Twenty Questions (E15): A Day in the Life

Recently Engie reminded me that I have not done a Day in the Life post in quite some time! Last year, I only did one when I was in Lyon, and in 2024 I did one about my day as a bikepacker.  As I am getting close to my 20 year anniversary and the end of my 20 Questions series, I decided to do this as a 20 snapshots of a day in my current life! 

Also, Happy President's day to those in the US! Tomorrow is Lunar New Year, and this week in many Asian countries, people have the whole week off. To all those celebrating, 恭喜發財 Gong hei fat choy, 新年快乐 Xīnnián kuàilè, 새해 복 많이 받으세요 Saehae bok mani badeuseyo and Chúc Mừng Năm Mới!! This year is the year of the horse, which is my year! Here is what that means for me. 

Horse: energetic, independent, charismatic, and quick-thinking, with a love of freedom, movement, and new experiences. They thrive on travel, change, and forward progress, and often feel restless when life becomes stagnant. When their zodiac year returns, it is not always lucky, and it can bring heightened change, personal transitions, and major turning points, especially around identity, career, or lifestyle. This is a year to stay grounded: wear red for protection, avoid impulsive decisions, manage financial risks carefully, focus on health, and balance ambition with humility. It’s not a year to hold back—but to move forward with awareness rather than impatience. 

Sounds about right! I guess I need to wear my red panties every day (my only red item). 

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A Day in the Life

Tuesday, February 10, 2026

Taipei, Taiwan

6:30 am: My alarm goes off. I get up, go downstairs, and put the kettle on. I brush my teeth, put my contacts in, and go to the kitchen to make coffee. Today I have the final few exams of a comprehensive health check. I did 75% of the exams last week, but I was not enough days past menstruation, so they wanted to do the gynecological exams later. Luckily I do not have to fast like I did last time, as I need coffee! I drink two cups in rapid succession as I prep for my day. 

7:00 am: Since I will be very close to people today, I decide to take a quick shower before heading out. Normally I shower in the evening, or right after my morning workout, but I don't want to embarrass myself at the doctor's office. I never used to have stinky pits, ever, but lately my flora has definitely changed, and not for the better! I shower and dress, grab my daypack, and put my jacket, water and snacks in it, as I will be going for a hike after my exams. I also put my stool sample in my bag, double bagged for safety, and head out the door. 

Waiting for the bus

7:30 am: I have about a seven minute walk to the bus stop, where I catch the bus to the clinic. The bus system in Taipei is quite good; when you get on and off, you swipe your transit card (called the Easy Card), and you can use Google Maps to get around quite easily. The only issue is that a couple of times, the bus has come a few minutes early! However, this time I make it there before the bus, and I flag them down to stop. I get on the bus and get a seat and turn on my audiobook. I am listening to Life is a Lazy Susan of Shit Sandwiches, which is good enough, but I am really only half listening as I stare out the window, watching the different neighborhoods go by. I get off the bus, and have about a 10 minute walk from the stop to the clinic. 

Health Clinic

8:30 am: This visit is a lot easier than the last. I will do an entire post about the comprehensive exam later this week, as it was quite extensive. I arrive at the health center, and head one floor up to the second floor to check in. In Taiwan this is the same "2nd floor" as it is in the US, rather than it being called the "1st floor" like it would be in Europe. The first thing I do is give the stool sample to the attendant. It is pretty efficient; when you walk in, if it is busy, you get in line at a desk for check in, but if you are early or it is not as busy, there is a line of "greeters" who come to you and you get your own personal check in person. My check in person takes my stool sample, and gives me a urine sample tube and my paperwork and sends me to the 3rd floor. 

Urine sample - very efficient system

8:45 am: I head to the toilet to take care of my urine sample right away, as the coffee has kicked in! The set up is quite easy; you get a little cup to pee in, which you then have to transfer to the tube, and then you leave the tube in an overall container in the restroom. That takes all of five minutes and I am headed to get blood drawn again. I say again, as I did a huge draw last week, but the draw they are doing today could be affected by hormones which is why they waited to do it until this week. 

Leave the sample here

9:00 am: Blood draw done! I head to the 4th floor for the gynecologist. I can happily say that this was the best gynecological appointment that I have ever had. No joke. First I waited in the waiting room for about five minutes. They called me into the little room, sent me behind a curtain to take off my pants and underpants (while they were still in the room), then I sat in the fanciest chair I have ever seen. Unfortunately I did not get a photo, and I cannot find it on the internet. Picture a massage chair, but where you sit has cups for your two thighs. Now the doctor pushes a button, which raises you way up, leans you way back, and the chair opens your thighs for you. I won't go into more detail about that, but it was pretty impressive. They did a regular exam and an ultrasound, but all in all, I was in and out (pun intended!) in less than six minutes. 

