2 Down, 178 More to Go!

The first 2 days of the 08-09 school year are in the books and we've had a good start to the year. The good news is that after 10 classes on the first day, my student teacher came back for more today! We have some added challenges at our school this year, mostly due to the fact that our large gym had been condemned by the State Ed department last June and work is still going on to re-build the walls that were allegedly poorly constructed 5 years ago when the new gym was built. Because of this current construction, my 2 PE colleagues have to teach outside or in the hall or classrooms and the number of buses that can load and unload students at one time has been reduced by 10. In addition, one of the main entrances for students getting off the buses is closed so all 800 of our younguns go in and out 2 smaller doors. The construction project is supposed to be completed by the end of September. 

The weather guys say that today was the last 90 degree day for the year. It has been glorious weather all week, but now we expect some rain from one of the tropical storms coming up the coast. The temps are supposed to moderate to the 70's too.

I'm hoping to get a good night's sleep tonight. The section of Ridge Road near our house is getting a complete makeover and much of the paving work is being done at night. Well, 2 nights ago I think all the paving trucks were driving in reverse because the freakin' beepin' nearly drove us mad! Of course, the weather was such that we wanted the windows opened but even with them closed, the beepin' infiltrated our dreams. And then last night, the pavers took the night off so it was quiet, but at 3 AM I awoke with a cramp in my calf that brought tears to my eyes. I had to wake up Jim to help me flex my foot so I could get rid of it! I think the cramp hurt my calf muscle because today it is sore to the touch and very tight if I try to stretch it. So, I am hoping for a better nights' sleep tonight. Plus, I don't have to set an alarm for the morning-all of which means, I'll be up at 5 AM!!!

Jim will spend this weekend getting ready for his trip to see Tucker on Tuesday. He has a new backpack and new laces in his hiking boots so I guess he is almost ready to go. I think he is going to do some meal planning and make a trip to Wegmans to get some provisions. I will try to make some camping cookies for them to enjoy on their backpacking days. 

I had signed up for a dying workshop (wool dying, not the other kind!), but it got cancelled for lack of enrollment. The same workshop is being offered on October 5th, but we will be in Tennessee that weekend for Michal's wedding. Speaking of Michal's wedding, Corey found out that he won't be able to go because he has a SU cross-country commitment that weekend. He is pretty sad that he will miss the celebration and the chance to be with the extended family, but we will take our laptop along with us and hopefully be able to set up some video chats between him and his cousins. 

So I will leave you with a photo of one of my lovely first grade classes. I have taken photos of each of my classes so that I can have the classroom teacher write the kids' names next to their faces on the print. This helps me to learn all 400 of my students' names. I usually take 2 photos, one of the kids smiling nicely and the second with them making funny faces. Guess which photo this is!!

Hope all is well. 

Let the Games Begin

The gym is all set,

the bulletin board's all made.

The class lists are typed, 

the new equipment is put away.

The lesson plans are in place, 

the gym floor is all shiny.

My sneakers are new, 

my lunch is made. 

It's early September and 

we're ready to go.

Let the games begin!

Jim picked up his new car last night and he is quite pleased with it. I had my chance to drive it tonight and it was very comfortable and easy to drive. Here is a photo of Jim and his new set of wheels! 

We went out to dinner at Mr. Dominic's, down by the beach, using a gift certificate that one of my students gave me at the end of June. We had a nice meal.

Rochester has been have a great stretch of weather, beautiful blue skies and temps in the low 80's! How much longer it will continue is anybody's guess.

Last week I read in the Obituaries that my 6th grade teacher, Mr. Ed Kolb died. I have him to thank for being pretty good at my multiplication tables. He used to call each of his students into the hall, open up a math book to a page of multiplication problems, and say, "Go!" We had one minute to get through the page. If we made it, we didn't have to do it again, if we got an answer wrong, or went over the time limit, our name would be called again in the future for another chance! 

Time to get some rest before Opening Day! 

Hope all is well.

Sunday Fun

As the Gulf Coast awaits another terrible hit from a hurricane, we are fortunate enough to have enjoyed a beautiful, late summer day. It looks and sounds like people in the potential path of Gustav are getting out and relief efforts are ready and waiting as opposed to being reactionary this time around. We'll be watching the news closely in the next couple of days to see the developments with Gustav.

Our big activity today was canoeing with Bob and Sally. We put the canoe on the van, for the last time (!) and drove to their house. Bob and Jim carried the canoes to Cranberry Pond, while Sally and I followed along with the paddles and life jackets. We spent the next 2.5 hours canoeing around Cranberry Pond, into Long Pond (under a really low bridge), up the inlet of Long Pond and then back to our starting point. It was a lovely day to be on the water. We saw lots of great blue herons, some ducks, turtles, little green herons, minnows, gulls and swans, There were some pretty flowers along the narrow water trail up the inlet and our solitude was only minimally interrupted by a few motor boats on Long Pond. 

