It’s a couple of hours drive from Zagreb to this UNESCO World Heritage Site, Plitvice Lakes. We stopped at a small town where waterfalls were running under people’s homes! I spent some time talking with a bicyclist. He had a fully loaded bike. It is his first adventure. He is German and started in Germany with hopes to cycle through the Balkan countries and finish in Turkey in two months.
Waterfall under a home in this small town.Bicyclist stopping for lunch at this small town. There are no bike lanes on the road to the national park, Plitvice Lakes.
I had seen a Rick Steves program about the 16 turquoise lakes linked by waterfalls which Plitvice Lakes is known for. On our day hike we only saw 4 of the lakes and the “Big Waterfall”. Plenty of wildflowers; I saw a trout in the water and others did see a frog. Only a few birds were heard. Despite it not being peak season, there were plenty of tourists on the paths and boardwalk. I think the photos show its beauty.
Off to another town in Croatia to make pasta! I’ll be back in a couple of days!
Bicycling is great fun … and more so when I notice new things while trying to get those cycling miles done. Recently I learned not to look too high in the sky at flying birds while I’m bicycling … were there 2 red-tailed hawks flying up there? Geez, and need to keep my eyes on the road!
So I have been thrilled with wildlife sightings at eye level or below. I’ve seen lizards run across the road and make it successfully … and others not so successful. Coyotes often walk across the road from their usual trails. Wished I had my camera available when a bobcat walked across the road! It casually looked at me and moved on. The most fun sighting was watching a mother quail step onto the road, then turn back and indicate something to her chicks, and they all followed her as she crossed the road. Wow!
What will I see when weather warms?
What wildlife have you observed on your bicycle rides? I know some of you are under snow at the moment, but share what you have seen even in the past! You’ll be on your bicycle again in a few months!
It is wonderful to see different scenery and eat new foods, but another fun aspect of travel is to meet people while on the road. People, and the opportunity to interact with people, add a dimension to the travel experience no photo or travel book can provide.
Let’s me start with my fellow travelers. They come from different USA states, with varying personalities and travel experiences. This allows me to enjoy understanding their perspective as we all look at new experiences while traveling together. It’s enlightening and I appreciate the daily interaction. What’s best too is the fact we have each other’s back while traveling; keep each other on-time, safe, aware of details and learning new things. I must admit I was pleasantly surprised when some of my fellow travelers joined in looking for birds while on a hike! It is always great to have more eyes on the scene. Maybe they enjoyed the opportunity to learn about some new birds too? Hope so!
Then there are the people I just happen to meet. Tables in South America are closer in hotels and restaurants than one would find in the USA. As a result, I met an older man at breakfast one morning … actually it was a couple of mornings since I arrived early to my tour. This 83 year old man from New York City was reading Agatha Christie. Somehow we started to talk and I learn he was to meet his friend for travel in Chile, yet his friend died a few days ago. The friend was almost 20 years younger than him. So now this man was here to attend a funeral.
I am a good listener and I think it is why we talked again the next morning at breakfast. Yet I learned much from him. He had traveled for a month in Japan visiting 9 cities recently and hired Uber drivers per city. I walked away from the conversation realizing 83 years old is still young! Wow! (And then my fellow travelers show up and there are three 80 plus year old people!)
Someday I hope to get my touring bicycle out and ride again, whether across a state or country, whatever. So whenever I see touring bicyclists I am always drawn to find out about their adventure. Here I was on Chiloé Island, Chile talking with bicyclists from Belgium! They were bicycling 5 weeks in Chile, their last week on Chiloé Island and having a wonderful time. Amazing!
Bicyclists from Belgium; one fully loaded bicycle!
