Really big circles

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WINTER COMES TO THE PUGET SOUND

I stayed with these people on the way north. Winter came and they sent these photos. They were taken from their beautiful home.

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This is where I sit and post, well I wish. This is a beautiful home in Washington, I was fortunate to be invited in.

The third floor game room. I can only imagine enjoying a winter day in this place. Watching a football game on the big screen, a warm fire in the gas fireplace, adult beverages (coffee for me), and good friends. The beauty of the Puget sound would pass the time between shots.

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A view from the ferry ride to the main land. The three story house in the center is where I stayed the night.

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The water was very clear. If you look closely you can see Salmon.

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This was taken from the Clinton Island shore. I watched this ferry make dozens of trips. Tomorrow I will be on board heading for Seattle.

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The begining of the ferry ride.

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My bike is in the bottom right of the picture. The guy above was yelling something about being the king of the world.

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SECURED FOR ROUGH SEAS

My bike was secured for the ferry ride. I made sure my helmet was also secure because on the east coast I almost lost it when it blew out of the back of the boat.

Some nice people in a small fishing boat plucked it out of the water and found me. I had no idea what had happened to it until I heard them yelling. I was just about to head to the next town to buy a new one. Like I said before, people are really nice.

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DIFFERENT THEN I EXPECTED

The north west is so much different than I thought. Familiar but so different.

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FRESH OR SALT WATER?

Moving toward the Russian river in Washington, it was hard to tell where fresh water starts and salt water ends. This looks like a lake in Iowa, but there were signs of high and low tide.

I talked to several locals about this unique environment. Several types of fish cross back and forth, but most are salmon. They were catching Rockfish and Coho Salmon in this area.

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HIGHWAY SONGS

The call of the highway has been a lifelong passion. My four speed '63 Corsair complete with an eight track player, nine inch coaxial speakers, and a constant diet of James Taylor, and Grateful Dead songs of the road.

We lived in our cars in those days, traveling hundreds of miles of back country roads almost nightly, smoking Winston’s and drinking Scheduling Little King Ale.

I wouldn't be caught dead on a bicycle in those days, but the highway had romanced my heart for life.

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SOCCER DISASTER

I began my trip north through Sausalito. There is a bike path through most of it which was filled with joggers and bicycles.

It passed by a soccer field with a very lively game in progress. However, as the action was focused on one end of the field there was a large dog relieving himself in front of the opposite goal.

The action moved toward the stinky end of the field and the kids stopped in their tracks and began holding their noses. I was wondering what card the referee would use for this infraction.

I do know the owned was half way home by now. For some strange reason I notice those special moments.

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GREAT PICTURE BY ACCIDENT

This is the north side of the Golden Gate Bridge. The size of it is even more amazing when you walk or ride across it. This shot was just luck, I had not planned this great angle.

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OPENING DAY STORY

I work in a grocery store where I regularly talked with a woman who walked across the Golden Gate Bridge the day it opened. She said it was a sunny day in 1937 and thousands of people packed the bridge from shore to shore.

Through the day they lost their little brother. There were rumors that a few people had fallen over the side so they feared it was him. After a few hours of panic, they found him playing with friends.

I have driven across the bridge dozens of times. It was part of my weekend bike ride. I rode from Noe Valley to Sausalito for coffee. Then back across the bridge then I followed the shore down the San Francisco coast line for another coffee. Then back to Noe Valley over Twin Peaks.

She talked about opening day like it was yesterday. I gave her a link to this blog, she had her great grandkids pull it up on their computer. She was pleased to see my pictures and read my words. She complimented me on my writing, as several others have.

I had never thought much about being able to communicate in written words. However, in person I'm very accomplished at bull shit.