We traveled to Phoenix via Interstate10, and I was skeptical when I saw this segment designated as a Scenic Highway. I mean, I like the desert, but I wasn’t expecting real scenicness. But it was, it was just beautiful, right from the hills of Banning Canyon on the north that looked like the green rug my brother Steve used to heap up to make hills for train layouts

to the jaggedy young mountains on the south, nearer Phoenix, that I think were either the New Water or the Kofa Mountains. (I’m not sure which because I didn’t have an Arizona map and never knew exactly where we were.)

We were surprised to find Arizona much greener than the parched California that we’ve spent more than a month in. It seems the hurricanes that made San Diego so muggy brought actual rain to Arizona, lots of it, on numerous occasions. So unusual for this time of year!

In fact, we arrived in Phoenix in the last moments of a huge rainstorm that brought down trees, caused widespread power outages, and dumped record rainfall on Sky Harbor Airport. (Note: best airport name anywhere!)

Although the rain pretty much stopped before we got there, seeing Phoenix wet was just plain weird.

So why did I not have an Arizona map? It’s not like me to be unprepared in that way. It’s because we hadn’t planned to be in Arizona. The next chapter of this trip takes place in southern Utah, visiting the national parks there, and we had thought we’d be driving there through Nevada (which I do have a map for). But recently I got to thinking about the fact that it’s going to be hard for me to visit the Arizona Diamondbacks stadium during baseball season because I don’t want to GO to Arizona during baseball season – too hot! Then it’s also a fact that it’s possible to get to Utah by way of Phoenix rather than Las Vegas, that the last day of the regular baseball season is two days after the end of the muster, and that Phoenix is only 167 miles east of Hemet, so – here we are!

Chase Field, in downtown Phoenix, is about the same age as the Mariners’ Safeco Field, but the two are so different. For starters, Chase has a roof that is closed almost all the time due to the heat, so it has the feel of an indoor stadium, although there is glass that lets in sunlight high up, and natural grass. (Safeco doesn’t actually have a roof – it has a sort of umbrella, so it’s never completely closed, and when the roof is extended you can see the rain falling.) I know a lot of people like Chase, but for me an indoor baseball stadium immediately loses its raison d’être, and I just can’t like it very much.

The stadium has a very architectural look, inside and out, in the sense that you never forget that you’re in a built environment – everything you see has obviously been designed by CAD. The interior is visually very busy! The center field video scoreboard, known as DBTV, is one of the largest television screens in the country. During the game, DBTV has more stats posted on it about every hitter and pitcher than any one person would ever need to know, and lots more information gets put up there in between pitches. Then there are two large video boards on each side of it primarily used for the lineups, although sometimes that information disappears and other things go up. There’s also an electronic screen showing scores of other current games, and I think one for standings, and other electronics that I never did quite figure out.

However, for some reason we could never tell what the actual score in the game was. It was probably up there somewhere, but there was no plain hand-operated score board that would tell you what inning it was, and who was winning. It was all too busy and confusing. I compare it to the scoreboard at Fenway Park, which was also electronic, expensive, and sophisticated, but which somehow retained the simplicity and directness of an old-fashioned scoreboard.

We took our walkabout around the concourses and found much to like on the main concourse. The field is easily seen from everywhere, although places to relax and view the game from other than your paid seat were few. There are lots of suites. One unique feature of this stadium: a swimming pool and hot tub just beyond the right-centerfield fence. You have to reserve it ahead of time, just as you would a suite, for a mere $3500 per game. But you can invite up to 35 friends, and the pool opens two hours before first pitch and includes food and beverage – what a deal!

Now, you would assume that the Diamondbacks mascot would be a snake, right? and I was wondering how that snake would slither around and dance on the roof of the dugout and high-five the fans. But no. It’s D. Baxter, the Bobcat – ??

Chase Field does have a live organ player, and not a lot of overamplified recorded music is played during the game, which is a blessing. Artwork and historical pieces from all of baseball, not just the Diamondbacks, line many of the corridors, and they’re cool (especially the one of Kirk Gibson hitting the walk-off home run in Game 1 of the 1988 earthquake World Series).

