Sunday Evening Bike Ride To Discovery Park

Left: Looking north, up the Sacramento River, from the Sacramento Water Intake Facility.

Joe The Plumber is almost like a salmon, the way his bike rides seem to naturally progress upriver. First, a random ride through downtown, then along the K Street Mall, through Downtown Plaza, then Old Sacramento, then along the banks of the Sacramento and American Rivers. Must be a homing instinct!

Boat.

Jet ski.

Beach at Discovery Park, where the American River (foreground) joins the Sacramento River (in the distance).

Underneath the I-5 bridge over the American River.

Someone a few years ago died trying to jump across the gap between the south and northbound lanes. That gap is too big. What was that person thinking?

Archery area in Discovery Park.

Left: Woman archer assesses the wind.

Joe the Plumber was eager to talk to this woman. As he says, "I'm a soldier, and I'm always in training." I looked at her, and thought of Katniss Everdeen in "The Hunger Games," and how I'm better-fed than your typical squirrel. I discouraged contact, but Joe disregarded my advice. As I see it, one should refrain from talking to armed, solitary females, particularly in remote areas, and particularly since, as E. often insists, Joe 'looks like a rapist.'

Left: Fire!

After a pleasant conversation, Joe returned to report the woman was using a 40 lb. bow, lighter than the 60 lb. bow Joe is currently storing in my basement. Joe thinks the two of them would make nice shooting buddies.

On our return trip, we stopped off in Old Sacramento for ice cream. Joe wanted to buy a curious bird-themed clock on the wall of the ice cream parlor, but he had no money. Nevertheless, he learned the shop had a clogged drain, so today he is unclogging the drain, in exchange for the clock, and gas money. Since he has no place to hang the clock, since he is about to lose his recent residence (of a few weeks duration), he wants to hang the clock on my office wall, where (he believes) it would nicely supplement my collection of Deborah McMillion Nering's paintings. We'll see (currently, the wall is full of various paintings, and something would have to move to order to accomodate a curious bird-themed clock).

We also stopped and ogled the merchandise in a nearby tarot card - bath soap - handbags sort-of establishment in Old Sacramento (where a model horse once 'talked' to Joe, and which currently resides on his van's dashboard) before returning back to home base.