Many people make a tour interesting. We had a couple of home-hosted meals and spent time with a family for a day so we could talk with local people. Whether it’s the couple explaining how to tango and showing us their professional dancing ability, or an indigenous person talking about their culture and goals to protect their sovereignty, or an employee demonstrating how to make a Pisco sour … they all add to my travel experience. Plus with the help of our trip guide, when necessary to translate another, we have an opportunity to learn quite a lot. In many locations we also had local guides, so plenty to ask of them!
Demonstration on how to make a Pisco sour.
Mapuche tribe member and our guide translating for him.
And then sometimes you see something you have never seen before. So I include this; as we are carted off to a boat for observation of penguins, etc at Puñihuil Wildlife Reserve. (It is the only place where Magellanic and Humboldt penguins nest near each other.) Anyway, it was fascinating how half of our group stood on a platform that was rolled out to the boat. We could then board the boat and not get our feet wet! These employees are rolling people out to a boat, and back from the boat, numerous times in a day. Fascinating! Never saw this before and appreciated having dry feet.
Rest of group rolling toward the boat.
Now boarding the boat with dry feet!
Sure there were beautiful scenes, but it was about sharing them with others as we stood together looking at it. There were also individual moments when a conversation started with someone I never knew. It’s a joy to interact with people; it adds to my travel experience and I am always grateful!
Bicycle riding is great fun! I have been slow in getting going. In July I was watching the Tour de France on television. Unfortunately Peacock streaming service was needed to view each day’s ride. Cable television only had 4 of the 21 riding days broadcasted.
I love watching the Tour de France each year. It gets those cycling juices in me going and brings back memories of when I was in France. Was it 2007 or 2014, not sure, but been in France both those years. We were on a bicycle tour and happened to be near Mount Ventoux. Mount Ventoux has been ridden by cyclists in various Tour de France from each side.
We decided to bicycle up one side of Mount Ventoux … because it was there and just seemed like it was worth a try. Okay, we are not professionals. We pedaled uphill for about an hour, a fraction of the uphill distance, and flew down to our starting point in 10 minutes. The uphill journey was with some switch-backs we created on the road, but the downhill ride was STRAIGHT down! To this day, I am not a fan when I am over 33 mph on my bicycle. That experience has remained a memory every time, and especially when I watch the Tour de France each July.
Hangs on my bulletin board.
Had to buy myself a shirt for my tiny ride!
Now many cyclists are readying for the El Tour de Tucson. Yup, that’s right here in Tucson Arizona and the neighboring towns! Maybe you are signed up for the November 22 tour. It’s a popular event. People must register ahead for either the 102 mile Century, or the 63 mile Metric Century, or the 32 mile Half Metric Century. Someday I should ride this tour. I think about it. Would be more impressive if I actually cycled it … to bicycle ride again … a tour here in my hometown.
If you are riding the El Tour de Tucson, I wish you a great ride!!
I love the combination of bicycling and ending the day with a glass of wine! Whether it be where I live or where I travel across the USA, more towns are constructing bike paths for safer bicycling opportunities and food establishments are benefitting from the increased people traffic. The chance to sit and enjoy a lunch with a glass of wine has been fun.
Bike paths having been linking small towns so people can enjoy a bicycle ride, time with friends, sightseeing the local landscape, and return safely to where they started their ride. By supporting bicycling organizations, we can have more of these bike paths built for our outdoor enjoyment.
Check out: Rails to Trails Conservancy to see if a bike path is near your home. There are other organizations providing maps for local bike rides, but Rails to Trails has flatter, paved paths that once were where the old railroad lines were back in the day. More communities are following the lead of paved, local bike paths so check and see what your community is doing for you to have a safer bike ride.
Mountain biking requires me to truly focus on what I am doing while pedaling various trails. Some are smooth, others rocky. Some uphill, some downhill. Some steep and others even less enjoyable! But as seasons change I take notice of the wildlife, plants and animals. I actually find myself stopping to photograph the flowers that sprouted after a monsoon rain:
When especially lucky, I may see a squirrel or on this particular day, elk moving through an area! I know elk migrate here in northern Arizona, but rarely do I get this opportunity to see them. By the time I pulled my camera out, they were a distance away, but still seen:
Mountain biking is not for the faint of heart! Even while riding “easy”, “green” color-coded mountain bike trails, a rider will approach short, steep hills or ridiculously rocky areas at uphill and downhill sections of the trail. I love the challenge of it all!