Waiting room

9:10 am: I am back in the waiting room. For all of the exams I have had done in the last week, they will send me all of my results via email, but the imaging must be put on a CD, which will take about an hour to produce. I sit in the waiting room and read blog posts while I wait for it to be done. 

10:03 am: I get the CD and I walk out the front door. I am headed to a hiking area that is nearby, since I figured that since I had already taken the bus this far, I may as well hang out closer to this neighborhood a little before heading back. The trailhead for the hike I am going to do its about 3 km or 2 miles away from where I am now. I start walking. 

10:11 am: Given that I haven't had breakfast, I am getting a tad hungry. I stop at 7-Eleven to grab some snacks. In Taiwan 7-Eleven is more prevalent than Starbucks, as in, you can be walking down the street and in a one block walk, you may see three of them. The cool thing is, not only do they have snacks, but they have entire meal kits, and the clerk will microwave them for you if you like. They also have a spot to sit and eat inside. However, today I am going to eat and walk, so I grab my favorite on the go snack triad: the rice triangle, a pastry, and a milk tea. 

10:32 am: I walk past a dog park. It is cool; they have it segregated into large dog (over 9 kg / 20 lbs) and small dog (under 9 kg / 20 lbs) areas. They also have a bench, so I sit on it to have a snack and drink my milk tea. 

Big dogs go here

10:51 am: I walk past a fruit market, and make a pit stop to grab some snacks for the hike. I get a few mandarins and two large carrots for about $2.00. I put them in my backpack and continue. 

The dragonfruit were tempting me

10:58 am: I arrive at the trailhead for the Elephant Mountain hike. This is about 1 km straight up, but once you get to the viewpoint, you can see Taipei 101 in the near distance. It is a very popular hike, especially on the weekends and at sunset, but since today is a Tuesday, I hope it will not be too busy. I start climbing! 

11:24 am: I get to the first viewpoint at Elephant Mountain, and it is a good one. I futz about, take a few photos and continue on. I am headed on a hike called the Five Yuan hike, which goes to five different peaks. The area I am in is called the Four Beasts, and the beasts are the elephant (Xiangshan), lion (Shishan), leopard (Baoshan) and tiger (Hushan), which are each a hill, and I will round it out by doing a fifth, which is called Jiuwu. Most people only go to the elephant, so after I pass that, there are a lot less people. 

12:06 pm: There are a lot less people, but there are still a lot of stairs! I get to the first peak, Jiuwu, take the obligatory photo, and carry on. 

Taipei 101 from Jiuwu peak

1:54 pm: Despite the stairs, it is a nice hike, through lots of greenery and past temples and shrines. It is so strange to think that just a couple of hours ago, I was in the middle of a bustling metropolis! I arrive at Tiger peak and admire the view. 

2:02 pm: I get to Leopard peak, which has a good view and no other people at the viewpoint! 

2:17 pm: I arrive at Lion peak, and am done with the four beasts! This one had the least exciting view of all the peaks, so it is kind of a less than exciting conclusion! However, I am happy to nearly be done and I head back down the hill toward the elephant peak to complete my circuit. 

2:42 pm: I arrive back at the trailhead where I started, check the bus schedule and head down to the nearest bus stop. The entire hike ended up being about 5 miles or 8 km. Here is the link to the route that I took. Since I have about 10 minutes until the bus comes, I go to 7-Eleven for a post hike drink. I try a new-to-me drink, guava juice, which is a little too sweet, but it is still nice to have something cool to drink after the hike. 

3:05 pm: I am on the bus. However, I did not realize that the bus I am on doubles back on itself, and I am on the bus going in the wrong direction. I get off the bus, and get on the one going the right direction! Normally if you stand on the proper side of the street you are good, but this one does a loop, so both buses (going west and east) stop on the same side of the road. It is not normally like this! 

3:55 pm: I get off the bus, walk through my "local" park, which is called 228 park, and is a commemoration of events that happened in Taipei on Feb 28. That takes me into the Ximen neighborhood, which is a hustling bustling pedestrian avenue with plenty of shopping during the day and a night market in the evenings. 

Ximen

4:05 pm: I stop at Watsons (like CVS) to get tampons and to check out their face masks. My friend's daughter L, who is 11, loves face masks, and I thought she may like one from Taiwan. There are way too many, and as a person who does not use face masks, it is a bit overwhelming. Luckily a clerk points me in the right direction (and likely upsells me a bit, oh well) and I am on my way. 

So many face masks!

4:20 pm: I am "home!" And I am hungry! I make a big stir fry in my one pan (don't get me started on this!) with cauliflower, tofu and noodles, and I sit down to eat while watching an episode of Outlander. I normally do not have Netflix, but this Airbnb has it, and I am taking advantage! 

