Clarks: news of late

I (Jason) went on a great bike ride today: I went all the way out to the campus--way out west--and spent time with Cec, who had classes in the morning, and then in the afternoon. After having lunch and spending time at the campus teahouse, drinking the locally-grown longjin cha and snacking on sunflower seeds and in-the-shell peanuts, I headed back into town; but when I got nearly home, I decided to turn off to the south and go toward the lake. I took the tunnel route--as in, I rode the e-bike thru this mile-long mountain pass, in the narrow, elevated, bike/ped. lane, paved with ceramic tiles so that your tires seem to be gliding over ice--which was amazing, terrifying, thrilling, inspiring, humbling, and just plain fun. I came out the other side, rode through the lush, green, rolling hills down to the West Lake, and then went across the Su Causeway--which is this long levee extending thru the length of the lake, all the way from the north shore to the south shore, with flowers, trees, benches, and Chinese-arched bridges all along the way. It was stunning, actually. Which... that's the thing with HZ. You hear all your life (well, all the time we've lived in China, actually) that HZ is this "paradise city", but you're thinking, "yeah, right," but then you get here, and it's more-or-less true. I mean, this is really a nice city.
Anyway, news item two: We are planning to go with Wei (our landlady) and her family, and I think her best friend's family, too--both ladies are Cecely's yoga students here in the home yoga studio--and visit this nearby city called Huzhou where we will see rare crocodiles. I can't recall what all else is supposed to be there to see, but we'll take the camera and post some photos when we get back.
All else is well: It's so hard sometimes to think of what to say. I have all these things in mind, but then I get on the laptop and get to typing and spell-checking, and then answering the phone, then whatever... But, we'll keep you up to speed.
Jake and Shelley are coming in less than a month! We're looking fwd to that!
Well... OK...
J & C