For Jan and a busy Summer without posts

I know that it has been a long time since I last posted anything, but I have been busy or lazy, one of the two. Anyhow I went looking for a birthday card for Jan this morning on my walk and I couldn't find anything appropriate, so I thought, why not get off your duff and blog to her. She has been retired for a little over a year from her job with Watonwan Human Services now and I feel that she has settled in to the retired life style quite well, although she is providing a lot of support for her Mom now. I won't say how old she is getting to be, but next Fall she will be eligible for Medicare. It has been fun this year for us to be able to take off for a week at a time and not have to worry about how much vacation she is burning up. We spent a week in the Black Hills with the whole gang, minus Hans, our son-in-law, and had a good time. Then in September we went over to Oakdale, Wisconsin for another week in the trailer, so we could ride back roads in that area. That time is always a good time with her. Jan pretty much organizes everything but the bike, and I drive the truck and get the vehicles ready to go. Well, Jan we have spent a lot of birthdays together, and I hope that we get to do quite a few more. I just wanted to let the world know that I love you and want to spend more time with you in our world. OK? On to getting caught up with this Summer's activities. Back in June or was it July, I'm not sure, I took the Triumph out to Wyoming to try and hit a few mountain trails that have been on my bucket list for a while now, but weather and not the most ideal tires dissuaded me from that idea, so I turned around west of Riverton and headed home. West of Casper I ran with what must have been 50 mph cross winds that may have caused an eye injury that I still deal with. From Casper I made it home in one jump and pretty much confirmed that Tony is not a good long distance machine. Over the 4th of July we spend a week in a home near Terry Peak in the Hills with the gang, and I managed to get a little more riding in. I will add some pictures to this but I need to edit this from a different computer which has most of my recent photos on it. My brother Phil and I made the trip to the Ouray area of Colorado the first part of September for a couple of days of riding and had a pretty good time. I find that I either need to be in a lot better shape or cut back on the amount of riding I do in those conditions, because I was really shot by the end of the second day, but then I am not getting any younger, I guess. After being home for a while I admit that I am thinking of heading back next year, but cutting back a little maybe, we'll see. I mentioned up above that Jan and I had been over to Wisconsin again, for a weeks time in the trailer and out on the best back roads in this part of the country. You could look back at a blog from a couple of years ago to see one of our best runs. This was the only time this year that we have had the trailer out because we were doing other things when we normally take a trip, so next year. Just a couple of weeks ago we were up to Duluth for a couple of days and stayed at my brother and sister-in-law's lakeside condo for the weekend. Paul and Marci put us up, along with Steve, Gen, Sam, and Gus, so that Gen would have a base to run the Ashland, Wisconsin marathon. Naturally we all ran over and followed her on the route which was run on an old rail bed. She finished in a personal best time of 3:33, which qualifies her for the Boston marathon, but probably not until 2015, due to the runners that did not finish the 2012 marathon due to the bombing that year. Well, that about sums it up. In a couple of months I will be working on my end of the year, or Christmas blog, if you wish, so I don't want to get too detailed. In closing I repeat, Happy Birthday Jan, the love of my life, and many more good ones.