5:20 pm: I finish my episode, put a load of laundry in, and finally sit down to catch up on some blogs, reading, travel planning, writing etc. As is often the case, I do a little research, make some notes, but don't really finalize much. I am trying to make some plans with a friend for August, so I do a bit of research about that. I am also still trying to decide what to do about my licensing, and like I said, am dragging my feet about it. 

7:56 pm: I take out the laundry, hang it up to dry, and sit down to do my Spanish practice. I have been trying to do roughly a half an hour of lessons, a half an hour of reading, and around 5-10 minutes of YouTube 3-5 times per week. I found this fun video of kids songs, which I have been working my way through. Just wait, before you know it, you'll also be singing along....los pollitos dicen pio, pio, pio, quando tienan hambre, quando tienan frio!! You know you want to sing along! 

9:10 pm: I do my daily game routine of Rummikub, Sudoku (I am getting better! I was only doing the easy one; now I am sometimes doing the medium, hard, and even expert ones fairly quickly) and Octowordle. 

10:06 pm: I set my alarm for 1:00 am, because they are releasing World Cup tickets at 12 pm ET and I am going to try to buy some. I put on a podcast, set the sleep timer to 15 minutes and fall asleep in about four minutes. 

So there you have it, a day in the life in twenty blurbs!

Where is the last place where you had to take a bus? Have you ever had a comprehensive health exam? Do you have any videos en español that you would recommend? What zodiac sign are you? 

A Day In The Life

Last year, almost to the day, I did a DITL post, and I read through it recently and was feeling nostalgic for little old tent-dwelling me, who had just started out on a long bike ride and had the whole world in front of me. Due to this, I thought it would be a good idea to do this a little more regularly, so I can look back on them, so I am going to do one for each location where I have a longer term stay. 

April 21, 2024 - Tacoma, WA

I think that when most people think of full time travel, they think of excitement and a vacation every day, but in reality, it is just daily life somewhere else, and can often be repetitive and mundane. However, I am not knocking repetitive or mundane in the least; the reason I am staying in one place for a little longer is so that I can have those "regular" days! So here is a little peek into the real life of a slow traveler. 

Thursday January 16th, 2025

Lyon, France

6:00 am: Yes, I still get up early! I love waking up in the dark and watching the sun rise over the...mountains...or in this case the courtyard of my building! I get out of bed, use the bathroom, brush my teeth, and put in my contacts; this is the same exact routine every day without fail! The next (very important) thing is to make coffee! I drink my coffee and watch the light start to get brighter as I catch up on the news and blogs. When I say "drink my coffee," that is coffee plural, and also it is not the tiny cups that the French drink. I do like espresso, but I also like a big ol' cup, or five, of drip coffee. However, I am actually drinking instant, which will probably gross out the coffee snobs, but there is no coffee maker in my apartment and I actually don't mind instant that much anyway. 

7:00 am: Now that it is light, I go for a quick run along the Saone river, which is just a few hundred feet from my doorstep. I did this on purpose, as one of the things that is important to me when I am traveling is the ability to get out and get some exercise without having to travel or fight crowds. Of course, a nice view is nice too, but I have found that often the place with the nice view is either the popular (crowded) one, you need a car to get to it, or it is prohibitively expensive! It is a little cold still, and a bit foggy, but it is invigorating to get out! 

A bit dreary, but its good to get out

8:00 am: The run is done; I buy a baguette and hit the shower, then eat the baguette with butter and call that breakfast done! Usually I would wait a little longer to have breakfast, and then just have two meals instead of three, but today I have a walking tour at 10:00 am, which is my normal eating time. 

Walking to Vieux Lyon

9:00 am: I start walking down toward the Vieux Lyon, which is about a 2.5 mile walk from where I am staying. I take my time and enjoy the quiet of the river, and the cyclists all doing their thing commuting to work. This is a big cycling town and I love it, and of course I also miss my bike! I could easily take the Metro, as there is a stop about 30 seconds from my house, but I enjoy the exercise, and seeing the people on the street. I get to the area a little early and check out the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist, which has a really cool astronomical clock inside. 

St. John the Baptist

10:00 am-12:00 pm: Walking tour of the Vieux Lyon. This is something I generally like to do on one of my first few days in a new city, as I can get a nice lay of the land and a bit of history. Plus I like to pick the brain of the tour guide for a place to eat and anything I should do that the locals do (in case you are wondering, here are his recommendations). 

Inside of a Traboule

This tour is a free walking tour, but that means you have to tip the person, which can be whatever you want but I think that generally $10-$20 is standard. This is still true in non-tipping countries, as this is how they get paid. This is one of the only things I need cash for in most places that I travel (and my baguette; it just feels weird to charge one euro every day on my card!) 

Place Bellecour

12:00 pm: The tour ends near the Place Bellecour, which used to be a military training ground but now is a plaza with a Ferris wheel and a subway stop. From it you can see the Basilica of Notre Dame of Fourvière, which sits up on the hill above the city. Luckily it ended here, because also Republic St. is a known shopping street and is nearby and I need a new phone! I head to FNAC to look. 

