Category: Recreation

Recreation

Istanbul, Turkey, Day 3

Posted on by chappyshi

20120629

The day was a busy one.  I woke up at the up at the ungodly hour of 0400 and may have dropped off a bit before getting up at 0530.  I ended up on my balcony IM’ing w/ Linda back in Vermont, cleaning up some photos and working on this log.  Not to be confused with taking my morning constitutional…

It is now wonderfully cool without a cloud in the sky.  But if I could change anything about my location it would be to eliminate the Laughing Gulls.  They just never stop!  The occasional tram going by is a pleasant distraction….

I went to the Blue Mosque, Aya Sophia, and the Underground Cistern in the morning.  I got to all the sights early enough to beat most of the crowds thankfully.  As I departed the Blue Mosque and Aya Sophia, the masses were really queuing up.  Words cannot do justice to either of these holy sites and pictures seem inadequate also but they will have to do.  I will post up a few in my blog and add more later in my photo album.

One thing that did not really surprise me is the inconsiderate attitudes of so many people going to the mosque.  Everywhere one reads that you should cover your legs and not wear tank tops, mini skirts, and/or sleeve less shirts inside the mosques.  At the entrance was a pile pile of blue clothes that the infidels wrapped around their uncovered bodies.  It was humorous to see grown men in the mosque wearing what was basically a sarong around their lower bodies.

Since I am so terribly out of shape being the lazy, overweight, beer swilling, arm chair computer warrior that I am, I came back to the hotel for a breather then went out for a lunch of Lamb Shish and rice which was quite tasty.  I got it at the Sultan Hostel and Restaurant which is nothing special but serves a variety of food and the local Efes Pilsen.  While sitting there I ran into the Greek couple I met on the Bosporus tour the day before.

After lunch I went to the Museum of Islamic and Turkish Art which is off the Hippodrome.  The museum holds a variety of Islamic arts including rugs, pottery, calligraphy, and Koran’s. Also featured were a few dioramas of Islamic life such as a yurt and classic country and city home living.  Last was a mixture of paintings by modern Islamic artists interspersed with classical paintings in books of Islamic historic tales.

Speaking of being out of shape, even though everything here is within reasonable walking distance, my legs muscles were screaming by the end of the day.  When I got to the museum and walked up the stairs to the display level I was sweating like a cold beer on a hot, summer day.  The displays were either on a terrace, the windows of which were blocked off by heavy curtains, or in close, airless room.  It took me some time to cool down.

I have never seen so many security guards in a museum.  It seemed like their was one guard for every patron. Someone was always watching you which was a bit eerie.

I debated going to the Grand Bazaar after the museum but by the time I left the museum it was about 1600 and I was still hot and tired.  I walked back to my hotel, turned on the AC, and relaxed with a couple of Op-ed sections of the Washington Post.  After feeling rested, I retired to the rooftop terrace to look at and work on the pictures I had taken so far.  They are adding up quickly.

At about 2100 I headed out for beer and some dinner.  I inadvertently stopped at the wrong restaurant but was more than pleasantly surprised.  I had told the host earlier in the day that I would stop in and he hailed me as I passed by so I stop in I did. There I met a Danish guy who was a traveling on business and taking a few days of time on his own after having concluded his business.  He was a civil engineer specializing in hydrodynamics and seemed to have traveled extensively for his work.  He told me he had been at meeting in a town near Dalyan the name of which escapes me.

We chatted for a bit so I ended up having another beer before I ordered my dinner. The dish was what the menu referred to as an Ottoman Special and consisted of lamb (yes, twice in one day), rice, tomatoes, dried apricots, almonds, and a bit of cheese.  Of course in came with the standard flat bread.  It was delicious!  I can hardly remember a dish I have enjoyed so much.  I’ll have to make sure I get the name of the restaurant as well as others I have enjoyed.

It was nearly 2330 by the time I got back to the hotel.  As seems to be normal, the Turkish guys that work in the hotels on the street, hang out together having tea, coffee, soda, etc, and talking the night away.  I chatted a bit with the guys outside my hotel including the desk clerk who is an English student at a university east of Istanbul.  He is on his summer breaking working and making money for school.  Other than the the aggressive styles of some of the merchants, the Turks seem to be very easy going and friendly.

That’s a wrap for the day.  It is now 0700 on Saturday.  I am enjoying the 70 degree temperature with cool breeze of the Marmara Sea.  Time to work on some more pictures and clean up for breakfast.  Oh great, there is a monster cruise ship coming into port. That should make for a few thousand more people hitting the sites today.

