Snow for Jenn

Jenn left for Austin TX yesterday for work, she'll be gone for 2-3 months. Temps in Austin yesterday were over 90 degrees. Today I woke up to 6-8 inches of snow, here are you pics Jenn.

snowy owl

So I finally made the trek to Breckenridge, MO to see the Snowy Owl who has been hanging around the last couple weeks. Wow - it was a beauty. She was right by the road too so I got lots of pics. I need to really learn my camera though cause the settings weren't right and the dark lighting from a stormy sky did not do the owl justice. Oh so pretty!

last update of Feb

Well I have been pretty busy lately. When I had finally lost hope of getting my permit to band Golden-cheeked Warblers this season, the permit was issued! So I am the proud and nervous holder of a banding permit. With that responsibility came a flood of additional to-dos for federal and state permits and equipment ordering and getting equipment organized. Plus I have been wrapping up work here in MO.



That includes a site visit to Ha Ha Tonka and Lake of the Ozarks state parks last week. Both were nice and I made some contacts. All my techs are hired and sites chosen so the 2nd field season is coming along great.



Jack and Tiger are doing great and looking forward to the spring when the windows are always open! Tiger is a she-devil but sweet as can be. Jack is crabbier than usual this week - I think he is jealous of his little sis - and has been picking on Tiger the last few days. Randy will definitely have his hands full being a single 'dad' for the next few months.



I'm off to Austin at the end of the week, so my next blog will likely be from there.


Here's a cute pic of the 'bears' snuggling:

winter green

Well, one year later and we finally painted the downstairs living room! The picture of the new sage isn't the best due to lighting, but it is a very pretty color. We're done until next winter!

old blah color












new soothing color

4 Counties Nocturnal Gravel Grind

I had a great ride on Tuesday, got in about 2 hours on a great night and my legs felt the best that they had in about 8 months. During the ride while exploring some new roads I ran into about 5 miles of gravel on my road bike, I also ended up getting home 45 minutes after sunset. I had such a good time I decided that I wanted to do a night time gravel ride on Thursday and so I invited a few people including the one person that is just crazy enough to try it with me, Chris Locke, I picked out a 35 mile ride that included about 80-90% gravel roads north of Smithville Lake . I met Chris at 5:30 PM at a balmy temp of 45 degrees in the Smokin' Davey trail head, I realized as I was getting ready in the parking lot that I had forgotten the map even though I took meticulous care to pack extra tools, food and water, this was not great since I hadn't been on several roads that we would be traveling. The route covered four counties, started in Clay, then Clinton, Platte, Buchanan, Platte, Clinton and finally finished in Clay. You could almost tell when a county would start by the newly dumped gravel on the roads, several spots had 2"+ of new gravel which made it feel like climbing a gravel pile instead of a back road hill. As we rode through the night, you could count the number of cars on your fingers we saw in the 2+ hours we rode, including one that passed us that must have had a monster joint fired up, since they left a trail of smoke that should have us testing positive for the near future. As we returned to the car the temp really started to drop and we were both getting cold. In the end it was a hell of a workout and I can't wait to do it again. It was a nice change to winter training in the cold midwest.

Weekend in Review

It seems like the seasons are struggling against each other, last week we had below zero temps only to have 70+ degrees on Fri and Sat. I can remember riding at Smithville trails Wednesday after the sun went down and having to stop early because the 20 degree temp was just too cold for my dress. Then on my day off from riding Friday, we had the 100+ year record tying 70 degree day, winter just wouldn't give in totally and hit us with some 30+ mph winds just to remind us that it ain't over yet. I got up early on Sat and rode 4.5 hours with Dan and the Wheel Cyclery guys, got in about 80 miles, mixed group so the pace varied a bit, in the end it was a nice ride and I was pleasantly tired for the remainder of the day. Jenn and I went for lunch at McCormick and Schmicks, I had the blackened Mako shark, it is just unbelievable if you haven't had it. We enjoyed the sun on the plaza as we sipped a few beers and wine on the deck and we watched all the people stroll by on the Plaza. Sunday morning I awoke early and realized that it was in 20s again, too cold for an early morning ride so I started doing chores, I finally decided to go on an easy recon ride, my name for a ride where I just set off and go exploring. I ended up taking it really easy, exploring some new roads, finding some nice WT shantys and even a new town, Glendale. After the ride, Jenn made her great homemade pizza for lunch and I headed to meet my friend Jason for some skeet shooting. All and all a nice relaxing weekend, lots of rest and ready for the week ahead, looking forward to next weekend!