Rue de la République

1:00 pm: I spend quite a lot of time looking at phones, inquiring about fixing mine, and talking to a representative via Google Translate. After finally deciding, I end up buying a phone and after I open it, I then realize that it is actually not compatible for what I will need, so I return it. Due to the exchange rate fluctuation, I actually end up having a debit of about $0.10 USD in the end! Ha! 

2:00 pm-4:00 pm: I slowly make my way back home, but not along the river. Instead I go up through the Croix-Rousse neighborhood, which is my favorite neighborhood in the city so far. It has a lot of artwork, murals and weird art installations, and it sits on the top of the hill, so you get a great view of the city below as you go up the hill. I have fun "treasure hunting" as I walk. 

Croix-Rousse

Croix-Rousse

4:00 pm: I get back to my neighborhood and I head to the grocery store. I love looking at things in the stores in different countries. In fact, I can easily spend an hour in the store just staring at meats and breads and bean casseroles. Which is what I do! Who wants some duck confit? 

Duck confit?

5:00 pm: Family video call! We do this every Thursday. It used to be at 5:00 pm PT, but now that I am abroad, the family does it at 8:00 am instead. Otherwise, I would have to get up at 2:00 am to do the call. Thanks fam! 

6:00 pm: The call is over, so I make myself a pate and baguette sandwich for dinner. What do you mean that I can't just eat bread with toppings for every meal? Fine, I will have a side of cheese with it. 

Cheese!! 

7:00 pm: I read my book for a while. I am reading The Briar Club by Kate Quinn, which is a good book. It is not my favorite Quinn book, that would be The Alice Network, but it is still enjoyable. 

9:00 pm: I do my bedtime routine, which is to play one game (okay, maybe two) of Rummikub on my phone before going to bed. I am having issues with my phone though, and the battery doesn't last, and I don't have two adapters, and my computer is plugged in in the living room, so I have to keep my external battery pack nearby to charge my phone. I win one game and lose the other, which is about par for the course. 

I am about to win!

9:15 pm: I put on a podcast, set the sleep timer to 15 minutes and pass out!

Total steps: 13,000

Total miles: 7.5 (12 km)

What is your favorite thing to do when you get to a new place? What is your normal bedtime routine? What is your favorite kind of cheese? 

A Day In The Life

Since I am done riding for the moment, but am not yet home, I thought I would do a day in the life of a house and pet sitter. I am currently in the Pacific Northwest and am hanging out with a very happy English Setter. 

4:33 am. I wake up and my body says, "let's do something!" so I get out of bed and start the coffee. As it's percolating, I get Frankie (the dog) out of her crate and feed her, then I brush my teeth and put my contacts in. Once the coffee is ready, I get a big cup and sit down to do some computer work. Lately this has consisted of going through photos and videos of my trip and trying to create some semblance of order to them. I also read a few blogs, comment on them, update my address list with a new address I just got, and address a holiday card to this person, put a stamp on it and put it in the outgoing mail stack. Mornings are my more productive time and I always feel better when I get some things done early. 

7:04 am. It is not quite light, but it will be light enough in about 10 or 15 minutes that we will not trip over anything, so I get myself and Frankie ready for a run. This consists of a beanie, gloves, long sleeve shirt and windbreaker for me, and a leash for Frankie. Oh, and poop bags of course. We have been alternating days between running or long walks, and today is a running day. 

7:25 am. We finally get out the door, and lo and behold, the sunrise is fabulous! It has been foggy and cloudy a lot lately, but today it is so clear and we can see Mt. Rainier! Also, great news, Frankie does her business early, so I only have to run with it for a minute before I get to the park where I can dispose of it. Silver lining!? 

Mt. Rainier

8:00 am. Our run takes us out to Puget Sound, and today it is clear enough that we can also see the Olympic range, which is a first! We spend way too much time taking photos and playing in the surf, but soon we are on our way. 

The Olympic Range

Frankie and the Sea

9:00 am. We go further than planned because the views are just so good. Frankie is a good dog, and she loves to run, but she also gets very excited about any other dog and kids and wants to bark at them and jump on them or lunge at them. Because of this, I try to stay on the other side of the street. We also normally don't go out at prime school bus time when we can help it. Also, the dog is very food motivated, and will chase any small animal, and she finds a hidden container of chow mein on the ground and actually pulls me down to the ground. It is not really her strength as much as it is that the sidewalks are very slippery here, but I am okay! I love running in quirky places, and Seattle is that! We find lots of little treasures along the way. 

Mermaid Trading Post

10:00 am. We get home, shower, and eat. Frankie drinks about a gallon of water, and I fear that she is going to toss her cookies, but she doesn't thank goodness. She then goes for a nap. I think I finally tired her out! 

