on the "definite" list, mostly in The West, but this journey will be taken at a much slower pace than was done previously, with more time spent at each stop along the way.




==+==+==

Bradgate Park - Beacon Hill - Ulverscroft Priory - Newtown Linford

Walked on Monday 10 September , with Barry, Gordon and Maureen. Mostly fine.















We parked at the Newtown Linford car park, and took the low level path along the main drive by the river Lin, towards the ruins of Bradgate House, childhood home of Jane Grey, the nine-day queen. The park has been a deer park from way back when, and there are still plenty of deer in this area.







There's a lovely stretch of river.












and some impressive trees.

Remains of Bradgate House and a moody sky

Uphill to the obelisk

Just before reaching the ruins of the house, we took the path uphill to the left to reach the War Memorial, where there was a keen cold wind. We didn't hang around, but followed the path through the spinney to Old John.

18th century folly and great viewpoint

Who said down hill was easier?

We headed to the Hunts Hill car park on the north west side of the park. The way ahead was over the crossroads to Benscliffe Road, and after a couple of hundred yards we turned right into Rough Hill Wood - the path went up slightly then downhill to a golf course. Part way through the golf course we crossed Joe Moore's Lane. The golf course was busier on a Monday than it had been on a Sunday, but no problems and the way is easy to follow.

After leaving the golf course the path crosses a couple of fields to emerge on a track, then goes past some stables and a large garage, then swings left and comes out on Maplewell Road. Here we turned right and followed the road towards Woodhouse Eaves. We didn't take the first footpath signed to the left, but turned left at Mill Road. This turns into a track and climbs fairly steeply towards Windmill Hill.

Up towards Windmill Hill

Looking over to Broombriggs

The windmill with viewing platform - the stairs are under repair at present

We chose not to go up to the windmill on this occasion - I'll put it in the good intentions file. When the mill was operational there were no trees surrounding it.



We came out at the car park for Broombriggs Country Park, cheaper but more remote than Bradgate. We crossed Beacon Road, turned left along the cycle track, then right on to a path for walkers. After about 100 yards we turned left again on the main path. Dappled shade makes this a lovely walk, in spite of some traffic noise from the road.

A great opportunity for posers?

We turned off the main path along the grassy track which leads to the summit, via the toposcope, which claims views as far as Boston Stump over 50 miles away. Not today - though there was a group of trees in the way.









Great views all round, even so.

Like the earrings

The obelisk and Old John from Beacon Hill.

From here we followed the route down past the car park, turning right past the toilet block and down the path parallel to the road.





At the charcoal burner we took the small path to the left which came out at the crossroads. We crossed over to the Copt Oak road - there is a verge, but not quite wide enough for comfortable walking. Luckily this is a short section and we turned left along a footpath on the drive to Black Hill Farm. After the trees stop the footpath heads off to the right along a hedge. You're not likely to make a mistake here, as there is a warning notice on the drive.



The path is clearly marked, and takes you along field edges to Ulverscroft Lodge Farm. Here we turned left to go round the house and meet the drive which took us to the ruined 11th century Ulverscroft Priory. The cottage nearby is inhabited, and there has been scaffolding up on some of the ruins for years.

Pond near the priory

Ruins of Ulverscroft Priory

The drive comes out on Priory Lane, and we crossed over to Ulverscroft Lane. I'm hoping the resurfacing they've just done doesn't encourage a lot of traffic - it's pleasant and quiet at the moment.



Just under a mile along the lane we turned right to take a footpath which leads through fields. When the path opens out in a field you fork left after crossing a stile. After this the path is clear and goes through woodland. This was a bit muddy. There is no problem until you pass a ruined building on the left (Ulverscroft Mill). Here you meet another path, and turn left and shortly afterwards right to cross a footbridge. The path leads into Newtown Linford coming out near some thatched cottages.









We turned right along the main street, full of interesting very well-kept houses. It's probably just over half a mile back to Bradgate Park, and nearby there's a selection of tea-shops.