After our portage back to B & S's house we all piled in the van for a lunch trip to Schallers. As usual, we had a nice lunch. After lunch, we returned to B & S's so Sally could use my swift and ball winder to wind a bunch of her yarn from skeins into balls. Jim and Bob sat out by the lake solving the world's problems. It was a fun time all around.

For dinner, Jim grilled salmon and we ate on the patio. We hope to eat outside again tomorrow.

I finished a baby sweater I was knitting for a couple of family friends who are having a baby girl in October. I am quite please with how this sweater turned out and would use the pattern again if I wanted to knit for a baby girl. I think the lacy look is better suited for a girl. See the photo below. 

Corey sent us this photo of his new tent, set up in the living room of his apartment. He called us to tell us all about it and it seems like a great tent at a great price. We wish him many happy years of camping in it.

Hope all is well.

New Car!

After Jim did lots of research, we went car shopping today and bought a 2009 Pontiac Vibe. It has a 2.4 liter engine with 5-speed manual transmission and is silver in color. The sale is contingent on the dealership being able to install cruise control. No cruise control, no sale. If all goes as planned, we will pick up the new car on Tuesday evening. 

Jim liked the Vibe because of the amount of cargo area behind the front seats and the gas mileage. We took test drives in both the 2.4 liter engine car and the 1.8 liter engine car, but wanted/needed some of the features that came on the 2.4 car. So we sacrificed some mpg's for a bit more power and options. The Vibe is the same as a Toyota Matrix (they are both made at the same factory in California), but the Vibe has a better warranty, is a bit cheaper and comes with 3 months of XM Radio and a one-year subscription to OnStar. So we went with the Vibe. 

The weather has been perfect today and this weather pattern is supposed to continue through the long weekend and into the start of school. I was at school yesterday for a few hours trying to get some planning done so I was ready for my student teacher. All staff will report to school on Tuesday with the kiddies arriving on Thursday. 

This morning we walked over to the Farmer's market at the Mall. As I said, it was a beautiful morning and the selections at the market were hard to resist! Here is a photo of all the good stuff we brought home. You may notice that there are no tomatoes in the photo and that is because Grandma and Grandpa are supplying us with as many fresh- picked ones whenever I want them! They are delicious! In the photo, there is a bag of yellow waxed beans behind the radishes.

I've spent a lot of time today typing up my class lists on a nice grid sheet and in a large font so I can see the names without my reading glasses. 

Speaking of reading glasses, I went to a new eye doctor yesterday and he said I just needed stronger reading glasses and that my eyes were in good shape for a person of my age! 

Tomorrow we are going canoeing with Bob and Sally. We will probably paddle in one of the ponds near their house unless they come up with a better idea. 

I talked to both Tucker and Corey today. Corey was watching Syracuse lose their opening football game, which may mean another long football season for the Orange. Tucker was at the Pagosa Springs Music Festival and having a good time with some of his college friends. 

Hope all is well.

Cruise Photos

As promised, here is a photo journal of our Canadian Cruise. Questions? Leave me a comment. 

Taking the train to New York City-a great way to travel!

Our self-guided tour of NYC included a stop at the Apple Store on 5th Ave.

Our cruise ship-Carnival's Victory.

Pool area, before most guests arrived.

Route map-Red LED lights changed to green to note our progress.

Our first port of call-Saint John, NB. Impressive flowers!

Reversing Falls, Saint John. The falls were not reversing while we were there because the tide was out, but it still was a beautiful river scene.

Jim and I on the balcony of our stateroom, along the back (aft) of the ship. 

Loved the balcony!

Our rented bikes in Halifax, NS, at the Prince of Wales Tower. We biked over 20 miles in Halifax, seeing the sites and shopping.

York Redoubt, Halifax, NS. Great views!

Weapons demonstration at the Citadel, Halifax. Next time you see us, ask us to do a demonstration on how these guys marched!

This mama seal with her baby seal were just two of the towel animals that our cabin steward made on our bed each evening. If you want to know how to make such critters, ask to borrow the book I bought on that subject.

Our seal friends with my yarn souvenirs from Halifax!

Jim getting his run in on the ship's track. 10-plus laps to the mile!

Entering the NYC harbor at sunrise.

The sunrise reflected in some of the buildings on the New Jersey side of the Hudson River.

A great way to end a great summer! 

Did I mention that school starts on September 2nd?!

Hope all is well.

