Hiking Trip To Waihe'e Trail.

(A.K.A. "Swinging Bridges Trail")

Today, we visited the Waihe'e Trail on West Maui. This trail is located a few miles west of Wailuku along the Kahekili Highway. It is on private land, but the owners allow free use of the trail to the public, they issue free permits to hikers who call their number.

There is a catch, though: Even though the trail owners allow free use of their trail, for parking and access to the trail you must go though someone else's private land, unrelated to the trail owners, and they charge you a fee to cross inside and park in their property, before the trail head. Fees are $6 per adult, Kamaaina rates are $3 per adult. Hope that was not too confusing.

The Waihee Trail takes about 90 minutes each way and it is not very steep. It requires crossing a stream at a couple of places and it has two swinging bridges. It starts as a narrow dirt road open to 4WD vehicles and then it narrows down progressively after the swinging bridges. The trail follows an old irrigation canal which parts of it are still in use, other parts abandoned. Some old abandoned structures, as well as modern stream gauges are seen along the way.

The trail offers great views of the Waihe'e Valley. There are fresh fruit trees, as well as coffee trees. We ate fresh Lilikoi (Passion Fruit) and Guava. There were many mango trees, but sadly, mangos were out of season.

Near the end of the trail we found a nice pond of clear water to take a dip. As usual, the water felt real cold at first, but you get used to it after a couple of minutes. Also towards the end, the valley opens up and reveals a tall waterfall in the distance.

Following are some selected pictures of the trip.

Gwen at the first swinging bridge and me, at the second swinging bridge.

Some of the views along the trail.

Here I am, foolishly climbing on a slippery, fallen tree spanning across the trail. You can almost hear the "VONAGE" music playing... "Woo hoo!, Woo hoo hoo!". Don't worry, I did not fall.

An Old Control Gate at the Irrigation Canal. (Below). Parts of the irrigation canal, as well as some of the water tunnels, are still in use.

Found some fresh guava. This brings back memories of my childhood in Puerto Rico, where guava trees were common in my family's farm, and we ate them fresh, straight from the tree.

Gwen enjoyed some fresh, juicy Lilikoi (Passion Fruit), that we found along the way.

Taking a dip in the Stream. (Below) The water felt very cold at first, but it felt great after a couple of minutes. It was a very refreshing break from the hike.

A View of the Waihe'e Valley Near the End of the Trail. Notice the clouds are starting to roll over the ridge. The tall waterfall is on the valley on the left of the picture, but by now, it was covered by clouds.

New Job.

Good News! I quit my old job doing land development and civil design at Austin, Tsutsumi & Associates (ATA) at the end of September, and the next Monday, I started my new job with the County of Maui's Department of Public Works, Wastewater Reclamation Division (WWRD). There was nothing wrong with my old job, and I am grateful that ATA opened the doors for me on Maui when I needed it the most. But this new job with the WWRD involves design and construction of industrial facilities. So, even though this new job requires me to "deal with all the crap going down in Maui", I am happy to be at a job that is compatible with my 13 years of experience at my old job back in Ohio.

Aloha!

"WORD VERIFICATION" has been turned on.

Notice to Blog Visitors: In order to prevent spammers from posting fake and unwanted comments on my blog, I have turned on the "word verification" feature, which will require legitimate posters to type a key word shown on the screen in order for their comment to be posted.

Thank you for understanding, thank you for visiting my blog and I apologize for the inconvenience, though feel free to blame internet spammers for it. Aloha.

Juan Rivera

Holiday Travel.

We will be leaving the island for the Holidays to visit our friends and family in Columbus. We will be there Dec 23 to Jan 3. Hope to see you all there!

Aloha!

Busy August
August is coming to a close, and what a busy month it was! Here are a few highlights of the month.

Trip To Honolulu.
On the first week of August, Gwen attended a week-long conference in Honolulu as part of her job. Coincidentally, her good friend from grad-school, Leyla, was getting married the same week, thus I traveled to Honolulu to join Gwen so we could attend Leyla and Andy's wedding. They got married on a beautiful day at the Sheraton Waikiki Hotel, overlooking the ocean and Diamond Head. At the wedding we had the chance to share with all of friends back on Oahu and we had a terrific time there.