But I was astonished not to see a single thing recognizing Randy Johnson, who only led the D-backs to a World Series win in 2001 and pitched a perfect game for Arizona in 2004. They don’t seem to celebrate their own history. What team doesn’t celebrate its own history? What team doesn’t boast that it’s better than everyone else in some way, that doesn’t think it should win and the other guys should lose? I think of the snarling tigers all over Tiger Stadium – you never forget whose stadium you’re in. Chase Field seems to profess a sort of pleasant neutrality, as if it’s the home of Anyteam, so as not to offend anyone. That seemed odd to me, off-key, as did a number of things about the park. There just seemed to be something lacking in this stadium, some essence of baseball, some nucleus of charm, that had been omitted in the CAD designs.

Now, I know you’re wondering about the food. Chase Field offers a huge variety of food throughout the ballpark and the concourse is lined with concession stands, permanent ones along the outside wall and various carts that are right above the seating areas, where they don’t block your view of the game. Many carts offer the D-Backs signature $4 beer, billed as the cheapest beer in Major League Baseball. There are chain outlets such as Fatburgers, Panda Express, Subway, and Cold Stone Creamery, which I don’t like to see at ballparks (although that didn’t stop us from having some CSC ice cream, very yummy).

Deciding what to eat took some research and thought, but we finally settled on a $7 Sonoran-style hot dog from Red Hot Grill. The thick, juicy dog comes wrapped in mesquite-smoked bacon, covered in pico de gallo and ranch-style beans, with an artistic drizzle of some sort of white stuff over all (sour cream? mayo?). Messy, but very, very tasty.

The D-Backs were playing the St Louis Cardinals, who had just clinched their playoff spot before the game. There were a lot of Cards fans in the house, as a lot of Phoenix residents and visitors are Midwesterners, and both teams wear red, so we heard cheering for both sides.

I was quite distracted, though, throughout the game because simultaneously the Mariners were playing the Angels with a wild-card spot in the playoffs at stake. The Ms won, but we needed the As to lose to the Rangers at the same time, and unfortunately they didn’t. Sigh. So baseball is over for this season for the Mariners, but we’re amazed at and proud of what they accomplished this year. As far as who won the Diamondbacks-Cardinals game, I dunno. Never figured it out.

Busy day at the Muster yesterday, after our bike ride. Several seminars, and then at noon I went over to the dining room to lay out the blocks for my third striped quilt. I finished sewing them a couple of weeks ago, but until now I haven’t had a large enough floor space to lay them out.

Within SMART is a group of quilters who get together at each muster to plan the following year’s raffle quilt, which raises funds for donation to two veterans’ charities. As I was laying out my blocks, and moving them around again and again, the quilters drifted in for the meeting and were oohing and ahhing about the stripes.

Then the meeting started, with some discussion about this year’s quilt, which was a simple house pattern:

I had sent in four or five of the house blocks, which were necessarily simple since there is a wide range of skills within the group. One of the quilters who tends to be pretty blunt said that she didn’t make any because she didn’t like the block. I liked the block okay, but I was disappointed in the way they were set: plain muslin strips, with not even any corner blocks to liven them up. Boring. I hoped we could come up with a more interesting quilt for next year. Good quilts raise more raffle money, it’s as simple as that.

So last night I came up with a design that requires two different blocks that together create a single Irish chain and star pattern, complex in appearance but fairly easy to piece. I wrote out directions for both blocks, with some help from Patrick on the graphics, and printed out copies. After the person who had been in charge of this year’s raffle quilt presented two ideas for blocks (a Hole in the Barn Door and another one I can’t even remember – snore), I said I also had an idea and passed out my patterns. Everyone liked mine better, so that’s what we’re going to make. Later I was taken to task by one of the older members of the group who told me I had hurt the other person’s feelings by barging in and taking over. Oh, well.

