Made it to Chico

Rode from Redding to Chico in one day. It was mostly flat, often slightly downhill, especialy after RedBluff. Today I have been relaxing and eating.

I weighed myself to find I have droped afew pounds since Seattle. So, one of my goals over the next few days in chico will be to gain those back!!!

Just had lunch in Bidwell Park, soaking my feet in the stream, while eating my favorite carne asada tacos in the whole world from Crazy Taco.

If you ever find yourself in Chico, just head over to Dukes Liquor on Park Ave and get some tacos from the litteral hole in the wall that is Crazy Taco. Carne asada, with cheese, squirt some line juice on there, take a bite of the jalepeno then the taco and ENJOY some amazing in your mouth.

Guess what! Yet MORE PICS!!!!

Elk chillin' in the meadow at the Redwoods.

Yay! I made it to the summit!

Ok, another hour or so later, and here's the REAL summit.

Oh California, you are so beautiful.

Hiked down to Boise Creek in the morning. Spotted a large rock I wanted to be on. This is the view from the rock

Had to get a self pic from the rock of course. Now how to get down...

Left over firewood from the weekend. Lucky me!

Laundry Folks

September 24th 7:50 PM

Waiting for my laundry to dry. Had a great big dinner at a Chinese restaurant and then just felt like getting a hotel and relaxing. Made the wifi and the shower issue easier. The laundry place is just 1/ mile down the street too. So yeah. Also, there's a pool I intend to take a dip in when I get back tot he hotel. :-)

This guy here, Chris, is a bullshitter. I think he was inspired by my bicycle so he started talking up his Magna FULL SUSPENSION mountain bike. I was pretty sure it was the Wallmart brand, but here he goes talking about how he spent $1,500 on it and it was stolen but he just got lucky and the cops found it. Just to confirm, I did a search to find that it is in fact a walmart brand and it sold for around $200.

I eventually said that I hadn't ever seen them sold outside of Walmart(he said he bought it in Redding at Village Cycle) and Walmart only charges 200-300 dollars. “Oh yeah, a friend of mine said maybe I got ripped off, but what could I do? I couldn't take it back...”

He was talking about football so I asked him if he was a fan. “Oh yeah, it's how I make most of my money.”

“Oh, is that how you paid for the bike?” I asked.

“Yeah, well, that and SSI.”

Hrm, my laundry is done.

What gives, Serfas?

Fourth punctre flat on the tour. So, Serfas, just which flats is the Flat Protection System on these tires suposed to be protecting me from?

You want a blog post???? I'll SHOW YOU A BLOG POST!!!

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Monday, September 24th, 10:15 AM (very long post!)

Good morning!

I woke up with nice sunshine and started to get active. Then, as my mind began to turn, I had the desire to blog. So, here I am!

I didn't ride far yesterday. I was pretty wiped out after the huge climb out of Arcata. The rest day probably helped, but letting the rest day bleed into a super late start didn't help at all... :-/

So, yesterday morning when I woke up I was still feeling pretty sore, tired and HUNGRY. I started working on getting out of camp quick so that I could get down the road to Willow Creek and have a big greasy spoon breakfast.

But then, just as I was riding out, my camping neighbor called out as I rode by. “sUmthinG Su-pth.. Joe?”

This naturally seemed like a strange thing to say. So, I asked for clarification. “I'm sorry, what?”

“Would you like a cup of joe?”

Ah! The coffee nickname! Of course!

I'm a strong believer in accepting all offers of hospitality on this trip so much that I have made it a rule for myself. “Umm, yes! I'll be right back after I use the restroom!”

I find it's always good to bring up the thought of excrement as soon as possible in a conversation. You may have already noticed this about me... Note to self, consider if this is actually an admirable trait... Moving on.

After visiting the restroom I return. “Only half a cup please, I don't drink coffee often.”

Scott, who I met earlier that morning when he swung by to “see who would be crazy enough to bike over the 299”, offered me a bowl partially filled with coffee (which was good coffe by the way, of course, I'll probably be told later it was Folgers... and then realize it was all an elaborate Folgers marketing campaign. Ah! The embarrassment I will feel@!!!! Crap, sorry, moving on.)

I accepted the bowl and I was introduced to his friend James (Jesse James!) and Two wonderful furry friends (Who's names escape me at the moment). James began to cook up bacon and I began to wonder about the morality of sticking around just because I might be offered bacon.