After the wedding, I traveled back to Maui the next day to return to work and Gwen completed her conference in Honolulu. At the end of the week, Gwen came back to Maui and we attended my employer's (Austin, Tsutsumi and Associates) summer dinner at the Makawao Steak House in upcountry Maui.

On August 15, I celebrated my 41st birthday along with some of our closest friends here on the islands. (See Previous Blog Entry)

Gwen's Trip to San Diego
As part of her job, Gwen had the chance to travel to San Diego for a few days. She visited another friend from grad school who lives there. Gwen reports that she had great time there, enjoyed authentic mexican food and almost made it across the border to Tijuana, Mexico.

Camping Inside the Crater of a Volcano
So, What am I to do on a long weekend while Gwen is in San Diego? Well, I decide to go on an adventure of my own and camp inside the crater of the Heleakala Volcano. This adventure took place August 19-20, 2005. Friday, August 19 was a day off from work in celebration of Hawaii's Statehood Day. That morning, after packing my new backpack with 35 pounds of camping gear, including seven liters of water, I drove my car up Haleakala and after obtaining a camping permit and watching an instructional video at the Park's Visitor Center, I drove up to the 8,000 Ft elevation mark, where I left my car at the Halemau'u trail head, the eventual end of my hiking trip. From there, I hitchhiked a ride to the summit of Haleakala, where I began my journey inside the volcano at the Sliding Sands trail head, about 9,200 feet above sea level.

While not really cold, the weather inside the crater was moderately windy and cloudy. Soon after starting down on the trail, clouds made it impossible to see back to the summit, or down much further down the trail. Even then, on occasions the clouds would break long enough to reveal the contrast between the red bare soil and the green where some vegetation manages to live in spite of the harsh conditions.

Inside the crater, the ahinahina or "silversword" plant is a common sight. This plant is found only in Hawaii and lives only on the high elevations of Maui. They can live up to 50 years before they bloom and die. The plant on the photo is a rare sight of such plant, which is about to end its long life after blooming.

The old native hawaiians did not know silver, thus they had no word to describe silvery things. Therefore, when they discovered this plant they used the word "ahinahina" which simply means "gray-gray".

The Ahinahiha was once endangered and while they are a common sight inside the volcano, they are still protected by law. People are not supposed to touch them or even stand close to them lest their shallow roots be damaged.
Hiking down Sliding Sands Trail, the weather continued to deteriorate, with a persistent drizzle that got my jacket, shorts and my shoes wet. Still, the workout I got from hiking kept me warm. Visibility was poor most of the time. Finally, as the trail approached the bottom of the valley, the clouds opened, revealing the extent and beauty of the Haleakala Crater. The picture on the right is taken from Sliding Sands Trail, approximately three miles from the trailhead, looking west towards the Paliku Campground.
Once I reached the valley, I had to make a choice as to where to continue. My original plan had been to continue on towards the Kapalaoa Cabin and explore as much as possible of the crater valley before heading back to my destination, the Holua Campground. That would have added about four miles to my journey.

Given the fact that it was already getting late in the afternoon, and that my 35 pounds of gear were starting to put some strain on my back, it was easy to decide to go directly to the Holua Campground, some 3.8 Miles away. I figured that it would be easier to get to camp early, set up my tent and then explore that side of the crater without the burden of my camping gear. Sounds good in theory, right? More on this later.

Continuing towards the Holua Campground, the trail passes between two volcanic cinder cones, Ka Moa o Pele and Halali`i. The point on shown here is about 1.6 miles from the Sliding Sands Trail split shown on the previous photo. This trail junction between the two cinder cones can be seen here, with Ka Moa o Pele on the right and Halali`i on the left. At the sign, is the end of the Halemau'u Trail, which will take me to the Holua Campground and eventually back to my car the next day. On the background is the southern ridge of the Haleakala Crater, looking towards the Kipahulo and Kaupo Valley areas.