11:00 am. I walk to the grocery store, get groceries and walk back. It is a beautiful day and is cold but a lot more clear than it has been. 

The Cascades

12:00 pm - 3:00 pm. I do more computer work, organizing etc. I am trying to have all of my travel plans figured out approximately three months beforehand, if not more. Currently I have all the accommodation and transport booked through July, but am still getting lists together of things to do in each location. 

3:00 pm - 5:00 pm. Happy hour! I go down to the local pub and get a beer and a bacon cheeseburger with ghost pepper cheese. Seattle is known for its happy hours and will often have them on weekends and late nights too. However, for me, a 3:00 pm dinner is perfect! This way I only need two meals today. Total cost for two beers, bacon cheeseburger and tater tots with 10% tax and tip = $30. 

5:00 pm. Frankie and I go for our evening walk. Usually we do at least two miles per walk, but today since we ran a lot further than normal, we only do about a mile. The Christmas lights are so fun though, and it is kind of nice to walk in the dark with all of the lights shining. 

This is Hans' house; it is my favorite

5:30 pm - 8:00 pm. Back home, in jammies, ready to take on the world. We watch an episode of The Great British Bake Off, which is fun, but kind of silly. Everyone is so nice. I don't really like the hosts; I think their value add is minimal. However, I enjoy watching the challenges. After that, I play a couple of games of Rummikub on my phone and then read before going to bed.  

What is your typical day like? What time do you get up and go to bed? Do you play any games on your phone (if so, which ones)? 

A Day In The Life

Happy Monday and Happy Memorial Day! I hope that if you have the day off you are having a great time and the sun is shining and the birds are singing and you are happy. If you are working today, I'm so sorry, but may your next day off be wonderful. This weekend brings me a little feeling of nostalgia, at is is usually my first backpacking weekend in the Sierra, and normally I would be in Yosemite or some other high rocky place, enjoying the views and loving it. However, this year brings a different sort of adventure, but it is interesting how we pine for the past even so! 

Yosemite: Memorial Day Weekend 2023

I thought I would do another day in the life, and may do this each month, as even though sometimes the days seem the same every day, they are actually often quite different. Last time, if you recall, it was in the 20s in the mornings and this time, I went through a few days in the 80s, only one month later! 

Monday, May 13, 2024

Hydraulic Lake, British Columbia

4:00 am: I wake to the sound of honking geese. This has been my alarm for the past few days, as I have been camping near bodies of water and they are very active in the morning. The other day, I could even hear them walking around near my tent, but when I poked my head out they skedaddled. They are noisy though! Luckily I fall back asleep. 

5:00 am: It is light! I wake up to the sound of the dawn chorus. Now this I can get on board with! I notice that they have the cheeseburger bird in Canada too! For those of you who are not familiar, this is a bird that I grew up hearing and the sound it makes kind of sounds like it is whistling "cheese-bur-ger!" When I was a kid, I thought it was just us locals that called it that, but apparently other people do too (this is what is sounds like). The actual bird is a chickadee. However, in BC, this bird sometimes has an extra syllable in its call, so it sounds like it is saying, "three-cheese-bur-ger!" 

5:45 am: I think about getting up. It is actually not too cold this morning, which is usually my excuse for lingering, and bonus, my tent is dry, as the site near the lake was windy and not too humid. I rejoice silently, as a wet tent is the bane of my existence. 

Hydraulic Lake

6:00 am: I do my normal morning tent routine of dressing and putting things away, with one critical addition. Before putting on any clothes, I put on sunscreen. I have learned the hard way that this is best done before everything else, while you are focusing and not in a hurry on the side of the road. Also, this way I can get that little strip near my watch, the backs of my hands, and the weird armpit-side-area that I sometimes miss when I am in a hurry. Also it's better to not be wearing my helmet and glasses and sleeves and cuffs etc. Preferably when I am at the beach, I would do this naked, as I always miss a spot when I do it after I am dressed, even in a swimsuit. Life lesson learned. However, I am not in the mood to get naked in the tent so I make do. 

6:20 am: I exit the tent. The lake is calm and the view is great. I heat up water for oatmeal and coffee. This consists of instant coffee and although I often drink it black at home, while traveling I like a bit of a treat, so I pilfer sugar and cream packets from any motel or gas station when I get coffee and I use a couple of those when I am camping. Normally I would scoff at any fake creamers, but currently I am happy to have anything! For the oatmeal, I put a couple of sugar packets and if I have peanut butter, which I do today, I put a scoop of that in there too. If I have extra creamer packets, I may even throw one of those in (decadent!!), but usually I do not have extras and today is no exception. 

While the water is heating, I break down the tent and load the bags onto Bob. After doing that, I eat breakfast while staring at the lake and watching the fish jump; dare I call this "meditating?" 