Bicycles, Whiskey and Yarn

Bicycles, whiskey and yarn in beautiful Halifax, Nova Scotia-what a great day!

Early this morning we emerged from the ocean fog as we approached the Halifax harbour (Canadian spelling!). Jim had arranged with an outfitter that rents bikes to meet us in front of the Halifax Westin with 2 bikes shortly after 9 AM. And just as planned he (Dana) was waiting for us with 2 hybrid bikes and 2 helmets. We set off to explore some of Halifax and the surrounding area. Our first destination was Point Pleasant Park where we biked on lots of gravel trails. We visited some old arsenals that were part of the Halifax Defense Plan and we enjoyed the various views of the harbour area. From there we went up and around one of the little cove areas and continued riding down the arm of the cove past Purcell's Cove. We stopped to tour the York Redoubt, another feature of the Halifax Defense Plan. Again, we had some beautiful views of the area. We returned on the same roads we went out on with lots of ups and downs on the road. We returned to the city area in search of a couple of yarn stores that had been recommended to me on Ravelry. The first one was called LK Yarns and I had a wonderful woman help me find some local yarn (FiberArtist) that came as a kit for sweater. This yarn store was on a side street with several other shops and restaurants so we had lunch at the little Italian place next to the yarn store. The guy in the restaurant gave us directions to a liquor store where I could begin my search for brother Bob's 18 year old canadian-made whiskey. Once again, there was a very helpful man in this store, who was able to locate us a bottle of what we wanted at another store, when he only had the 12 year old stuff! So off we went to liquor store #2 and sure enough we got what we came for. So Bob, we need to talk about a "Sauce for Sauce" trade! Maybe I really need to talk to Joanie about that!

With the whiskey securely wrapped up in Jim's raincoat inside his daypack, we rode on the The Citidel, another military landmark in Halifax. From reading this blog, you might think I was some kind of military history nut! We arrived at the Citidel in time to see the changing of the guard and a demonstration of bayonettes and rifles. And, of course, there were wonderful views of the city and harbour.

With the bikes due back in a half an hour, we made one last stop at another yarn store, where I found a couple of things that will remind me of our wonderful time in Halifax. We returned the bikes right at 3 PM and Jim decided to go for a quick run while I searched out this library where I could have free internet access.

We were once again very lucky with the weather. Yesterday, after a mostly sunny and completely rain-free day, as soon as the ship left the Saint John Harbour, we were in the fog again. As we look out to the ocean, we see an impressive bank of clouds awaiting us when the ship departs.

Tomorrow is another day at sea as we head back to NYC.

So I will do a wrap-up with photos when I get home.

Hope all is well.

Saint John, New Brunswick

Hello from Saint John, New Brunswick! We docked about 8:00 AM today and the clouds and mist from yesterday have moved on for the time being.

My last post was from the Apple Store so I can do a quick update of our last couple of days. We had another exciting taxi ride from our NYC hotel to the pier where our Carnival ship (Victory) was waiting. The embarkation process was fairly easy and straight forward and we found our way to our cabin (7431) by 1:40 PM. When I booked this cruise, I didn't book a specific cabin, but rather a grade of a cabin, a stateroom with a balcony. Our cabin is along the very back of the ship and is very comfortable for the 2 of us. Our balcony is delightful and much larger than I expected. We have sat out there several times and have enjoyed the quiet of that space. The first night we were out there we saw a fireworks show from the distant Long Island! We couldn't hear the fireworks but the visual show was a treat.

Yesterday was a day at sea and we just relaxed. We walked around the ship a lot and did some reading (Jim) and knitting (me). The day was cloudy with some light rain or mist all day, so it was not a "sit by the pool" day. The afternoon included a workout in the fitness center (me) and a run on the track (Jim), followed by naps! It was the first of 2 formal nights in the dining room so we got dressed up and had some photos taken before going to dinner. Our table companions are a couple from Bucks County, PA, very pleasant people. We went to the singing and dancing show last night and were thoroughly entertained for an hour. I haven't had any luck in the casino yet, but may try again.

Today we are doing our own walking tour of the town of Saint John. Shortly after we got off the ship, a taxi driver, who was waiting for a paying customer, asked if we were walking on our own and then gave us a great map with 3 different walking tours laid out. We've already completed the Loyalist Historical Walk and have now stopped in the public library for free Internet access.

We have seen peeks of the sun so far this morning and will do some more walking when I am finished here at the library. Jim hopes to get a run in on land this afternoon, as the track on the ship is OK, but at 10 laps to the mile, it gets pretty boring since he never runs less than 5 miles!