James turned out to be one heck of a fellow. Great stories, very incitefull and intelligent..

Oh dang...

LIZARD. DOIN PUSHUPS>...

MUST>>> GET... CAMERA>>>... (sets down netbook)

Ok, got a pretty decent closeup of him.

Where was I...

James then not only offered me bacon, but also STEAK. It was SOOOOOOO delicious. AND a banana! AND!! A book recommendation!! ANDDD!!!! Some really eye opening perspectives on the industrial prison complex and how it relates to the drug war.

I ended up sticking around for the whole time they broke down camp. It might have been partly motivated by me not really wanting to ride. Mostly, it was motivated by wanting to chat more with James and Scott. Great couple of guys who I would totally love to hang with on a regular basis.

After all the visiting when they were packed up and about to head out, I realized I really wanted to try and keep in touch. So, after much internal debate, I semi awkwardly approached James.

“James?.. James? Uh, I don't know if you'd have the time or inclination, but I'd like to stay in touch.”

Time or inclination? Where the f--- do I come up with this stuff?

James informs me that he would like that very much. :-) Yay! Pen pal!

My mom complimented my writing, suggested a book. A pen pal would be PERFECT for inspiring me to practice my writing. MORNING WELL SPEEEEEEEENT!

What was my point with all this? My point was, I got on the road, WAY late. I didn't have a lot of energy still. Right out of the campground I hear a crash and scattering plastic is bouncing behind me. I look back to see my phone exploded all over the lane. NO! Stop the bike.

I left it on my bag after getting Jame's contact info! By the time I'm stopped, a car is already just yards from the debris that I hope could still be pressed together into a working phone and I KNOW would surely be dust if the car runs over it.

The car swerves around the phone parts. Another car is coming, I'm leaning my bike over on the shoulder Momentarily I see the possible future of my bike being hit as well. No time to consider that, the car isn't swerving. I begin to run toward the impending disaster.

In the moment, hope was lost, I was the retard to couldn't keep is phone alive for even three weeks on the road. I went from a high point on the trip, to perhaps the lowest in less than a minute. Always in such.. a . hurry tog et to the bottom... My face surely reflected the terrible depths my spirit had just sunken to. Pehaps... that's what caused the car to SUDDENLY SWERVE right around my phone parts!!!

I run to the gathering, battery, front bumper, back cover, back protector... Um.... hrmm... Phone? Ok, the collection is here... the phone should be right around here.. Ah, just off on the shoulder of course... um, just right... Uh, ok, maybe it just carried a bit further, it is heavier, makes sense, just look down here a bit...

Ok, I'm troubled... It should be here. Maybe it bounced short? Uhhh... noooo? Well, ok, I was looking to fast the first time, take a breath, calm yourself and Look again! Yep, looking again! Looking... look... Look REAL hard.

So, here's the thing, it's not small. It can't disappear, it has to be here. Pri 0, make sure it's not still in the road. OK, it's not. We can calm down about cars at least. Now just expand the search.

I'm not finding it. How will I replace it? What will I say? What will people think? Does this make me a bad person? How long do I search? Oh man, oh man... BAM! There it iss! Whewwwww. Damn, kinda beat up, but still works.

Nothing like almost loosing your main daily connection with all your friends and family to get the blood pumping. It's time to RIDE. Wait, what's that noise...

OK, my wheel needs truing. Well shoot. Let's do that.

WHEEL TRUED! Let's hit it!

Oh, supermarket, need snacks. Guy in line ahead of me wearing a tie and a dress shirt, well groomed, who almost walked right into me earlier while staring at his phone, is having her total one item at a time because he's not sure he has enough cash. Oh, the monster drink is too much. Gotta take that off. Ok, paying.. No, wait.. he has a bunch of change in his pocket that just MIGHT mean he has enough for the Monster drink. He's counting....

I begin to get a little stressed. I got places to ride to dammit!!! The are minutes I will never get back!!! HULK SMASH!!!! Wait... wait. I'm riding for HOURS today. Minutes are really of no concern. This can't take forever, can it? No, of course not. Calm yourself, and stretch.

“I'm pretty sure I do, go ahead and add it on.”

