Tag Archives: featured

Bicycling, Facebook, Living in the City

Each Day As It Comes

Ardmore Stop and Hydrate

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The northern terminus of the Lakefront Path is a good resting spot and watering hole. Unfortunately there are only a few options to continue -- Evanston is not one of them.

When October comes around the days get cooler, the weather less predictable, and one must take each day as if might be the last opportunity to ride.  Our “Seniors” group tends to do Tuesdays and Thursdays beginning at the beautiful Rulland Grove at DuSable Harbor.  North or South depending on wind to the end of the train and back using an alternative set of streets.  Routes that involve Evanston are rapidly becoming something that this author is putting on his “Do not ride” list.  Sheridan Road or Chicago/Clark are really not bicycle friendly.

Fall rides are especially colorful with both leave and hardy wild flowers along the way.  I need to bring my big, heavy, multi-lens SLR along to do justice to the scenery.

Amateur Radio, Facebook, I & M Canal

National Parks on the Air – NPOTA

I’ve been a licensed amateur radio operator (KB9CZ) for many years, but for the last 20 years have been inactive except for a few occasional times using a small hand held radio for local contacts.  I’d like to get back in the hobby but the interference at our condo pretty much eliminates that option.  The solution may be a portable location, i.e. operating at a temporary site where conditions are more favorable.  I did it once at my son’s home in Douglasville, GA.

The American Radio Relay League (ARRL) is the national trade association for hams like myself.  They sponsor a number of contests where operators try to make contacts under certain controlled conditions such as a particular time period, frequency of transmission, location, etc.  Beginning January 1, 2016 there is a one-year contest to celebrate the National Park Service.  Operators will set up at one or more designated National Park locations and other hams will try to contact as many locations possible.

I think I’ve now got the incentive to construct a portable station that can be set up in a park or forest preserve.  One of the National Parks locations is the Marquette and Joliet portage park just west of theCity — a location I’ve been to many times in my I&M Canal explorations.

More to follow …

Recreational Beverages

The Glengoyne Distillery

On a recent trip to Scotland I had the opportunity to take a trip to the Glengoyne Distillery.  Here are a few photos from that trip along with comments.

Getting There

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Cruise ships dock in Greenock since they cannot navigate the River Clyde all the way east to Glasgow. The nearest bridge is east and the bus driver took a circuitous route to avoid Glasgow traffic, pass historic sites (Mary Queen of Scots castle) and view scenery. There was a stop at Loch Lomond and then on to the Glengoyne Distillery, founded in 1833, via a very narrow road.