7:00 am: I get going. Today I would like to try to get 50 miles at least, but preferably 60 miles, as I have a town day planned for tomorrow and the more miles I do today, the less I have to do tomorrow. I like to have as much time as possible in towns, as I often have errands to do, administrative things to take care of and also would like to relax a little bit sometimes. Ideally, I would get to town right at or just before check in (around 2 pm usually) so I would have a few hours for errands, and a few hours for admin/relaxing. 

7:06 am: Since I was wild camping, I did not have a toilet, but I knew there was one a few minutes down the road. I never pass up an opportunity to use a real toilet, if you can call a pit toilet "real." It is much more real than digging a hole in the ground though, so I use it while I can! 

Do you see the sign on the wall? Dog poop bags?  Who does that?

8:00 am - 11:59 am: Yesterday I spent the entire day climbing up about 3,500 feet and today, I spend most of the day going downhill (aka losing what I gained, but such is life). However, I am on a rail trail and so it is a gradual 1%-2% downhill, and although you may think that this is awesome, it is not! The surface is gravelly and rocky and sandy and I actually have to pedal downhill most of the time in order to keep the flow going. Also, this kind of riding hurts the butt! If you are a runner, you will know what I mean. When the spectator says, "it is all downhill from here!" and you are like, "my quads are dead, downhill is NOT my friend at this point!" My butt is dead. Bring on the 5% incline (just kidding!) 

However, I do have the trail all to myself and it a nice ride through the pine trees. And it is not raining, which is another bane of my existence, so I am as happy as a clam! I am listening to Everyone Here is Lying by Shari Lapena, which is entertaining. This downhill is perfect for audio, as steeper ones with more wind noise make it so I cannot hear well enough. 

Kettle Valley Railway

12:00 pm: I veer off track for a bit at Beaverdell, where there is one restaurant open that has pizza and ice cream. I eat half of a pizza and a scoop of ice cream, and wrap up the other half of the pizza for dinner later and put it in my bike bag. While eating, I charge my phone and sit for a bit watching the cars go by until I finally have to get back up and get going. At this point, I have done 35 miles so far. I am still aiming for 60, which would put me right near the Kettle River at a campsite there. 

Yes please.

Pizza in Beaverdell

1:00 pm - 5:00 pm: I ride near the Kettle river for a long time. There are a lot of gates, as much of this part of the trail goes through private land. I get tired of getting off the bike, opening the gate, closing the gate, getting back on the bike. I am ready to be done. 

5:00 pm: I get to the Kettle river campsite. It is $30 for a tent site. After having a lot of free sites lately, this seems like a lot (however, it is almost summer, so this will likely be the norm more often). Plus they only take cash and I only have $20. Poop. The camp host is very nice and she tells me all about the other campsites further along, as well as the possibility of ATMs. I ride to town, which is about 5 clicks away, the lady says. (side note: clicks are kilometers; however, the town was more like 7 clicks away, and those extra 2 clicks were felt). 

Spring runoff in the Kettle river

TCT

5:27 pm: I get to the second campsite possibility. The office is open from 9:30 am - 5:30 pm. I go to the office and it is closed. I peer in and it is dark. Poop. There is a phone number to call after hours. I call it, but nobody answers. Poop! Luckily there is another campground across the river. I know I should get cash before going to the third option, so I go into town and ask at the local pub, which I was told had an ATM. It is closed, but the man working outside directs me to the Petro Canada (gas station). 

5:45 pm: I ride to the PetroCan, but their ATM does not take my card. It keeps saying chip read error. I ride to the next possible ATM, which the gas station attendant told me was 2 minutes away. It takes me 6 minutes. I get cash! Yay. 

6:00 pm: I ride to the campsite. The building which has the name of the site on the roof has a "private" sign on the front door. I knock anyways. Nobody answers. The next building over looks like someone took a sledgehammer to it, or maybe it was a fire? There is a building that looks like an apartment building nearby as well, but nothing else. There is only one other person in an RV site, and I pass by him to see if he is a host, but there is no sign and I do not want to bug him. I decide to go and pick a spot and maybe someone will come to me for the fee. 

6:15 pm: I pick a nice spot right near the river. I eat my pizza, plus four coconut macaroons, while staring at the river in a comatose manner. I am tired. My final mileage is 70.73 miles, which beats my prior one day high for this trip so far of 70.28. 

Home sweet home

6:30 pm: I put up my tent, use the bathroom (NOT maintained, maybe this campground is closed?), and take off my bike shorts to air out for the night. There is not enough time to rinse them and let them dry, so I just flip them inside out so the crotch section gets some air. It is slightly gross, but such is life these days. I unpack my bags, spread out my sleep gear and put on my sleep shorts. I start my charging regime. My battery pack has two USB ports, and I have one mini USB with two, so I can charge two items on that one, and one item on the other. I then closely monitor them to see when they are full so I can swap them out with the next thing. Despite having so many electronics, generally I only need to charge my phone and maybe two other items each night. 

