Off the Grid

I apologize for being behind in my blog reading, but we have been off the grid and plugged into nature.

Troubadour and I left Friday morning and headed to Kalaloch Campground on the west-side of the Olympic Peninsula in Washington State.  No cell phone serve, no wi-fi, just the sound of the Pacific Ocean.  We stayed for three nights and arrived home on Monday about 6 pm.  Brad's brother, sister-in-law, and their two kids met us there on Saturday.  It was a nice visit with family we hadn't seen in over 2 years.

While I don't have time for a full report I will tease you with a few photos. I'll do a full post in a few days.

(View from our campsite A-18, Kalaloch Campground)

(We went for a nature walk in the rainforest)

(We walked south on the beach towards the Lodge)

(We drove north to Ruby Beach to check out tide pools)

(And did a little beach walking)

(Kite flying was also on the agenda for Sunday)

More to come......

- Au Revoir

" I would rather be amongst forest animals and the sounds of nature, than amongst city traffic and the noise of man." - A.D. Williams

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Little of This, Little of That

MOUNTAIN BIKE RIDE - MAY 1, 2015

Last Friday I was off work at noon so Troubadour and I decided to go for a mountain bike ride in the afternoon.  How could we resist when temperatures were in the mid 70's.  We are lucky that minutes from our house are some great riding/hiking trails in Fitton Green and Bald Hill.

While I didn't get any pictures of the bikes, or us, I did manage a panoramic of the valley as well as a shot of the wild irises that are blooming.

(View of the Willamette Valley from the Fitton Green trail)

(Wild Irises were blooming along the trail)

(Troubadour calls this War and Peace - Irises among the Poison Oak)

(A beautiful butterfly on a trail yield sign)

THIS 'N' THAT

I still have a few shots from our Seattle trip that I wanted to share so I figured to just add them to this post.

(1973 Triumph X-75, for sale at the Euro Moto Show $12,500)

(Vespa poster seen at the Euro Moto Show)

(Troubadour on a Moto Guzzi)

(Seattle Space Needle)

One of the displays at the Seattle Center were the "Sonic Blooms" by Dan Corson. To quote the display placard: " 5 flowers - 20 feet in diameter and up to 40 feet tall.   In the playful context of the Seattle Center's festival grounds, 5 giant solar-energy generating flowers absorb the sun's energy and express it at night with dynamic LED lighting and in the daytime with a chorus of interactive harmonic tones triggered by by people's movement around each flower.  The striped stalks are also massive barcodes that allow inquisitive types to decode the supersized puzzle."

We thought they were very cool.  For more info visit this LINK.

(Sonic Blooms)

(Sonic Blooms)

........and a few extra pictures from the LeMay visit to round out the 'this and that' theme of this post.

(1932 Packard 902 Super Eight Roadster Coupe)

(1939 Packard Super Eight)

(1930 Chrysler, 77 Series Roadster)

(1912 International Model A Farm truck, 2 cyl, 2 speed, 14 hp)

(1960 Rambler Station wagon with a Ferrari 360 Modena drive train)

(1960 Rambler with Ferrari drive train)

(1912 Standard Electric Open Tourer manufactured 1911 to 1915)

(Complete with charging station)

We were hoping to get out for a motorcycle ride this last weekend. The weather was beautiful and we couldn't imagine putting on all that gear when we really wanted to be in shorts and t-shirts.  The shorts and t-shirts won; we did yard work instead.

This coming weekend we'll be out on two wheels.  Troubadour is teaching range only so he'll be done at noon and I am planning on riding out to meet him.  I'll bring him lunch and we can head off for parts unknown from there.  Well, that is the plan anyway.

- Au Revoir

" If you cannot be a poem, be the poet." - David Carradine
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Vintage Scooters at the LeMay

Time for the next installment from our trip to the LeMay Museum. We caught word of their vintage scooter display and were intrigued.

We found the display on either the second or third level down and split into two sections, one on each side of the main walking aisle.

(Looking to the left)

(And looking to the right)

Lets look a little closer shall we.....well as close as we could with them roped off. I do wish they would have provided a little history on the particular scoots on display.

I found the most interesting scooter to be the 1960 Lambretta L1-150 I hinted at in my previous post.  Not only did it have a sidecar, but came complete with sparkly gold vinyl seats.

(1960 Lambretta L1-150 on loan from a private collection)

(1960 Lambretta L1-150)

(complete with checkerboard mirrors)

(And sparkly gold vinyl seats)

(1960 Lambretta L1-150)

(1962 Lambretta L1-150 Series III)

(1958 Lambretta L1-150 Series I)

(I forgot to snap a pic of the display placard to identity the white one)

Over to the other side of the aisle.....

(1963 Vespa VBB 150)

(1958 Sears Allstate Cruisaire)

(1980 Vespa 100 Sport)

(Vespa and Sears scooters)

(1961 Vespa GS with trailer)

(and a view from the front)

That was all for the scooter display.  They did have one other really cool mode of transportation - the Penny-Farthing. The bicycle itself said 1863, but the informational display had been changed to 1883.

(1883 Columbia Expert Ordinary High Wheel Bicycle)

To quote the placard:  This bicycle was also known as the penny-farthing because of the comparison between an old British penny and a farthing (quarter penny). It was later called an "ordinary bicycle" to distinguish from a "safety (modern) bicycle."  This one was manufactured in 1883 by Pope Manufacturing, the parent company of Columbia Bicycles.  They were expensive (about $95 in 1870 currency) and mostly urban upper-class men rode them.  "Taking a header" was very common, which meant the rider was thrown off the bicycle head-first upon quick braking.

- Au Revoir

"I drive around in Milan on my scooter alone - we don't have bodyguards or anything like that.  I am a fashion designer, not a celebrity, and although I get stopped for autographs and the like, I don't think I am famous." - Stephano Gabbana

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Motorcycles at the LeMay

As mentioned in my previous post, the lure for us to return to the LeMay museum was a reference to a vintage scooter display.

Not only did they have a scooter display, but also over a dozen more vintage motorcycle scattered through the four floors of the museum.  First up the motorcycles.  I realized I had enough pictures to split this into two posts, one with motorcycles and the other with the scooters.

As we walked in the front doors we were greeted by a grouping of vintage motorcycles.

(1915 Excelsior Autocycle)

(1910 Sears model)

(1915 Harley Davidson)

(1940 Indian 440B with original sidecar)

(1924 BSA, single cyl, 175 cc, 3.5 hp)

(1959 Ducati 125 cc Formula 3)

(1965 Ducati 250 cc Mach 1)

(1951 Moto Guzzi Falcone 500 cc)

(Derby Express 50cc - no year listed)

(1938 Triumph Speed Twin)

(1970 Yamaha and 1971 Yamaha)

(1956 BSA - single cyl, 499 cc, 42 hp)

(1962 Norton Atlas Cafe Racer - 745 cc twin, 55 hp)

While not technically a motorcycle I had to include this little rig that was at the front of a row of electric vehicles.

(1958 Nelco Solocar Electric Tricycle)

Since I am saving the scooters for the next post here is a little teaser to tide you over.  Any idea what it is exactly?

(What am I?)

- Au Revoir

" In every man's heart there is a secret nerve that answers to the vibrations of beauty." - Christopher Morley

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