While exploring new areas on my mountain bike, I stop and smell the vanilla scent of Ponderosa pines in Flagstaff, Arizona and see the seasonal change of tree colors in Park City, Utah. I chat with other bikers from various areas of the USA. We commiserate about tough mountainous trail sections and smile while reminiscing about rolling, long miles through meadows.
We love this meadow ride section!!
E-bike riders are now on the scene. I have mixed emotion about them. The purist in me wants to keep me pedaling for many more years; however, I also need to acknowledge the day will come when I want to be on a mountain trail and an e-bike is what I will need too. Just thinking back 15 years ago, I easily rode the intermediate, blue-coded trails and now they can be tough for me. So we all respectfully co-exist on trails to enjoy the outdoors.
Bikes are wonderful machines when working. Recently I ended an 8 mile mountain bike ride in my smallest chain ring and with my left-hand shifter not working! Nothing allowed me to shift into my middle or big chain ring, so I could only be happy that it was in the small chain ring while on the mountain trail.
Bike repair people see and solve all kinds of mechanical issues. I had an unusual jammed derailleur that took some time to be solved. The guy discovered a small stone wedged in an area that could only remove itself when the bicycle was upside down. Once it and shifter were fixed, I was back to cycling another day!
There is the little rock causing all to jam my chain rings!
Mountain biking is great fun, despite requiring more energy from me when I compare it to riding my road bike. But the opportunity to be on a forest, desert, meadow or mountain trail away from vehicular traffic is a bonus I want to continue to enjoy for years to come!
Colorado is the state I chose to, once again, drive through as I return to Arizona. This time to explore areas outside of Colorado Springs, Salida, Durango and Cortez.
For starters, I had a Harvest Host night at a brewery in downtown Colorado Springs! Great beer, easy walking the downtown area and time spent chatting with a couple from State College, PA. They left early the next morning to complete the Manitou Incline. I wish I was in shape to even think of accomplishing that!
A great day for bicycling in Colorado Springs: started on the New Santa Fe Trail from the E. Woodmen/Edmondson Trailhead. Wow, the altitude and heat made for a shortened bike ride. Another day, I visited the Fountain Creek Nature Center and took a bicycle ride at the Fountain Creek Regional Park. Very nice trail and a well – done nature center … worth a visit. (I saw a red-headed, 2.5 foot long snake… still not sure what it was!)
Fountain Creek Nature Center
Remember: we need bees in our lives!
Red rocks of the Garden of the Gods!
Drove along the Arkansas River and watched people rafting. If I had one more day here, I would have signed up for a rafting trip. Two of my Salida friends were not available, but I did catch up with my friend in Poncha Springs! Great fun for a couple of days. Bicycled on a trail in Salida, cycled right in for lunch, and watched surfers on the “standing wave” downtown. Amazing balance to ride that wave!
Rafting looked like great fun!
Surfing on the “standing wave” in the river is a challenge!
My ride from Poncha Springs to Colorado City was through the San Isabel National Forest. It rained and hailed!! The few vehicles on the road were driving half the normal speed limit. Thank you! Crazy weather! Next day, beautiful!
I stayed at a KOA, Kampgrounds of America, for 2 nights and the day in-between was a “No Drive” day. I got distracted doing too many things in the morning, so by the time I got on my bicycle it was hot. Throwing in a lunch stop was enough motivation to at least do a few miles in this altitude. I’m getting better but the heat does not help me.
