We are back home from our vacation, less than 2 weeks until PALM 30, the 6 day, 283 mile, bike tour across the state of MI.
June 18 will arrive, regardless of how prepared we feel, so figured we better get out and ride. We were just to tired to ride on Sunday, after such a long drive home.
The weather on our trip wasn't cooperative, so we only got out to ride once. Today we did a mix of hills and the trail again. We are ready for some new scenery, but didn't feel up to, or have time, to tackle the big hills between here and Sunrise Lake. We hope to do that ride later, not sure if it will be before the Palm ride or not. It takes us much longer to ride a course with hills that size, and right now we are trying to get as much riding in as we can.
Button seems to be slowly adjusting to his condo, but still whines for the first half of the ride. We came across a carrier, kind of like those they put babies in. It straps to the front of a person. We think he whines because he wants to be by us, so decided to buy the carrier and give it a try. We were hoping it would come before we left for vacation, but it arrived the day after we left and our held mail wasn't delivered until after we got back from our ride today. Opened it up and laid it on the floor so he could check it out, then strapped it on Tony and put Button in it. He didn't seem to mind it at all. In fact he seemed to like it.
There are places for his paws to stick out and for his tail...not sure I had the tail in the right place, he wasn't too cooperative about that, I'll have to make sure it is right before we take him riding though. He didn't mind being in the carrier a bit, in fact, he looked quite happy there.
After being in the carrier a few minutes, Button dozed off. Hope he likes it that well when we use it for riding. Then he can alternate between the condo and the carrier. The sun gets pretty intense, shining down on the front of us as we ride, so at least the condo will give him some shade. It also has a rain cover. He would be at the mercy of the elements in the front carrier.
The wildflowers are starting to bloom. Saw some columbine. This wildflower is moderately intolerant to shade, and can grow abundantly along roadsides, sandbanks or recent excavations. They are pollinated by humming birds. There are many different colors and varieties of this flower, and it is found in many states.
Then we rode by several areas that were fragrant with the scent of a pretty purple flower. At first I thought it might be wild hyacinth, as that flower is quite fragrant, but when I looked closer, I could see I was wrong on that. Later that evening, I looked it up, and found out it is called vetch. It grows in sunny meadows or ditches and is also intolerant of shade. There is many different types of vetch, and it is found in quite a few states across the US and in some places in Canada. Vetch has medicinal properties, that vary. Some can be used externally as an anti inflammatory compress, and it can be used internally, as a sedative, and tonic for the heart. It can be antispasmodic and remove gas from the digestive system. However it can also be poisonous, so caution and education must be used.
It will come back year after year and it's active growth time is spring, summer and fall, with blossoms in early to mid summer, and can be either white or purple. What we saw today was just purple, but it smelled wonderful. We took a break next to it, so we could enjoy the smell and sight of this pretty flower. Another example of God's hand at work.
As the afternoon got later, clouds began to accumulate, and it looked like rain. We debated on which route to take home. The longer route with more hills, or the shorter route with less hills, but bigger ones. We opted for the one that would give us the most mileage, which was the hiller one. We got off the trail at 18 mile Rd. and it started to sprinkle. It was warm out, so the sprinkles felt good. As we rode on, it began to rain more. I stopped to put my wind breaker on and stash my glasses, which were far to water spotted to be of any use. Rode about 3 miles, then the rain let up and the sun came out, so off came the wind breaker and on went the glasses, only to be put back on and put away, a few miles later. By the time we got to the last 2 miles, the rain was steady, but still warm. We were wet by the time the ride was over, but at least we weren't cold.
Rode 32 miles today. It felt good.
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