Adirondack Park - 2008

We went camping at Eighth Lake and to best describe the weather, there is a poem in a book that I gave to Leo, Travels With a Kayak, by Whit Deschner, that describes it perfectly. Thanks to Leo for copying it. We had a good time in spite of the weather.

It rained and rained and rained,

The average fall was well maintained,

And when the tracks were simply bogs,

It started raining cats and dogs.

After a drought of half an hour,

We had the most refreshing shower;

And then, most curious thing of all,

A gentle rain began to fall.

Next day was one but fairly dry,

Save for one deluge from the sky,

Which wetted the party to the skin,

And then at last - the rain set in.

One of the sight seeing highlights for me was a trip to the Adirondack Museum in Blue

Mountain. We visited this museum many years ago and I was impressed with it then when

it was much smaller. I was no less impressed with it this time.

It was nice to see some folks who we had not seen in a while, like Caroline and Jeremy and

Chris T. We had never met Jeremy's children, nor Chris's girlfriend, Lauren.

We brought the Folbot with us and since it has been a while since I assembled it, it took

about 50 minutes to get it together. As always, Anne and I found it a bit sluggish as a

two person boat, so I decided to rig it for solo use. That really made a big difference. It

seemed to glide along much easier and faster. I really brought it because I was reluctant

to put the Tsunamis on top of the car, but after seeing so many kayaks transported that

way, I think we may try that next year.

We also drove into Inlet and Old Forge and visited Old Forge Hardware, which is

something of a local tourist attraction. You get the idea of what the area is like when

the big whoop is visiting the hardware store. Anne bought a canning kit and sourdough

starter and Greg found a walking stick that helped him hobble along on his sprained

ankle.

Chris T. recommended his favorite Scotch, Ardberg, so when we got home I went out

and bought a bottle. It is very nice; smoky, as I like it, but light and refined.

As for wildlife, we heard bard owls and loons and we did see a bear on the road, not

too far from the camp ground.

Anne and I were very pleased with our tent which kept us perfectly dry despite some

horrendous downpours during a couple of the nights. We were actually quite

comfortable with our regular sleeping bags and an air mattress that Anne got before the trip.

Most meals were shared with Art, Marian, Andy and various others, which worked out well,

I thought. Unfortunately, we had to pack our tent, canopy and boat still wet in the car.

When we got home, we put everything out in the yard and it dried quickly.

It's hard to imagine how much stuff you have to pack along for a week in the woods.

We think we did pretty well in our planning and would make very few changes on

future trips. We might save some weight if we had a parawing tarp instead of our

canopy, but the canopy worked well.

Most of all it was the people that made the trip a success. It's nice to have a nice family

and I'm glad I'm a part of it.

Hopefully, this link will take you to our photos.

 

Off to the Adirondacks

Today we put the final touches on our packing preparations for our camping trip to Eighth Lake at Inlet, NY. We have everything we hope we will need including tent, canopy, kitchen table/box, stove and a 17 foot boat in our minivan. Most of the stuff is already in the car. We are looking forward to a week in the woods with Anne's family with no internet or cell phone connections. I'm sure there will be adventures and photos to share on our retuen.

Scrub a Dub Tub

I always seem to plan a whole list of things to do on a weekend and usually find that it is completely impossible to get them all done. We had ordered a new hot tub cover from the man who came to fix a leaking heat sensor. He called yesterday to say that it was in, so, at 7:45 a.m. I drove to East Brunswick to fetch it and avoid an $80.00 delivery charge. It only took about an hour and then when I got home I decided to clean and wash the minivan in preparation for our upcoming camping trip. I then set the auto pool vacuum to work and since we had a brand spanking new spa cover, I decided to try to clean the skirting around the tub in anticipation of re-staining it. Mom offered to help and I'm glad she did or I might not be alive now. (In addition to planning a whole list of things to do, I usually try to do all of them.) Mom cut the grass too while I was washing the car, so that took another chore off my list.