This computer has a keyboard that is designed for users who communicate in other languages. Here are some of the keys I have hit because they are located on keys I use on my English only keyboard: è, à,ù,é ç

Tomorrow we are in the port of Halifax, Nova Scotia. I have a couple of yarns stores that I would like to check out and we are on a mission to find a bottle of 18 year old Canadian whiskey for my brother! We have a couple of bikes rented for tomorrow and will do our touring on 2 wheels.

The Olympics are over-what will we do with our time now! I didn' t get to see as much of the Olympics as I would have liked, but that is because I was doing other fun things. Leave me a comment about what you liked best during the Olympics.

Time to walk some more! Eh?

Hope all is well.

NYC

Hello from New York City! I am doing this entry from one of the hundreds of computers at the Apple store at the corner of Central Park.

Yesterday we had a delightful train ride to the Big Apple, with the train running right on time. It was fun for me to see some of the landmarks and sites that I just rode my bike by last week. I was able to give Jim the tour as we travelled along the Hudson River. It was a beautiful day and after an exciting taxi ride to our hotel we went walking around the city. 

We came to the Apple store last night but it was beyond crowded! As we were walking we were keeping our eyes opened for a possible restaurant choice for dinner. Even though it was early (6:00 PM) we were starving-I had misjudged the amount of food I brought on the train, so lunch was kind of thin! Poor Jim! So we found what ended up being a great little Italian restaurant called Fagiolina's. They had a pre-theater dinner plan which ended up being reasonable and delicious. We had a choice of appetizer, soup or salad, 4 or 5 entree choices, and a dessert choice. After our tasty meal we walked around a bit and then headed back to our hotel, The Roosevelt Hotel (a Priceline deal), where we watched some Olympics.

This morning Jim went for a run and I went for a walk before breakfast. We will do some more walking around before heading to the Cruise Ship pier around 1 PM. We are both looking forward to this cruise. The ship leaves at 5 PM and tomorrow is a day at sea. On Monday we will tour Saint John, New Bruswick and Tuesday we will visit Halifax, Nova Scotia. Wednesday is a day at sea and Thursday we are back in NYC, catching the afternoon train back to Rochester.

I don't know if I will write any entries while we're on the cruise. I'll see if I can drag myself out of the casino!!!

Hope all is well.

Back to SU

I made a quick trip back to SU today to deliver a couch to Corey, along with the garage sale purchases that Jim made for Corey. Because Corey has the biggest bedroom in the apartment (apparently he was assigned this room because he was the one who booked the apartment on-line, his 2 buddies have smaller rooms), he had a long empty wall in his room and wanted the love seat from our living room. We have been talking about getting new furniture for the living room so I was OK with that plan. Then last night Jim was with me in basement while I caught up on the ironing and wondered why we didn't give Corey the couch that was in the basement. There seemed to be several good reasons to do that, one of which is that the basement couch is dark green and the love seat is a lovely floral print. From a manly standpoint, the dark green wins! Corey liked this idea so Jim and I took the  seats out of the van and loaded in the basement couch. A week ago Jim went by a garage sale and saw some kitchen appliances that he thought Corey could use. He bought a microwave oven, a George Foreman grill and a toaster oven, all for $8! So I delivered those too!I chose to go today because I was going to East Rochester for a morning of spinning at the yarn store there, and I could just continue on to the Thurway from there. It was a good plan and worked just as planned. I was back in the area by 3 PM, and continued doing errands. 

Tomorrow I am going to school in the AM and try to get some things ready for the start of the school year. I will spend the rest of the day packing things up for our train trip and cruise.

I will leave you with a couple of photos from the boys. The first one shows all the food that Jim and Corey bought to stock Corey's kitchen at SU. If you click on the photo to enlarge it, you will notice several boxes of Wegman's brand of Honey and Oats cereal. There are actually 20 boxes of that cereal and they now occupy the top shelf in Corey's clothes closet!

This photo is one that Tucker sent us from a recent backpacking trip. It could be used for an ad for flyfishing! 

Hope all is well.

Home, For a Few Days

Catch-up time! I have not had access to a computer until I got home today, so here is a review of the last 3 day of the Hudson River Ride.

Friday's ride took us from Hyde Park to Garrison, NY, a distance of about 42 miles. The ride included 2 bridge crossings, the Mid-Hudson Bridge and the Newberg-Beacon Bridge, a couple of historic homes, a rugged climb up a mountain side for river views, and an off-route search for a waterfall we saw depicted in a painting in an art show. It was all good stuff and the day ended with a wonderful downhill run on a smooth, curvy road ending at the Garrison Market which was the ice cream stop for the day! I got to camp just as the dark clouds rolled in and I set up my tent as the thunder rumbled overhead. The heaven's opened up while I was in the showers, so instead of leaving the building where I showered, I sat in the reception area on a comfortable chair and talked with other riders. Dinner was served in the same building, so we left our "living room" chairs and headed to the cafeteria. By the time we finished our dinner the rain had stopped. I returned to my tent to discover everything inside the tent nice and dry-I love my tent! Another singer was booked to perform that evening, and because of the weather, she played in another building where there was a small gym. When I went in that building, I found an area outside of the gym where there were a bunch of comfy chairs and overhead lights. So I sat there and knit for an hour and a half and listened to the concert!