For dinner tonight we had a potluck with our Washington State chapter, nice people we have gotten to know over the past year at local musters, followed by a chapter meeting. One of our chapter members has also been the Director for the Northwest Region of SMART, one of the nine geographical divisions that includes WA, OR, ID, and MT, and he announced at the meeting that he and his wife have decided to sell their RV and stop traveling. Consequently he is stepping down as Regional Director, which is kind of a big problem because the NW Region until last week had only two chapters, WA and OR, and last week the OR chapter folded. So ours is now the only chapter in the region, and we don’t have that many members either. The chapter president is willing to continue in that role but not to step up to Regional Director. After some moments of surprise and befuddlement by the group, Patrick said that he was willing to take on the job. Everyone was thrilled! He oozes energy and competence of course, and was immediately nominated by the chapter.

Things moved fast from there. By breakfast today everyone on the Board had been informed, and Patrick attended the Board meeting and provided a letter of interest and a resume. At the installation of officers this afternoon, he was sworn in as Northwest Regional Director and given a notebook, a banner to hang from the motorhome, a “swinger” with his title that goes on his name tag, and a lot of responsibility.

Then we had dinner followed by entertainment – a fun musical/comedy act that included pulling our newly installed president, past president, and 1st vice president up on the stage to perform as three Elvises!

And then the Muster was over for this year. Most people leave tomorrow morning, but we’re staying another day so that we can do laundry and some cleaning, rest a bit, and catch our breath before we head east on Saturday.

We’re now in Hemet CA to attend the National Muster of S*M*A*R*T: the Special Military Active Recreation Travelers. This is the organization of military RVers with whom we caravanned to Alaska last summer, as well as attending other local musters with.
I don’t know if this area is technically desert or not, but it feels like desert, very dry and very hot. They call this area the “Inland Empire,” actually a designation for the spread of population east of L.A.

Hemet is located in the San Jacinto Valley, south and west of the San Jacinto Mountains, which range in a southeasterly direction. These are the northernmost of the Peninsular Ranges which run over 900 miles to the southern tip of the Baja California Peninsula. The range is a fault block of granitic rocks squeezed between the San Jacinto fault on the west and the San Andreas fault on the east. The fault escarpment on the northern and eastern side (not the side we’re on) is one of the most abrupt in North America, going from sea level to 10,000 feet in a few miles; on this side it’s more gradual, but still does go pretty quickly from very flat to mountainous. The height and steepness of the range points out that the San Jacinto and San Andreas faults are very active and very capable of producing major earthquakes (well in excess of magnitude 7). The last massive quake struck the southern segment of the San Andreas-San Jacinto fault complex more than 200 years ago, so the area is probably overdue for a major earthquake.

The Soboba Cahuilla tribe of indigenous people used to inhabit the area in small hunter-gatherer groups, living too far inland to be of interest to Spanish soldiers, priests, or missionaries, who tended to view the desert as a place to avoid. They first encountered Spaniards in 1774, and Anglo-Europeans in the 1840s. The California gold rush of the 1850s brought an influx of settlers, and in 1877 the Cahuilla were moved to a reservation east of here. In 1895, Hemet Dam was completed on the San Jacinto River, creating Lake Hemet and providing a reliable water supply to the San Jacinto Valley.

Today’s inhabitants are mostly retirees in mobile-home parks who don’t want to or can’t afford to live in more urban areas of Southern California, along with the working people who provide services to them. We were hot before, in Coronado. Now we’re really in the oven. It’s been around 100 degrees every day. But it does cool down overnight, so that we’ve been able to continue with our bike rides almost every morning. Now that the Muster has started, we have lots of activities to do and people to talk with. We’ve been in S*M*A*R*T for two years now and are seeing some of the same people again, so gatherings are more fun and less stressful.

The Opening Ceremonies were Sunday night, and this group of veterans and spouses is of course quite patriotic. First there was a flag ceremony during which a former member of each of the services carried in his service’s flag, to the accompaniment of his service’s song; as one of only two Coasties here, Patrick carried the Coast Guard flag:

Monday night a hypnotist provided the evening entertainment, using members of the group as his subjects – pretty funny!

Today the men had a Hot Dog Bash with a speaker who was a police officer, while at the Ladies Luncheon we had a fashion show. The origami table decorations, all made by one spouse who is Japanese, were gorgeous!

