Fantastic views at Xigia Tavern during lunch

Leaving South Xigia Beach, we hit the main road and just 500 metres away we saw this tavern with a spacious parking lot. We stopped to check it out.

It turns out that the tavern is perched on the mountain sea cliff and looking out to the blue Ionian Sea. Fantastic views! I personally loved the thick trees giving shade to the diners, they bid a very cosy and romantic ambience, and oh, the birds happily chirping away from tree to tree. Well, what can I say? In this restaurant, you do not need man-made music to accompany the beautiful view.

So I told the Dutchman—this is it. We are not going anywhere else for lunch =)

When we came back from holiday I did some research on the restaurant and it turns out that its specialty is seafood and the owner is Italian who migrated to Zakynthos, Greece. This restaurant is very popular among the locals and the tourists as well. That is why it took us a LONG TIME to be seated. Guests came pouring in and we have to wait patiently in line. Dutchman was grumbling and ready to leave but I put down my foot and told him to be still.

Eventually we got our table with a nice view. Because the restaurant was buzzing with diners, ergo overcapacity, it took a while for them to take our order and for the food to arrive. I didn’t mind, I am enjoying my view with a glass of wine while waiting. Plus they gave us free bruschettas. That was a surprise indeed and it was lovely.

Dutchman ordered Greek salad and for me steamed mussels. We were going to order more but when the bruschettas arrived we decided to just leave it as it is. The food is enough already for both of us. Food here is 4.5 stars out of 5.

At the back of the tavern I saw a garden and an infinity swimming pool. It looked like a perfect place to hold a party or just to privately chill out. I wonder if the owner lives here as well? Well, one thing for sure they have a gorgeous property with breath taking views.

Waiting for our lunch to arrive...

There were lots of birds chirping from the trees and we noticed as well that there were many bird houses hanging above us.

Finally, lunch has arrived!

Bruschetta came first.

Greek salad never tastes the same outside Greece. Take note, onions and tomatoes here are sweet.

My steamed mussels and half a lemon.

Another angle foto of the taverna's terrace.

The verdict: food wiped out clean.

The taverna has its own private infinity swimming pool as well:

From our table we can see South Xigia Beach where we swam in the morning:

A boat came to unload its passengers for a swim:

Garlic and pine corns, they seem to be the theme of this tavern:

Next: More beautiful remote beaches!

Avy Activity from Last Week

Last week was quite the occasion for avalanches. The pictures below are of some crowns that are still visible from activities on February 21 and 22. Good visibility yesterday allowed full views of the crowns. There was widespread avalanche activity elsewhere on the mountain as well as in the Tatoosh but many of the crowns have been altered by erosion.
Just below Panorama Point. The alternate/winter route experienced some activity.
Taken from the saddle of the Edith Creek Drainage below Panorama Point. Most of the upper Edith Basin is now covered by avalanche debris.

Another view from the saddle looking down at Mazama Ridge. Debris from slides off Mazama Ridge also swept the Paradise Valley road in several places.I hope your Monday was as good as mine. The forecasted 6-9" of new snow for tonight has started.

The Road is Calling

Despite those innocent-looking cherry blossoms, Marianne is gradually turning into a lean, mean, cycling machine - albeit in the loveliest way possible.

My upside-down Albatross bars are considerably lower than my saddle, which I hope will gradually prepare me for the drop bars on my (soon to be ready!) Sam Hillborne. I want to make sure that by the time I get the drop bars, I am able to use them properly (with my hands either in the drops or on the hoods of the brake levers, but not on the straight top portion of the bars).

But I guess the big question here is "why?". Why the desire for speed and aggressive riding positions, why this sudden appearance of shorts? Well, because I like it - Not instead of relaxed cycling on a nice heavy loop frame - but in parallel to it. It's like someone enjoying both strolling and jogging - but not at the same time and not wearing the same clothes. I have discovered that I like pedaling fast and traveling far, I like learning how to maneuver a road-bike, and I like using those muscles in the back of the upper thighs that only get engaged when riding in this position. I am a remarkably un-athletic person with some long-standing health problems, and yet I can handle cycling. So I suppose I want to see how far I might go if I put my mind to it. Can someone as "frail" as me really hope to do century rides? Multi-day touring? Race at the velodrome? I guess we shall see!

Meanwhile, meet my latest addition to Marianne's fearsome accoutrements: these vintage Atom 700 French road pedals. Harris Cyclery had some used ones in the shop, and now they are mine!