Mt. Vernon Pictures Posted

Posted on by chappyshi

These pictures are from last year but I never posted them.  My brother-in-law’s friend came down for the weekend from Vermont and somehow he and Ed and I wound up at Mt. Vernon…George Washington’s residence in Alexandria, VA, on the Potomac river, in case you wanted to know.  George’s dead so we didn’t see him.

Somehow, someone decided that the way to get to Mt. Vernon was down Rt. 95 south from Washington, DC.  After a wonderful tour of 95 and Rt. 1, which we eventually ended up on, someone, I won’t say who, figured we probably were not going to get to Mt. Vernon the way we were headed.  So we turned around and revisited the beauty of Rt. 1 with all it’s car dealerships and sundry, sordid businesses out to take a serviceperson’s money.  With Fort Belvoir and the Marine base, Quantico, in the area there was plenty of money to be made from the naive and unsuspecting serviceperson.

Anyhow, the whole reason for this post was to note that I had posted pictures from Mt. Vernon taken nearly a year ago.  Follow this link or the links under my Photography section on the right side menu bar.

Kayaking Lake Prince, Suffolk, VA

Posted on by chappyshi

Today I had my second paddle on Lake Prince and it was as enjoyable as the first.  There are a few very nice houses on the lake but not so many as to make it feel too civilized.  I saw two Piliated Woodpeckers, a number of Belted Kingfishers, Canadian Geese, Double-breasted Cormorants, 3 or 4 Bald Eagles, one of which sat in a tree and preened himself while I watched and ate my lunch, and numerous Mallard ducks.

The weather was crystal clear but at this time of the year it seems like the sun is always going down so, with the breeze, it was a bit nippy but still comfortable paddling.  Lake Prince is definitely a spot I will return to.  Unfortunately, I left my cameras at Kim’s, thinking they were still in the car, so I don’t have any new photos of the lake.

 

Lake Prince
I went from point A to point B.

Kayaking and Walking, Tidewater, VA, October 2011

Posted on by chappyshi

I headed off to see my sister Kim and brother-in-law Don on Sunday, 2 October, after working the night shift the previous night and catching few hours of sleep.  I got down there in the late afternoon in time for an early dinner before heading off  to church.  Upon our return to the house we just took it  easy.  Kim was exhausted because she got no sleep the night before.

On Monday morning, I headed off the MacKay Island National Wildlife Refuge on the border of VA and NC.  I never noticed it was there before though I been through it once on a road  trip with Kim and Don.  It looked like there should be some good paddling, walking and wildlife watching opportunities.  Unfortunately, I could  not figure out where exactly I should be able to put my kayak in so I ended up taking the 5.5 mile walk around the inland ponds.

I did have some good bird sightings and saw either a nutria, muskrat, or beaver swimming about working on its abode. As for birds, I saw numerous Great Blue herons, American egrets, osprey, Belted kingfishers, Eastern meadowlarks (cool birds)  and the occasional what I think were Gadwalls or American Widgeons, an American Bittern, etc.  I also saw a couple of smashed snakes on the trail including one that was likely to be an adult water moccasin.  All in all it was a nice day.

On the way home, I stopped in at the Buffalo Wild Wings restaurant near Kim’s for a beer.  There I had a tasty Loose Cannon Ale and a Reissdorf Kolsch.  I also tasted the Aventinus Weiss which was very good.  Hopefully they will still  have it on tap the next time I stop in.  For dinner we went to Cogan’s Pizza, which except for one sub par experience, I have always enjoyed.

Tuesday was a slow day for me.  The mid-watches still take their toll.  I was finally able to get going in the afternoon and headed off to one of my favorite kayaking spots down Suffolk way, Burnt Mills Reservoir.  It was a beautiful paddle but I think I have explored almost the whole reservoir by now.  I always like to see what is around the next bend and there are very few more to go around.

Finally, on my way home and back to work on Wednesday night, I put the kayak in at Deep Bottom Park on the James River SE of Richmond.  That is another one of my favorites.  The river flows straight through the area but also has a huge offshoot loop where the landing is.  I went around the loop all the way for the first time and stopped into this huge lagoon to look for birds.  Usually I see tons of Great Egrets there but that day I was limited to Great Blues.

