Tuesday, August 12, 2025 Getting the Bikes Out

 

Tuesday, August 12, 2025 Getting the Bikes out  

My humans let me out and let me roam a little.  Then I could tell they were looking for me.  They called me and I watched.  They walked around till they saw I was sitting in a chair right in front of them.  That was sure fun!

This morning, we figured we would do our walk by riding our bikes.  Part of the adventure is watching Spouse dismantle the myriad locks, cables and straps that hold the bikes in place on the rack.  If someone wants our bikes, they are going to have to work REAL hard to get them!

There are miles and miles of beautiful bike trails in the city.  The Greenwood Trail is kind of like a subway system for the bike trails.  You ride through a park (which is like a subway station), then through the woods to another park (subway station), then over the river and through the woods to another park (subway station) and so forth.  Each park is unique.  Some have soccer fields, others have dog parks.  Some have bathrooms, some just have benches.  But the trail goes all around the city and then some.  It is a wide trail, making it easy for bikers to pass joggers even if they have a baby carriage.  The trail follows the Big Sioux River as it meanders on its way.  There are also footpaths right up against the river.   At one point, a doe and her fawn crossed our path, and then another fawn flew by us, bounding a la Pepe LePew, trying to catch mom.  There were geese and ducks.  They did a fantastic job integrating such a beautiful trail system into the city.  We rode about 6+ miles, then came back.

We hadn’t eaten yet, and we were picking up Ross, a friend of Kay’s to take him for a visit.  But first, breakfast.  Then Kay’s…   Spouse stopped at Dairy Queen to buy Kay a peanut butter blizzard.  This is about all we could do to brighten her day.  We met her hospice caregivers, who seem nice and competent.  Spouse fed her the entire blizzard!  She actually got a few words out several times.  It is hard to watch.  When we left, she started to cry… so did I.   My relationship with Kay was… let’s just say: complicated.  But even with all the baggage, I am so sad for her.  Spouse and I decided that when we leave here, we will bounce around Minnesota some, and then most likely come back here, before we head west.  We’ll see.

We took Ross back home, then headed to our humble abode to enjoy a leisurely afternoon.  Leisurely, until I tried to pay our f’n ticket.  They wouldn’t take my credit card.  I called the credit card company to see if something was going on with travelling.  Fortunately, I got a live person that spoke good English early on.  Nope, nothing wrong with the credit card.  It is this F’N CITY THAT IS TORTURING ME!  I called the phone number they give you if you have trouble.  As usual, it wasn’t the regular person doing the job, so she could help me pay (funny, she had NO trouble with my credit card), but couldn’t tell me why they hate us.  And Spouse wants to go back to that restaurant…  bring quarters… at least the meters take them, assuming we can find a spot we fit in…  I hate them…

As we were sitting outside chatting, we let Rudy off his leash.  He doesn’t wander much and we kept our eyes on him.  He ate grass, he threw up.  He sniffed.  He rolled… and then he disappeared.  We looked around the building behind us, we looked under the rig.  Crap!  Where is he?  Then we saw he was sitting in his chair watching us.  DUH!