To describe these pedals in an uneducated manner: The metal surface is toothy and grippy, more so than that of touring pedals I've tried. In addition, there is a raised notch on the side, that keeps your foot in place - At least I am guessing that this is what it is for, since that is the effect it has on my foot.

See the raised notch? Once the shoe is firmly placed on the pedal, the toothy surface and the outer notch make it feel glued in place. It is the closest thing to a foot retention system I have been able to handle so far. The benefit of feeling your foot "attached" to the pedal became clear to me once I switched Marianne's previous pedals to these, and returned to the rolling hills of Concord. I know that there are conflicting opinions regarding whether retention systems are useful, so I speak solely for myself: These pedals made a difference to me when cycling long-distance, especially on hills.

The downside, is that these are a pain to use in the city where one has to make frequent stops and starts. Unlike other pedals, there is a "right" and a "wrong" side to them: The correct side has the grippy surface and the outer notches. The wrong side is slippery and pretty much impossible to keep your foot on. The problem is that the pedals naturally want to hang wrong-side up when left alone, and so, when starting from a stop, you first plant your foot correctly onto the starting pedal, then push off and begin searching with your other foot (without looking at your toe! - remember, you're in traffic) for the correct side of the other pedal. Sounds horrifying, but actually it's not so bad once I got used to it. I've got the toe-searching down to only a few seconds now. For long sporty rides, it is worth it. I will keep cycling with these as they are for a while, and add "half-clips" when I feel ready... I need to get myself used to foot retention systems gradually if I plan to try cycling at the velodrome in the future!

Snowshoe hike with Wolves

I went for a snowshoe hike with a couple of friends today and at one point during our hike I was looking further up the trail when, several hundred feet in front of us, I saw two Wolves run across the trail. All I had with me was my little Canon G11, so not a very good zoom but nonetheless I got the camera ready just in case we saw them again. I kept my eyes on the trail where I had seen them cross, and after only a few seconds one of them walked back out onto the trail and looked at us, then ran back into the woods. Just after that, the second one came out and gave us a look as well. Both of these photos were taken during their second pass across the trail. Due to the distance and not having a good zoom, I had to crop waaaaaay in on the photos in order to see the Wolves decently, so the image quality here isn't the greatest but it's still a nice account of our experience!

Orcas Island ..

In a stroke of luck I had off for two days while my father in law would be camping in the San Juan Islands. So Jennifer and I hatched the plan to join them on Orcas Island.



After Jennifer got home from work on Sunday we packed up and drove up with the intention of Mirabelle sleeping in the car. It worked and soon we she was running around on the Ferry having the time of her life, interacting with others, and enjoying the wind and views.



After the hour boat ride, a reasonable car ride got us to our campsite in Moran State Park. We had grand ambitions of heading to the summit of Mount Constitution for the sunset, but by the time we were done preparing dinner, we were all ready to call it a day. Our guests would be meeting us the following morning and we wanted to be ready.



I awoke early and went for a hike near the campground while waiting for them to wake up. When I got back we had breakfast and then attempted to hike to Cascade Falls from our campground. We stopped a tenth of a mile short of the falls at a small waterfall where Mirabelle got to play with rocks and leaves before we headed back to the campground.



At the campground we found our relatives and hatched the plan to drive to the false summit of Mount Constitution and hike to the summit to give Mirabelle a nice nap, and conserve energy so she could walk down the trail. Mirabelle slept from early on to the Summit Lake and then proceeded to do her own hiking for most of the final mile on her own. Making the hike a bit longer than anticipated to reach the summit.







We stayed a while on the summit taking in the fantastic views while Mirabelle played with a new friend on the rocks.






Mountain Lake and beyond






Mount Baker and the Twin Sisters group



Then Mirabelle got into the pack for the significantly shorter hike back to the car. We then drove into town (Eastsound) and had dinner before retiring to camp.



The following morning we were leaving, so we opted for a short hike to the beach at Obstruction Pass State Park. Mirabelle did the hike in by herself, and played/explored on the beach while we explored and took dips in the refreshing water.



Then we made a quick hike back to the car and an even quicker ride back to the ferry to be on time at the dock.



This was Mirabelle's first two night camping trip and she loved it! Hopefully we'll get a few more trips in the next weeks before it may get too cold for her.

Boys And Girls

This weekend is National Digital Scrapooking Weekend. Which means I have sat glued to my computer for hours on end in order to download all the freebie goodies that were out there. Because I am a woman, I used that time to multi-task and play with a new photo editing program too.