Ladies from the group modeled fashions from a local boutique:

After the show, of course, the boutique owner had lots of clothes available for purchase. Three of us liked the same outfit from the show and tried it on in the ladies’ room:

We all liked it so much, we bought it. Good thing we live in different parts of the country!

We’re spending a few days back in the L.A. area for three reasons:
• See the Fairplex Garden Railroad
• Shop at Downtown Disney
• Go to an Angels game
Since all three of those activities are on the east side of L.A., we’re doing them all today.

The Fairplex Garden Railroad is a permanent garden-scale railroad located within Fairplex (formerly the Los Angeles County Fairground). We’ve been interested in garden railroads for a long time and would love to create one in our yard but haven’t yet figured out how we could, with our topography. Like indoor layouts, the trains run through scale scenes and vignettes, but the trains are larger than indoor trains and run through outdoor gardens planted with miniature/dwarf plants also scaled to the train dimensions.

To see the railroad we had to drive out to Pomona, which is in the even-hotter inland country. Patrick rented a wheelchair at the Fairplex and pushed me around in it, as my twisted ankle won’t take the amount of walking we’ll be doing today. So in the wheelchair and under my parasol that I bought at the Festival of Sail in San Diego, I was fairly comfortable, but Patrick was not only in the 90+-degree sun but pushing me to boot. Large misting fans dotted the fairgrounds, and several vendors told us: You think this is hot?! You should have been here yesterday, it was 105! No, thanks.

The Fairplex Garden Railroad is the oldest (1924) and possibly the largest miniature railroad of its kind in the United States, at 100 x 300 feet. It was as fabulous as we expected! There are lots and lots and lots of trains, and the vignettes that they run through are so creative and wonderfully executed. There is a circus with a little circus train,

a 20-mule team in a desert scene,

a California mission,

a baseball game,

and many, many more scenes. Always at model railroads there are the Old Guys who love and run the trains.

What a treat! Steve, you have to come and see this place.

From Pomona we drove to Anaheim, to Downtown Disney to buy Patrick some new Goofy T-shirts. We walked through the big store that usually has several new designs, and there were NONE. No Goofy T-shirts. What’s up with that?! There were lots of Frozen and Monster items. I think Disney is forgetting its roots.

It was just a short hop from there to Angel Stadium, where by luck the Angels were playing the Mariners! “The Big A”

is the fourth-oldest Major League Baseball stadium, just behind Dodger Stadium. Even though it lacks some of the latest amenities, it doesn’t feel almost 50 years old, and I found a lot to like about it. It underwent a major renovation in 1997 (when Disney was the major shareholder) that included the “California Spectacular,” faux rocks beyond the outfield with a stream that cascades down a “mountainside” covered with real trees. It’s pretty hokey, but charmingly so, really. To the left are flags honoring the many division championships (there will be a new one for this year), American League Championships, and of course the 2002 World Series Championship. Beyond the Spectacular you see the San Gabriel and Santa Ana Mountains, a view that I think makes the stadium seem more expansive on TV. In person, it’s much more intimate.

Usually at any ball park I’ll try out their signature hot dog, the one they’re known for. But this time we went for the “Big Cheese” which offers specialty grilled cheese sandwiches. I thought we might find something we had seen at the Fairplex, a burger piled with macaroni & cheese, which looked mighty tasty – comfort food upon comfort food. But no, this was different. We split a Short Rib Grilled Cheese Sandwich: short ribs cooked tender for many hours, then layered over the cheese in a perfectly toasted hot grilled cheese sandwich – brilliant!

We weren’t able to walk around much due to my injured ankle, so we didn’t come in the Home Plate Gate, marked by two enormous baseball hats, or see the 2002 World Series Trophy, the Hall of Fame, or the murals on the walls celebrating the history of the Angels. (We did see a giant blow-up photo of Mark Langston, the former Mariners pitcher who went over to the Angels and blew the 1995 one-game playoff, about whom Mariners manager Dick Williams famously said, “He doesn’t have a gut in his body.” That always cracks me up.) The stadium is surrounded by parking lot, an unattractive but efficient feature, and the many ramps and escalators make for easy access which normally I might not appreciate, but with my limited mobility today I was grateful for it.

