Back in the saddle again...

My last ride on the Concours was Wednesday, July 13th...that's just over three weeks...and that, my friends, is dismal.  I've been dying to get on the bike and just GO!  Having been away for the past two weekends and with Chris heading out of town this coming weekend, that left one night this week as my only chance to satisfy my need to ride.  Tonight was that night!

We were on the road by 5 PM and set out with no particular destination in mind.  We'd talked about possibly going down to Huntingdon to Boxer's Cafe or Mimi's for dinner, but we were unsure of the parking situation.  Truth be told, having gone to Mad Mex for my belated birthday lunch with my old office peeps, I wasn't particularly hungry and I told Chris as much.  In fact, I said I'd be happy with a quick stop at McDonald's at some point...that I really just wanted to ride.  He took this information and formulated a plan - we would ride first and then duck into Chik-Fil-A on our way home.  Since I'm not entirely sure of the route we took (we hopped on a bunch of back roads I've never been on before), I can't really "tell the story" of our ride as a narrative.  Instead tonight, I'm going to tell the story with the captions of my photos.  Enjoy!

The lid on my fellow is no longer yellow.  This is my new view!

The clouds this evening were gorgeous - puffy and huge!

We took PA 144 over Nittany Summit into Centre Hall.

It's a nice, twisty road and the view from the Mt. Nittany Inn is amazing!

Brother's Pizza has been a lunch/dinner stop for our bike adventures before.

Heading out PA 45, we passed Hanover Foods.

It's been three weeks since I've photographed a barn!

Thankfully, there are plenty in Central PA to photograph!

Coming into Millheim, PA on PA 45.

Elk Creek Cafe in Millheim...tasty!

Another barn.

And now we're on roads I don't know...but they sure were fun!

We rode alongside this creek for quite a while.

I love the "ripples" on this road.

It was a lovely evening for air drying laundry!

The back roads that Chris picked were spot-on!

Two barns in one picture?  Awesome.

I kinda love the barn in this picture. 

Awesome roads...lots of sweepers and nice scenery.

The clouds in the sky were stunning tonight.

The scenery here in Central PA never ceases to amaze me.

At the top of a blind ascent, this was the view that stretched before us.

The blues in the sky this evening reminded me of the blues in the sky
I saw on our honeymoon in Banff, Alberta, Canada.

Some more barns...

...barns...

I *LOVE* this picture!!!

The blues in the sky were nowhere near the deep, rich blues in Banff
(I'd call it Banff Blue if it were a Crayola crayon),
but the skies were pretty nonetheless.

...and another barn.

Miniature horses!  Too cute!!!

Oooo...dilapidated barn!

The blue in the upper right hand corner? 
That's getting close to Banff Blue but it needs to be darker/richer.

The rolling farmlands of Centre County.

Our dinner spot!

Over dinner, I asked Chris if we could take "the long way home," which consisted of heading out Atherton to Valley Vista...down to PA 26 to PA 45 to...drum roll, please...say it with me...you know where this is heading...MARENGO ROAD!  :)  Honestly...did you think this ride report would end without a Marengo mention?  We had a fabulous run up Marengo - smooth and swift with no car traffic and only one bicyclist.  By the time we got home 2.5 hours later, we racked up "only" 93 miles but it was a lovely evening together.