Tuesday, August 28, 2012
Bike MS: Venture the Valley
Bike MS: Venture the Valley is a two day bicycle ride that starts and ends at the YMCA Camp Kern. Each day, riders choose from routes of 25, 50 and 75 miles with rest stops every 12 to 15 miles.
Friday evening, teams set up tents in the 'team area.' Teams serve refreshments, sponsor raffles and just hang out together. This is Team CCC's area.
Over 800 bicyclists participated in Bike MS: Venture the Valley to raise money for the National/Ohio Valley Multiple Sclerosis Society. This is the eighteenth year that I have participated in this ride.
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Saturday morning, after a pancake and sausage breakfast, my friend, Ron and I began our ride before the traditional 'mass start.' W-a-a-y too much confusion for the two of us at the 'mass start!' We had a quiet ride for almost an hour before the speedy riders caught up and passed us going up Zoar Road.
At the lunch stop at Stonelick State Park, I annoyed my friends who volunteer, Carol and Nancy, while they were busy making sandwiches for the riders.
"Faster, faster, faster," I called out to them.
After lunch, Ron rode the 75 mile route and I completed the 50 mile route back to Camp Kern. All riders climbed out of the Little Miami River Valley back to Camp Kern by riding up Halls Creek Road. A gentle start up the hill, but steeper as it neared the top. A GE Flyer passed me almost at the top, encouraging me by saying, "The last big hill before camp."
Riders spent Saturday afternoon cooling off in the pool, getting massages and just hanging out before the delightful dinner catered by Ruby Tuesday Restaurants; salads, assorted pastas, chicken and/or shrimp, rolls and an extensive selection of chocolate pies and macadamia nut cookies. Yum!
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Sunday morning, the temperature was once again in the lower 60's. Ron and I started out before the 'mass start.' The speedy riders caught up with us after the first rest stop as we rode up Middletown Road.
Riders rode across the dam at Caesar's Creek State Park.
We enjoyed an outstanding stop at Clinton Massie High School; shade, indoor restrooms, vendors and an assortment of sandwiches, veggies, cookies and drinks for the hungry and thirsty riders. Ron continued on the 75 mile route and I chose the 50 mile route back to Camp Kern.
Before the last rest stop, I caught up with a trio of 'boys' from the xpedx team; Ed, Bill and Mike. I chatted with them, asking if I could ride the last 18 miles with them.
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Riders who raise more than $1200 receive a 'top banana' jersey.
A BIG thank you to all my gracious sponsors!
THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!
Early estimates show that more than $500,000 has been raised to fund client programs and services, fund critical research and support essential advocacy efforts.
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Monday, August 13, 2012
Ohio Valley Antique Machinery Show
We took a little trip out to Georgetown for the 42nd annual Ohio Valley Machinery Show featuring John Deere tractors, garden tractors, gas engines and equipment.
In 1837, John Deere, blacksmith and inventor, had little more than a blacksmith shop, a piece of discarded polished steel and an idea that would help farmers, changing the face of agriculture for all time.
Deere fashioned a polished-steel plow in his Grand Detour, Illinois, blacksmith shop that let pioneer farmers cut clean furrows through sticky Midwest prairie soil.
This year Deere and Company is celebrating its 175th anniversary.
In 1837, John Deere, blacksmith and inventor, had little more than a blacksmith shop, a piece of discarded polished steel and an idea that would help farmers, changing the face of agriculture for all time.
Deere fashioned a polished-steel plow in his Grand Detour, Illinois, blacksmith shop that let pioneer farmers cut clean furrows through sticky Midwest prairie soil.
This year Deere and Company is celebrating its 175th anniversary.
There is always something interesting to see.
The steam shovel had been moved to a different location and for the first time in years, was operating.
The Buckeye Oil Engine was up and running.
Notice the rings it makes.
A 1922 Waterloo Boy.
Is this your tractor, Pete?
Where is the tent to keep it dry?
Don'cha know there is rain in the air?
All right, then. It's a girl thing.
How many pink tractors have you seen?
The sawmill was being operated by a Case steam engine.
John Deere bicycles. Or are they bicycles with the John Deere logo?
Cooking corn in the barrels with hot water from a steam engine.
Another view of the steam shovel in operation.
I did take a video, Minnesota Fred.
Each Panzer in this display is outfitted with a different attachment.
The Old Village; featuring a one room schoolhouse, a log cabin, a craft barn and a general store. A hot bath costs 25 cents; soap and towel are extra.
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Tuesday, August 07, 2012
Antique Machinery Show
The GPS took us along the scenic route to the Rushville, Indiana
Antique Machinery Show.
Not much traffic, but lots of hilly, twisty roads.
Antique Machinery Show.
Not much traffic, but lots of hilly, twisty roads.
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The show featured the Rumely Equipment Line.
The steam engine on the left is from Waynesboro, Pennsylvania; on the right, from Battle Creek, Michigan.
This steam engine is from Massillon, Ohio.
The Calliope was more shrill up close than I expected it to be!
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The challenge of the day was to belt four Rumley's together
for maximum horse power.
A belt was broken after it was running.
A fun project for the boys.
We were surprised at all the Amish families.
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The noon whistle!
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Check out the chain between the two steam machines.
Another fun project for the boys!
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The owner drove this contraption, steering it with the reins.
Only two were built. Wonder why...
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The Homer Barn Covered Bridge
The Homer Barn Covered Bridge was built in 1881 by Archibald Kennedy and sons to span Mud Creek at the west side of Homer, in western Rush County. It stood until 1892, when it was washed off its piers and came to rest 500 feet downstream. It was shored up and used as a barn until the Spring of 2009 when it was moved to the Caldwell Pioneer Acres.
The bridge offers a safe footpath spanning the north ravine between the tractor area and the sawmill.
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This shirt made me laugh!
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Sunday, August 05, 2012
The Zoo
We were invited to meet the not-so-little people and their parents at the zoo.
There are scheduled 'animal encounters' throughout each day.
The elephant show was packed.
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A zoo employee told passers-by about the owl.
The children got to feed the giraffes.
The eighteen inch long tongue of the giraffe grabbed the cracker before my camera could blink!
We got to see Sarah, the zoo's 11-year-old cheetah, run.
Chasing a fluffy dog toy lure, she raced 100 meters in 5.95 seconds: around 60 miles an hour!
A zoo employee told the children about a wallaby
and let them touch its soft fur.
We stopped for lunch.
A peacock wandered through the area, looking for his lunch!
When K.K. was just two, she visited the Lorikeets with her fingers carefully wrapped around a little container of food.
We visited the Lorikeets, expecting a similar experience.
Not so much, this time...
This time, the Lorikeets were a little more aggressive; they would land on people's heads and bite their ears!
OUCH!
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Watching the black bear.
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A mid-afternoon ice-cream break.
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Sweet potato vines.
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Thank you for a nice day at the zoo!
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