Road trip, and other “fun” stuff...

I say other “fun” stuff because some, many, okay, most people think I’m crazy. Today I rod 100km on my bike. 3 hours, 20 minutes, 30kmph average. You be the judge. However, let me back up a couple of days and tell you about our road trip to Roosevelt dam.

Friday morning we headed out the door around 8:30. Destination: Roosevelt Lake, and Dam. From Mesa we headed out Main Street, which turns into Apache Trail then Hwy 88. The first point of interest is Tortilla Flats. This is nothing more than a wide spot on the road. Western style facade on the row of buildings beckons tourists to stop, eat, shop, leave. We didn’t stop and continued beyond Tortilla Flats to what is commonly called “end of pavement”. This is of course where the pavement ends. Duh!

26 miles of gravel road lay between us and Roosevelt Lake. We took a few photos of the road and scenery. Frankly, this area is stunning and well worth the pounding your vehicle and kidneys take to travel the road, beyond “end of pavement”. In places the road is barely 2 lanes wide. Hairpin corners, steep drop-offs, wash-board gravel, dust, dust and more dust.

Roosevelt dam is quite the sight. The dam was originally the tallest “masonry” dam in the world. The road to the dam site was build using Apache Indians, hence the name of the road, Apache Trail. Finished in 1909, the dam provided power to the Valley of Sun. Recently the dam was raised 77 feet and encased in concrete.

Did I mention cycling? Barry is well into training for the Giro in Sardinia. Dana is back on her bike. Thursday we rode in the morning. Interval training for Barry. Saturday was more of the same. Then today, well the 100k thing.... Dana went to church, I think to pray that Barry comes back safe.

Looking ahead to the week the weather continues to be fantastic. I see Victoria had “some” sun this weekend. This pleases us as we get no end of grief about our sunshine. Speaking of sunshine, yes, this week looks to be another stunner. 82F by Thursday. Enough said about that. On Tuesday Barry gets to see 2 of the Pacific Northwest’s best professional sports offerings. Seattle Mariners and Vancouver Canucks, on the same day. No they are not playing each other.....

Oh, we are staying connected with our Canadian roots. We are watching the Brier, curling for those who are not in the know. Oh Canada! What fun.

Dana and Barry cycling on the Bush Hwy Thursday morning, in the warm sun!