I had a passenger the whole time I was on the river.  What I gather was grasshopper landed on the prow of my kayak when I put in and stayed there for the whole trip until I landed.  First time in a long time I have paddled with a companion…

Three Days in Tidewater

Posted on by chappyshi

I went down to see my sister and my brother-in-law in Suffolk, VA, on my three day break this week.  What with my work schedule recently, I haven’t done much on my days off but try to catch up on my sleep so the trip was a nice change.  I drove down on Sunday after a few hours of sleep in the morning.  That afternoon and evening was just hanging out, lazing in the pool, and chatting.  I was good to see Kim and Don who I hadn’t seen since late February or early March.  Kim’s friends the Kent’s came over for dinner which was based on some awesome ribs that Kim did in the oven.  We even got to break in Don’s new Cornhole boards.

On Monday, my intent was to go down to Virginia Beach (VB) in the morning, have some lunch, and head back to Suffolk to kayak.  I hoped to stop in at the Beach Brewing Company to check out their establishment and taste their beer but since they were only open on the weekends that did not pan out.  I did get out on the beach for a couple of hours where I read the paper and enjoyed the scenery.  Since I haven’t had good experiences lounging and swimming at the beach with much of a drive in front of me I didn’t make it into the water.  They don’t have much in the way of changing facilities at VB and I didn’t relish the thought of making the drive back to Suffolk with a bathing suit full of sand.

I did have a tasty Starr Hill Brewery Northern Lights IPA and chicken Caesar salad for lunch at the 11th Street Taphouse Bar and Grill.  They had quite the beer selection that made me want to grab a nearby hotel room and just hang out for the rest of the day and night.  As it was, I head back west only to encounter traffic slow downs and blockages due to bridge openings and car fires.  I was able to get off the highway onto a road I recognized and planned to get on eventually so that worked out okay.

By the time I got back to back to Suffolk, I decided not to kayak and headed toward a local place called Cogan’s Pizza where they have a pretty good beer selection.  I missed my turn and ended up at Buffalo Wild Wings which wasn’t a bad thing.  There I tasted the Beach Brewery Pale Ale but was not impressed.  I did enjoy immensely the O’Connor Brewing Company Great Dismal Black IPA.  Black IPA’s are quite the rage in the craft brew community this year.  I have had at least four different ones this year and enjoyed them all.

Monday night was relaxing.  We did leftover ribs and such and watched a movie that I didn’t make it all the way through.  I was still running on a sleep deficit and despite that fact that I should  be awake nights because that is the shift I work, I still had to crash.  As it was, I woke up early and tossed and turned before finally giving up and getting up.

I did my two crossword puzzles for the day and read a bit of the paper before heading out to kayak on Bennett’s Creek which is just a short drive from Kim’s, and if you read anything I write, you will recall is one of my favorite places to paddle.  I put in at the local park and either paddle upstream until  I run out of creek or paddle down to the James River and back.  The journey was a good as ever with numerous sitings of wildlife including Great Blue Herons, Great Egrets, Green Herons, Belted Kingfishers, Red-winged Blackbirds, Ospreys, and one Muskrat.

Since it was Don’s day off, we got together with Kim for lunch where I finally did make it to Cogan’s Pizza and we enjoyed a tasty Supreme pizza and I had a Bell’s Two Hearted Ale, always a favorite.  We had a bad experience there earlier in the year when the service was iffy and the pizza cook seemed to be having a bad day but they were back in good form on  Tuesday.  Later in the day we caught up with friend’s of Kim and Don, one of whom is a preacher, at the movies to catch “Horrible Bosses.”  That  was an incredibly raunchy, but very funny, movie, albeit interesting to watch sitting next to a preacher.

We had a quick dinner when we got home which was about 1830.  I was tired and called it a night early.  I wanted to get up early in the morning to get on the road home w/ a stop en route to paddle.

I stopped at one of my new favorite spots on the James River, Deep Bottom Park, in Henrico County off Route 5.  Unfortunately the tide was out and I couldn’t get all the way into this large pond off of the river that I wanted to go into.  I have seen hundreds of herons and egrets in there and wanted to see if I could get some pictures.

The birds there are very skittish so I hoped to just float around and minimize the disturbance.  That was pretty much a no go since there were huge mud flats exposed due to the low tide.  I ended up paddling back past the launch and up a creek I had seen previously but not yet explored.  It wasn’t a bad paddle overall but it was hot and my boat was leaking so I wrapped it up sooner than I intended.

