The Opulence of Time

North Beach, Orcas Island. 5 August 2022. Camera: Olympus XA2/Film: Fujicolor 100 Stasia over at Carfree Rambles finished up a coast-to-coast (and Portland-to-Portland!) tour with her partner a little while ago. Like many folks who go on a big adventure like this, she's found the readjustment to "real life" a bit tough. In her latest...

A look back at my 2022 touring season

The Bantam at Crown Point, during the Midweek Gorge group camping trip, 15 Oct 2022. Camera: Ricohflex Dia Film: Kodak Gold 200 As the first real rains of autumn hit the Northwest, and the chances of getting "one last camping trip in" diminish, now is a good time for me to look back and reflect...

San Juans Tour: Wrap-up and photos

Watching the ferry from Orcas Hotel. 5 August 2022 Olympus XA2/Fujicolor 200 Hello friends. It's been a few weeks since Emee and I got back from our week-long bike excursion to the San Juan Islands and the Skagit Valley. Overall, it was a great trip. We stayed at hotels/Airbnbs the whole time, meaning we could...

Another islands tour ahead, and how the rest of the touring season will pan out

Emee on the ferry, from our 2019 San Juans Trip After my first bike overnight trip to the cabins at Stub Stewart in February, I was getting the itch for more bike camping. I even wondered if 2022 could be similar to my 2012, where I had lots of overnights and tours. But besides a...

Bay Area Trip Reflections

I think the location is pretty obvious to most people who live on Earth. (Extraterrestrials: Please contact me for deets.) 19 June 2022. Olympus XA2/Fuji Color 200 Emee and I got back from almost a week in the San Francisco Bay Area, from Saturday night, June 18th, until Friday June 24th. This was the first...

Champoeg post-report: A de-briefing on my first (tent) bike camping trip of 2022

St. Louis Church, 7 April 2022. Olympus 35 RD/Kodak TMAX 400 My first tent bike camping trip of 2022, to Champoeg State Park, happened just about two weeks ago. (My first bike overnight was in February with Emee to Stub.) Even after bike camping and touring for the better part of two decades, the first...

Will my 2022 be like my 2012?

Myself and my loaded Surly Long Haul Trucker, ready to depart for my PDX-Oly-Astoria Tour. 30 May 2012 It's nearing the end of February. I've already done one bike camping trip, and am itching to do something soon. And like the last few years, my "work life" will be mixed between part-time stuff with Emee...

Oregon Coast Bike Tour 2021: Reflections

Emee and I overlooking Yaquina Bay, Newport, 14 August 2021. Olympus XA2/Kentmere 400 It's a little over three weeks since Emee and I wrapped up our Oregon Coast Tour 2021. This is a good amount of time to reflect on this trip. If I was going to give it a star rating, I'd say 3...