Fall is my Favorite

What is your favorite season and why? I enjoy the warm colors of fall and the crisp air. There's a feeling of slowing down and retreating as the summer shifts to autumn. Now that fall is here, I hope to get on the nature trail more often than the summer. I usually go out on the trail often during the summer but this year I didn't go on as many rides because of the hot, humid, rainy weather. It was the one of the rainiest summers on the records for Wisconsin. As it gets closer to the start of fall, I see the hints of my favorite season, along the path and sites around me. It is a bittersweet moment, as I know well, what happens in Wisconsin after fall's departure. I cringe at even the thought of the "s" word and I refuse to write it out in this post. Unfortunately, it will be here sooner than I'd like. I am going to miss being able to ride my bike out around the sites and sounds of nature, always welcoming me to a place to discover new things. My eyes are on the constant lookout for the smallest of details. I'm zipping along past some trees and bushes.....wait......wait.....what did I notice in the corner of my eye. Stop, back up!

There is a new discovery, look at those berries!

Next I stop within a tree tunnel and see these charming mushrooms

growing up the side of a tree trunk. How wonderful!

Tree tunnels are my favorite parts along the trail. Once fall is gone, I will have to say goodbye to the trail for another year until Spring arrives.

Our Sore Fun Bike Ride

Last fall, my friend Hannah and I decided to take our second trip into town by bike. On our first trip we had enjoyed our ride very much and liked the fact of not paying any gas money to go to town.

Hannah just bought a new camera for her photography business, so she was having fun trying it out on our nice autumn ride.

I love observing the tiniest of details while out in nature. These curly, twirly leaves looked very intriguing to me. I was busy snapping pics here while Hannah was busy taking pics there.

There she is, busy being a shutter-bug! :-)

Hannah near the field of corn we visited.

I'm not sure what type of plant/flower this is, but I thought it looked interesting.

Some more twisty dried plants.

A gorgeous fall day!

A fall colored leaf.

On our way home from town, we experienced something we hadn't on our first trip to town. Since it was fall, our hours of daylight were limited. While in town we ate lunch and then stopped to get a couple ingredients for our supper. We knew that we couldn't spend a long time in town since we needed to get home before dark.

There we were back on the trail, knowing we needed to keep on biking with little time to stop along the way to rest. We weren't even halfway home when our legs were aching. Ouch! We had to keep on biking, we could see it was starting to get dark. We stopped briefly at a couple points, but our legs continued to hurt us. The darkness continued to creep in. I wanted to quit. We kept on going with Hannah leading the way. By the time we got to the last tree tunnel it was dark. We could not see much of anything and I thought I noticed a black shadow moving ahead of us. Yes, there it was, a shadow of some guy walking out in the darkness. Creepy! We finally got home after our painful ride.

We have been trying to come up with theories about why we were so sore this second trip. Some possibilities are:

On our first trip to town we had more time to rest our legs since we saw a movie. Plus, the cooler temps probably caused our legs to ache. And we also couldn't take a leisurely ride home like we did on our first trip. Regardless, Hannah and I will never forget our second trip to town.

Missed seeing our fun first trek?

Nature Trek, part 1

Nature Trek, part 2

Here's a post about a watercolor ride we went on,

A Watercolor & Marsh Adventure

Nature Trek, 20 miles round trip, part 2

Here we go back on the trail after spending a few hours in town. Our first trip took us about an hour, how long will it take us to get home...?

Hannah biking home

Me biking home

There were plenty of pretty golden yellow flowers blooming on the fields along the trail. They cheerfully greeted us showing us their vibrant, true colors. I marveled at their uplifting beauty.

A purple prickly plant, not sure what it is.

And here's a field of wheat? No, I'm not sure what it exactly is. Hannah and I were guessing it was wheat. Can you identify what it is if it isn't wheat?

And here's Hannah about to jump in the wheat-like field. Noooo, she didn't actually jump, but I caught her in the act of "pretend" jumping.

Hannah tried to get a pic of me "pretend" jumping, but it looks like I'm reaching out to touch the wheat...wash the wheat? Not sure what is looks like I'm doing.

Here's a close-up of the wheat. I like the bright blue sky in the background.

Hannah on the sixth bridge.

This pic from the sixth bridge was on our way to town. This was the final bridge on the trail before heading into town. It also is the longest bridge on the trail and it turned out to be our favorite bridge. On our trip back, I looked in the marshy water to the left and saw a large crane just taking flight from the water. Its wings looked so large as it flew away. We were bummed out that we couldn't have gotten a better look at such a fascinating bird.

Me on the sixth bridge.

Okay, so how long did it take us to get back home if it took us an hour to get there? An hour? No, it took us about 2 hours to get back, but we stopped more frequently to take pics and we were riding against the wind and we already rode 10 miles in the morning. That's why it took us twice as long. Plus, the weather was gorgeous, so we decided to take as much time to enjoy it. And we did. :-)

Missed part 1 of our Nature Trek? Click here.