7:00 pm: I sit with the flap of the tent open and watch a bald eagle land in a tree across the river and try to get a video of him leaving the tree, but he just sits there for a long time. I wonder what he is waiting for. The river near me (still the Kettle) is very high and is moving very fast, so I doubt I will hear or see any fish here! 

7:30 pm - 9:00 pm: I read. I am reading Outlander, which I avoided reading for a long time, as it seemed like a bit of a fad. However, I am enjoying it, even though it is mostly just a romance novel. But who doesn't love a nice strong Norse man in a kilt though, you know what I am saying? Aye!!! 

9:00 pm: It is not quite dark yet, but I call it a night and am asleep in mere seconds. In hiker terms, this is called "hiker midnight." I guess it is the same in the bike world, at least for me! As soon as it is dark, it's lights out! 

P.S. Nobody ever came to get my fee, and when I left the next morning the office was still empty, so I ended up getting a free spot after all! 

Have you ever heard (or heard of) the cheeseburger bird? What is your favorite bird sound? What book are you currently reading? 

A Day in The Life

Happy tax day!? Did you do your taxes yet? I had to pay and I set mine up to pay on the 14th, as I am not paying any earlier than I absolutely have to! I hope that you got money back, or did not have to pay too much! 

I know I said I was not going to just talk about the bike trip. but Nicole's post about normal every day life the other day inspired me (plus Engie asked me for the nitty gritty about every hour of my day). I love hearing about other people's different days, so I thought I would do one for my current "routine." Each day is different, but on this day (April 7, 2024), I had wild camped near Lava Bed National Monument. I am going to do this day as a 24 hour period instead of the standard "awake" hours; you will see why in a minute. 

9:30 pm: After falling asleep while reading around 6:00 pm (oops), I wake up, thinking it is morning. Realizing it is not, I puff a few puffs of air into my sleeping pad (it seems to have a very small leak) and I go back to sleep. 

11:00 pm: Wake up, roll over. 

1:00 am: Wake up, roll over. Sometimes sleeping while camping is not fun.

3:00 am: Wake up, realize it's pretty cold out, put sleeping bag over head, roll over.

4:30 am: Wake up, hear snow hitting the tent, roll over.

5:00 am: Alarm goes off, hear snow hitting the tent still, decide to not get up yet, put on a podcast.

6:45 am: After listening to several podcasts, it is still snowing. Thermometer shows that it is 31 degrees inside the tent, so I can only assume it is in the mid 20s outside. After a period of hemming and hawing, I decide to get up and face the music.

Frozen tent

7:00 am: Mobilization tasks include (in this order generally): put on contact lenses, socks (in sleeping bag so they get warm), beanie, long sleeve shirt, hydration pack, buff (on neck), wired earphones (use to save battery, better if they are under jacket) and rain jacket. Take off sleeping shorts, put on hated diaper pants (bike shorts), and long pants. Deflate sleeping pillow (this is a new luxury for me), and sleeping pad and put in bag. Put sleep liner (adds about 10-15 degrees of warmth) in bag. Stuff sleeping bag in bag, filling all cracks. Lastly, put electronics, sleeping shorts and Kindle in the bag. 

7:15 am: Put on shoes. Exit tent. There is snow on the ground and on Bob. It is very cloudy and I am hoping that it does not snow all day. Pee in bushes, which involves removing two layers of pants, peeing, pulling up two layers of pants and tucking in two shirts. Brush teeth. Put on gloves, tighten wrist Velcro on jacket. The less wind getting in, the better. Eat a granola bar and skip coffee due to cold/snow and lack of extra water. Deconstruct and pack up tent. Strap bag with sleeping items on back rack. 

7:45 am: Start Garmin Inreach (this is a satellite tracker and SOS messenger), start Garmin Edge (this is a bike computer that tells me which way to go), start Coros watch (this logs my miles, elevation, heart beat etc.) Plug headphones into phone, start audiobook. Drink water. Leave camp, start pedaling. 

7:45 am - 8:30 am: Pedal, take photos, beat my hands on my handlebars and feet on the pedals because they are cold due to snow and 28 degree temps (according to the bike computer, this may not account for the cold, cold wind though). On this day I go through Lava Bed National Monument, who most of you have probably never heard of, as it is kind of in the middle of nowhere. It is full of lava and caves and is probably pretty cool to explore, but I do not do it this time, as it is very cold and I need to get a permit from the (closed) visitor center to be able to go into the caves. However, check out Skull Cave; isn't it cool? It may be worth coming back someday! 