Couple of Harvest Host nights … Pagosa Springs area and then Cortez … with a drive through Durango. Interesting to see how this area has changed! We had a bicycle tour across southern Colorado decades ago. We cycled from Cortez to Alamosa. Beautiful country in Colorado and it still is. But the crowds of people, developed land, and overall congestion made me wonder where it was we cycled years ago!
Before arriving in the congestion and construction traffic of Pagosa Springs, I enjoyed a short hike to Treasure Falls.
Treasure Falls, CO
My Harvest Host location was outside of Pagosa Springs at a ranch. I am parked in their pasture with the cows just over there, goats walking toward me, and a couple of killdeer squawking as if I am to close to their nest. A deer is running across the nearby hill. It is silent here, except for the wind that continues to blow and I see a distant plane. Will check out the stars in a few hours as this is the best open sky! Good night!
Colorado landscape varies as you travel south to north in this state. I had snow in the Pueblo area, brisk weather in Fountain and Lakewood, and finally conditions good enough for bicycle rides three days in a row!
Pueblo, Colorado did have some snow. While I was sleeping in my winter sleeping bag in my van, I chose to let solar energy melt away enough of the snow and ice from the windshield before I took off from the campground that morning. I had my newly purchased ice scraper but did not use it.
Fountain Creek Regional Park and Fountain Creek Nature Center were on my “to visit” list. While the nature center was not open, the numerous trails at the regional park were great! I need to remember this place for future “to stretch my legs” stop and hopefully visit the nature center some day.
Lakewood is where some friends live, but since they were elsewhere I stayed at a Harvest Host location. (If you camp with an RV or camper, more info about Harvest Host is a click away right here.) There I enjoyed conversation with a science teacher and natural/wildlife resource person along with a meal and beer before hitting the sack.
Fort Collins area is my favorite place to bicycle ride from a campground onto the Poudre River Trail. For 3 days I bicycled various parts of the trail plus some trails off the main trail. Temperature was 55 – 60 degrees Fahrenheit, so I kept moving! The wind was more of an issue at times, but as they say … wind at your back is great … did someone say that? Not sure.
Then drove through Nebraska and Iowa to Wisconsin to visit with friends. Here are photos from my Colorado days:
Sunrise in Colorado
Hairy Woodpecker
Bicycling on boardwalk section on the Poudre River Trail
Eastern Fox Squirrel
Favorite place for my meals
Bird watched me while I was eating my entire meal!
Kanab, Utah to Grand Canyon’s North Rim is a short drive. No campsite reservation was available at the north rim, but I secured one night in the Jacob Lake area. Before driving to the rim, I walked the mile from my campsite to the store at Jacob Lake. There I purchased my favorite snickerdoodle cookies. More about cookies later. On my walk, I saw some birds and a Kaibab squirrel which is only found in this area.
Kaibab Squirrel, only found north of the Grand Canyon
After an hour’s drive from the campsite, I arrived at Point Imperial; perfect. I spent time walking at the highest point of the Grand Canyon, 8,800 feet. I decided not to drive the additional 19 miles to Cape Royal. At the north rim, the Bright Angel Point Trail was closed for the season due to repairs. Looking across the canyon is grand! Unfortunately though, there was a wildfire just west of the Hermit’s Trail on the south rim. It was actively burning while the one on the north rim by Widforss Trail had been extinguished. Lightning caused the fires and both were a distance from where any hikers would be on a trail.
While standing at the north rim, I am thinking how I have seen the canyon from many angles the last 20 years. I have hiked the South Kaibab Trail to Phantom Ranch, stayed overnight at the lodges, dorms, and camping near Phantom Ranch with a return hike on the Bright Angel Trail often. Time at the canyon’s bottom has been enjoyed with friends and first-time visitors on our tours. Short sections of the Grandview and Hermit’s Trail have also been hiked. Even some trails on the north side of the Colorado River from Phantom Ranch. There are so many more trails for me to discover. For now I will enjoy the north rim view of the canyon.
Bison seen as you drive from the north rim late in the day.
