Sunday in the "park" with Lance

I'm still here, and still riding! One of my blogpals checked in with me via email; she said I'd been unusually silent on my blogs. Guess I've been so busy that I didn't even realize it. Time really is like sand, slipping through my fingers, refusing to be grasped....

Anyway, Theresa prompted me to finish this post, started Sunday night. I rode that evening, getting to renew our acquaintance with a favorite old logging road/trail. You see, no trespassing signs with an unfamiliar name had been posted on it, barring our access; I thought someone else from whom I had permission to ride owned that land. When picking up peaches last week I asked the owner of the orchard if he knew who posted the signs. He told me which house they lived in, and said the signs were posted because of a particular neighbor. Hmm; sounds like I'm not the only person anxious for their big, fancy house to sell so they can take their fast cars, loud engines, and high-powered gunfire elsewhere! I rode down to the "no trespassing" poster's house to enquire about access, and he said I was welcome to ride past the signs and over the logs put there to block the problem neighbors from roaring through at 2:00 AM.

The woods have changed a lot in a few weeks. The clumps of large leaves that looked like wild rhubarb have grown into tall stalks with thistle-like buds at the end:

Mystery plants

Their thistle-like buds

Blackberries now hang heavy on the vines:

And leaves are falling prematurely from drought-stressed maples:

The poison oak is changing color early, too, but that's a blessing!

We came back up the hill along the road, where we could appreciate the dramatic sky not yet colored by setting sun. I hope you enjoyed "riding along" with Lance and me!