National Bike Summit 2012

I’ve been doing a ton of work with Little Rock’s bike friendly community committee, so when they offered me a chance to represent LR at the National Bike Summit this month, I was eager to go.

At the last minute my flight from LR to Dallas was cancelled, and I was rescheduled on a flight the next day.  A day’s delay would have meant missing part of the conference, so somehow, with me standing at the ticket counter inside and Bryan in the truck looking up flights on his iPhone, I managed to get on a different airline’s flight to Chicago and then to Washington DC, right on time.

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New Mountain Bike

In the back of my head, I’ve thought that mountain biking would be interesting to try but over the years I’ve never gotten closer than riding my Long Haul Trucker (LHT) touring bike on gravel roads near Lake Sylvia or in Newton County or riding my polo bike on a very flat beginner mountain bike trail while my daughter rode her mountain unicycle.  My LHT is pretty nice on gravel roads because of Surly’s “fatties fit fine” policy that allows me to fit fenders and 50mm tires.

photo (7)

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Dog House Project

Hayduke has a pretty good life.  That little stray puppy huddled in the tree roots, hungry and scared, has made a fine life for himself in the house across the street.  He gets good dog food and an endless supply of toys and treats and belly scratches and long hikes in the woods.  It’s his first winter here, and even though he sleeps inside at night, he needs a doghouse for the cold mornings and evenings he stays outside during the winter, or during the rainy parts of the year.
But will any old doghouse do?  No, it will not.  No doghouses we can buy locally are insulated.  No doghouses we can order online review well.  Most dogs in Arkansas do just fine with a non-insulated doghouse.  Most dogs don’t read online reviews.

We’re BUILDING a doghouse.  We ordered plans online from doghouseplans.com and gathered ideas from reviewing hundreds of doghouse photos.  We’ve gone to Home Depot a half dozen times.  We’ve spent good money and large parts of four days building this doghouse.

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New Years Hike

Happy New Year!  The last supper of 2011 was Jarion’s excellent steak and veggies, eaten by the light of a camp lantern on a picnic table.  We spent the last night of 2011 in a tent near the top of Mount Magazine.  It’s a windy, windy place.
We were up early, in the cold.  Jarion had lost the lighter the night before, so I loaded up the early risers to obtain a replacement (and coffee) at the Lodge.  Then we drove back to camp for pancakes and eggs and sausage before loading up the dogs and the gear and driving back down the mountain.

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Priorities

We’re done!  We’d been way behind on the blog again.  Our excuse is just that it was a busy autumn, and I just didn’t make telling stories and posting photos a big priority.  In many cases, we would have the photography but no story, or we’d have the story but the photos weren’t finished.  Or we’d be finished with one post but an earlier one wasn’t ready and we hate to publish things out of order.

We’d like to thank all our readers (yes, all three of you!) for your patience.  We’ve spent chunks of our holiday vacation finishing up posts from the last 5+ months.

And now we’re operating in real time. Everything that happens now, is happening now. We’re at now now.

–Bryan & Aly


Latest Posts:

  • Festivus (12/26)
  • Guest Bathroom (12/26)
  • Holiday Decorating 2011 (12/26)
  • Mandy’s 14th Birthday (12/26)
  • Jingle Bell Jubilee Parade (12/26)
  • NOLA Pukefest (12/26)
  • Ouachita Trail, Section 6 (12/26)
  • Caddo Valley Rail Line (12/26)
  • ASMSA Open House (12/26)
  • Ozark Highlands Trail, Section 2 (12/26)
  • Bike Fair 2011 (12/26)
  • Bikes Vs. Zombies (12/26)
  • USGS + MUC (12/26)
  • Obedience Class for Dogs (12/26)
  • Arky 100 2011 (12/26)
  • Clinton Park Bridge Opening (12/26)
  • Lake Catherine (12/26)
  • Traffic Safety 101 (12/26)
  • North Georgia (12/26)
  • Bike Commuting (12/26)
  • 2 Rivers Bridge Dedication (12/26)
  • Diamond Bear (12/25)
  • Goodbye, Fencing (12/24)
  • The Amazing Giant Cat Tree Palace Sniper Tower (12/24)

Festivus

This year we added an official Festivus celebration to our holiday calendar. (Wikipedia has a well-written and comprehensive article about Festivus, and you should read it if you’re unfamiliar with this winter holiday.)  Bryan made a Festivus pole for the house (under $10 DIY or you can buy one here –Bryan), and our friends Kathy and Jarion went with us to a movie (Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol; worth the IMAX surcharge –Bryan).  After the movie, we ate supper at our house and participated in an extended Airing of Grievances session (she’s holding a Grievance form against his chest, above.)  We went to their house for carrot cake for dessert, and the dogs took care of the Feats of Strength portion of the customary Festivus celebration.

Guest Bathroom

When we bought our house, we knew that our second bathroom was sort of terrible.  The fixtures were nice, but the room was painted bright yellow with a sort of multi-layer brown/gold spongy finish.  I suppose the previous owners had thought that the effect would be rich and elegant.  I thought that the effect led one to believe that a large mammal had been smeared in its own poop and then had seizures in the room, blotting the excrement all over the walls.

A second problem involved the sink.  It was a nice Kohler pedestal, but its lack of a cabinet meant that there was no storage at all in the small bathroom.  This was a problem for our teenager – even a low-maintenance girl like Mandy needs a place to store a few bathroom things.  Since the room doubles as a guest bathroom, there was no way for her to store her own lotions and potions that still allowed the room to be presentable for guests.  It was getting more and more frustrating for all of us.

So this year, one of her holiday gifts will be a remodeled bathroom.
Bathroom-Before&After

On the Saturday Mandy left for her annual winter trip to Tulsa, Bryan and I shopped for and bought a new vanity, counter, and sink for the bathroom.  Sunday was spent removing the fixtures, repainting the room, reinstalling the toilet and adding the new vanity.

Bathroom-Composite

We all wanted a brighter orange wall color, but it would have clashed with the granite countertop.  It’s actually turned out rather more classy and grown-up than we’d intended, but it’s very pretty and I suppose we’ll manage.

Holiday Decorating 2011


When we pulled up in front of Bradbury’s Christmas Tree Farm, a boy in a red ball cap met us at the truck with a smile and a saw.   Bryan and Mandy choose our tree based on height, color and even-ness; I have veto power because I’m the one who notices when a tree’s trunk is so crooked it won’t fit well in the tree base.



Then it was home to put up the tree.  This year we recorded another time-lapse video (that’s it up top) of decorating the house.  And now we’re ready for the holiday season, full of music and food and naps and presents and friends