Sunday, December 11, 2011

A Three Hour Tour

After a morning full of vacuuming, carpet shampooering and cleaning up this disaster:



(Tycho, who loves to knock things down, destroyed one of Brad's terrariums.) I HAD to get out of the house and get some fresh air.

I decided today to find a new favorite route (they all become favorites, so why have just one?) and headed out towards Jonesborough. Equipped with both my DSLR and iPhone, I still managed to take very few photos. :/ Once I'm out there peddling I just don't want to stop! And that's just what I did today. I Started out on Boones Creek rd, which has a bike lane that doesn't last for long. It might be 3-4 miles, if that. Then it just ends at an intersection. On the opposite side of the intersection, where the bike lane would be, there is just a lane wide paved shoulder that is unmarked as to what it's usage may be. So that's where I rode. The road is a two lane highway at this point with very few passing zones, a 45-55mph speed limit and lots of hills making it difficult for drivers to see any oncoming traffic. But it's a lovely ride. Several guys in trucks honked and waved, several people in cars gawked. Always fun to be the weird girl on a bike. :)

I got almost to the "Historic" part of Jonesborough when I spotted a road to my left that called my name. So I went for it. I didn't even bother to check the name of the road. It turned out to be a narrow, unlined little back country road. Several small farms and a tiny little neighborhood. A couple little county churches. It probably would be a beautiful street to ride down spring through summer, but today, even with the sun shinning it wasn't much to see.




But curiosity had me, so I kept going and suddenly found myself at an intersection that I knew!




I used to take this road out to the donkey farm! I've always loved the view from the top of this hill.

So I decided to take a detour and go visit the donkeys.










Then I found out that a lady I know who lives about two miles from the farm had bought two of the donkeys. So I rode over to her farm to visit for a bit.







Chessie and Rocky have settled in quite nicely into their new home. And are SPOILED ROTTEN, like every donkey should be. :)

About this time I was getting a bit tired, and knew that laundry and dishes awaited me, so I headed home. When I left my house, around 1:00pm, it was about 47F. I had on jeans, knee high wool socks, converse sneakers, long sleeved shirt, tweed blazer and mittens. Jonesborough is down in a hole and about 10F colder. Everything on me was fine except my feet! I could barely feel them by time I got home. So note to self, NO canvas sneakers this time of year, even if it's warm when I leave home. :)

6 comments:

  1. Bike ride, donkeys, roads less traveled...and that has made all the difference! (I borrowed from my favorite Robert Frost poem). Lovely post. Thank you.

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  2. Lovely post and photos, thank you!

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  3. Way to turn a frustrating morning into a beautiful day. Any day is awesome when you get to go visit those darling donkeys!

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  4. You had a great cycle and no time for photography. That's what cycling does for us, we just want to ride and ride.
    The weather here in Newtownards is very wet , windy, frosty and miserable so I've been walking instead of cycling recently.
    Psycho, sorry Tycho loves knocking things down, nice to see different personalities in cats and dogs, all lovable. You love your cats, I've lost count on how many you have.

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  5. We used to live where a neighbor had a donkey (a bit larger breed than these apparently),Jack,who was always against the fence bordering our parking\driveway,we (the kids and I anyways,the wife...not-so-much) always loved petting and feeding him apples and such. Good memories you brought back :) Sounds like a grand time you had (cold not-with-standing) :)

    Disabled Cyclist

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  6. Robert - Ha! I actually tend to call him Psycho Tycho. :) The current census counts 11 catizens in our house, which really isn't as crazy as it might sound. Most of the time more that half are hiding and asleep, so really it only seems like we have 3-5 at a time. Sorry to hear about the miserable weather. Hope things improve soon so you can get out there and ride!

    Disabled Cyclist - These are Mediterranean Donkeys, more commonly called miniature donkeys. If you ever want to haul the kids out to Jonesborough I can probably arrange for you guys to meet them.

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