U.S. Navy

 44 years ago today, I was commissioned as an Ensign, USN. It was a great career -- I had a lot of interesting jobs, and learned a lot of important skills that I would use the rest of my life.

Trees

 There were five large maples in the backyard when I moved in, in 1990. One (that was far too close to the house, anyway) had to be moved when the addition went was built in 2000. Another blew down in a storm a few years ago. Another was removed about the same time to prevent it from crashing into the house. That left two of the 60+-year old trees.

Those two came down today. One was in bad shape, and the other wasn't going to last much longer.

It's sad to see them go, but they had a really good run. They added a lot to the yard, but that area is now opened up for a new generation of trees. A couple of oak trees would look good back there!

Alaska

It was 56 years ago today that my parents, my oldest sister, and I took a charter Boeing 707 from what at the time was called McChord Air Force Base in Washington to what was called at the time Elmendorf Air Force Base in Anchorage Alaska.

It was a great place to live! I enjoy going back every chance I get.

Field hockey; or, why making hotel reservations is important.

 A lesson I learned long ago was to make hotel reservations sufficiently far in advance of a stay that I wouldn't be stuck having to ride long distances out of my way. That kind of advance planning is not always possible (some rallies are trickly to plan that tightly), but generally speaking I've been served well by that planning trick.

When making plans for this past weekend's trip, I noticed that the prices in Harrington, DE were a bit on the high side, considering what was on offer. But, I needed a place to stay, so went ahead with the reservation. 

It turns out that there was a MASSIVE field hockey event in Delaware, and hotels were booked up for miles around. The hotel I was in had contestants from NJ and PA (that I was aware of); who knows how many other states were crammed in that hotel. 

New Jersey

I was going to ride to Indianapolis starting yesterday morning, but my route had me going through southern West Virginia. The one to 3 in of snow that was forecast for last night convinced me that wasn't a good plan. So I did a replan quickly, and now I'm going to New Jersey New York and Pennsylvania this week. I have three counties to get for geocaching, and I want to do some more amateur geology on the Jersey shore. So I expect it's going to be a pretty good week for riding.

Rain

I knew from the forecast that it was going to rain today, but it's still a surprise when you get heavy rain and temperatures in the low 50s. It was very chilly. So, I headed for the hotel (Sparta, NC) a little early to dry off and head for dinner.

Tornadoes

I got a jump start on tornado season today. About half the day was either tornado watches or tornado warnings. When it looked like the rain was going to hit, it was time to head for the hotel. So, I turned in a bit early.

Down the coast

The 2:15 (duration) ferry from Ocracoke to Cedar Island is pretty on days like this, but it does put a dent in the schedule. I got the cedar Island on time, then headed south to more adventure. I decided not to go out to Cape Lookout because of time, which turned out to be a really good decision. I did spend some time at several locations along the way to do a little sightseeing. I've never been on the base at Camp Lejeune, and didn't go this time. I'm saving a lot for the next trip.

Treasure!

A beautiful day on the Outer Banks

Another late start again this morning, which I'm going to blame on low temperatures. It's really tough to get motivated to ride in cold weather unless I am going somewhere. And this week I'm just goofing off.

I did get on the road however and went a little bit north up to a wildlife sanctuary for a nice hike. Then I headed over to the lighthouse at Corolla to take a picture before heading south. I spent a lot of time at the Wright Brothers National Memorial, walking the entire length of the of the track, and hiking up to the monument which is at the top of the sand dune.

The weather was spectacular today. Never got into the 50s, but there wasn't a lot of wind and the temperatures kept the crowds down.

A brisk day

I got going a little later this morning then planned. It was 33° Fahrenheit when I rolled out of the driveway this morning. It got a little warmer as the day wore on, and I headed a little bit further south. So from 33° I got up to the upper 50s before the sun went down. The wind picked up quite a bit out here on the beach at Corolla.

The national park unit at Fort Monroe was closed today which I didn't know when I left the house, so I was unable to get a stamp. I did get one at York River, and I got one at Fort Story. I think today was the first time I've ever been on the base at Fort Story.

I saw someone in a rented box truck today who had the nozzle for a fuel dispenser lodged in the receptacle of the van, with the hose all the way to the breakaway fitting dragging behind. I motioned for the driver but he didn't understand or didn't care. I saw other vehicles also go up to tell him what was going on and that had no effect either. Very odd.

It's pretty quiet out here on the Outer Banks. I was worried that I wouldn't be able to get anything for dinner, since this is the shoulder season. But I was able to get a nice meal at the local bar and restaurant.

Tomorrow is my own version of island hopping, as I head farther south.

Pre-flight

 Since I'm trying to get out of town early tomorrow, I did the pre-flight today. The bike is ready to go.

The temperatures here in the National Capital Region tomorrow will be 39 deg F, with a low of 22 deg F. Ugh. It'll be warmer as I head south, but not by a whole lot. It's definitely time to break out the heated gear. 

What a change from the temperatures last summer (118.5 deg F in Pendleton)! It'll be warm enough soon, though, and I'll have fond thoughts of the heated gear, but not of the cold driving up from the bottom of my helmet.

One of my stops this week will be to see if I want to buy a lighthouse stamp book. I'm not sure if it's worth the hassle of bringing along the book. I don't use the book for U.S. National Parks because they fill up pretty fast; I collect the passport stamps using adhesive labels.

National Park System units in 49 states in 2022?

Since we're going to Alaska this year, and will be picking up a lot of national parks along the way, I'm thinking about trying to get at least one unit in each of 49 states plus the District of Columbia this year.

I framed up several routes that will allow me to do that I just need to join them and figure out how to get them scheduled. It's quite a bit of riding, but I've picked out parks that I've wanted to go to for a long time.

So, if I can pull it off, I'll get a couple things done I'll get a bunch of more counties, I'll get a few national parks that I haven't been to before, and I'll get some great riding in.

What's next?

All good things must come to an end; it's time to change from learning and using one set of skills, to playing around with new things like geology.

The next adventure begins.