70 Degrees on Christmas Eve!

I had breakfast on the patio this morning, in shirtsleeves.  I'm so glad we did not wrap up our patio furniture for the winter the way all our neighbors did.  I'm loving it, but sort of feel sorry for all those folks who were planning on skiing over the holidays.

Quilt 42

This is one of my favorites.

Finished with Physical Therapy

I had my last physical therapy session today.  Another milestone in the recovery phase of my knee surgery.

A Wonderful Concert

We attended the holiday concert of the Westminster Choir College bell choir this afternoon.  What a treat.  They have 8 octaves of bells - the largest set in the world.

Quilt #41

The fabric that was used to make this stack 'n whack quilt is the signature fabric of Kapaia Stitchery in Lihue, Kauai.

Knee Surgery Update

I decided to give a progress report on my knee, just in case my other knee goes bad some day and I want to look back at my reaction to the first surgery.  I sure hope I don't have to go through another surgery, but I am so happy with the results I just might consider it again if necessary.  My only complaint at this point, 7 weeks after surgery, is that discomfort in my knee wakes me at some point each night, I think as a result of keeping it in one position for too long.  But it is just discomfort not pain.  The only pain I feel is when the PT pushes on the bent knee, trying to get just a few more degrees of bend.  But I can already bend it to 105 degrees on my own, which is pretty impressive.  The only thing I can't do is walk downstairs normally, alternating legs; that is apparently the last thing to return to normal.  There are even times during the day now when I completely forget about it and just go about my business.  I take a walk every day and can easily do a mile, which is much more than I could do before the surgery.  I can't wait to get back to aerobics class but that should probably wait until PT is done, probably at the beginning of January.

Knee Surgery

On October 5th, I had total knee replacement surgery at Hospital for Special Surgery in New York City.  Hence the hiatus in blog posts.  Recovery is going well, but I probably won't be doing anything blog-worthy for quite a while.

Cape May Point

We are back home again, this time from our annual family trip to Cape May Point.  This time we rented the house at 318 Knox Avenue, which was very nice.  There was very little bird watching to be had due to high winds from the east.  Any birds around were hunkered down out of the wind and many must have been blown westward.  But we enjoyed our usual activities of miniature golf, biking, and walking on the beach.  One bike ride takes us by Willow Creek winery where the way they prune and support their grapes is very impressive.

And of course we had our usual brunch at the Mad Batter.

Albany, Oregon

I got back from Oregon late yesterday.  A highlight was visiting the future home of the Albany Carousel.

It is a completely volunteer undertaking and the craftsmanship is outstanding.  You can go through their workshop and see the works in progress.

Catching Up

We drove back to New Jersey on September 12th since we have so much to do here.  I spent the 14th in NYC doing pre-op stuff for my upcoming knee-replacement surgery.  Then today, we drove to north Jersey to pick up our new Tesla.  It is a great car but with a long learning curve.  It will be a long time, if ever, before I learn all the possible options.  Tomorrow I head to Oregon to visit my Dad.

2015 Paddling Summary

Even though our stay was shortened this year, we still managed to do 17 paddles.

Ausable River

Cedar River Flow

Floodwood to Polliwog

Follensby Pond

Floodwood Rollins Loop

Fulton Chain of Lake (One to Five)

Hoel, Turtle, Slang

Little Tupper

Long Pond

North Branch of Saranac River

Piercefield Flow

Raquette River Axton to Crusher

Raquette River Axton to Falls

South Creek to Second Pond

South Creek to Weller

Stillwater Reservoir

Upper Saranac Lake

Paddling Cedar River Flow

Today was another beautiful day for a paddle, though somewhat warm in the low 80's.  We tried to go up the Cedar River, but the water is very low and a large beaver dam blocked the way.  We figured there would be more dams upstream and that the water was probably too low to allow us to reach the lean-to.  So we just paddled about 6 miles around the flow.

A Great Quote

From the book I'm currently reading: "When Will There be Good News" by Kate Atkinson.
"Twenty-five million sperm needed to fertilize an egg, because only one will stop to ask directions."

Paddling South Creek to Second Pond

What a beautiful day for a paddle, especially since there was no wind.  The morning fog had not yet lifted when we reached Middle Saranac.

We went around Ship Island looking for the eagle but had no luck.  Then we headed for the Saranac River outlet, paddled the river, and went through the locks.

We stopped along the narrow section of Lower Saranac for lunch, choosing a spot with a beach where several folks swam.  The winds were still calm when we got to the main section of the lake and the sun started peeping through the clouds.