She adds it on as he requested. He's still counting... That's a lot of pennies... Yep, the other line has cycled all the way through, AGAIN. I'm smiling, almost laughing at this point.

“Oh.. I'm like four cents short.”

He hand her the change. She begins to count. Fortunately, she's a professional, so she is MUCH faster. And, as it turns out, she is far more accurate.

“You're four-teen cents short, hon.”

I hand him a quarter. “Oh! Thanks.”

He hands the quarter to her and she finishes ringing him up. “He was more than four cents short.” She says in a slightly irritated tone.

After that, the riding was easier, but one moderate climb and I started to fade again.

I started pedaling harder, trying to focus on form and get into the zone. It wasn't working... I just.. felt. More... IRITATED! Anxious... woried. The cycle started. I can't make this deadline. WTF, I always procrastinate. What's wrong with me? Just get out of camp at a reasonable hour! What's so hard about that??? Where will I sleep, where will I eat! WH-- wh.. woooaaah.

Slow down, calm yourself. Ride how far you ride, there are plenty of campgrounds along the way. We don't HAVE to make it to Weaverville. In fact, screw it Let's stop and eat one of those snickers... and the avocado James gave me, AND some trail mix. There ya go I was just hungry again. Feeling better, let's RIDE!

Oh, hrm... Wheel is out of true again..

Working hard to do a better job this time, I went over it several times. I made sure it was even straighter than last time. Didn't want to have to do this again, at least not today

Got back on the road, but then time far more relaxed, I will go however far I will go. When I feel like stopping, I will stop. When I am uncomfortable riding on the inside of a blind curve with no shoulder, I will ride on the other side where there is a turnout. I'm doing this MY way on MY time.

I felt so much better. I knew I wouldn't be making it to Weaverville and I was fine with that. I started enjoying the scenery more and I was reminded how beautiful California really is, even partly dried out and just about to burst into flames. Tragically beautiful, not unlike some of the people.

I discovered an old bridge along the way, recorded some video and really enjoyed the rest of the ride. I stopped at a campground with sites right on the river. Bathed in the cold river, which was hard getting in but felt great overall. Cooled off and clean, I enjoyed the fire I build with leftover wood from weekend campers. I met a family with car troubles waiting for a tow truck. Chatted for a while. Ate dinner. Played my awesome harmonica. And relaxed a bunch.

It was warm, so I left the fly off the tent. Feel asleep staring at the stars. Got a little chilly at night, but I felt pretty rested when the sun came up.

This morning I had breakfast and wrote this up. Now, Time to get packed at get moving! Weaverville, here I come!

Sunny California

I'm camping at Florence Keller park tonight. As I was aproaching the California border, a wall of sunshine washed over the coast. I wouldn't believe it if I hadn't lived it. 55 miles with some fearsome headwinds have left me quite tired. Glad to be in Cali, already in redwood country. There's even some hairless ewoks in the site next door. (Some may call them children)

I should be in Arcata the day after tomorrow. Then I have to choose my path to Chico. For now, I rest.

Even MORE Pictures@!!!!!@#!

Thanks to some well-placed clear-cutting, I was able to get a spectacular view of Tahkenitch Lake. But then some greasy ginger got in the way..

There's the hill which the greasy ginger climbed just to ruin my lake picture.

Sunset and mist at Bastendorf Beach

Trying to get artsy with the mist and trees...

There that guy is again

Just the 90 degree Tip.

The sunset was super gorgeous. I totally had to make out with myself afterward.

Ran into Geoff and Shaun again and we decided to go find a cave together. Maybe it'll have a pirate ship in it!

We found the cave. No pirate ships tho...

We can see the other side!

Shaun decide to climb up for a better view of where the ship might have gone.

Not a bad idea I thought. More fun with timer self pics!

Just as I was doing my Capn' pose, Geoff and Shaun shouted from below wondering how the hell I got up there...

Me: "How? I just went up! Right there!"
Geoff: "No way, screw that."

(Fat) Elk Creek (they look a lot like cows...)

Waiting for my laundry here at the Elk River RV Campground just north of Port Orford in Oregon. Two or three more days I think and I'll be in California. Another day or two after that and I'll be deciding if I head east on 299 to Redding or keep going south for a shot at the Mendocino pass.

