Anyone who has read some of my more recent posts knows my feelings on Trump. I loathe the man! So here is to hope, that come Tuesday night, his days as President are numbered in weeks not years! Living in the liberal bubble that is the PDX metro area makes it difficult to gauge things at a national level. Out here where we live in western Washington County it doesn’t take long to see Trump 2020 signs in a lot of the farmer’s yards. I don’t get it though. Under Trump’s trade war with China USA Farmers have not fared well at all. This article here sheds some light on some possibilities of their continuing support.
If you haven’t…..VOTE. I don’t care if you agree with my view or not. Just VOTE!
A fantastic fall
The kick ass weather has continued here in Oregon. Light winds, temps in the mid-60’s during the day, lows in the 40’s overnight (couple 30’s here and there). It may be coming to an end in a few days. Long range forecast shows rain almost every day starting Tuesday.
While Saturday’s mixed surface ride was “only” 24 miles it was also over 2300′ in elevation. I was able to finally connect one gravel road to another via a well worn “herd path”. I was poking around on RidewithGPS’s website and their new feature of heatmaps. The idea being the brighter the colors the more the route is used. The Stimson Lumber property to the North/northeast of Hagg Lake had some very faint heatmap activity connecting Carpenter Creek Rd and Nelson Rd. I assumed it was hunters and possibly some cyclists. I am not 100% certain where RidewithGPS pulls their heatmap data but it’s obvious it isn’t just cycling and running data. I was able to drop down and connect with the Hagg Lake singletrack to make a superb little loop from the house.
Mia and I decided to not hand out candy for Halloween this year. While heading out for Codi’s evening walk though some of our neighbors had setup various socially distant options for kids to get candy. One of our neighbors was also handing out dog treats and Codi totally scored with a little bag just for himself. He carried it for about half our walk before dropping it and making me carry it the rest of the way. He really does crack us up.
Recipe: Baked Oatmeal
Let’s end this week with a simple breakfast recipe of baked oatmeal. This particular option is beyond simple. While other baked oatmeals I have done in the past included berries, nuts, etc. This recipe is just maple syrup, vanilla and cinnamon. You could add nuts or fruit before baking or after for serving. Totally your choice.
All you need for this recipe is
1 1/2 cups of milk (2% or whole)
1/2 cup of maple syrup
2 large eggs
1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp kosher salt
3 cups of rolled oats
Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Mix milk, eggs, maple syrup, butter, baking powder, cinnamon, vanilla and salt in a large bowl until blended. Add oats and stir until well combined. Pour into an 8×8 baking dish and level it out.
bake for 30-40 minutes and let slightly cool before serving with your fruit of choice. I like fresh berries or sliced banana. You could also add some chopped nuts, a little shaved chocolate or coconut. Also feel free to dollop with some fresh whipped cream or yogurt too.
Thanks for reading,
-Pete
ON & OFF RHODES 
We decided to skip Halloween candy as well, and ride out to Cully Park to watch the full moon rise. (Fun fact: Last night’s full moon was not only a Blue Moon (two in one month, as goes the accepted definition) but the first Halloween full moon since 1944!) We rode by a house on NE Alameda where they were giving out candy by tossing it down a slide in the front yard–very clever.