The fans seemed laid back, like a Spring Training crowd, but into the game at all the right moments; definitely less intense than the Dodger fans. The people around us were friendly to us in our Mariners gear, especially some teenaged boys who were asking about the Mariners’ chances in the Wild Card race (slim, but not non-existent). There was still no score by the 7th inning, which called forth the Rally Monkey on the big screens, and some fans pulled them out of backpacks. Mildly annoying, but not obnoxious. The woman who sang the Star Spangled Banner at the beginning of the game also led the crowd in Take Me Out to the Ballgame, and the words were not provided on the big screens, an omission that I think is respectful to the fans. If they don’t know the words, maybe they should just go watch football.

In keeping with California stadium tradition (and because we’d had such a long day and my ankle was throbbing), we left after the 7th Inning Stretch. We were home in time to turn on the TV and watch Logan Morrison hit a 3-run home run in the top of the 9th to win the game for the Mariners. Go Mariners!!!

Yesterday we moved up from Coronado to Seal Beach, where we’ll be for the next few days. We’re in a FamCamp on the Naval Weapons Station, and the area around the base is not very bike-friendly. Nevertheless, we’ve been riding every day and want to continue that practice, so Patrick located a Starbucks not far from the base and plotted a route to it. We had to ride on and turn left on a busy highway, but we got through that okay. We turned into the parking lot for the strip mall where we thought Starbucks was located, but it wasn’t – Patrick figured out it must be the next driveway down.

In getting out of that parking area and back onto the busy street, I wasn’t able to negotiate that tight right turn into the bike lane and saw myself headed out into traffic, so I slammed on my brakes and ended up in a heap. I was pretty much inside the bike lane but with cars whizzing by just feet away and the bike on top of me. Patrick stopped and came running back to me as I started scooting myself back toward the curb. I couldn’t tell yet if I could stand up or not; I could feel that I had hurt my left knee and my right ankle. A very nice lady in a car pulled over and stopped and offered to take me to the ER, and a man on a bike also stopped to offer aid.

Once I was on the sidewalk, I stood up and figured out that my left knee was just scraped and my right ankle wrenched but not too badly. I was able to limp with my bike to the Starbucks, where Patrick got me a bag of ice to put on my ankle. I was really distressed and emotional. Those cars whizzing by – whew, that was scary!

I was able to ride back to the base, finding riding actually less painful than walking. Fortunately there was no damage to my beautiful new bike except for a smashed mirror, which can easily be replaced. It could have been a lot worse.

Hot as it’s been here on Coronado, it’s even hotter and more miserable inland, where my nephew Mike and his family live in the Poway area: temperatures around and over 100 degrees. This afternoon they came to visit with us, Mike and his wife Kristen, and their boys Nathaniel (5), Matthew (3), and William, who is less than 2 months old.

The older boys are very busy! Their Grandpa Steve has infected them with a consuming love of trains, and they brought with them trains that they played with on the RV dashboard, little palm-sized trains that seemed almost like extensions of their hands.

Almost as soon as they got here, Patrick took the boys and Mike over to the marina and rented a Boston Whaler power boat to take them out for several hours on the bay, where it’s much cooler and there are lots of interesting things to see along the water.

Meanwhile, Kristen and I sat in the air-conditioned motorhome and visited while of course she was caring for baby William.

She and I had met several times before but only briefly, so it was nice to relax and chat and get to know one another. When the men and boys got back, the action revved up again and I got to hold William while Patrick grilled some hot dogs and various things got taken care of – so much to do with a family of young children!

I gave William the quilt that I just finished for him, an original design of mine but in the same blues and greens as the quilts I had made for Nathaniel and William when they were babies.

I know it was a lot of work for them to get the family underway and down to visit us, so we really appreciated the effort and had a wonderful time with them. We look forward to seeing them again when we’re down here next January.

Here in Coronado we’re less than an hour south of Leucadia, which is where Peps is living these days. Yesterday he took the train down to San Diego, rode his bike to the Coronado Island ferry, took the ferry across the bay, then rode down to our RV park.