Saturday dawned with the skies starting to clear. Because we were headed to West Point for breakfast and a tour, a Revolutionary War re-enactor walked through our campsite playing his fife as we woke up and packed up. It was a nice way to start the day. Our 8 mile ride to West Point included crossing the Bear Mountain Bridge ( if you are keeping count, that is our 4th bridge). Our breakfast was served in the Thayer Hotel on the West Point campus and included white, linen table clothes, crystal and china! After breakfast we boarded 4 school buses and took a guided tour of that beautiful site. Our tour included the Revolutionary War site of Fort Putnam. 

Upon our return to the Thayer Hotel, I had to make a choice. There was a 26 mile route to our camp in Nyack State Park or a 40 mile route, which included the road up Bear Mountain. I came to ride my bike so I choose the 40 mile route and worked really hard, but was rewarded with some beautiful scenery. The only disappointment with this route was when I started down one of the decents late in the route and the route made a turn onto a road that had been recently oiled and gravelled! Instead of enjoying a fast downhill ride, I feared for my life as I braked the whole way down around curve after curve. By the time I reached the bottom of the hill, I met up with another tour rider and we stood there trying to get some feeling back into our hands and laughed about our bad luck with those road conditions. Oh well, what doesn't kill you makes you stronger! We encountered one more oil/graveled road, this time for a shorter stretch but on an uphill climb! 

Our ride into NYC was awesome! The skies were clear and I was done riding before the temps really heated up. Our route went through some park high above the river and then dropped down so we could ride across the George Washington Bridge (number 5) and then along a bike path right next to the Hudson River, the longest stretch of flat riding for the whole trip (14 miles). The ride concluded at the South Street Seaport! I rode about 250 miles in the 6 days of the ride, met some wonderful people and saw many beautiful parts of New York State. It was a tour that I would recommend to other bikers.

After a bus ride back to sage College in Albany, I was reunited with my Beetle and I drove to Jenny Lake, arriving by 10 PM on Sunday and then drove home today. I stopped in Syracuse to see Corey in his apartment for this year and took him to lunch. It is good to be home and now I can start to think about our cruise. We leave on Friday!

So here are some photos from the bike ride. Enjoy! The photos are in a random order and I am too tired to rearrange them.

View on sunset boat tour, Rip Van Winkle Bridge

On the grounds of the Culinary Institute of America, Hyde Park.

At the FDR Home, Museum and Presidential Library.

Pretty flowers at one of the many gardens.

Inside the chapel at West Point.

View from Fort Putnam, West Point.

One lake on the Seven Lakes Drive.

Olana, home of artist Frederick Church.

Crossing the George Washington Bridge to NYC.

One of the new "waterfalls" in NYC.

Salmon Salad

Dinner with biking friends.

Hope all is well.

Layover Day Report

Well, we did 2 days of riding, 38 miles the first day and 43 miles the second. And today has been a layover (rest) day!


Let me do a catch-up of what has been happening. On Tuesday night we all boarded 4 school buses to take us to the dock for our Sunset Cruise on the Hudson River. It was a lovely night on the water and we cruised down stream a ways and then returned to the dock. We saw many beautiful homes along the cliffs above the water and a bunch of run-down shacks along the river's edge. It was a most enjoyable activity.

Wednesday morning dawned cool and clear and I set off for our 43 miles. Yesterday a guy named Stewart followed me most of the day, claiming he liked my pace. So today we rode together again. Our one rest area (after 18.5 miles) was at a winery so I stopped there for about 40 minutes and looked around and had some snacks that are provided by this tour. The rest stops have been well stocked with drinks (water and gatorade) and snacks (fruit, granola bars, PB and crackers, nuts, etc.) and friendly tour volunteers. I cruised the last 25 miles (apparently) because Stewart and I were the first people at the campsite. A couple of other guys showed up shortly after that so once again I helped to unload the baggage truck. Tomorrow I am going to stop in the last town until I am sure that enough time has passed for the truck to be unloaded!

