Looking backward

I've been trying to remember to post about fun things so I can look back at them later. July was just party-party-party; so much so that I didn't manage to post about much of it, and have consequently forgotten what I meant when I plaintively commented about how nice it was to have a weekend with nothing to do.

August was a blast, and an unusually well-documented one at that. I just went through my entries and tagged some of them. Man, this has been a fun summer! I wish my memory were better, so I'd remember how much fun I'm having.
I wonder how long LJ entries will persist? When LJ finally turns off the lights, it will take a lot of my memories with it.

But that somber thought won't stop me from starting in to chronicle September, which started out with a bang. I don't remember what happened on Saturday, Sept 1, but on Sunday I had a pleasant ride over to the newly opened gawking station on the 10th Ave Bridge. Took a bunch of broken bridge pictures with my brand new Canon Elph Camera. They look pretty much like the pictures everybody has already seen in the papers, but they're MINE. Also they have funny little blurry lines along the edges because they were taken through a chain link fence. Still good shots. I'm impressed with how well the little zoom works.

Labor Day excursion - couch potato triathlon

Richard and I took the bikes down to Cannon Falls for a little trail ride, partly because in an excess of enthusiasm we had bought season passes for that trail when we went in May. This time it was just a day trip: Cannon Falls to Welch, then back (about 20 miles total). It turned out to be a real scorcher of a day. The weather sites all insisted that it never got above the mid-80's, but the thermometer in my new bike computer read in the 90's even in the shade, and went as high as 103 when parked in the sun. Fortunately, that end of the trail is well-shaded, so we had an enjoyable ride. But by the time we reached the Welch Station rest stop we were really hot. Richard was tired and needed a rest, so I pedaled the 1/2 mile to the village of Welch to see if the Trout Scream Cafe was open. (It was, although nearly out of ice cream). Welch is a totally charming little flyspeck of a town, comprising a picturesque bridge over the Cannon River, the afore-mentioned cafe, a tiny post office, and an old feed mill converted to... well look at that! Canoe and tube rental!

Suddenly, floating down a river on an inflated truck tube sounded like a great idea. I considered abandoning the bikes and just tubing back to Cannon Falls, but the river was flowing the wrong direction. Then I noticed that in addition to the usual 5-mile, 4-hour trip they had a short one-mile offering advertised as taking "about 45 minutes." That sounded like just the thing. I pedaled back to the way station and retrieved my husband, we peeled off extra clothing, wallets, cell phones, and shoes and hopped on the shuttle bus. The shuttle was driven by a friendly older guy who turns out to be the father of the owner. We were the only ones on the bus. He dropped us off at an uninhabited clearing on the riverbank with a path that had clearly been created by feral children some time in the distant past. All remarkably quiet and informal compared to the zoo on the Apple River. We gingerly picked our barefoot way down to the surprisingly fast-flowing river, managed to get into our tubes without losing them, and had a perfectly lovely little trip back to the launch site. What a wonderful refresher on a hot day!

This seems like the germ of a great idea for the kind of triathlon that more people could get behind. Bike half of an easy off-road trail, float down the river in a tube for the water part, and for the land event ... maybe walk across the road to the ice-cream shop?