To reach this point there is an approximately 135 feet climb from the bottom of the valley, which is the only real climb of the hike trip before reaching the Holua Campground. Here the weather started to deteriorate and once again my clothes, which by now were dry, started to get wet in the cold, persistent drizzle. By now, all I wanted was to reach the Holua Campground and take a nap. From this point, the landscape changes from dry and barren to wetter and greener. I continued hiking past the Silversword Loop and finally, after four hours of hiking, tired, cold, wet and under the rain, I saw the Holua Cabin. I followed the signs to the tent campground, set my tent and looked forward to get dry and warm.

I had previously said that my plan was to set camp and then explore the crater without the burden of my gear. I had also envisioned going on a night-time hike, looking at the stars and perhaps seeing the Milky Way across the sky.

Well, by now the rain had ruined that plan. What happens next is that after changing to dry clothes and eating dinner consisting of two cans of tuna, two packs of pilot crackers and two hard-boiled eggs, I had to spend the next thirteen hours inside a 6' x 3' tent, just trying to stay warm and catching a few hours of fitful sleep. The rain finally stopped around 2:00 AM and I managed to take a peek outside. I was hoping to see lots of stars in the sky, but that was not possible with a full moon in the sky.

Other than that, the only thing that brought some sense of pleasure to the night was when the quietness was broken by the calls of birds flying through the valley.

By 5:30 in the morning, I was just happy to be able to step outside the tent to stretch my legs and get my back off the uncomfortable sleeping mat.

My reward for a long, restless night finally came with the light of dawn. By now, the weather was clear and sunrise came in spectacular fashion. The red and orange colors of the crater rim in the distance, contrasting with the blue sky and green foreground made it for a nice start of a new day. Still, I knew that ahead of me laid the rest of the Halemau`u Trail, with its 1400' climb before reaching the trailhead where I had left my car yesterday. Nene Geese, the endangered species that is also Hawaii's State Bird, has a home in the crater. I counted about 30 Nene flying around that morning.

Morning at the Holua Campground included a pleasant surprise. A group of ladies camping at the Ranger's Shed next door were kind enough to offer me hot cup of coffee and and a hot breakfast. Turns out that these ladies work for the County of Maui. One of them works at the Human Resources Department and actually knew my name from my previous engineering job applications with the County... We had even spoken on the phone before! Small island! The last thing on my mind when I set out to go camping is that I would go to the most remote part of Maui and someone there would know my name.

I am so happy they were there to make my morning so much better and to help me get off to a good start on my way out of the crater and back to my car. My original backpack load, minus three liters of water, minus most of the food, still felt heavy on my back.

From the Holua Campground, it is 3.2 miles to the the parking lot; A lot less than the 11.6 miles of yesterdays hike, but the last leg of today's hike involves a brutal 1400' ascent from the valley up to the trailhead thru a series of seemingly never-ending switchbacks along the side of the mountain. The photo on the left shows the above-mentioned mountain side from about a mile away.

Once on the switchbacks, I found out the climb was not as brutal as I expected. Maybe it was the great breakfast I had. Maybe I was just happy to be near my car. In any case, the views from the mountain were about the best of the whole trip. As I climbed up the mountain, each switchback offered a better view of the valley below. Finally, after about three hours, I made it back to my car and I was on my way home. I was happy to complete my adventure and I am looking forward to do it again sometime.

To See All Photos of the Haleakala Camping Trip, Click on this Link:

http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/jrivera64/detail?.dir=/f5f4&.dnm=b88c.jpg&.src=ph&.tok=ph0C1iDB7DegP4dW

Snorkeling Trip To Molokini

The August adventures concuded with a trip to Molokini Island, off the coast of Maui for a morning of snorkeling on one of the prime snorkeling spots of the island.

Here are a few selected photos of the trip.

Arriving at Molokini. We Traveled to Molokini aboard the "Four Winds II" catamaran, which operates out of Maalaea Bay on Maui. On the way there, we say a full moon over Barber's Point in Maalaea.

Snorkelers at Molokini. (right) and Gwen having fun in Molokini. Although we have seen places with more diverse marine life, we did enjoy the visibility, which was at least a hundred feet. We did see a shark, and that was a highlight of the trip.

Diving down. Gwen took this photo from the lower deck of the boat, which had glass windows.

To See All Photos of the Molokini Snorkeling Trip, Click on this Link:

http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/jrivera64/detail?.dir=/1275&.dnm=dbc5.jpg&.src=ph&.tok=phFv2iDBL4c1ObEV

Another Year.

