At Camp

We drove to camp yesterday, arriving to beautiful weather in the 60's. Today was cooler and the temperature is forecast to go down the next few days. We were supposed to spend W's birthday organizing his workshop in the basement, but we decided to spend the nicer weather outside and got the tarp on the woodshed replaced finally. We hope to get some relaxing done too. It has been a crazy month.

Oregon

Had a wonderful trip to Oregon. Took Southwest from Philly on the 13th and arrived home 1:30 AM this morning. W took me to the airport on his way to Maryland. And I had a limo pick me up. It cost about $200 so it is not something I'd want to do regularly. We'll see what sorts of flights are available next April when it is time to go again. Maybe Southwest will be flying out of Newark by then. Though it is nice going out of Philly since it is so uncrowded.

The best part of the visit was that all my siblings were there too. It was great to see everyone and get reacquainted.

Washington, DC - Day 3

Our Washington visit was hampered a bit by the fact that several of the subway stations, including the one closest to the hotel, were closed for repairs. So this morning we checked out of the hotel and moved the cars to Union Station. Then we walked to the mall from there, enjoying the scenery along the way. This photo was taken outside of Union Station.We walked past the capitol, and none of us could remember what the statue on top is. According to Wikipedia, it is the Statue of Freedom. We got a good view down the mall to the Washington Monument.We went through the Botanical Garden and saw some neat orchids. Then we headed for the Monument since AD stood in line this morning to get us all tickets to go up in the elevator. Thank you, AD! Here is the view of the White House and surrounding area.And the Lincoln Memorial and reflecting pool, with the Kennedy Center in the upper right.

Washington, DC - Day 2

While waiting for the rest of the family to arrive, W and I walked from our hotel (the Residence Inn on Vermont near Thomas Circle) to the National Geographic Museum. We really enjoyed the special gecko exhibit.
Then we all spent the afternoon at the National Zoo. The weather continues to be wonderful, so the zoo was pretty crowded, but we saw lots of neat animals.

Washington, DC - Day 1

Today was the first day of our family weekend in Washington. The family used my birthday as an excuse to get together to do some of the things we've been talking about but never get around to. W and I drove down today; the others arrive tomorrow. We took advantage of the gorgeous weather to walk around the National Arboretum before checking into the hotel. This bonsai pine is 155 years old!
We spent the evening at the Kennedy Center. We had dinner at the Cafe there and then spent the time before the performance enjoying the view from the terrace on the roof. Then we saw the play "Shear Madness" which was great fun.

A Strange Summer

What a strange season at camp this year. Between W's back injury and our construction project, I only did 11 paddles. W joined me on just a few once his back recovered. Here is the short list.
Floodwood to Follensby Clear with take out from Polliwog
Axton Landing to Raquette Falls round trip
Round Lake
Stony Creek Ponds to the Crusher
East Branch of the St Regis River
Hoel, Turtle, Slang, Long and return
Moose Pond
South Creek to Upper Locks and return
North Branch of the Saranac River
Rollins Loop
Henderson Lake

Paddling Henderson Lake

16 of us had a nice paddle around Henderson Lake today. The water was quite high due to the tropical storm remnant that rained on us a couple days this week. So we got to explore up the inlets and outlets to the lake. Also due to all the rain, many of the leaves had been knocked off the trees so color was definitely past peak. But it was still a nice day, and our final paddle of the season. We leave for NJ tomorrow.

Hiking to Moose Pond

After a couple of days being stuck inside by very rainy weather, we decided to go out for a hike, even though it was still quite gray. We have been wanting to check out the hike to Moose Pond from Route 3 and it was very pleasant. It is less than 2 miles each way and relatively flat. As people have told us, it is a nice cross-country ski route. Here is a view of Whiteface from the shoreside rock where the path ends.