Hikers/Back packers/Firetowers

[happycountryhens]

Hope everyone is enjoying the outdoors today. Rode the bicycle 12 miles yesterday. Now my butt hurts.
Bicycle rode well after its tune up.

 

[m.kitchengirl]

I have started in-line skating in the hours between work & the kids getting off the bus (It is SUCH a pain to use my bike around here - back roads, fast drivers or a long drive with the bike on the rack. In-Lines I just toss in the car.) and I practically ran up the trail this weekend.

We have a trip scheduled for the boys & I for April vacation up to Acadia National Park for 3 days of hiking, and I think I'll be able to pack everyone's stuff more easily this year.

My sweetie just left yesterday - he's driving to California to start the Pacific Crest Trail. October feels far off, but I know we can stay busy while he is away.

If you want to follow his hike visit his blog:
www.jasonhikes.com

 

[quercus21]

We haven't started our bike riding yet. In a week or so I'll have them ready. That first ride is always painful. There have been a few people riding by the house the last few weeks. We have a week off starting in a few days, sooooooo.

We went on a quick bush wack last weekend. We started so so late for us, 11:00am at the trail head. We walked along the ridge line on both sides of the mountains. We were able to see the 2 different valleys which was nice. It was a nice relaxing walk in the woods.

We use to go camping along the Maine coast from Acadia to Quoddy Head. Our kids loved Cadillac mountain with it's views and treeless summit. I believe it was the ole Rt. 1 ride. We are thinking of doing it again in the future, this time without the kids..... The better-half family comes from Maine.

Enjoy the days ahead.

 

[happycountryhens]

I did check out his blog. It is very nice - love the pictures. Hope he has a great trip.
Hope you and the boys have a nice trip too. Let us know how it went.

Quercus: Butt feels better, but now it has been too cold to ride. I do draw the line at snow.

Originally Posted by m.kitchengirl

 

[happycountryhens]

We went on a city hike today. Talked to the children about city gardens and apartment living and all the things to do. Also discussed crossing streets and driveways and parking lot entrances. We saw City Hall, the public library, lots of churches with great architecture and an art school.
Turned out to be a nice hike and it didn't rain until our group got back to our cars.

Then we went home and planted trees and cleaned out the coop for the afternoon.
Yup, in the rain. That's what western hats are for....so you can work in the rain without getting your head wet. The hat looks very preppy with rubber boots...in black of course.

 

[Glasshen]

Happy, sounds like a great day. Fun, educational and productive, doesn't get better than that, unless it's also sunny...

 

[quercus21]

Happycountryhens: Sounds like you had a good time. Sneaking in education with a fun activity is always good. What city did you see?

I enjoy walking around unfamiliar towns. We do have our favorites. Hudson, NY for one. I wish the Diamond Street Diner would reopen. Warren St is a great street to walk around on. We were in a nice town this past Sunday, Sea Cliff, Long Island. I dropped some things off at a store.

Last week we had a few good hikes in the Catskills. We found a B-25J crash site on Friday Mountain. A couple of days later, going up Slide Mountain, we flushed a black bear. I think all 3 of us were startled in seeing each other. After it moved off about 100', the better half become excited about seeing it.

Enjoy the day

 

[happycountryhens]

quercus: So very cool, but I'm with your wife. Bears are better enjoyed from afar.

We were in Albany this weekend and camped near Postenkill. Very pretty area. The capitol is very pretty and we saw the museum, toured the capitol building and did the duck tour. All in all, very enjoyable.

Home next weekend working on the property and readying the garden. And the raised beds. And the planter. Does this list ever end? (Heck, good thing it's all fun to do!)

 

[quercus21]

happycountryhens: sounds like you had a good time in Albany. We were at the museum the beginning of this year and a funny thing happened.
A little way I looked at that time, a red flannel shirt, baseball hat, scruffy full beard. Here I was standing at my favorite spot ( the better half sort of leaves me there, knowing I'm not going to go far) the outdoors/logging area. Well here I am, unchaperoned falling into my own little day dream, when out of the corner of my eye I catch movement. My eyes aren't the best anymore, so I turn to see who it is. It's a little boy, maybe 15 - 20 months old. He's looking at me with like a look of horror, he's shaking and shivering. He does a 180 and runs away (more like a drunken waddle with the ole dipper on), with his arms flailing and goes about 10'. He stops and turns, looking at me, lets out the blood curdling scream. At this moment, other people hearing the scream are turning around and looking at me. The better half sees the boy running by and screaming, comes storming in (her only boy "me" is into some kind of trouble, you could say I am the reason she is glad we never had sons). The little boy is running as fast as his little legs can take him towards a lady who is just about crying from laughing so hard. Come to find out, they thought I was part of the display. When I moved to see who was by me, I set the events in motion. She came up and apologized to me, still laughing with her son hiding behind her. They were watching me for awhile and I wasn't moving so they thought......Point of the story, I maybe old,smelly, slow, but I am still alive for the moment.

Have to ask, Did you see the phone booths? Were they part of a exhibit? Did you go up to the "top" floor? We still haven't started camping yet. We were up on Giant Ledge the other day. As we were leaving we came across another couple. They were wondering how close the were to Slide Mtn. I said "12 - 13 miles, that's the peak you can just about make out." It seems they head in the wrong direction at the trail head.....
Enjoy

 

[happycountryhens]

Quercus: No, we did not see phone booths. We did see the Indian exhibit, the mamoths and the *controling laughter* outdoor exhibit - but there was no flannel wearing lumberjack in the exhibit when we went. We did go to the top floor and took the last ride of the day on the merry go round. Could not get any good pics of the merry go round. Camera is not so good with indoor pictures.

Had to put off camping/hiking for a few weeks to get the outdoor stuff done around here. Worked on the pond outfow stream today. It was just water in a ditch with weeds and rotting stuff around it. Now we have it cleared out and cleaned up. What a difference. We are putting stone in to tighten the banks and then lining it with a barrier and putting field stone down (because it looks pretty). We are working on the raised beds and are ready to put speggetti squash in tomorrow. We do have a greenhouse cover for the raised bed, so no worries about frost. Next the big garden. It is 80 x 100 feet and we plant pumpkins that we sell in the fall. So it then becomes a very important garden, doesn't it? Once the garden takes off and the leaves cover the ground, there is very little weeding and we suddenly have time for longer trips again.

My son did squeeze in a little fishing today, but the fish were not biting. Then there was the episode of rockpile sleding. Not too good for the plastic sled, but loads of fun!

I will find out about all the places you talk about. All these new places....

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