Last night, we went to Becky & Denny's for a combo Halloween and football party. Becky sent a hand made invitation card that said: Come over for a RAVEN good time! The yard was completely decorated with skeletons, gravestones, and spiderwebs. 

Today, it was unseasonably warm. I decided to go on a bike ride with a destination in mind about 20 miles away. I rode from Cumming to Des Moines on the Great Western Trail, through Water Works Park and headed across this new rail converted bridge to find my way to the Inter-Urban Trail to Becky & Denny's house. To my surprise, the trail was not repaired yet from the summer flooding and I ended up on a dirt construction road to a dead end fence. I "bushwacked" around the fence and headed off on a sort of grassy mixed with mud holes trail/road. Down by the river, I met a disheveled man on an old beater MTB and he was glad to orient me by telling me we were in back of Broadlawns Hospital and that the paved trail was "right over there". I thanked him and was on my way!

Last night, we had our first hard freeze. This was a chartreuse sweet potato vine. I knew it was time but I wasn't ready yet!

This photo was taken by Andrew Rizzo. He gave me permission for a copy. It was taken in Columbia, MO at Collegiate MTB Regional Championships during the short track race. I love how it shows the top 3 racing together!

Rich was off today and decided to make a pot of chili - an unusual event but tasty!

It was a bad summer for peppers, it was so wet that they simply did not grow. This fall, they finally got some dry weather but I had to pick them today because it is forecast to get beyond frosty tonight. I may have enough to can some for Kristin!

This is the prettiest tree around our house this year!

Rich and I went for a bike ride today from Madrid to Woodward on the new "High Trestle Trail". This bridge over the Des Moines River is the 5th longest pedestrian bridge in the world at 1/2 mile long and is 13 stories high. What a wonderful view!

I haven't ridden my "comfort" bike since last March in Corpus Christi. I got it out today and the chain was rusted beyond hope! I tried soaking it but finally gave in and put on a new chain.

The burning bush is just starting to turn here at home. In town, many are already completely bright red.

This photo was taken by Thomas Compton of Reno, NV. He took this on October 16 at Northstar Resort near Lake Tahoe. I found it on his website among several others of Sierra racing. I ordered prints from Tom and they are beautiful! He had them printed on a metallic paper that I've not seen before. His website and photography are definitely worth a look: http://thomascompton.com

The wind came through one day last week and carpeted the ground with pine needles. Rich raked them up into piles and Charlie immediately used them as a soft bed.

I finally unwrapped a purchase from our trip to Las Vegas in September. Those who know me well, understand that I love pelicans. I got this little Ken Edwards stoneware pelican from a shop in Boulder City that we love to visit each year.

I got back from California today at 2 PM. I uploaded my photos and went to take a look at Marian's website to see if they had an update about Nationals and I see this article - complete with my photo of Sierra in the forest on the cross country course!

WOW! I stopped on I-80 east of Park City, UT on my way home from Truckee to see if I could capture the fall foliage colors on these mountain foothills.

Sierra, Sarah, and Brooke competed with each other all MTB season. Here they meet again at Nationals in the short track race!

The collegiate conference champions get called to the start line before the other competitors for the 20 mile cross country race. The representatives on the line with Sierra are from University of Vermont, Lees-McRae College, University of Colorado, and California Poly Tech.

Today, I met the MTB team at Northstar Resort outside Truckee, CA with the bikes. We got them put together and Alder and Sierra headed out to check out the cross country course. Here they stopped for a photo at Mid-Mountain.

I got to Utah around 7 this morning. It looks like Utah got new welcome signs since last year.

I left work today at 315PM and made it to Ogallala, NE for my first stop!

I couldn't resist and finally made up my mind! I'm leaving after work tomorrow to drive to Truckee, CA to watch Sierra and her teammates compete at Collegiate MTB Nationals. Mother and I went last year together and I will miss the fun that we had in Yosemite and Tahoe! 1614 miles each way, I'll be putting in a good audio book and driving 'til I get tired!

It was unseasonably warm today so I decided to drive to Lake Red Rock in search of pelicans. I was rewarded!


As I was looking over the photos I took today, I was trying to figure out what the nearly perfectly round thing was on this pelican's leg. Then, I noticed what looked like a string hanging from its head. I zoomed in and figured out that the bird has a fish hook stuck in the back of its head and probably a small sinker and line wrapped around its leg! :(


This is the last photo I took before leaving. I discovered after uploading the photos that the pelican in the middle has a fishing bobber in its beak! I only hope that the bobber was "thrown back".

Kristin crashed while mountain biking today. She went over the handlebars, scraped up her face and has a nice gash on her elbow. She didn't think she needed stitches on her elbow and is just sore tonight.

For graduation, Sierra wants a new MTB. The frame she wants isn't available yet so she has to settle for now with just the components and put them on her current frame. The parts came today and she is hoping to have the bike together tomorrow so she can get some riding in before traveling to Truckee next week.

At the Cycling Center today, Sierra was awarded her trophy for the Midwest Collegiate Cycling Conference Regional Championship - Overall MTB Champion. This is a first award of this type for the Marian University Cycling Team. Coach Dean is so proud of all the members of the team!

Munch, munch, munch, repeat.

We were in Omaha today and visited DeSoto Wildlife Refuge on the way home. The birds are not migrating yet but we found this beautiful bronze eagle outside the visitor center.

A beautiful view of the mums we brought home from Indianapolis!

Congrats to Sierra! Today, she became the 2010 Midwest Collegiate Cycling Conference Overall Women's Champion. Because she had more total points than the men's champion, she chose this nice Oakley backpack as an extra prize given by the USA Cycling representative.

Sierra gets the hole shot and takes the early lead in the cross country race today! She won the race and is on her way to a possible Midwest Conference title in the MTB endurance category.

Sierra's looking relaxed and ready for winning tomorrow in Columbia!