Interesting Camper Life

Day 159 & 160, September 7 & 8, Interesting Camper Life

Route – Around Guerneville & Armstrong Woods

17.7 miles, averaging 13.5 mph

Worst Moment – On Wednesday, Neita and I were going to cycle into Gureneville, when about 50 feet from the campground, Neita had a flat tire.  There was quite a lot of traffic in the area, so she decided to walk back to the campground and let me change her tire later when I got back.

Best Moment – I had been somewhat worried that with the broken hand, fixing flat tires would be difficult.  While never fun, I was able to fix Neita’s without too much difficulty.  Her tires are probably original to her bike and several years old.  Some road debris cut both tube and tire.  I patched her tube and put on a new tire.  Now she is ready to ride. 

Yesterday, I had a really great, albeit short ride into Guerneville.  It looks like there are a few new shops since we were here in March.  There is a new wine bar and other wine market.  Hopefully, the merchants in town had a good summer season.  I can only imagine what a struggle it must be for them the rest of the year.  There are tourists here much of the year, but in the winters, the focus is on the weekends at the wineries and the weather isn’t as wonderful as it is in summer.  The Russian River is a great place to kayak and canoe in summer, but not so wonderful after October or before June.

Today, was a really quiet day.  No bike ride.  I guess the biggest accomplishment of the day is that I fixed Ruby’s front door window.  With all of the bumps in the road, the caulking that kept the glass in place failed.  While the window didn’t fall out, it did slip and was always open about an inch.  After a trip to our local True Value Hardware Store in Guerneville on Rocket, I re-caulked the window and it looks like the seal is a good one.

We did take Rocket into town for dinner at our favorite in town place - Boon.  Now I understand why those motorcyclists I’ve seen are so bundled up with all of the clothing they wear.  Even though the temperatures were pleasant, the air was really chilly coming home in the early evening. 

We have seen some very interesting campers in our travels around the country, but there is one here, that wins for most unusual.  A couple arrived here in a big Mercedes and parked in one of the less shaded “tent sites.”   The woman got out of the car, opened two umbrellas and then positioned the open umbrellas in the tree near the site.  Later, they set up a tent and spent the night, though when I took Duncan for his evening walk, both people were sitting in the Mercedes with the headlights on.  The couple stayed two days in the site leaving during the day, taking the umbrellas with them, but repositioning them upon their return in the afternoon.   

If you would like to donate to my ride, my link for the Lance Armstrong Foundation is http://grassroots2011.livestrong.org/billsbigride197.  I really appreciate your support.