We got to work scrubba dub dubbing using a product sold for cleaning marine teak called Deks Rens. It worked beautifully, but we were both pretty tired by the time we finished. Almost all of the black and discoloration was removed from the wood. The new cover is lying in its box on the porch until I get and apply the stain. No point in taking any chances. One of the things that I had wanted to get started on was the remake of our back porch. I have all of the material for it except the paint for the floor, but that will have to wait for another day. Oh, I also put the last coat of stain on the boards for one of the pool benches. They should be ready to install on Monday. Fortunately, I have two more days to my weekend. Tomorrow I will take it easy (I think) and Monday, maybe I can get busy on the porch. I know, Harry's box is waiting too. Sigh!

Huckleberry Hill

Anne came to me and said that she had disturbing news. She told me that Blueberry Hill turned into Huckleberry Hill. It seems that Kristen did some research and found out the little berries I discovered on Blueberry Hill are really huckleberries. She could have just believed me, but, no, she had to do research. Well, now Leo and Kristen, Satin, Wrangler, Lace, cat 2 and cat 3 (sorry, their names escape me, probably because I'm so upset about not being believed, me being an experienced woodsman and all), bird and all those fish live on Huckleberry Hill.

Blueberry Hill

Mom and I visited Leo and Kristen this weekend at their new home. It is in a rural area of Pennsylvania in the northern Poconos. The dirt road isn't on most maps. Google can't find it. Mapquest locates it, not quite correctly, but pretty close. I was concerned that they were going to be living amongst moonshiners and crackers, but was very pleasantly surprised to find that all of the houses in their area are quite nice. Their house is very nice and is much larger than it appears when it is first approached. There is a good size porch on the front and a large deck on the rear. There is an enormous lower level that is already divided into a room to be used for computer / office, an entertainment room with a nice bar built in, an exercise room, a room that was to be a home theater, a large furnace room and a large workshop with built in workbench with two double doors opening to a driveway outside. I'll post some pictures when I figure out how. There is a hill behind the house that starts out with lawn, then low shrubs and then trees and shrub. Exploring the hill I found that the shrubs were mostly low bush blueberries. I partook of one and found it edible, the news of which prompted Mom to appear with a plastic container to collect them.

It is incredibly quiet there. Hardly a human sound can be heard. We sat on the front porch in the evening and listened to a couple of wild turkeys calling. The tom frequented their backyard and we even saw him pursuing the hen, although she seemed to be uninterested. We heard a fawn calling for its mother and Kristen professed to hear the deer walking in the woods. Although Mom, Kristen and Leo all reported seeing deer on the hill, I saw only one. I did see many in other places on our visit. I got up in the middle of the night to use the rest room and decided to have a look outside. The stars were astounding. There was no ground light, only pitch black as a backdrop. We wish Kristen and Leo the very best in their new home and hope that their family has many years of happiness on Blueberry Hill.  [You can view some pictures of Leo and Kristen's new home at www.flickr.com/wvkol ]

The Great American Shelving Adventure (Part 6)

My Goodness! It has been a long time since I have written anything here. Much is going on. A new roof is being installed on our house, Leo and Kristen are moving (tomorrow in fact), Pippi has finished elementary school (congratulations) and I have started on the last phase of the Great American Shelving Adventure. This part consists of building the toy box of secrets. I can't say anymore otherwise it wouldn't be a secret. I have doped out a plan and cut the wood. Now I must plan some more before starting assembly. I tend to build things with only a sketchy plan and then build as I go. Sometimes that works. Once in a while I forget something along the way and I have to re-construct as  I go. Anyway, this box is turning out to be a lot bigger than I expected. Oh well, it has to hold a lot of treasures. Maybe I can post a picture when it is finished, if I can still remember how. No, I can't post pictures during construction - the box has secrets. 

The Great American Shelving Adventure (Part 5)

Tonight I put the second and I hope final coat of polyurethane on Harry's desk top. I have committed to deliver and install all pieces and parts tomorrow. Well, of course, not the storage box which I haven't even started yet. That will be the next thing to do. I glad I'm going to start working four days a week beginning May 5th, so I have the time to do all of these things. I may even get the time to post some more stuff on my own blog here.