bikes and birds

We experienced a 3 day warm-up - FINALLY! It was 65 Thurs and up to 70 degrees Fri and Sat. I met RC out at the trails Thurs to ride with him - but I forgot that the last time I had biked he had put on my reg. pedals to do some birding by biking and hadn't changed me back to my clipless pedals - uhoh. So he continued on and I went home. But RC got my bike spruced up that night and I went out to Stocksdale Park Fri. It was deliciously warm, but also woefully windy. It took me 40-45 mins to do a full lap and another main loop only lap - usually I can do 3 laps in 45-50 mins. The wind was a real drag - literally. The were a few slick spots along the way which weighed me down. I barely made it back across the grassy field biking straight into a 30+ mph headwind. Fun but exhausting.

Yesterday RC went on a 4 hr bike ride so I went over to Martha Lafite Thompson Sanctuary. It was not very windy but there was a lack of activity. I got also the commonest of the common despite walking all the trails. Still a beautiful day to be out hiking!

and then there were four - Introducing Tiger

We picked Tiger up from her boarding home last Friday (Jan 30) and brought her home. She has been with us a week now, so it seems to be an appropriate time to introduce her to you. She is a wild child and a sweetheart. Since day one, she has has sleeping between our heads (she also has a bad habit of walking across us, including our faces, during the night, but she's so light we barely notice). She also swats at Jack's tail, chases the laser like a madwoman, jumps into the plants and throws dirt on the carpet, leaps from the floor to the speaker and through the rails to the 2nd floor, follows us around like a puppy, eats like she may never see food again, and is so cute she charms the socks on anyone who meets her. Tiger is a good companion for old man Jack, and Jack is a good brother, toelrating her nonsense! They are already playing together, and Friday they even slept together in the papasan:

PS Today is the 2 month anniversary since Snowball's passing - we miss you boo.

Nice Winter training Weekend

This weekend it was an unseasonably warm 60 degree day on Saturday. I set out to meet up with a group at the usual Northland Tuesday route. I left from my house about 1 hour early to make the 18 mile trek to the ride start, I intended of making it a 3 hour 55 mile road ride. Off the bat the 18 very hilly miles were straight into a super strong headwind and I got smoked prior to the start after barely making it on time, most were late and then the group threw a wrench into my plans and we did the route backwards which meant that I was in store for about 75 miles instead. A good group showed up, the Wheel Cyclery boys, Team Chamois Butt'r and a few Cowtowners. The group had some different levels of fitness so it started out and remained fairly calm for this group for most of the ride until we hit a monster hill, I purposely lagged back (not that I could've hung with the 5 that broke away) because I knew I had at least 25 miles left. I ended up about 15 seconds behind the main group at the top of the hill with nobody behind me for some distance, I tried to bridge up for about 6 miles but the neverending stiff headwind meant that since I was stuck in no mans land by myself I wouldn't catch the group (Ryan Halloran, Curt Shelman, Dan Jordan, Fred Herron and some guy I don't know) until they stopped for a minute to let me back on. I ended up riding back to Liberty the shorter way with the Wheel guys so I ended up with 72 miles in about 4 hours. Not bad workout for early season. Sunday I got up and tried to drag Jenn to the Smithville trails, she declined and decided to just go birding instead. Chris called and gave me a heads up that only the west side was dry so I made up my own route riding the same trails about 5 times over. I was surprised but my legs felt good after the prior days ride. I ended up with about 1.5 hours. Jenn and I spent the remainder of the day at home with the new kitten, I bottled my new Boulevard Beer Clone and vegged out the rest of the day. BTW I think I finally got a BLVD Wheat recipe that tastes just like the real thing, I will post the results and recipe after I get a good taste. I'll stop rambling now, I told Jenn I would make a cat scratching post/perch so I better get back to work. Adios.