The early morning sky was full of clouds…
contrasted by an incredible stripe of orange along the horizon!

But as the sun finally made it through the clouds, the sky lit up
and made for quite the “sun-shiny” morning!

Clear sky. Blue water. Orange sunrise… another classic biking sunrise silhouette!

Yep… it was so much fun last week, that we decided to keep the fun going!
And continue with the cleaning, organizing & inventory-ing again this today.
Luckily we got through the bulk of the pottery – but I still have a lot to tackle.

Why does it seem like my storage room will never be organized?…
even after two full days of work – and filling up two dumpsters with garbage!!!
I’m sure I’m not the only one with this ongoing struggle…

Another stunning morning on the bike… beautiful pastel clouds across the sky!

One of the these days, I REALLY need to spend some quality time in the studio!
I need to get my act together and start making more pots!… real soon!
But it’s just so incredibly beautiful outside… I need to play outside!!!

A spectacular sunrise this morning was the perfect present to start off the day!

10/10/10 at 10:10am…
We were huffing, puffing & sweating after pedaling to the top of Bean Blossom Hill.
Loving the challenge. Enjoying the colors. Fun playing with each other!
Where were you?

This past weekend was the Hilly Hundred bike ride down in southern Indiana.
Traditionally my favorite bike ride of the entire year! It always seems like you’re in
good shape after riding all summer, the Fall foliage is always stunning and the route
always has a lot of hills! Hence the name… So once again, we drove down to Bloomington,
along with over 5,000 of my fellow bicycling fanatics, to rides some hills!
After I dusted off my bike…

This weekend was no disappointment. In fact, it was one of the best ever!!!
Generally the weather for the Hilly is cold, chilly and crisp. This year… it as hot!
Both days were up in the high 80’s – and we loved it. Plus, we had a new route on Saturday
covering new roads and new hills! Averaging about 5,000 feet of vertical climb each day,
we loved the challenge – and loved the downhills! In fact… my favorite might be rolling hills.
Get some momentum started and you can fly up & over the hills… so much fun!!!

Plus the colors were spectacular this weekend. Driving down to Bloomington, I was a little
concerned that the trees didn’t appear as though they had changed yet. A lot of green
between Chicago & Bloomington. But once we got there, down around Brown County
and the Morgan-Monroe State Park, the colors exploded for another stunning weekend!

On the new route Saturday, we also passed a road marked as a “special photo op.” Never
one to miss a good “photo op,” Chris and I quickly decided to follow the road to see what
was going on. And we found a beautiful trestle bridge – still functioning and wide spanning.
Apparently it still works and the train crosses slowly twice a day. And it is “allegedly” the
largest trestle bridge in North America, and the third largest in the world. Plus, it had
all of my favorite things… rusty metal, geometric repetition and Fall colors all around!

As we continued to pedal, the scenery continues to impress. I feel very lucky that I’ve
gotten to play outside two weekends in a row in perfect Fall splendor!!! Up & down
the hills – some long, some tall, some steep. With about 5,000 feet to PEDAL UP
each day, it takes a lot of focus & determination… and the guarantee of a wonderful
downhill ride. This weekend, my top speed downhill was 44.3 miles per hour! Yippee!!!

So once again, it was a wonderful Hilly Hundred. With the surprisingly warm weather
being a huge hit – and the spectacular Fall colors. A wonderful weekend of biking!…
A lot of hills. A lot of fun!

It was a beautiful morning – very warm, very sunny & very orange!

Well, that was a LOT of photos… and a LOT of stories.
Thanks for bearing with me. And allowing me to ramble on for a bit.
Hopefully you’ve enjoyed some of the incredible Fall color – and were
impressed & excited to see the beautiful artwork of Amy Higgason!

Thanks for playing…