For lunch we went to an Italian restaurant called Sapori, and there we met up with a high school classmate of ours named Steve. He was a year ahead of me in school, and a year behind our older brother Mike. Steve got in touch with me several weeks ago to tell me that he’d like to get together to share stories about Mike, who died in a mountain-climbing accident on Mt. Rainier in 1971, just after he turned 24.

In high school, Mike and Steve were on a medley relay team that set new school records that still stand today. Steve told us that Mike was absolutely the driving force behind the team and its success. He got the football team strength trainers to work with them, and he constantly coached them on their mental race. One time he brought 4 unusual hats to a track meet and made the team walk around in them before the race, just to psych out their competition. In addition, Mike was a personal inspiration for Steve, who went on to compete in track for a number of years, then coached track and began a career in writing about track and then about women’s bodybuilding, which he has had a major influence in promoting.

After this very special lunch, we went back to the RV park/ marina and rented a boat to take Peps out on a tour of the fascinating marine elements in the bay. The weather is still beastly, so being out on the water in the wind and the spray of the boat was delightful.

This morning before it got too hot we went out for a bike ride up to Starbucks with Peps. He’s been so helpful answering all our bike questions!

The appalling heat continues. But today is Wednesday, which of course means quilting day, both at home with my guild, Quilters Anonymous, and with my small group, Seattle Quilt Troupe, and also here in San Diego with my friend Laurine’s group, Group Therapy. They have been quilting together for 22 years, a fairly long time, although not as long as the QTs, who have quilted together every Wednesday for 33 years.

I was at Laurine’s by 8:15am, and she drove us to the home of her friend Sharyn who this month is hosting their group’s Wednesday meetings. Sharyn happens to be an internationally known and highly regarded quilting teacher, designer, and author; in 1985 she was named Quilt Teacher of the Year by Professional Quilter magazine. Now she is mostly retired, although like all true teachers she continues to create and to share with all those who want to learn.

After welcoming us with fresh fruit and a baked treat to her beautifully decorated and comfortable home, Sharyn took us upstairs to her sewing room to show us several designs and techniques that she has been working on.

I was especially taken with a flower-appliqué, basket-bordered design she’s come up with. Everything about it is extraordinary, from the background fabric to the appliqué to the flower block sashing intersections to the basket border.

Her sewing room is likewise fabulous.

We sewed the morning away, some on machines, others on handwork. I hand-sewed the binding onto a baby quilt that I made for my nephew Mike’s third baby and will be giving to him this weekend. Sewing in any quilting group is like breathing to me, breathing extra-oxygenated, extra-sweet air. Quilts from the quilt show that I went to last week were being returned, one of them a favorite of mine at the show: a friendship quilt made by Margret with contributions from all the members of the group.

Later back at Laurine’s home she showed me several stunning projects she is working on. I took a photo of her in her delightful sewing room:

See, Patrick? – compared to Sharyn and Laurine, I don’t have nearly enough fabric!

We’ve been looking forward to getting together with my Aunt Marti and my cousins Dan (F/K/A Danny) and Cindy. When I was growing up in El Segundo, Uncle Bob was stationed for six years at Edwards Air Force Base about 80 miles away, and we visited a lot back and forth. Then later, after he retired from the Air Force, they lived even closer, in Studio City. We always had fun with our cousins because we’re close in age, Dan a year younger than I and Cindy a year younger than Peps.

Aunt Marti invited us, and Peps who is currently living in nearby Leucadia, for dinner Tuesday night at her home in San Marcos. A devoted Air Force wife, she’s always been the consummate hostess (she hosted my bridal shower back in 1970) and sets a lovely table.

We talked and laughed and caught up with one another for several hours, and enjoyed a wonderful stroganoff dinner.

So how are we doing with our bicycling? It’s been really, really hot here, unusually so, and even more abnormally it’s been humid due to several successive hurricanes out in the Pacific. As a result we’ve had some gorgeous sunsets, coinciding with a “supermoon.”

I HATE being hot. Nevertheless, we’ve been riding our bikes every day, usually in the evening, either down the Strand toward Imperial Beach or north to Coronado. It’s so fun!

Almost every day we’ve been back to the bike shop, where we’ve spent enough money to become good buddies with an excellent young salesman named Jacob. Today Patrick got a much more comfortable ride with a bigger, springier seat, taller handlebar post, and bigger foot pedals for his size 15 feet.