Last weekend I had the distinct pleasure of celebrating my first birthday as a resident of Hawaii, along with my soulmate Gwen and a few of our friends from work and Church.

It was a great afternoon of food, drinks, karaoke and friendship. I thank God for all our new friends here on Maui, for our health, for my wife and for my daughters Laura and Diana who were here just a few weeks ago and who I miss terribly already.

And yes, those are 41 candles on the cake!

Aloha!

To View All the Birthday Photos, Click Here:

http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/jrivera64/detail?.dir=/54c0&.dnm=3baa.jpg&.src=ph&.tok=phZ3PqDBb4x6HiM5

Latest News!
I am happy to report that I passed my Structural Engineer II (SE II ) Test! I will soon be registred as a Professional Structural Engineer in the State of Hawaii, which will enable me to do the kind of work that I enjoy the most and in which I am most experienced at. It is a happy day!

Aloha!

Our First Anniversary.

Gwen and I recently celebrated our first year of marriage with a romantic dinner at Mama's Fish House, one of the finest restaurants on Maui. We are thankful to God for our health and for all he the blessings He has bestowed on us so far. We are also thankful to our friends and families for all their prayers and support. We miss you all!



Celebrating Our First Wedding Anniversary



Trixie at Home

In other news, Gwen's cat, Trixie, finally made the trip from Columbus to Maui, and is now happy at her new home.

Aloha!

GOBA 17

Great Ohio Bicycle Adventure
June 18-25, 2005
Findlay - Tiffin - Port Clinton - Elmore - Upper Sandusky

Once again, I had the pleasure to participate in the Great Ohio Bicycle Adventure, along with my daughters, who were ready and eager for the week-long, 250 mile bicycle trip. The trip to Ohio was one full of great memories. It was my first trip to Ohio since I moved to Maui and I had a great time sharing with my friends in Columbus, GOBA and with former co-workers at SEI.

The long flights, the jet lagged days, the hectic pace of a week of bike riding, trying to visit as many friends as possible in a short schedule... It was all worth it. I had a great time in Ohio; A place with no beaches, no tropical paradise by any measure, but a place with a great beauty of its own; The city of Columbus and its skyline, Lake Erie and Put-in-Bay, the countryside of northern Ohio. I was happy to be back in Buckeye Country.

Friday, June 17: After a 12 hour flight from Hawaii, I arrived at Port Columbus to a warm welcome from my daughters Laura and Diana. After dinner, Diana and I headed to the Latino Festival in Downtown Columbus, where I saw a few of old friends, including Eugene Beer (a.k.a. "The Piano Peddler"), who I would meet again later in the week at GOBA.

Later that evening, after sending Diana home, I met a few of my best friends, Sandra, Eric and Orlando, at the Frog Bear and Wild Boar bar in Downtown Columbus, where my favorite local rock band, Jonzei was playing.

I'd seen Jonzei's show many times at the FBWB when I was living in Ohio and I was so lucky that they happened to be playing there on the one night I had to go party in Columbus. During the music break, we had a friendly conversation Portia, the lead singer of Jonzei, who was kind enough to invite me and Orlando to a shot Jägermeister. She even later called me up to the stage and introduced me to the crowd as the former Ohio resident who was visiting from Hawaii. We enjoyed a great evening of friendship, party and rock 'n' roll. You can learn more about this band at www.jonzei.net.

Saturday, June 18 - Findlay: GOBA is here! My favorite week of the year has finally arrived! Laura and Diana picked me up Saturday afternoon and it was off to Findlay for the start of the Great Ohio Bicycle Adventure. Sadly, we arrived at GOBAville too late for the bike parade.

After signing-in, pitching our tents and exchanging hugs and hellos with our GOBA friends, we headed out to Bob Evans for dinner.
At Bob Evans, we joined our friends Don and his daughter Marlena, as well as GOBA "newbies" Howie (Who also happens to be my new brother-in-law), who made the trip from Philadelphia and his friend Bob, who made the trip from Boston.