I was thinking about how I'll manage my water last night and this morning. Practiced drinking all th e water used. I cooked and ate my beans and rice. Then, I rinsed the pot and drank the rinse water. Made hot pro-co, rinsed and drank the rinse water. Not bad really. After eating th beans or drinking the pro-co, the rinse water just tastes like water.

I have water purification tablets and I plan to call TC before I do it to get a handle on where I find the clean water. The main issue will be whether the evacuation from the fire is lifted. I think I'll be ok with taking 299 if that's the way things work out. I'll get to Chico sooner, so that's a plus.

If nothing else, accomplishing this feat of pedaling myself so many miles across the country will be pretty empowering...

Blah, clothes are done and I'm fading here. Time to go have a bit more food and perhaps get to bed early.

More Pictures!

Last camp site in Washington. Everybody else seemed to be there for the salmon run.

Waiting for the ferry to Oregon. We're eating PB & Fresh Picked Black Berries. :-)

After our epic climb from the ferry. 650 feet with a tiny shoulder and 60 mph traffic.

There's the ferry dock in WA where we just had lunch.

The Goonies house is just up the hill!

Shawn is collecting Goonies dirt. He collects dirt...

The bridge to Astoria that we avoided by taking the ferry. Good decision.

Shawn's first elk sighting!

Cannon Beach where the Goonies boat set sail.

Look at her, just posing there barely wearing anything. Scandalous!

Lighthouse at Cape Meares.

Shawn and Geoff taking in the view at Cape Meares

From the bridge south of Newport

Bridge over Cooks Chasm and a little spouty thing

Somewhere, beyond the fog, there's a beautiful view...

It didn't rain, but it's about as wet as it can be without actualy raining. Mist is hanging in the air, blocking out the sun and the view. Consequently, I'm having a real hard time getting moving today. Hopefully, this coffee will do the trick. As a bonus, they have wifi here so I'm posting a blog.

I didn't catch up with Geoff and Shaun yesterday. I didn't even try. I was feeling SUPER lazy yesterday. So far, I'm feeling almost as lazy today.

The skin on my hands isn't doing too well with constantly geting dirty and cold. My fingertips are drying out and cracking. I'm remembering times camping with the family. I always loved the first few days. Then, my stupid skin would start drying out and and pretty soon cracking and bleeding. I'm hoping my skin will be happier once I get further south. A few days indoors when I get to Chico probably wouldn't hurt either. But, that's a week or so away still. :-/

The coffee is getting me pumped up now. Perhaps even enough to take off the extra layer on my legs and crank out some fast miles. Let's check the map...

Only about 34 miles to Florence. I'm told it's another 40 miles after Florence to the next state park. Oregon state parks are great for biking since they all seem to have $6 hiker/biker sites and SHOWERS.

Well, I'm officially getting antsy to ride. Time to go put this energy to work.

Clothes and Tubes

I'm here in Newport at the Newport cafe. It's just a block from the laundromat my clothes are washing at and another block from the bike shop I got a tube from. By the time I get all this squared away and back to my campsite, I'm going to be getting a pretty darn late start.

My spirits have remained pretty high. I've been annoyed a bit here and there about inconsequential things. Fortunately I've realize it and found one way or another to chill out.

I was originally thinking I would be close to the Mendocino pass by now. However, I left two days late, took a rest day and I've only been covering 40-50 miles a day instead of my original target 60-70. I think I will be able to get up to the higher miles though once my butt gets in better shape for the saddle. Right now, 6 hours in the saddle is pushing it.

Yet again, I don't have any wifi here. So, I figure I'll type this and worry about how I get it posted later. As problems go, I suppose problems finding wifi to keep my blog updated is a pretty minor problem. I'm still posting at least once a day to facebook. I really should be posting once a day too the blog too, even if it's from my phone and really short. Perhaps I could make it a priority to find somewhere to upload and post a bigger entry at east once a week. Perhaps...

This laundromat has nether wifi,nor outlets to plug in for charging and power. Pretty bummed about that.

Yesterday I met Jihun( I think thats his name) from South Korea. He's lived in LA. For about a year and is now cycling from Seattle back to LA. We had dinner together at a seafood place he received a recommendation for. It was pretty good, nothing spectacular. Jihun is covering 80 miles a day; I

d like to get to that point...

