STORMY WET WINDY WEATHER

Moving on to January

Recapping some of that December stuff…

HEADLINES ON CHRISTMAS EVE MORNING…

Here comes a Christmas storm

The weather outside will soon be frightful as an atmospheric river gushes into our region, bringing heavy rain, mountain snow and possibly the highest winds of the season for some areas.

Sigh.

I finished up December with the least number of rides I have done in a month.

We did have some family fun together with Sarah’s family and Jenny’s family. So that was a good thing for December at least 😊. Susan’s car accident was not a highlight!

Now to focus on some new year adventures, gatherings, and bicycle rides. Daylight hours getting longer is an inspiration for more riding this month.

As always, our annual Rainbow FROSTY ride and social gathering is a highlight way to begin our new year. The day after, after having a decent day for a ride, there was rain in the forecast. I got out quickly at early morning for a short ride, and came home dripping.

At least the start of the morning stayed fairly dry as I was experiencing only some light drizzle as I cycled along my neighborhood route. Came across Christmas Flamigoes along the way.

Then .. days of rain again. Until ——- we got some very good weather for doing anything outdoors. The first day of such weather invited me and my friend Kathy to venture up north a bit for a ride in the Skagit area.

Riding with a friend, in the sun, and in the country side after a soaking month of weather was glorious and served to bring me up a bit from the gloom and doom I was sinking into.

You know you are in the country when the chickens are out there playing. And see the sun patches on the grass ;’-).

The cows were home and having lunch.

Speaking of lunch, I was happy to know of the picnic table behind the farm stand where we had had our lunch stop with the SOTF group back in June. The farm stand was closed and fenced off for the winter. But we found the table where we could enjoy a rest and have our packed lunch.

Back on the road, we were treated several times to views of the Trumpeter Swans. If you embiggen this next photo, you get a better image that includes some flying swans.

There are lots of barns in this farmland area, some tumble downs, and some pristine.

Red tumble down barn.

A well kept barn behind the farmhouse is owned by our friends Shirley and Sherry.

I waved to the house I we passed but saw no one about. Less than a quarter mile ahead I saw someone walking on the other side of the road, back to us and thought fleetingly, I wonder if that could be Shirley. As I got closer it was still not clear as I could not see her face, but took the chance called out her name. And lo! It WAS Shirley. This was great highlight for an already highlighted bike trip!

One more photo for the day that ensures we were indeed in the country. The blue sky, fluffy passing white clouds, hillock of trees, and surrounding green grass, oh yeah.

The very next day after that sunny ride in the country, it rained. Of course. I had not pre-planned my visit to friend Vicky around the weather, but this was a fine activity for this kind of day. I had hoped to use all public transit to get to Whidbey Island, but we had a kerfuffle about time schedule for the bus so Susan drove me to the Mukilteo ferry.

Off I go to Clinton, Whidbey Island. Clouds hold some rain, but at this point the rain was light.

As they always do, a few gulls escorted the boat to the next stop which is about a 15 minute sail. Some raindrops on the window and a slight reflection of my jacket.

Vickie met me and we drove to her house for lunch and visiting time. The time seemed to fly by and soon I was on the return ferry.

As we passed the other ferry. Still cloudy but lighter with the sun struggling to come through those clouds.

It was a nice day all around, and this time I seamlessly got the bus for the 10 minute ride so within a 5 minute walk from home.

And just a week later Kathy and I had to cancel our planned bike ride because the heavy fog all around would not lift. And it stayed around ALL DAY!

Fortunately I did get in a couple of my local bike rides after that. No photos because, well, you’ve seen them all!! Well… maybe not this one as I show off my new base layer shirt that Susan got for me for Christmas. Note the rare sighting of a sun streak.

Now, as we come into the final two weeks of January, we will have a string of days with sunshine and no rain. We will pay a price for that with cold temps! Cold temps with freezing and below at night will bring this frost in the mornings.

I don’t know if it will warm up enough to ensure non-slick, icy roads for my planned ride today, but I am dressed and ready for ‘just in case’!

With this entry I will post for January. Most of the good riding (with some photos) are done for the month, and if any surprising days appear for some more adventure this month I will include those in the next post.

Thank you continuing to follow along with me, you provide the reason I have not given up writing this blog 😉.