The first night on GOBA has always been the toughest one for me. Never mind I only had a few hours of sleep the previous two nights, it was difficult to go to sleep in Findlay. Maybe I was still on Hawaii time, six hours behind. In any case, it was nice to walk around camp in the middle of the night and enjoy the quietness of GOBAville, as well as having a small chat with the deputies at the fairgrounds' sheriff station. I think I finally fell asleep around 2:00 AM.

Sunday, June 19 - Findlay to Tiffin: Time to ride! After only a couple of hours of sleep, I got up around 5:30 AM. After my first trip of many during the week to the coffee U-Haul to get my java jolt, we got ready, packed our bags and it was off to Tiffin!

This year GOBA was held in northern Ohio, close to lake Erie. So this year, the roads were pretty much what you would call "flat" and "flatter", the only challenge being the head wind, which did not really bother us until the end of the week.

We arrived in Tiffin in the early afternoon, where we spent the next two evenings.

Once in Tiffin, and after going through the routine of picking our luggage, staking our tents and freshening-up up, it was time to explore the town, have dinner and to party.

The dusty dirt floor of the fairgrounds pavilion was the stage for the evening's entertainment, where we danced to the rock 'n' roll sounds of local bands. Here are Mike, Amy, Me, Marijo and Martha having fun.



Monday, June 20 - Tiffin: Wanna go for the optional 40 mile ride today? I think not! Specially after the unusually cold weather of the previous night. I love riding but I'd rather relax and limit my riding to exploring the town. It is a vacation, for crying out loud! After breakfast at Chris Cakes and another run to the coffee U-Haul it was time to get on the bike and enjoy the sights of Tiffin, including the magnificent County courthouse.

We also made a stop at the local library, where the friendly local staff had reserved a room full of computers for GOBA riders, were we checked our email. The library also offered a sitting area with couches and chairs, where we sat down to relax and read the newspaper.

I want to say that I was kind of disappointed with the downtown Tiffin district because there did not seem to be much commercial activity going on. But little I knew then that on the other side of town there was a very busy commercial district, full of retail shops, restaurants and malls. Once we got there, we did some shopping at Walmart, had lunch at KFC and watched Star Wars at the mall's multiplex.

Our day off in Tiffin, coincided with my brother-in-law Howie's 50th birthday. That evening, we all went to the Mexican Restaurant at the Tiffin Mall. There, we all surprised Howie by getting the Mariachi to sing "Happy Birthday" for him and by all of us wearing matching t-shirts in honor to his birthday. The T-shirts had had been ordered by Howie's wife and smuggled into GOBAville by his friend Bob. Howie was truly surprised and we all had a great time.

Tuesday, June 21 - Tiffin to Port Clinton: More flat land and gentle down slopes ahead as
we work our way to the shores of Lake Erie. The road to Port Clinton took us along parts of the Sandusky River, including over an old metal bridge near the town of Fremont, where we had our lunch stop at the Hayes Presidential Center. I have fond memories of the Hayes Presidential Center, which hosted GOBA's opening ceremonies in 2000.

Fremont will always be a special place to me, for it was there where I first met some of my best GOBA friends when Fremont was the start/finish town for GOBA 12 back in 2000.

Past Fremont, it was an easy ride into Port Clinton, where we spent the next two evenings. We were happy to find indoor camping at the high school, which was good because that evening the rain just poured over GOBAville.

In Port Clinton, we had dinner at a local Irish Pub in the Downtown area which, as it often happens on GOBA, was overwhelmed by hungry GOBA riders and - not unpredictably - got most of our orders wrong. Thankfully the manager was a good sport and gave us a substantial discount on our food.

The downtown entertainment was pretty good, with a rock band setting the mood and plenty of establishments for food and drinks. We enjoyed a couple of scoops of ice cream at a local drug/convenience store.

Tuesday evening was not without its sad moments, though, because that evening my daughter Diana had to leave GOBA to attend a previously scheduled workshop at Ohio U. in Athens, Ohio, which would take the rest of the week. She really had a great time at GOBA and we missed her the rest of the week.

Later that evening, we settled at a local bar where we played pool and enjoyed a few cold ones. Thankfully, the rain had stopped by the time we got back to GOBAville. All we had to deal with now were the mayflies, which were swarming over Port Clinton in biblical numbers, making every surface look like a scene from a horror movie. I had never seen anything quite like that.

