7 mile round trip to Hamilton Falls..Jamaica St Park, VT 5.26.14

I’ve been trying to get in shape for a hike with my sister in VA.  We plan to stop on our way home….so my son, Dan, took us to the Jamaica State Park.

Dan, Dave, their friend Roger, his girl friend and I went. Jim’s not a hiker so stayed home to take care of Raisin.

The first 2 miles of the hike were on a fairly easy stretch.

You could walk…talk and look at the beautiful scenery…

I felt I did fairly well…..then came the 1 mile uphill…

They may have been visiting but I had all I could do to catch my breath….Dan wanted to make a side trip to the dam but I wanted to be sure I made it to the falls first…

Checking on Mom….making sure I haven’t passed out on the trail..

Another catch my breath stop….Dave on the L, Roger, Dan on R. I took lots of pictures…gave me a chance to stop for a few seconds.

It is really beautiful here….and not really that steep…but a continual up grade for a mile.

I MADE IT!!!!!     That’s Dave at the base of the falls.

3 of us stayed at the bottom of the falls…Dan and Roger hiked to the top. In the center of the picture on the Right..you can just see Dan sitting on a rock.

 

Here’s a closer look. That’s Roger in the white shirt.

This is a popular spot…2 other couples showed up a few minutes after we got here.

Here’s a short video. Well worth the hike in.

 

There is a short steep hike out of the falls area.

But by then…I had caught my breath and had half an hour or so to recoup.

Dan is a mountain biker, a hiker and a road biker….(the ones you have to pedal) not to mention having done 2 Tough Mudders and is doing one again this coming Sunday….so he scampered up and down these hills like he was running on flat ground.

From here on it’s all down hill….Dave has his own business building or remodeling houses or anything you need done…so he’s climbing ladders and lugging stuff…hike didn’t bother him a bit either.

I had a little head start but they caught me….here they come…and Dan was on the jog…

Once we were off the hill and I was still in walking shape we crossed the bridge and did the 1/2 mile hike to the dam.

 

This is where the spillway at the base is. A favorite fishing spot. The boys say there are some big trout here.

Dan and Dave posed for a photo op by the Hamilton Falls sign. At the top of the falls where Dan and Rodger were…there is a pool and people have gone swimming there and ended up going over the falls.

Turned out to be a 7 mile hike…probably the most I’ve walked at one time in my life….but I survived and the kids didn’t have to carry me home.

Here is a look at the trail on their brochure.

Consider yourself in good shape?  Give The Tough Mudder a shot…  www.toughmudder.com  Check out the website….They support the Wounded Warrior Project… my favorite! What a great cause.

Bumble Bees and Blueberries 5.26.14

When we were at Jim’s cousin’s in Ovid..I asked how they pollinated their blueberry farm. Val said that Bumble Bees were the natural pollinators.

My son, Dave, has a few blueberry plants in his yard and I saw several Bumble Bees on them.

 

I’ve seen very few Honeybees up this way. I know they must be here but so far I haven’t seen a single one.

There were at least 4 Bumble Bees working the half dozen plants.

I remember when my brother was a little kid..about 5..and he caught a Bumblebee in his hand….after getting stung…he brushed it off his hand and said “hot birdie, hot birdie”. I can understand why he caught it….they are cute little fuzzy things.

You can see several small grains of pollen on the hairs of this one.

It’s amazing how beautiful God’s little creatures are if you take the time to look.

5.22.14

Our next camp site was at Jim’s cousins in NY. Dick and Arlene have this neat little cottage on a lake.

The lake  was affected by the same rains that flooded Pen Yan. It is supposed to be way out there beyond the trees that are in the water. It had receded at least 10’ when I took this picture.

We spent 2 nights at the camp and had a great time. Hope to see them this winter in NC.

The Hudson was a hit with the people at the Senior Club they run. Jim met a gentleman that had served on the same ship…just at different times.

We headed towards Plattsburg. This is where we had our lunch break.

 

We were lucky enough to get there the day Sue and Jeff were taking their boat out of storage. It is kept indoors at a marina but moved to another for the summer. We dropped one car at the summer marina. Jim is coming to let us know they were there for the ride to the winter storage marina. The boat was in the water…waiting for the move.

View out the forward window. Jim didn’t feel well so he skipped the trip on the lake, and took the car home.

Jeff, Sue, a boating neighbor, John, his dog Toby, Jeff and Sue’s dog Max and I made the trip. First run of the season and started out as a nice easy cruise. Once things warmed up and seemed to be working OK…he opened it up and put it on plane to make sure everything was as it should be. It was.  Great ride. I am used to 4 or 5 mph…

Here’s Max. Toby is about the same size. They hadn’t seen each other since last summer. It was fun to watch them …they were long lost buddies.

and here they come….

Here’s their boat in the summer slip. It is a 37’ Four Winds. Very comfortable. Sue calls it her lake front property, and they spend weekends on it. It’s amazing how much room it has below deck.

Sue and Jeff had more company that afternoon…. another couple, with their little dog Harley. I think it was named for the Harley they had on the trailer. They keep their boat at the same marina. Harley, Max and Toby are all good friends. Harley is a tiny little poodle. It is fun to watch them together.

After another great dinner (Jeff cooks a mean steak) and a few hands of cards…..we headed to bed for an early start to Vermont in the morning.

5.18.14 New York

Imagine Jim’s surprise when he got up in the morning and found frost on the top of the Hudson..

A stiff breeze came up yesterday afternoon and we put the awning away along with the mat and chairs…sure glad we did. They got put away dry instead of frosty.

We stopped in a rest area and had lunch.

It was such a beautiful spot we decided to spend the night.

We parked in the car parking instead of taking up a spot that might be needed by a tired truck driver….evidently security didn’t see it our way….and we had a knock about 9pm telling us we had to move to the truck side, so we did.

We met Pat and Cinda at the Kissimmee Tin Can Tourist meet this winter. They live in Pen Yan which is on the opposite side of one of the finger lakes from Jim’s Uncle and cousins.

We stopped and visited for a few hours. Pen Yan was hit with flooding a few days before and it still was in a state of repair. They showed us all around town. Fortunately their place didn’t sustain any major damage.

The have a beautiful big old barn that has been renovated into apartments. It is beautiful…and I forgot to get my camera out.The asked us to spend a night or two but we had made plans with Jim’s uncle and had to move on.

Jim’s cousin, Valarie, and her husband run a  blue berry farm.

We got here just in time for the blooms…

Val also has a nice flock of chickens. This is their day time pen that can be moved about the yard for fresh pickings.

Here they are the next morning …moving from their secure night time building to the day pen.

This is a beautiful farm with some old weathered buildings.

 

The hand pump in front of the barn still works and is used to water the garden during dry spells. The water is carried by hand in buckets to the garden.

This Swallow watched me when I walked Raisin.

 

Val’s sister, Shelly, was also there. Jim hadn’t seen her in many years. She and her husband live in Oregon. We just happed to show up at the same time.