Thanksgiving Dinner

We went to Rooney's on the ocean in Long Branch for Thanksgiving dinner again.  I was surprised to see that some of the restaurants in Pier Village were open as well, including McLoone's.

Walk in Thompson Park

My knee was feeling good today so we went for a 2.5 mile hike in Thompson Park.  It was a nice fall day.

A Walk on the Beach

The weather has been gorgeous ever since we have been back from camp, which of course means we really need more rain.  But today was especially nice with the temperature forecast to reach a record high in the low 80's.  So we drove the 45 minutes to Point Pleasant Beach were we had a very nice walk on the beach.  My knee even behaved so maybe the cortisone shot is finally doing its thing.

Praying Mantis

This fellow was on the sidewalk when we went out for our walk.

Back to NJ

We drove back to New Jersey on October 4th, in time for me to get a cortisone shot in my knee the following day.  The leaves were just getting pretty in the Adirondacks so we should have stayed about a week longer to see the peak.  We'll have to remember that for the future.  The rest of our plans for the month were mostly canceled because my knee was really acting up.

New Jersey Visit

We just returned from a week in New Jersey.  The weather was incredibly hot, with heat index over 100 nearly every day.  So we didn't do much outdoors.  This was also partly because I have a torn meniscus in my right knee.  I think I did it several weeks ago when I was climbing around on Bluff Island.  I saw the doctor when I was in NJ and he diagnosed it.  I start physical therapy tomorrow.  Sigh.

Stained Glass

Another Bird to Feed

Unfortunately, this frequent visitor feeds on the songbirds.  It flies away soon after I appear at the window so I haven't gotten a good enough view to identify it.

Birds at Last

I've finally managed to attract a large flock of goldfinches to my feeders.

Finally Dug Out

The storm was over yesterday morning, but we just now got dug out.  The delay seems to be a combination of incompetence on the part of the snow removal contractor and a truly impressive amount of snow.

It's Finally Winter in New Jersey

At least a foot of snow and it is still coming down.