DECEMBER 2024 Part 2

This became my least favorite month .. at least for this year for weather. It gradually went downhill with lots of rain, atmospheric river and all. So even with temps in the 50s at times, I was not wiling to ride in all that rain. I did grab a few decent days and hopped on the saddle for some rides.

The people during the month made up for the weather, as I told about our time with Nese in my last post. And there were more to enjoy.

Two of my friends, Dorothy and Linda, planned to meet me at a new to us Tea place for a cuppa and some visiting time for the holidays. Unfortunately Dorothy had caught a cold and did not want to expose us to it so she had to cancel. But Linda was able to join me and we enjoyed the tea shop “Tea Steeps” enough to plan to come again sometime in the future.

I say yes, I am always looking for tea ;’-).

This was a first for me —- and maybe for Linda — a pink Christmas tree. Why not?

With Catherine’s OK, we pulled two tables together in anticipation of Dorothy joining us. We enjoyed all the flowers on the wall.

Catherine took Linda on the tea tour to make a choice from the very many teas available. Linda is not really a tea drinker, so she chose to drink what I was drinking. My usual Japanese Sencha green tea.

Two more wall hangings drew my interest, the first reminiscing how it once was for tea at an outdoor cafe, the second one with promise perhaps.

Linda and I enjoyed our tea, our time together, and meeting Catherine, the owner of this new tea shop. If it was closer to where I live, it could become a regular hang out! But 25+ minute drive will make it a periodic visit.

Next adventure took us to Port Townsend for our annual Rainbow Rider Christmas gathering. Every year there is an option to spend 2 or 3 nights and a couple of days for a fun get together.

Someone brings a tree, and everyone has a hand in decorating it. Here Kristin puts some finishing touches on this years Tanenbaum.

Talented Vickie plays Christmas music for many of us to sing along with.

We have games and puzzles all around. Susan demonstrates the game “Quirkle”. And Kristi in the background works on a jigsaw puzzle.

We gather in a circle for the gift game which has taken several formations over the 20+ years we have been doing this.

Of course there is food — lots of food — but I didn’t get photos of that as it is at times boring to look at food. But the eating of it was anything but boring.

We each spend our nights in a place of our choice, several in a motel or Inn nearby, we as well as Vickie, Maridee & Laura, in our vans at a nearby campground. We gather in a centrally located venue that has enough room for us to enjoy. This time Kristi & Kristin rented the Girl Scout house which worked out really well and everyone was free to come and go as we pleased.

The weather!!!!

Huge wind Storm accompanied by a good amount of rain rocked us in the night in our van. Wind stayed strong and nonstop for hours. Our usual for this weekend is to include a hike and/or a bike ride. Vickie led several (most) on a windy beach walk.

I was sure that this would be a year that I would not get to bike! But at the final minutes, Susan said we had time before departure for home for me to join the few who planned to ride.

Four of us braved some expected rain but got mostly sun ;’-).

Kristin and I do some last minute map coordinating.

And we are off … almost.

You would think that with all the coordinating and double checking, we could make it out of town. But… one more check.

It was a short but very pleasant ride for the four of us and we check the map to determine our next turn.

They did manage to get me on an unpaved trail through a long park that also had a few moments of gravel, roots, and narrow lanes! No photos as I was holding on for my life 🙄. (It really was a mild trail, but I do detest unpaved, unmaintained trails that are meant more for walking 😉)

Another very fun and caring gathering of our Rainbow riders. Eighteen of us (including 2 children) found our most wonderful time of the year 💕.

The following week, at home, of course held more days (too many) of rain and icky weather. I did find a slot in a couple of days for short rides near home, and then was able to rope in Kim & Meri for a ride on the Centennial Trail in Snohomish. Cloudy but warm at 56 degrees, and no rain until after we were back at our homes.

A stop at the little library and free stuff shed amounted to just looking, no taking of anything.

The Free Things Box..

Not much in there right now…

Meri takes a look at my bike.

Some of those cute painted rocks.

We had lunch at a favorite spot in Lake Stevens — Bisquit & Bean — where we got out Bisquit breakfast sandwiches that we like so much. Road construction closing the road I had intended on taking to the finish made us revamp and complete the ride back on the trail.

During all that, I managed to break the arm off of my (very old) glasses and had to jury rig something to hold until I got home for my better glasses. Between us we scrounged up some duct tape and Kim just had to take my photo 🙄.

It was a great day with these friends and I will look forward to seeing them and riding with them again in the near future — sometime after the new year 2025. We always enjoy riding together and the fun we have.

I think I will now end this post, and posts for this year, as family gatherings will happen and I have posted about many of those in the past. Nothing new to share. And if there is, I will write and photo about that later.

Winter Solstice has now begun, so the daylight hours will get longer incrementally. We all will be happy to climb out of the dark.