Riders on the Storm

Well, it was actually just a bit breezy and otherwise completely lovely...

We're staying in Diamond Lake National Forest, and decided today to actually not get in the car. We instead took a series of bike rides and walks down to the lake. The area is filled with both mountain bike trails and a paved 11-mile circuit that goes around this beautiful mountain-ringed lake. All of today's pics are taken from bike trails, quite often while in motion.

I got in 30 miles, Gabe did 16 (including 4 miles of hard mtb trail), Mom and Dad did 12. I can't actually sit down right now, but you really don't need all the details.

Just like yesterday, the wind shifted at around 4:00 and blew the forest fire toward us. There was quite a lot of smoke on the water, but fortunately, there was no sign whatsoever of any fire in the sky.

We built the world's hottest campfire tonight. It was drowned three times with logs left actually swimming in water and sprung back to full flame each time. Sorry, no hilarious song reference there.

Tomorrow we go to Redwood, the coolest, foggiest, greatest place there is. The only thing it seems to be lacking, actually, is any sort of modern infrastructure, including wifi. Last time we were there we sat in a cafe 20 miles from our campground trying desperately to get a signal. So there's a good chance we won't be able to post regularly.

Keep in mind, those of you who've been following along for a couple of years, that this is where I, world-class fisherman Mark Gowman, set the year's record on the Klamath River with a 33-pound king salmon. I also hauled in an 80-pound sting ray off the Carolina coast, and have caught a couple of other very large fish. I know this sounds like bragging, but it's just because I'm not actually a fisherman. These are the only fish I've ever caught. Even Babe Ruth couldn't touch that slugging average.

If we don't post anything for a couple of days, but you just have to know what's going on and your life isn't complete without your daily dose o' Gownezio, you can just look here and pretend it's happening right now.

See you soon!