Wednesday, June 22 - Port Clinton & Trip to Put-In-Bay: On our second rest day of the week, while Laura and her teenage friends went to Cedar Point, the rest of us adults, Myself, Don, Mick & Marijo, Ryan, and Tom, loaded our bikes on the Jet Express II and headed to South Bass Island, better known as "Put-In-Bay". There we met with Bob and Howie, who had taken the Miller Boatline ferry. This island is known for its bars, restaurants and good night life. It is not a private island resort though; It has many permanent residents who have to do their best to co-exist with thousands of visitors every year. This was my second visit to the island, the first was in the summer of 2003, when my wife Gwen and I spent a weekend there to celebrate our engagement.

The ride from Port Clinton to Put-In-Bay takes about 20 minutes aboard the Jet Express and it drops you off right in front of the main street, by Jose DeRivera Park. The island's landscape is dominated by the 357 ft tall Perry's Monument, which commemorates Commodore Oliver H. Perry's victory over the British Navy in the Battle of Lake Erie during the War of 1812. This is also a peace memorial celebrating the lasting peace between the USA & Canada, who share the longest undefended border in the world.

Although the island is very small (It took us half an hour to go around it on our bikes), there is plenty to do: We visited Perry's Monument and its visitor center operated by the National Park Service, where they have a large model showing the Battle of Lake Erie and where you can also see a short film about that event. We also stopped at several bars and restaurants for beer and food, visited the very nice state park on the south end of the island and - of course - stopped at the Heineman Winery, where we enjoyed a few bottles of the local wine, accompanied with a selection of cheese and crackers.

After a long day that included visiting the butterfly museum and having crab legs at The Boardwalk, we boarded the Jet Express back to Port Clinton and another evening at GOBAville.

Thursday, June 23 - Port Clinton to Elmore: For me, Thursday's ride marks the beginning of the end of GOBA; The day when you realize that you better have fun now because it is going to end soon. The ride to Elmore also marked the start of a very gentle climb towards Upper Sandusky as we rode further away from Lake Erie.

We began our ride along the shores of the lake and then headed inland. The landscape remained flat, making the trip very easy, with the monotony of endless farm fields broken by the several small towns and train tracks that we rode by.

My favorite stop of the day was the lunch stop at Rocky Ridge, where even though I declined to eat because of the extremely slow food lines, I got to enjoy the classic rock music, courtesy of a local DJ who was, oddly enough, getting friendly advice on what music to play from my brother-in-law, Howie.

We got to Elmore and, once again, found indoor camping at the school gym. We headed to town and were surprised by how small the town was! I was worried that the town would be overwhelmed by hungry riders, but that was not to be the case. We visited a local pizza place where we got fast, friendly service and left satisfied. (I did hear some horror stories, though: I was told that at one place, they did get overwhelmed and that two cooks had quit in discontent.)

Elmore also has a lovely public library where we were able to check our email and chill out in their air-conditioned lounge. Laura was even able to get a library card, which she used to borrow a DVD, which she watched on her laptop back at GOBAville! (She dropped the movie in the library's return bin the next morning, as we left town.)

I like to think of Elmore as "The Little Town that Could". They were by far the smallest stop on GOBA and they also put the best party of the week. Here, I found some good conversation with my friends Don, Amy and Steve.

The festivities at the downtown park were well organized and executed. The music was provided by the band "Live at Five", who played a nice selection of rock 'n' roll hits. The entertainment varied from a Log-cabin museum, civil war era re-enactors, a beer garden, to a huge motorized tricycle & even a motorized coffin!

Elmore, in my opinion, was the second best stop on this year's GOBA, only because Port Clinton included a side trip to Put-In-Bay.

Friday, June 24 - Elmore to Upper Sandusky: Rumors had been spreading all over GOBAville on Thursday evening that Friday was going to be a very hot day. Most people decided to get an early start on the trip to Upper Sandusky and we were not the exception. We got up at 5:00 AM and got on the road at 6:00 AM.

