We took a family bike ride along the greenway and got to the Mecca of greenway riding: Shelly Lake! That’s about 8 to 10 miles away from our house (and then 8-10 back)! It took about an hour each way but the whole family did a fantastic job.

More soon. Nap time now. 🙂

I drove yesterday for the first time in days and was surprised to see gas at $3.85 a gallon. Oil crossed the $135/barrel mark yesterday and will no doubt continue upward. Was this the “Surge” of which Bush was speaking?

I was just thinking back to my posts about gas prices. Here’s one where $1.97 was too much. Ha! And then there’s my July 2005 “Crude Awakening” post. I’m wistful for the $2.30 a gallon prices I was bemoaning then.

Back then I was also wondering when gas might be $5 a gallon. I wouldn’t be surprised if we’re there by the end of the year. All the more reason I’m happy my commuter vehicle of choice has two wheels.

Travis and I got out this afternoon for a tandem bike ride along the Middle Crabtree Trail greenway.

It was teh awesome! A long boardwalk through wetlands, followed by a nice smooth stretch through woods, passing under two sets of train tracks and Capital Boulevard and Atlantic Avenue! Travis and I went as far as the CSX tracks northwest of Atlantic Avenue before turning back because we ran out of time. In that stretch, though, we traveled some impressive boardwalks in a relaxing, woodsy setting. In twenty minutes we made it from home almost to Wake Forest Road.

I look forward to finding time to continue even further west on this gem of a greenway!

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Wow, what a little pain at the gas pump can do for people’s health. And the environment! My bike and I rode the elevator this morning with a motorcyclist.

He grinned. “Looks like you get better gas mileage than I do!”

I nodded. “Yeah, but you take the hills a little faster!”
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This morning we spotted the very first blue grosbeaks ever to grace our feeder! The male blue grosbeak is a stunning dark blue color. It looks similar to a cardinal – only blue. They seem to be a bit shy, too: flying away whenever anyone inside walked past the door. We’ve been birdwatching for years now. Hard to believe it took this long to see blue grosbeaks!

I’ve set up the camera in the hopes of capturing a photo or two. They are amazingly beautiful birds!