Kelly came up for a visit! She's been juggling with finding work (reliable work) in Krakow. We'll be visiting her in the next month or so. She also might go help out Tina's dad with teaching English in Mongolia next summer! Go Kelly!

Some dead guy and his feet and a Catholic church outside Wilanow Palace, south of us by about a mile or two.

Part of Wilanow Palace, under some tempermental rennovation. The Palace was looted by the Nazis, but hardly damaged.

Grr

Erden Eruc is off on Stage 2 (or is it 3, 4, 5 or 6?)

"I am in Portland now. I made good progress until here, clocking 78 miles the first day, then 92 miles the next. Today I had a late start and arrived at the edge of Portland on Rt. 30 after 51 miles. I feel strong and motivated to continue. There is purpose in each crank of the pedals and that feels good.

I left Seattle on Sunday morning at 07:15 after friends gathered to see me off at the Pocock Rowing Center. Dale Smith, Brett Wolfe, Beryl Fernandes, Cem Terzi, Jenny Frazier, Kris Parfitt and Nancy accompanied me on their bicycles. Everyone had varying commitments that day and I was certainly grateful for their enthusiasm to show up that early on a Sunday morning. Beyond Seward Park, Cem and Beryl remained with me until Puyallup, 50 miles away from where we had started.

Somewhere in Renton we were looking for the beginnings of the Interurban Trail and magically came across two young men, Leif and Owen on their bikes. They took us to the trail and rode with us for a while. If they had described how to get to it, we probably would have been lost. As we spoke while riding, Owan told me of his plans to ride down the California coastline. Hearing of my climb of Denali, he brought up "this guy from Norway that bicycled to Everest." I told him about Goran, and he told me that one of his teachers was friends with him. Small world, and there was a wonderful magic in that encounter.

That evening in McKenna just short of Yelm, I started looking for a campsite. It was getting late and that darn fence along the way had not quit. If I could find a suitable break in the fence, I would camp... In McKenna, I stopped at a gas station to ask for campsites, then asked about a hotel when the answer was not forthcoming. After I told the attendant about the non-stop fence, she asked a gentleman who was there briefly who then offered me a development that he managed. "20 acre lots with Rainier views," he said, "bunch doctors are buying them." He was going to open the gate for me which was a couple miles away. When I threw down my sleeping bag on the ground, it was around seven pm. I was out like a light...

I slept 12 straight hours, then riding south, I was able to identify the STP (annual Seattle to Portland bike tour) marks all along the way. They were round pink colored marks on the road side that made the ride easy. I did lose my way once around Napavine, but kind locals send me in the right direction. I was able to see the wide profile of Mt. St. Helens to the east. In Kelso, I checked into a hotel and Nancy found me there. No computers, no distractions, we were catching up now that all the rush to get on the road was over.

I had a relatively short ride to Portland. All along there was talk of St. Helens blowing steam. The gas stations had the directions to the mountain taped on their windows - I guess they were tired of repeating the same to gawking tourists! We will be contacting the media along the way, but we will have to compete with St. Helens now, the November elections later..."

Erden.

Ride safe, Erden, our thoughts are with you!
For more information on Erden's round the world adventure, go to:
http://around-n-over.org/

Bicycle! Bicycle!

Ahh, a nice Sunday it was.

For the first time in 9 years, I put my old knobby tires on my mountain bike-which has a been an urban commuting machine for nearly a decade-and Jill and I went out to Powsin Park, SW of our flat and close to her school. It's a big suburban forest filled with a variety of trees and a gazillion trails, all crossing this way and that. As is typical for Warsaw (and all Europe, probably) the locals were out in force, enjoying their personal nature walks, hanging on to what always seems like the final nice weekend of the year (but every weekend is holding strong so far! (knock on wood!))

We spent the morning prepping our bikes (SUPER MEGA THANKS TO SUE FROM JILL HERE!), putting on new grips, fenders, bike computer, etc and rode out our electronic garage door (jealous, Tim?) and were at the park within 4 miles-reminded me of days of yore with KJ and Scoop in AZ, just a few sobering miles to the National Trail at South Mountain park-though unfortunately, we weren't heading towards an incredibly technical riding adventure, that would threaten life and limb from broken bones and cactus-needle pierced flesh...oh, well, at least we survived those days (and the nights before) to one day tell about them again on a blog...

The park is nice, and was perfect for us 'Fred's,' as Kris would say. We were sloppy, out of shape, and our buns and crotches weren't happy or ready for the multitude of tiny bumps that would continually beat at us, no matter how well you tried to ride the semi-smooth terrain. Lots of trees, lots of fall colors starting up and the smell of the fallen leaves was heavenly. My 2nd time out of a city-like situation since being in Poland.

There's no trail maps, some colored labels painted on trees, and people walking everywhere. The park's main trails were dirt, flat and were about 8-10' wide, so there was usually plenty of room to get around the peds, or pass other riders. All shapes and sizes were out there, and a lot of Poles do like 2-wheeled adventures. I've heard the amount of rowerys (bike shops) in Warsaw have tripled in the last 4 years, and judging by the amount of high-end, dual suspension bikes I've seen around town, I believe it.

The wide trails are pretty boring, unless you like racing up on old people and scaring the hell out of them since you don't know how to say 'On your left' in Polski. So, we'd keep our eyes open for smaller trails that cut off into the woods. Some of them were fun, some of them were wet and sloppy and little pricklers grabbing at your lower legs. The best trail we found ran around the perimeter. It was classic singletrack (fun!), swervy, and provided a few branches to dodge. Unfortunatley, the park is amazingly flat. But, Warsaw is amazingly flat.

May I say once again that it's a damn shame that after all the volleying of the nation's capital being bounced between Krakow and Warsaw over the centuries that it ended up here. It's nice, but Krakow is King... If Krakow was the capital, Jill's school would be there...near the main US embassy (which happens to be in Krakow's old town, about 2 blocks from St. Mary's church and the huge Rynek (see below, way below).

Anyhoo, the riding was fun, the park is surround by US standard large suburban homes, and we found a series of tents selling brats and beers. Just like Arizona, we consumed to quench our dying thirst and rolled on home. A nice 20+ mile day for our soft, unshapely buns...

Fun.
Oh, I have 21 days until my tourist visa runs out. Everyone please keep their fingers crossed for us that my school gets my visa figured out in time!

speaking of school, I taught 3 different classes last week! One FCE exam prep class with 8 students, most of them high school aged, one Advanced Conversational with a very bright kid who's (wealthy) family own the largest, most modern greenhouse in Europe, and a general English course to 2-5 women (only 2 showed up, but the rest say they're coming next time).

The classes went alright, and I didn't really know what to expect. The General English class was by far the funnest, I didn't teach any part of the 'lesson' but talked a lot about American cities, national parks, volcanoes and, get this: PLATE TECTONIC THEORY?!

Not your average English class. I'll see if I can keep it that way.

Anyhoo, sorry for the long post.

Hope everyone is well and

PLEASE GET YOUR VOTER REGISTRATION SENT IN ASAP IF YOU HAVEN'T ALREADY (DATE JUST PASSED YESTERDAY FOR WASHINGTON VOTERS)...29 DAYS UNTIL THE NEXT REGIME CHANGE!


oh, hi from jill!

The Cabbage Patch kids

Jill tearin' it up in Powsin Park, just NW of her school.