We paddled by Bluff Island but did not stop.

Paddling the Flow

It was very foggy this morning, so I did an early morning paddle on the Flow.  It stayed foggy the whole time I was out so it was very quiet and peaceful.

I love the way the spider webs are bejeweled by the fog.

Paddling Stillwater Reservoir

Friends said they enjoy paddling Stillwater Reservoir and we had never been there before, so we decided to join them, despite the 2 hour drive each way and the fact that in general we would much rather paddle a river than a big lake.  We only paddled a total of 6 miles, but it took much more energy than we expended going twice that far on our last paddle.  We started at the "you are here" point on the map below and paddled across the bay on the right heading up the lake.  The waves were so strong we considered turning back and later were sorry we didn't.  Instead we continued up the southern shore to campsite 7 where we had lunch before heading back to our starting point.

By that time the winds had increased and it took a lot of effort to get back.  It is a good thing I'm such a strong paddler, or I'd still be out there battling the waves.

But it was interesting to be on a reservoir with banks exposed all around.  It was very different from anyplace else we have paddled in the Adirondacks.  These photos were taken in the protected narrow part of the lake so the waves are not apparent.  In the wind and waves there was no way I could stop long enough to take a picture.

Paddling Little Tupper

The forecast today was for mid-70's and "light and variable" winds, a perfect day for paddling Little Tupper even though it is a summer Saturday.  We were in the water by 9 AM and there were few other people around.  By the time we were heading back to the put-in we saw a number of boats headed out, so we planned well.  We paddled a total of 12 miles, including the length of the lake and down the stream toward Rock Pond, turning around after about a mile at the first beaver dam.  It was a beautiful day, perfect for photos.

Paddling Follensby Pond

We had a unique opportunity today to paddle Follensby Pond, currently owned by the Nature Conservancy.  It is the famous site of the 1858 Philosophers' Camp of Ralph Waldo Emerson and others; and also the site where bald eagles were introduced into the Adirondacks in 1980. Since it was the Conservancy's group paddle and they weren't sure of the paddling ability of the participants, we didn't get to paddle much of the pond.  We just put in at the end of the road and paddled to the beach where we had lunch.

But it was nice to get at least that much of a glimpse of it.

At the beach I found something I had never seen before, tracks in the sandy bottom made by mussels.

After lunch we walked the short distance to the outlet of the lake.

We have paddled up to this point from the Raquette River.

It is unclear what the future will be for the pond.  The Conservancy has done a fish study that showed it is a unique habitat for trout, but public access would quickly deplete the supply.  So it probably won't be opened to the public, but instead will be sold privately.  So this may be the only time we get to paddle it.

Paddling the Ausable River

We put into the Ausable River off Route 9 north of Ausable Chasm.  We took the northern fork of the river after paddling under this railroad bridge which was built in 1913 and is still in use.

We had hoped to paddle into Lake Champlain, but it was too rough.

Instead, we explored the marshy area between the two arms of the Ausable then stopped for lunch on the beach.

After lunch some of us paddled most of the way out the southern fork of the river

before turning back to join the rest of the group and heading back to the cars, for a total of about 10 miles of paddling.

Paddling Floodwood to Polliwog

We did one of our favorite paddles today, putting in at Floodwood, paddling down Fish Creek through Fish Creek Ponds, down Spider Creek into Follensby Clear, and then carrying into Polliwog and paddling to the road where a car was spotted.  I took this photo of Polliwog while waiting for the car shuttle.

A Very Lucky Day

Not only did we do a new paddle today, but we really lucked out with the weather.  It is unusual to find somewhere we have never paddled, but most of the group had never paddled the entire length of Upper Saranac Lake.  It is a large lake and can get really rough if the wind is blowing.  Today was perfect - a light wind from the south.  So we put in at the Indian Carry at the southern end of the lake and paddled to the docks at Saranac Inn where we had shuttled the cars, for a total of 8 miles.

The weather was great as we set off.

We paddled past Chapel Island

and stopped at a campsite on Buck Island for lunch.  Placid Boatworks really needs to sign us up as advertisers.

Just as we landed at the north end of the lake, the dark clouds approached.

We quickly loaded the boats, and had just started driving away when the storm hit, nearly obliterating the road through the windshield.  We would have gotten drenched if we were still on the lake.

By the time we got home the sun was shining again.  Typical Adirondack weather.