I ate lunch yesterday at the Culinary Institute of America (CIA) and had a fabulous meal. I ordered one of the specials of the day, a wood-fired pizza topped with goat cheese, grilled pears, a bit more goat cheese and on top of all that, right in the middle, a pile of arugula lettuce with balsamic vinegar drizzled on it! It was so delicious! I also had a glass of Reisling wine. For dessert, I walked to the Apple Pie Bakery on the CIA campus, which is run by students in their sophomore year, and got a couple of cookies for dessert. They too were wonderful! I walked by various kitchens where students were working and got to see the students making a variety of foods. It was all very interesting. The CIA also has a wonderful view of the Hudson River. On the ride back from lunch I stopped at the home of Franklin D. Roosevelt. I took the guided tour of the house and then did a self-guided tour of his museum and the Presidential Library. It was a beautiful home in a lovely setting above the Hudson River.

Last night there was entertainment in our campground-a guy playing a guitar and singing. He was very talented, but many of his songs were kind of sad. I sat and knit during his concert and got the heel turned on my toe-up sock. Now I can cruise along up the leg of the sock.

We have been camped on the grounds of a Catholic School for 2 nights. It was delightful to not have to pack up a wet tent (it rained during the night last night) this morning. I just ate my breakfast, decided what I wanted to do today, hopped on my bike and off I went. I rode 37 miles today, visiting another estate on the Hudson River called Locust Grove. I did not tour the house because I arrived too early, but I did hike on some of the trails on the property, including one that went down to the river. There were also lush, showy gardens on this estate. From Locust Grove, I rode to New Paltz for lunch, this involved riding across a Hudson River Bridge. One of the riders on this tour was telling me about this great restaurant in New Paltz that he discovered last year and highly recommended it. He said the chef was a graduate of the CIA. This guy couldn't remember the name of the restaurant but gave me directions on how to find it so I thought I would give it a try and I'm glad I did. The restaurant, called Main Course, was at the end of a strip mall and was pretty nondescript. I got there just as they opened and got a seat by the window so I could keep an eye on my bike. After reading a wonderful menu with so many things that sounded good I decided on a Cedar Plank Grilled Salmon Salad. It was wonderful. The salad was a mix of field greens and other vegetables, along with gorgonzola cheese and candied pecans. It was dressed with a grape vinegrette. It was perfect. I ended the meal with a small piece of carrot cake. I glad I found this place! Then I burned up most of those calories on the 15 mile ride back to camp.

After a quick shower, I walked the mile or so to the Vanderbuilt Mansion, arriving in time for the 3 PM tour. This place is over the top! So many rooms and each laviously decorated! Even the servants quarters looked nice! Before walking back to camp I toured the gardens and enjoyed the various views of the Hudson River.

Tonight we are on our own for dinner. I will have to return to camp and see if joining up with some other folks seems appropriate or else I will head out on my own. There are several choices of places to eat within easy walking distance.

Late this afternoon it got dark and about 10 rain sprinkles fell, but most of the threat of a storm seems to have passed for the time being.

I am feeling bad about missing the Olympics. I have read a little bit in the newspaper, but that is not like watching the actual competitions. I am also missing a Rochester visit from Jeannie, Mark and Michal. I will have to look forward to seeing them in October at Michal's wedding.

Tomorrow Corey goes back to Syracuse! Good Luck, Corey! I will stop to see him on my way home on Monday. Jim and I will once again revert to being Empty Nesters.

That's all for now.

Hope all is well.

I guess that is all for now. Time to figure

Another Bike Ride

After a wonderful Women's Weekend, filled with laughter, great food, ice cream, hiking, knitting, etc., I am now on another bike ride.

Today was the first day of the Great Hudson River Valley Pedal, from Albany to NYC. I drove from Jenny Lake to Albany, in the rain yesterday afternoon and it rained well into the evening. The meeting place for this ride was on the campus of Sage College. I decided to find a place to sleep in the Student Union of Sage and not set up my tent since the ground was completely saturated.

I attended the Wine and Cheese Reception for the ride, getting a chance to meet some of my fellow riders. We were told some statistics about the ride, so I will pass them along to you. There are 159 riders, 60% men, 40% women. The oldest rider is 80 and the youngest is 6. The average age is 53!

After the reception I drove around looking for a place for dinner and ended up at the sports bar and grill at the Hilton, hoping to see some Olympics. And that is what I saw while I ate. When I returned to the campus it was still raining, so I hauled by baggage and my bike into the union and started to look for a place to sleep. I ended up on the floor in a dark room off the main entrance, which had a squeaky door! Around 11 PM the security guys came through and told me I was not supposed to be sleeping in that room. I told them I was harmless and would be up at 5:20 AM. They let me stay! So, it wasn't a great night's sleep, but it was dry and packing up was easy this morning.

