Sandy Lake Michigan

Here I am in southwest Michigan, just a few miles north of Indiana. It's been somewhat windy since my arrival last weekend in St Joseph but I've enjoyed taking pictures of the Lake Michigan shoreline

St Joseph, MI is right on the shore and has some fantastic opportunities. I went down after work one afternoon and squeezed off a few frames. The wind was blowing steady and hard, carrying sand with it and felt like I was being sandblasted. Moreover, I was concerned about the Nikon.

The Weather Channel had quite a story on it and was broadcasting from Muskegon making it sound as if the entire lake was being blown onshore. It must have been a slow news day for the weather guys.

Saturday, I rode down into Indiana and checked out the Indiana (I never knew they existed) Dunes State and National Parks. I walked quite a bit on various beaches and climbed Mount Baldy, a huge sand dune. The 125 foot"climb" was pretty much a trail in soft sand that would make you pant for breath even if it was level. As it was, it gave me my cardio for the day.

I've spent a couple of winters in Michigan and hopefully, I'll be out of here soon as the temperature has been dropping into the mid thirties at night. A sure sign of colder times to come.

Gulf Coast Police Motorcycle Skills Championship

Leaving Seattle Friday, I received a call while at the airport directing me to St Joseph, Michigan and the catch was, I would have to be there Sunday. That meant any long weekend plans were now compressed into Saturday and Sunday morning. That would be seeing children, grandchildren and accomplishing a couple of minor "honey-do" items on the list.

Saturday was the 2010 Gulf Coast Motorcycle Championship Skills competition in Gonzales. There was a lot of great riding from officers all over the south. They were so good, I had the feeling I should just call a tow truck and have mine hauled home never to ride it again. These guys are simply good.

There was a small window of time that I took a long ride out of the way to Alligator Bayou to check out a gang of old friends. I'm pretty sure they would have loved for me to join them but the water looked a tad nasty.

Probably my last weekend in Western Washington

What a great weekend. It was nice and cool so even though I had to work Saturday morning, I took advantage of the afternoon and rode up Hwy 101 on the eastern side of the Olympic Peninsula. The road was a winding path along the Puget Sound which inspired several little side trips that presented the beginnings of the change of fall colors.

Sunday, I rode back up to Seattle so I could exchange my car to take advantage of a promotion that would yield some more free days on my rental program. Again, the sun was out so that drew out a lot of people making the traffic especially nasty. I fought my way downtown to the Public Market, paid an unbelievable amount to park and got out with my camera and bag to do a little people watching.

One of the first things that got my attention was what seemed to be an inordinate amount of teenage street children. Even though the sun was shining, the temperature was in the mid 50s and a light jacket was needed by most. I walked by three of them huddled up against a wall having a grand old time. One of the boys was shirtless and the cool breeze didn't seem to affect him in the least. You have to wonder what kind of chemicals he had coursing through his veins.

There were lots of people, young and old perusing the sidewalk cafes, small shops and pocket parks. Old panhandling vagrants sat next to couples with children and pets. Entire families seemed to enjoy the sun and bicyclists and scooter riders negotiated the hoards of human traffic. It wouldn't be Seattle if there wasn't at least one group protesting something, this time it was human rights abuses in China. Just wait until the conservatives are back in power and it will turn viral toward them again. Five years ago, I was here and it seemed there was some kind of protest against the administration every few blocks.

After an hour I began to get bored with people watching, so I began to make my way up the very steep incline toward where my car was parked. I'm so out of shape!

I might mention, Mount Rainier is a very prominent part of the landscape here but the climate is so wet, it takes a really bright day to burn off the mist so it becomes visible. Today was one of the best days to see it since I've been up here.

Coffee

From St Louis, I had to come back to Olympia for another two weeks, so this morning I was out scouting for a good cup of joe, when I saw this woman in her electric wheel chair in the drive through lane at a local coffee shop.

I realize handicapped people have wants and needs like everyone else but just thought the irony of a wheel chair in the drive through was kinda funny being here in the Pacific wet coast where you can stand in the doorway of one Starbucks and see another across the street in some places.

Sick and twisted, I am.

Bean

Finishing up in Olympia last week, I enjoyed a long weekend at home using it mostly to catch up on things I had been putting off for months.

Wednesday found me scrambling for plane rides again for an annual conference in St Louis which I partly dread and partly enjoy. What I enjoy is getting together with people I speak with often but only see once a year. The part I do not look forward to is the seemingly endless one hour talks by some department leader who probably would rather be doing something else too.

So, as a certified bean, I have been counted and analyzed by those whose job it is to do so and can be thankful it's over for another year and can go back to doing my job as well as I can.