The south rim of the Grand Canyon has more visitors due to it close proximity to larger cities with airports: Phoenix and Las Vegas. A different vibe exists at the south rim compared to the north rim. I always encourage people to visit both rims, if possible. It is at least a 4 hour drive between the two areas. There is less lodging at the north rim and it is not open year-round; therefore, plan their visit.
In the past, I camped at the Desert View Campground on the eastern side of the canyon. This time, Mather Campground. It is central to all at the south rim of the canyon. Hop the shuttle bus and be transported in short time to many points of interest. I like this campground.
Today, while 75 degrees at the start, I hopped on my bicycle for a ride to the town of Tusayan, located outside the park. It was a 5 mile ride on a well-maintained bike path through Grand Canyon landscape … saw an elk relaxing … then national forest land, and finally into the town. I loved the downhills! Some of the uphills in combination with the altitude, about 8,000 feet, were not as enjoyable. I dug deep to complete the ride! It was fun and done before it was too hot, 90 degrees.
Loved the bicycle ride to Tusayan while it was cool.
Despite drinking water with electrolytes, I needed to drink more. So at my campsite I read a book, ate a snack and hydrated. Even though it was an eleven mile bike ride, my body needed it all. Took time then for lunch and organized for attending afternoon ranger talks. As I write this, I hear thunder. I am wondering if we’ll have the same weather pattern as yesterday. Last night it rained; so I guessed no sky astonomer-in-residence program. Tonight hopefully a clear sky … time will tell.
I attended the sky program along with about 75 other people! The astronomer-in-residence is only here for a month so Ranger Rick was our astronomer guide this night. He herded all of us a short distance in the dark with red light on the headlamps to an empty parking lot. There people spread out, laid on the ground, and listened to him. He pointed with his green laser light at and named specific constellations. He was often interrupted as people oohed and aahed when meteorites entered the atmosphere and streaked across the sky. Wow, what a dark sky!
I appreciated all the info about the big and little dippers, Polaris and other constellations. Ranger Rick pointed out the Milky Way. I had not ever thought about it being around the entire planet. Grand Canyon International Dark Sky Park meets requirements and every 5 years needs to apply again for the designation. I will not go into the details here, but work is done to make the national park darker. The majority of the light affecting the park is city glow from Las Vegas … 150 miles away! For more info, check the dark sky website.
The monsoon rains arrived each afternoon and by dinnertime we had cool, fresh air. Many of us enjoyed a late afternoon walk in Grand Canyon Village, along the rim, or in the campground. The majority of the people visiting the Grand Canyon lately are non-English-speaking people. I met a family from South Africa who lived in Texas and now live in Alberta, Canada. Many visitors are on tours and staying in the lodges at the rim while others have rented camper vans or camping in tents. Another couple, travelled across the USA to Flagstaff on Amtrak and then the train from Williams to the Grand Canyon. Often I find myself talking with people as I offer to take a group photo for them. The rim trail was busy with people which was why I chose not to ride my bicycle on the section bicycling is allowed. A few walkers made me nervous as they would step off the trail, close to the edge of the rim. Obviously they have not read the book, Over The Edge: Death in Grand Canyon by Michael P. Ghiglieri and Thomas M. Myers about how accidents can even happen at the rim’s edge!
If you are a reader and love the Grand Canyon, a more fun book to read, or listen to the author read, is A Walk in the Park: The True Story of a Spectacular Misadventure in the Grand Canyon by Kevin Fedarko. I just finished listening to it while I was at the canyon and learned new things about the history of the canyon.
If you have never been to Grand Canyon National Park, add it to your travel list. You will not be disappointed seeing this amazing landscape … it’ll be the biggest and most beautiful hole in the ground you’’ll ever see in the world!!
View from Navajo Point of the Colorado River in the Grand Canyon from the south rim.
Notice the Bright Angel Trail zigzagging down into the canyon!