The skies were clearing by the time we had our official send-off and we had a delightful day to ride. We were escorted out of Albany by the police since it was rush-hour, that was pretty cool. Today's route covered 38 miles and included 2 official rest stops with food and drink supplied. Both stops were at parks along the Hudson so were very scenic. The riding was fairly easy with a few good hills and a tailwind for part of the day. I arrived at our camp town shortly after 11, so early that the baggage truck was not unloaded by I helped get the bags out, along with some other early riders. I have a nice camp spot under a tree, near a picnic table and a stone bench. We are on the campus of Green Columbia Community College.

This afternoon I toured Olana, the home of artist Frederick Church and it is an amazing place, with incredible views of the Hudson River and surrounding Catskill Mountains. I hiked back to camp with some other riders. Tonight there is a boat cruise on the Hudson-that should be good.

Tomorrow is a 43 mile day to Hyde Park. I am having lunch at the Culinary Arts Institute at 1 PM so I will have to watch my time as I am riding.

So, overall, a great start to this ride. I have met some very nice people and look forward to tomorrow's activities.

Once again, I cannot share my photos until I get home.

Hope all is well.

Women's Weekend 2008

What happens on Women's Weekend,

Stays on Women's Weekend.

See you on the other side!

Bikes, Alpacas, and Crow

We awoke on Sunday morning to a cloudy rainy day-what's up with that? The weather people were forecasting that Sunday was going to be the gem of the weekend!

We ate our delicious breakfast at a casual pace. Jim tried the French Toast and I went with the Buckwheat Pancakes. Once again, it was all tasty. Did you know that Penn Yan, NY is the Buckwheat Capital of the world? One of the innkeepers told us that when she was describing our breakfast options. Now you've learned something!

We read the Sunday paper, chatted with some of the other folks at the inn, who were very sympathtic to our desire to ride. We made an alternative plan of driving to Watkins Glen to do some hiking, figuring we'd rather hike than bike in the rain. We took our time getting ready to leave and figured we'd take our bikes in case the weather improved. Well, as we were packing up the car, Jim decreed that the rain had stopped for the day and we really should ride to Geneva as we had planned. I was a bit skeptical as the threatening clouds still loomed overhead, but, whatever! And Jim ended up being right! We rode 40 miles over about 4 hours and only got about 10 sprinkles on us! We had a great tail wind to Geneva, and then had to really work to get back to Canandaigua. One of the highlights on our return ride was finding an alpaca farm! As we were pedaling down a hill, I was in my full-tuck position, trying to gain every advantage against the wind, when Jim yelled, "Alpacas on the right!" I quickly looked up away from the road and saw a hillside full of alpacas at the Oh My! Alpaca Farm. Of course, I hit the brakes, turned around and took a photo. The farm sign said By Appointment Only or else it might have been fun to go up and try to a get some answers to the questions we were asking each other. 

We thoroughly enjoyed the Sheryl Crow concert, even though the D & C reporter stated in his review, that he thought she could have given more, whatever that means. Crow had us all up and dancing and singing along by the end of the concert and I heard no negative comments from anyone as we headed to our car at the end of the show. 

So, we had a great weekend in Canandaigua. Jim had to be back at work by 10 this morning and it was such a beautiful day (finally) that I decided to ride my bike back home. It ended up being a 43 mile ride, 28 of it on the Canal Trail. Here is a photo I took shortly after I got on the Trail near Macedon at Lock 30. 

Tomorrow and Wednesday will be very busy day as I leave for Women's Weekend on Thursday and will go right to my Hudson River Valley bike ride right from camp. 

Hope all is well.

Saturday Happenings

Once again, coming to you live from the Morgan Samuels Inn, Canandaigua, NY.

I wrote yesterday's entry before we went to breakfast and I have to tell you about it-before we go to breakfast today (Sunday). Jim and I had our own private sun porch (but there was no sun, only rain) and we sat at a small round table set with beautiful china and silverware, fresh flowers, a candle and linen napkins. We had a choice of juices (fresh-squeezed OJ or a locally made apple and lemon mix-we chose that and it was delicious), followed by this fruit platter! Now because we were the first people at breakfast it had not been picked over and it was impressive. There were over a dozen different kinds of fruit on it. We were then served a berry muffin while our main course was being prepared. For the main course we had a choice of a veggie omelet or greek omelet, which was built more like a pizza with the egg being the crust and the toppings piled on top, or buckwheat pancakes, french toast, or scrambled eggs. I had the veggie omelet and Jim went with the Greek one. They were perfectly made and very tasty. Monks Bread toast accompanied the omelets. I could only eat about half of all my food, Jim did a little better, but we skipped lunch because of the hearty breakfast we ate. I can hardly wait to go to breakfast this morning.