Lava

8:30 am - 10:30 am: Pedal, take photos. Am kind of glad when there is a small (read: small!) hill as it gives me a chance to warm up a little. I go through the Tule Lake National Wildlife Refuge, where I am sure there are normally a lot of birds, but today there is not much. It snows most of the time, but at least it is not rain! I am craving a coffee, and the road has been a bit straight and I need a break, but there is nothing! I have literally seen no services for the last ~ 80 miles. 

Still cold!

10:30 am: Finally, I get to the Oregon border and there is a liquor store/bar/market on the corner and I fling down the bike and go in! It reminds me of home; there is nobody inside but the bartender points me to the coffee machine and lets me sit in front of the fire. As I sit there, I hear the cook or someone in the back talking about his night last night and it is entertaining to say the least. I look at the map, book a room in Klamath Falls, and warm my toes. A few locals come in and sit at the bar and they start asking me where I am going, and upon learning that my next stop is KF, the proceed to give me advice on which route to take that is the most scenic (and flat, I hope!) I end up taking their advice, because why not!? 

My new favorite bar

11:00 am: I pay for my coffee and drag myself outside, where the sun has come out! It is probably still in the high 30s, but having the sun at my back is priceless. I can hear three guys in trucks admire my bike set up as I leave. I follow the route that the bar guy told me to take, and he was right! It is pretty and there are not many cars, and the ones that do come give me lots of space. 

Lower Klamath Lake Road

2:00 pm: I arrive at KF and after having a bit of a harrowing ride along the main drag in town (no bike lane, fast cars), I get to my motel and check in. They do not have a room on the first floor, or an elevator, so I drag Bob up the stairs. He probably weighs about 75 pounds without me on him. I get into my room and complete my normal room review. Does the room have: a coffee machine, a refrigerator, a microwave? In this case it has the last two, which means I can buy cold things from the grocery store! 

2:15 pm: Before leaving to get food, I do the following: remove bike shorts and wash, hang to dry (they are thick and need time), put on sleeping shorts, remove wet tent from bike and hang to dry, start charging my power bank, get my Chico bag. I walk to the grocery store and buy too much food. This is very common. I always have eyes bigger than both my stomach, and my bike bag capacity. I will figure out a way to make it work though. I do buy a salad and some frozen peas, which I will have to eat right away. The rest, even the cheese and brats, can be stored on the bike the first day, as the temps are supposed to be pretty cold the first day (25 - 45 degrees). My weakness is tortilla chips, AND they take up too much room, but I buy them anyway. I also buy ice cream, which I will eat for dinner later. :) However, to my credit, it all fits in the Chico bag! Not only that, but this food, along with a few other bars and things that I already have, need to last me for the next four days, until my next grocery store.

Grocery haul!

3:30 pm: I am back in the room. I remove all of my clothing and wash it in the sink, and hang it up in front of the heater, which I have put on full blast. Even without clothing on, I am sweating, but needs must! I need my clothes to be dry by tomorrow. I eat the salad and some peas, and repackage some of the food (rice, coffee) so that I don't have any boxes. 

Dinner #1

4:30 pm: Done eating. I swap my charging item. I only carry one square, so need to do one thing at a time unless there are USB ports in the motel. Luckily, this one has two of them, so I can charge three things at once! Yay. However, I have eleven items that need to be charged! Isn't that ridiculous? What ever happened to going out in the wild with a map and a compass and a hunk of jerky? Actually, several of these items will last a few days, or can be charged with the power bank, but I always fill them up when I do have power just in case. 

4:30 pm - 6:30 pm: I shower and put on the game show network. Who knew there were so many games that are just like Family Feud? Also, when did all of the hosts become so annoying? Also, clearly older people are watching this channel, as there are a lot of commercials for medications, some of which may give you pain or swelling in your perineum! Really? All you need for that is to ride a bike for several days in a row. I go through my route plan again for the next week, while eating ice cream. I note down where the water sources are, how far it is between towns, possible reroutes I may need or want to do. I check the weather for the next few days. It is supposed to get warmer, with highs in the 60s in a few days, but it is supposed to rain after that. I hope that the second part is wrong. 

6:30 pm - 8:30 pm: I do some administrative things (write a blog post, pay my property tax, make sure everything is running smoothly with the house etc.) since I have WiFi and probably will be camping in the wild for the next several days. I also download some new books from the library, and make sure they are usable offline, and back up my photos that I recently took. However, the WiFi is NOT fast, and it ends up taking over 12 hours to upload my recent photos to the cloud. Annoying, but at least I can get some things done. I have some nachos (tortilla chips with melted cheese - I love having a microwave!) for dessert. 

8:30 pm: Brush teeth, take out contacts, pee (in a toilet! Yay!). Get in bed to wind down. Send a few text updates to people since I may not be in service for a while. 

9:00 pm: Put on a podcast and fall asleep. 

Is your normal morning or evening routine the same every day? What is the most random national park or preserve that you have been to and loved?