So far,I've been thinking mostly about how I'm gonna make this trip work. Day to day stuff like how to organize my things for more efficient setting and breaking camp. Longer term stuff like how long it will take to get to Chico, Modesto, San Diego, New Orleans. And possible deal breaker stuff like my stupid skin, my probably less than adequate funds, and my old knees. Not a lot of reflection on who I am and where I want to be.

Slow bloggin'

I haven't had such an easy time with my Ubuntu netbook solution for typing up blogs and editing/uploading videos. I'm thinking about just getting a windows licence for it, not sure yet.

I do have a number of video blogs recorded on the GoPro so there will be a flood once I get it all figured out. Until then, I will try to keep typing away and posting when I find wifi.

Pictures!

Cuz, ya know, Frederick.

First night camp at Twanoh State Park

Glamor shot of the Rodcycle on the docks at Twanoh boat launch

Smoking my clothes by the fire

Neat old seemingly abandoned house next to Mason Lake

Campsite at Elma

Elma is safe from zombies.

A Hill, a Car Accident and New Friends

I got started even later than yesterday and it was already getting warm. :-/ I felt like I should still be fine and I was trying to adopt a more relaxed attitude about the whole trip. This is supposed to be some sort of vacation type thing, right?

As I came in to a small town I was getting hungry and decided to grab a bite. At this little burger shop, I got myself a large order of tots, from a fellow ginger Jesse. I've met a number of Jesses and a number of fellow gingers, but never a fellow ginger Jesse. :-)

After some head down hard riding I got myself into Centralia. With my tire still rubbing and also now realizing that the multi tool I bought doesn't have the right size hex wrench for my front panniers, I decided to find the bike shop in town. However, it turns out Centralia doesn't have a bike shop anymore... Eh?

Back on the road again. Just outside of Centralia I approach a hill with a sign that shows curvy road for 1.5 miles. "I hope that's not uphill for 1.7 miles..." Well, it wasn't for 1.5 miles, closer to two miles. Yep, about 20 minutes of hill climbing in my lowest gear pedaling hard. I know there will be bigger hills...

After some ups and downs the terrain began to be mostly downs. As I was coming down a long hill I noticed  two cyclists, one of which was pulling a trailer, in a lot on the right of the road. I waved and said "Hi". I immidiately regretted not stopping to talk to them. They were obvilously long distance touring like myself, likely even on the same route.

At teh bottom of the hill I went through a light and then slowed on the other side thining maybe I would go into the store, or maybe I would wait up and see where these two guys were going. As I was thinking this I hear screaching tires behind me. As I turn to look at what asshole is doing a burnout I hear a masive crash and see two cars coliding right in from of the two cyclists I just passed. One car went into a spin and the other continued diagonaly out fo the intersicting just a few feet tot eh left of the cyclists.

My first thought was, "Holy shit." My next thought was, I know first aid and CPR, I should get down there. As I approach the scene I can see that the occupants of the vehicles are already getting out of their vehicles on their own. Whew, no CPR.

The two cyclists, Geoff and Shaun, were so close to the impact that they were hit by debris. As everyone was alright and the emergency responders were all arriving, we decided it was time for us to leave. There were plenty of other witnesses that all seemed to want to stick around and watch it all unfold.

As it turns out, not only were Geoff and Shaun riding the coastal route, they also started the same day and planned on staying in the same campground. So, we rode together to Lewis and Clark State park.

We prepared dinner together, their chili, my lentils and rice, and Amanda's special brownies for desert. :-) A good time was had by all, perhaps a little too good as we got too loud after quiet time and a fellow camper let us know that he was quite displeased... :-/

Tomorrow, I plan to ride past Longview to a campsite on the Columbia, I think. Unless I decide to head into Longview to look for another bike shop. We'll see...

(Events of Sept 5th)

Good ol' Elma

I rode further today. Yes, my butt is quite aware that I rode further. Had a huge chicken fried steak dinner, patched the tire which was punctured somewhere around lunch time and now I'm sitting here reflecting on my day.

There were long stretches of road today with no cars as I cruised by family farms tucked in the valley. The sweet smell of hay wafting in the cool breeze. Those times make me glad I have taken this trip. The time on highways with little or no shoulder are pretty much the opposite  of that.

I tried uploading some video blog entries and failed. I hope to find more wifi and time later in the trip to flood you with a whole mess of videos. For now, I'm tired, and I'm calling it a night.