We witnessed a wonderful sunrise over a field of golden wheat as we left the town of Elmore - Here is a photo of Laura in front of it - and got to the first rest stop at 7:00 AM. After a quick breakfast, we arrived at the lunch stop at 8:00 AM. We though we were in pretty good shape to make it to Upper Sandusky before noon. Of course, we were wrong.

What followed next was not the predicted hot weather, but a fierce duel with a stubborn head wind for the next 40 miles or so.

It took us almost three hours to cover the 24 miles between the lunch stop and the PM stop in Carey, Ohio. We had to pause halfway there to catch our breath and rest our sored, aching leg muscles.

The only relief we found between the lunch and PM stops was the music of my friend from Columbus, Eugene Beer, who did not do GOBA this year, but showed up along the route to play music on his piano-bike six miles out of the lunch stop. It was great to see Eugene, since I had talked to him on the phone the previous day, giving him directions to the lunch stop and I though that I was going to miss him, since we had left the lunch stop so early. I am happy he decided to stop further down along the road instead. I have known Eugene since 1994 and I shall be forever grateful to him because he is the person who introduced me to GOBA in 1999. You can visit Eugene's website at www.pianopeddler.com

Once past the PM stop at Carey - Which, in my opinion, had the greatest lunch value of the week with $1.00 burgers and brats! - it was a final battle against the wind to get to Upper Sandusky. The almost due south route offered very little relief from the wind. But luckily, we were able to miss the rain by just a few minutes and rode into Upper Sandusky around 1:30 PM, 7.5 hours after leaving Elmore. We barely averaged over 10 MPH that day.

Once in Upper Sandusky, it was time to seek shelter and once again, found indoor camping at the school gym. After a shower and a well deserved nap, it was up to downtown to enjoy the bike races, the food, the beer, the song contest and the music. Out of those five, I got to enjoy four: The bike races were thrilling, the food was great and so was the beer, the song contest is always fun... but the music... well... I like The Doors, but the Doors-tribute band headlining that night "Mojo Risin" left much to be desired. I was wishing that "Live at Five" - the Band at Elmore - could come back for an encore.

We left the downtown area somewhat disappointed, because we always like to party and dance on the last night of GOBA. Too bad the band did not provide the right mood. I still remember GOBA 2003, when they had that cajun music band. Or when Arnett Howard and his Creole Funk band played in Marysville on GOBA 2002.

Anyway, we headed back to camp to enjoy a quiet evening of friendship and GOBA memories.

Saturday, June 25: Upper Sandusky to Tiffin: Well, It is time to pack our bags for the last time and face the inevitable: GOBA ends today. Tomorrow there will be no camping, no more riding, no more leaving the problems and the worries of the real world behind. After a week of camping and of long lines for food, showers and porta-johns, tonight we go back to our beds, our kitchens, our showers and our beloved porcelain toilets.

We left Upper Sandusky to once again, face a head wind for most of the day, but that did not worry us so much anymore. We stopped at the lunch stop, which was the only stop of the day and last rest stop of the year. There we got a chance to find our friends and say most of our goodbyes. By the time we left that stop, plans were starting to be hatched for next year's GOBA. "Yes, we must see each other again next year, take care!"

We arrived back in Findlay around noon, to the mess of finding our our luggage, taking a quick shower and finding a handful of our friends who had not left yet. This time no tents were being erected and GOBAville had the feeling of a ghost town. A few of us gathered together and decided to finish GOBA the way we started it: By going to Bob Evans for a farewell lunch.

As we left Findlay behind, our road back home took us along the GOBA route, where some riders were still making their way into Findlay. We honked the horn, we waved at them, yelling "You are almost there!" We kept driving, looking for riders. And even as we hit the main highway, we looked deep into the fields, trying to spot that one lone rider along a country road for whom GOBA had not yet ended.

TO SEE JUAN'S GOBA 17 PHOTO ALBUM ON YAHOO, CLICK ON THE LINK BELOW: http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/jrivera64/album?.dir=/5fe2&.src=ph&.tok=phI.OQDBUIwaSSXl

Latest News - Trip To Ohio, Great Ohio Bicycle Adventure 2005

To all my friends in Ohio,

Hope to see you all during GOBA week and may we all have a great ride!

Come back here in a couple of weeks for pictures and memories of the ride!

Aloha!