On our way up to Coronado, we ride past the Navy Amphibious Base, where the Seals train, and often we see the amphibious teams hard at their training. Today we saw some over on the ocean side carrying their boats, apparently after an amphibious landing in the surf,

and another group setting out with M-16 rifles and heavy packs in this horrible heat. Bless them!

Late yesterday afternoon we got the word that our bikes were ready and drove up to pick them up. They are perfect, exactly what we wanted.

Here’s the deal about these Electra Townie bikes (which are not electric – that’s just the company name): the key feature is the ergonomic Flat Foot Technology, where the crank and pedals are located not at the bottom of the seat post but moved forward a bit. This means that your sitting position is angled back 23% (in the direction of a recumbent bike), so you’re sitting upright, not hunched over. You can see the world better, pedaling is easier, and you can readily place your feet flat on the ground whenever you want. It’s a completely different riding experience, so comfortable. The frames are lightweight aluminum and the components are high quality – what’s not to love?

Patrick’s bike is a red men’s 7D, which means a Shimano 7-speed derailleur and front and rear linear-pull brakes. In this model he was able to order a Tall frame, so for the first time he has a bike that actually fits his 6-foot, 4-inch body.

Mine is a burgundy step-through Balloon 8i, which means it has balloon tires, 8 gears, and Shimano Nexus internal hubs instead of a derailleur. I wasn’t sure I wanted the balloon tires, but I definitely wanted the internal-hub shifter (which came only on the model with the balloon tires). My experience with derailleurs is that the chain tends to slip, and this internal hub is supposed to be much more reliable (and looks cleaner). It also has roller brakes built into the hub, so no brake pads clenching the tires. The balloon tires are high-volume, low-pressure Kevlar Guard premium tires that absorb impact with less rolling resistance for a smooth, cushy ride with added protection against the dreaded flat. If I don’t like them, I can change them out.

I have great existential fear about riding a bike, that it will break down and I’ll be stranded and unable to fix it. Friends tell me not to worry, someone will come along and help me. No doubt that’s true and not a problem for extraverts, but for an introvert like me, having to solicit the kindness and expertise of strangers would be even worse than being broken down and stranded. So I want a very reliable bike, even though I will mostly be riding alongside my favorite, über-competent mechanic.

After tooling around the RV park a bit last night, this morning we took our first bike ride: up the Silver Strand to Holland’s Bike Shop in Coronado, where we spent a very enjoyable hour or so choosing additional accessories.

We rode a little on Orange Ave, the main drag, and had a very nice lunch at the Tent City Café. (Tent City means something different in Coronado than in Seattle: after the Hotel Del Coronado was built in 1888, a tourist/vacation area of tents (later replaced by cottages) was established just south of the hotel.) Not wanting to overdo on our first day, we estimate that we rode about 7 or so miles up to Coronado and back to the RV park, and then Patrick attached all our accessories.

Now I have: a basket, a water cage inside the basket, a mirror on the end of the handlebars, a pretty leather case for small items, a bell with a compass on it, an odometer, head and tail lights, a tire pump, a Kryptonite lock, and a daisy (for “Daisy”).

Patrick got: a bell, a mirror on the end of the handlebars, an iPhone bracket, a tire repair kit, head and tail lights, a lock, a rack over the back tire, and panniers.

We’re very well outfitted!

For the engineers in the audience (you know who you are) – Specs for my bike:
• Lightweight 6061-t6 aluminum frame
• Shimano Nexus internal 8-speed w/freewheel
• Shimano nexus twist shifter
• Shimano nexus roller brakes w/cooling fins
• Painted alloy rims
• Schwalbe fat frank 26”x 2.35” tires

Specs for Patrick’s bike:
• Tall Sized – Lightweight 6061-t6 aluminum frame
• Shimano tx-35 7-speed w/megarange gearing
• Shimano revo twist shifter
• Forged alloy crankset w/44t chainring & dual guards
• Alloy linear-pull brakes
• Painted alloy fenders
• Double-wall alloy rims
• 26”x 2.0” semi-slick street tires