(somehow didn't get this posted when I was in Elma)

Why

Why?

I'm not sure. For a lot of reasons. To many to count categorize or define.

I'm not trying to get away from my friends, mostly just trying to get away from myself. My fear of doing the wrong thing which ironically causes me to so often do or say the wrong thing or miss important cues. Learning to appreciate what home is by not having one for a while.

I often feel lost. Lately, even as I feel like I may be getting closer than ever to going the wright direction with my life, i seem to feel more lost and scared than ever. I guess I had it all worked out. How my life was going to play out, so straight and normal. I knew it wouldn't make me happy, but I thought I knew I wasn't meant to be happy. I thought it didn't mater what changes I made so why not just do what I"m supposed to do.

Being happy. Maybe I can be happy. I don't mean happy moments, I mean a life well lived and true belonging in the place I am and the rolls I fill. Fulfillment to the deepest level of my being. I don't know what that will look like for me and I dont' know where I will have to go to find it.

So I ride. Riding a bicycle will force me to take my time. A lot of time. It might feel like too much time on some days.

Letting go of my past mistakes, forgiving myself, letting go of my future expectations. Living in the moment, feeling, seeing those around me.

As I rode today I had a thought. I  will leave you with this. It's never too late to do something amazing. Many people, myself included, might think, "If only I would have spent more time when I was younger doing this or that so that I would have those skills now". It's not too late. If you're reading this, you're alive, so get started. It my take a while, and you may fail, many times. It's all part of the journey. If you have a dream, you want to do something amazing, DO IT.

Officially on my way

Just a few minutes from the ferry. I'll post more borring details in a bit. :-)

Final Prep and Practice Ride

<p>Yesterday kicked off with a visit to the bike shop to try and sort out my tire rubbing on fender issue. Eventualy, with Erics suggestion, I played the "fuck it" card and we went for a ride with all my gear packed and loaded. </p>
<p>Holy crap that bike is heavy with all that stuff on it. The weight maked the whole bike frame wobble from side to side whenever I'm not smooth on the handlebars. Too much weight. How in the world will I do this??</p>
<p>As we began to get down the road, I began to get more comfortable with the load. Also, the rubbing sound began to quiet. My thinking then was that the rubbing was the extra rubber bits that stick ou from new tires. With more miles, the sound grew eve quieter and I became even more at ease with the load. </p>
<p>My fear faded and my excitemet grew. I'M DOING THIS!</p>
<p>We rode t Golden gardens, the ferry, over to the Udist for some bibimbop(sp?) at he Korean Tofu House. Then, back to golden gardens to tossthe disc around for a while. Finaly, we returned to ballard, had a couple beers and called it a day. Ready to go.</p>
<p>Presently, I'm riding the ferry ovr to bremerton. From there I have a 2-3 hour ride to the campground which should leave me plenty of daylight for my first night setting up camp. </p>

Big thanks again to Eric for cleaning up my disaster of a moveout and helping me prep for the ride. I love you all and you will all be in my thoughts as I take my journey. See you on the other side!

False Start

Yes, my plan was to be at Twanoh state park right now enjoying the labor day weekend campers and their labor day weekend families. However, I'm still in Seattle.

I did a super poor job of planning my move out and left WAY too many things until the last minute. At one point I was sure that I wouldn't have any of my stuffe moved out by the time I was suposed to be out of the house.

Fortunately, my friend Eric came to my aid and saved the day. Despite being screwed out of my Uhaul reservations(i might tell that story in another post, but for now, FUCK UHAUL) we managed to get mostly all of my  stuff into storage, over to Goodwill or to the dump.  have a couple more things I had planned to grab today out of the garage with the free van provided by the storage company. But of course, that also didn't work out as they require me to have comprehensive auto insurance and I only carry liability.

As of this moment, I'm tentatively planing to leave tomorrow. I still need to get a couple things out of the garage and I also need to solve my tire issue as I discovered that the tires I bought for the trip don't quite fit in my fenders.

Figuring out how to live out of 4 bags on  my bike is probably a lot easier when I'm actually crashing on a friends couch. So, being here to wrap up some things just ain't that bad. Oh, and the weather today in Seattle was so great. :-)

To sum up: Moving sucks, moving into a storage unit sucks WAY more, FUCK UHAUL and lastly, I still <3 Seattle (at least in the summer) ;-)