I went back to pictures that I snapped months ago and played around with pictures of my niece and nephew. And while I was editing, I cracked up at what I saw. Starting with this picture where I was trying to capture Prissy Missy doing the girl walk in the pool. When I went to crop the picture, I noticed Wild Man off to the side doing his thing.



This got me to thinking about girls and boys and the differences between the two. This is not a boys vs girls thing, because it isn't a competition about which is better. We are just different is all. In the case of Kyanna and David, they are both equally cute and sweet. But they definitely have different focuses in life. Let me show you what I mean.




Girls:



Boys:



Girls:








Boys:



Girls:



Boys:



Girls:



Boys:



Girls:



Boys:



Girls (unaware of Boy):



and one last time, Boys:



Need I say more? All the nurture in the world doesn't change some things and I'm glad. It's nice to be who we are instead of fighting it so hopefully these two stay who they are, even when the world tries to tell them otherwise. They crack me up!




Living the life in Sunny Florida!

Backup Kickstand?

Winter's first casualty: the Co-Habitant's Pletscher twin-legged kickstand broke.

These things have a spring inside that regulates the folding of the legs. A few days ago the spring snapped and the legs went limp, so he removed the contraption. The working theory is that the winter wind swayed the bike upon the kickstand back and forth and stressed out the spring.

Not sure that fixing it is possible, since it may be hard to find a replacement spring. Has anybody else had this happen to a Pletscher Twin Legger?

Believe it or not, the Co-Habitamt has a backup kickstand. (How many people can say that?) It's the original fold-down stand that came with his Pashley and which he never removed. He finds these annoying, but I think it looks great - especially with the lights!

Creamy, Dreamy 650B Conversion

With his latest project, our neighbour Somervillain is quickly establishing himself as Vintage Bicycle Refurbisher Extraordinaire. This dreamy creature began life as a 1984 Shogun 1500 - a good, yet unremarkable touring bike. It has now been transformed into something quite exquisite.



The 25" frame was stripped of its original paint and powdercoated a creamy "almond," the lugwork then outlined in copper.



I think that it's pretty difficult to get the perfect shade of cream: If it's too pale, the bicycle looks bland and if it's too saturated the bicycle looks yellow. This shade looks just right to me: classic, soft and a little mysterious.



The Shogun frame had a high bottom bracket and sufficient clearance for wide tires with fenders, making it a great candidate for a 650B conversion. However, the cantilever bosses had to be relocated in order to accommodate the new wheel size. Both this and the powdercoating were done by Sugarcoat/ Geekhouse. Notice also the internal routing for the dynamo lighting.



Internal routing exit for the tail light. I will not even try to describe the routing, but Somervillain shows the step-by-step processhere.



Rear cantilever bosses, Mafac brakes, KoolStop brake pads.



The headlight is the Bausch & Mueller Lumoteq IQ (I have this light on two of my bikesand love it), and the DIY bracket is fashioned out of a caliper brake.



The tail light is a vintage Soubitez converted to LED with Bausch & Mueller innards.



Tires are the red Grand Bois Hetres, with Zeppelin fenders from Velo Orange. I have this same set-up on my Rivendell, only with the cream version of the tires. TheGrand BoisHetres are absolutely magical in their cushiness and a 650B conversion is worth it just for them alone.



Shimano dynamo hub (which Somervillain says causes slight vibration at high speeds when the light is on, so he is considering changing it to a Schmidt SON).



Huret rear derailleur. I forgot the details of the cassette, so perhaps Somervillain will remind me or post the specs.



Huret front derailleur.



Beautiful TA crankset.



VO Moderniste bottle cages.



Belleri Randonneur bars, VO Pass Hunter front rack,Ostrich handlebar bag.



And Brooks B17 saddle.



Perhaps Somervillain would like to go into further detail in the comments, but one interesting thing about this build is that many of the components - or at least the manner in which they are installed - are modified in a way that makes them better integrated with the frame. The result is an exceptionally clean and harmonious look.



Having tested this bicycle out on a metric century ride last weekend, the owner is well pleased with its comfort and performance. Sadly, I am not tall enough for this 25" frame, so I will have to take his word for it. Given that Somervillain has other beautiful bicycles, I am curious how this one compares and what role he ultimately sees it occupying. Will it be his long-distance tourer? Time will tell. Either way, this project was a major accomplishment in its marriage of vintage and custom elements. The frame, the modifications, colour, the components - simply dreamy.