Nature Trek, 20 miles round trip, part 1

We've been planning on taking a trip into town from the nature trail for a month. And finally the day arrived this last Saturday. Thankfully the weather was perfect, not too hot, not too cold, and nice sunshine with a light wind to keep us cool in the sunlight.

The photo above is my bike trekking friend, Hannah. She is standing on the fifth bridge on the trail to Fondy.

Some marshy, marsh vegetation. It was relaxing watching the tall grasses sway in the breeze. They looked like waves rolling on water, it was very mesmerizing. I could've watched them for hours.

Here I am on the fifth bridge.

Some marsh berries!!!

Hannah cycling to the finish line, the parking lot at Target.

Just before arriving at Target, while still on the trail, we heard the noon whistle blow. It took us approximately an hour to ride 10 miles into town. Since we had a delicious breakfast of creamy scrambled eggs with chives and a slice of toast with a glass of grape juice, we weren't very hungry at noon. Plus, we didn't want to be rushed to make it to the movie on time, so we waited until after the movie to eat lunch. The night before I made some yummy trail mix bars from a cookbook I recently bought. We packed the bars along with some water, dried apricots and last but not least some M & M's as our nature trail nourishment. To curb our hunger while at the movie we ate the trail mix bars and some apricots.

Hannah in front of Target

We parked our bikes in front of Target while we went to see a movie and go out to eat. We had a little time before heading to the movie, so we stopped to window shop at Pier One Imports. We seriously could only strictly window shop since we could not tote any wares home on our bikes. A great way to save money!!! Nonetheless we saw many things we would've love to have purchased. We went to see the movie, "Post Grad," it was a cute and funny movie. Thankfully, the theater and restaurant were both within walking distance from Target. We enjoyed our new found freedom of traveling to town on bike vs. by car.

Me in front of Target

This is on our way back home just after leaving the Target parking lot. I took this while riding my bike. Not very easy to do, but I got the shot.

Another photo I took while riding my bike. I turned around to point my camera at Hannah riding behind me. It was another tricky manuever, but I did get a shot. Can you see the Target sign in the background? On the opposite side of the road there are two bikers in the distant background, they were coming into town as we were on our way out.

And one more final shot while on my bike. This is the road where the entrance to the nature trail is. In my next post I will feature more pics on our fun trek home while on the trail. Stay tuned.

I brake for flowers, yes I do!

This last week I was fortunate enough to be able to venture out on the nature trail on some nice, sunny days. Too bad the wind was a bit fierce on one of those days. Anyway, I was thrilled to see so many gorgeous blossoms blooming out on the trail. As the title says, "I brake for flowers!" When I ride on the trail I keep my eyes wide open to catch any glimpses of the beauty, patterns and textures of nature. And when something catches my eye, I put the brakes on my bike and stop to drink in the beauty and "capture the wonder" as I take photos. Sometimes I have to backup and reverse my direction to find what I almost missed by pedaling past.

One blossom

two blossoms

three!!!

And a dandy little dandelion!

So many flowers, so little time!

It never ceases to amaze me how intricate and beautiful nature is. It equally amazes me how a round, fuzzy bumblebee is able to zip through the air, looking too heavy to fly. I saw some fuzzy bees while taking photos of the flowers. Who knew I'd meet them there?

Off the beaten path, I found this tree growing in the middle of a farmer's field. I think I have a photo of the same tree during the fall with yellow leaves against a dark sky.

And here's one of my favorite features on the trail. No, not the bench, but the "tree tunnel." There are a few tree tunnels on the trail. It's so much fun riding through a tunnel of trees on a sunny day when little sparkles of sunlight dot the path on the trail. I never get tired of riding in them. They are such a wonder to behold. While riding on the trail, I'm not only a spectator but a participant experiencing nature in the moment.

Visiting an old friend with "musical" trees.

Last week on Friday, I was reunited with an old friend. This friend has brought me endless hours of adventure, relaxation and enjoyement. And you may be surprised when I reveal my friend, since it is not a person. This friend I'm referring to is the nature trail where I frequently take bike rides.

This last Wisconsin winter seemed to never end, so on Friday, when the temps hit 70 degrees, I made sure to get out and visit the nature trail. My first visit of the year. Yay!

It's too early in the season for the trail to be adorned with vegetation. However, if one takes time to look closely, there are glimpses of the beauty to come. Here and there buds are showing signs of renewal and hope. Within those buds, new growth and life is emerging. When I looked up at some tree branches with buds after seeing so many bare branches, it made me gasp with wonder and joy in knowing what's to come.

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Speaking of branches, there is one spot on the trail with these trees that have wavy shaped branches. The trees are somewhat grouped together in a row standing with their unique branches that look musical with the movement they evoke. Unfortunately, I've never been able to get a good photo of those "musical" trees. However, I have hundreds of other photos from my many visits to the trail. The first snowy photo was taken on Christmas Eve Day, it was the first time and only time I was on the trail with snow. Every once and awhile snowmobilers drove past me on the trail. It was a beautiful winter day on that visit. Due to memory card issues, I was not able to take my camera on my first visit this year, but have no fear, my camera will be on many future ventures to the trail.

What do you do to relax?