So after breakfast we toured Sonnenberg Gardens in the dampness. We carried umbrellas, but never needed them. The mansion and gardens were lovely and it is fun to think about places like that in their hayday! 

In Thursday's Rochester newspaper there was an ad for a Garlic Festival that was taking place at one of the winerys on Seneca Lake so we decided to drive over there and check it out. By now the sun had come out and we enjoyed our drive across Lake to Lake Road. Our destination was the Fox Run Winery and when we arrived, we realized that this was the place to be on this particular day! There were 30 plus vendors, many, but not all, selling garlic-related items. There was food and entertainment on the lawns around the winery. After walking through the vendor area (and buying some garlic) we went into the winery and did some wine tasting. We tasted a variety of wines, including 3 different Reislings, one of which we ended up buying. As we were leaving the festival I realized that someone should have been there selling a Garlic Zoom! What a missed opportunity-I may have to become a dealer!

We returned to the inn with the hopes of getting out on our bikes. However, by the time we got here the skies had clouded over and there was thunder all around. So we lounged around the inn waiting for the weather to move on through. After an hour or so of no rain, but distant thunder we decided to risk it and go for a ride. We did 16 quick miles, getting back in time to shower before the concert.

Our concert plan had been to stop at Wegmans and  buy some dinner to eat on the lawn at CMAC before the concert. We changed our minds about eating outside as we drove to Wegmans and a big, old storm rolled through! Instead, we ate in Wegmans, which has a very nice eating area set-up just beyond their prepared foods section. 

The concert was wonderful and it ended with a rousing rendition of the 1812 Overture including cannons and fireworks! I took my knitting and got quite a bit done on the baby blanket. The woman right in front of us was knitting too so at intermission we compared projects!

We made a quick and easy escape from the concert parking lot and were back at our inn in less than 10 minutes after the last firework exploded!

Another good day in Canandaigua.

Hope all is well. 

Wine Country

Greetings from beautiful Canandaigua-at least yesterday was beautiful, we awoke to a rainy morning today.

Yesterday was one of those perfect days that will stay with us for as long as our minds hold out! We left Apollo Drive when it was convenient in the morning, no need to rush, we had a drive of less than an hour. The day was sunny and clear, with temps forecasted for the low 80's. Once in Canandaigua we parked at the City Pier and started to get ready for a bike ride. While doing the normal futzing that goes along with getting ready to ride, our friends Mary Jo and Dave, who recently moved to Canandaigua, walked up to us! They were out for their morning constitutional with their son who was in town for a visit. Mary Jo said she saw my yellow beetle and knew who it belonged to. Dave does a lot of biking in this area so he was a good resource before we pedaled away, including a suggestion for a lunch stop. 

We ended up riding 40 miles, which was about 10 more than Jim had wanted, but it was fine. We ate lunch in Rushville at a place called Loomis Barn. We had to ask where this place was as we rode through Rushville, and probably never would have gotten there on our own as it ended up being south of town and we were heading north. But we found it and we're glad we did. The Loomis Barn is actually a furniture store with a couple of other businesses attached to it, one of which is the Corn House Cafe. We had a nice lunch and enjoyed the air conditioning. 

Here is a pretty view, with Canandaigua Lake in the distance.

After we returned to the car at the pier, we went into downtown for a walk up and down Main Street. Surprise-there was a needle work store!! In that store we discovered a display of "locally grown" alpaca roving and yarn. Apparently there are several alpaca farms in the area and together they produce yarns and rovings. We will have to keep our eyes out for grazing alpacas as we travel around this area in the next couple of days. 

We are staying at the Morgan Samuels Inn, a lovely place with beautiful gardens.
We stayed here many years ago and were quickly reminded of what a nice place it is. Jim loves the fact that there is a large plate of homemade chocolate chips cookies awaiting him every time he walks through the front door! The innkeeper, Brad, recommended and made us at dinner reservations at the New York State Wine and Culinary Center. It was such a lovely evening that we chose to eat dinner on the outside deck of the restaurant, which was perfect. The deck was on the second floor of the Center so we had a view of the lake and all the happenings out there on a gorgeous Friday night. Our meal was prepared using foods that are from NYS and we washed down every bite of our meal with a tasty NYS Riesling wine. Before heading back to the B&B we walked out the pier and watched the fisher-people and the boats returning to the marina as the sun set behind us. A perfect day!

Now, of course, the rain has arrived, as forecasted. We have some things we want to do that we can manage rain or shine. Fortunately we have tickets under the shelter for tonight's RPO concert, but we do hope to be able to picnic on the  lawn before the concert.  

Hope all is well.