Thankfully, I had an easy trip home and got a few things done before I had to go to work.  I had a productive and relaxing three days and it was great to see Kim and Don.

Coolest Rainbow I Ever Saw

Posted on by chappyshi

The pictures of this rainbow action  are terrible which speaks for carrying a camera with me other that the POS on my cell phone.  I was driving home from work the other morning at 0610 and was able to view this double rainbow for almost the whole drive.  The brightest of the two arcs was so clear I could clearly see at six different colors of the spectrum.

Briefly Back

Posted on by chappyshi

I have been bad about blogging which if you care about following me you already know.  I can’t say what the problem is but I am trying to get past it.  It has been a wacky seven or eight months what with starting work again as a contractor for a major corporation and then getting the opportunity to apply for the same job at the corporation as a full-time employee w/ benefits.

Forgive me if I don’t mention any company names.  A few years ago I would not have worried about doing so but,  even though I have never made good or bad comments about a company I have worked for or am working for and would never do so in my blog, I still feel it is risky to be too specific.  So much for free speech, eh?

The new job involved a major learning curve mostly for call center support but also for systems/desktop support.  I feel like  I have done quite well.  I may not be the star for the newly established support center but am certainly one of the stars.  Finally starting as a full time employee this week has been  the cap on the whole venture.

I finally have health benefits which is mucho beuno as you will see later in this entry.  Additional benefits besides health such as education and training  with the company are a big positive.  As I have mentioned to some of you who might read this, the pay is subpar, from my point of view, as much as  25% less than many of us in the group have earned, but the benefits help to make up for the direct loss in income.  I think the opportunities for the future with this company are very good.  I am already enrolled for a web server admin class in May which bodes well.

On the personal side, I have been laying kind of low.  Having been w/o health insurance since last June, I haven’t been riding my motorcyle or skiing much.  My last health insurance quote was for $450 a month due to pre-existing conditions.  Thanks “Obamacare!”

I did get up to Vermont for my good friend Linda’s 50th birthday in December.  I stopped in Avoca, PA, about halfway up, to see my friend  Terry and his boys.  I think that Linda was surprised when she saw me with the crowd at her house but who knows.  That was an 1100 mile road trip crammed into about three days but well worth it.  I did get about 2.5 hours in on the slopes at Killington on the way up which was nice.  Only time I have skiied since I tore my ACL at Seven Springs in 2008.

Turkey Day was spent with my sister Julie who lives  about a mile away from me.  Christmas was spent with my sister Kim in SE Virginia.  We went on Christmas morning to her husband’s parent’s house for breakfast and the ceremonial tearing apart of the Xmas presents for the kids and grandkids.  Madness I  say!

It took a longer than I expected drive to go camping at the northern part of the Chesapeake Bay a month or so ago.  And I didn’t have the cash I needed to get into the “unattended” gate at the park.  Of course, I saw 3 or 4 park staff members there including one who stopped by my campsite to give me the money I had overpaid for the site.  I figured it would just be a donation to the park system but…  I was at Elk Neck  State Park.

For those of you in the know, I am playing in a Cornhole league that friends of mine have sponsored  for a few years.  On Fridays, when the WX is good, we all get out and throw some bags.  Unfortunately, the WX has sucked  so my partner and I  have to  hook up w/ the teams that we missed games with and make them  up.

I mentioned that I was glad to have health benefits again through my employer, who wouldn’t’ be, eh?  Recently my blood pressure and cholesterol levels have skyrocketed despite my efforts to keep them down using natural supplements.  My blood pressure was so high the other day I almost went to the emergency room.  Being a man, that was of course out of the question.

I  did go to “Urgent Care” at my doctor’s office the next day.  My blood pressure was still high.  I got an EKG which was okay but had some possible  anomalies.  I got an immediate referral to the cardiologist at my “doctor’s office” and since I was paying out of pocket I had no insurance “people” to deal with, which was nice.  Unfortunately, the cardiologist scheduled me for a “Nuclear Stress Test” for which I had the insurance coverage but no documentation.

I have had to put the test on hold.  Hope I don’t die first….

Quiet Walk in the Park? Not!

Posted on by chappyshi

I headed out today for a walk on the Occoquan Trail which runs 17 miles from Bull Run Regional Park to Fountainhead Regional Park along Bull Run Creek.  The trail meanders along the creek and up into the hills and creek overlooks.  I figured it would be messy since we had a six inch dump of wet snow a couple of weeks ago and temps today were in the low fifties.  I didn’t expect to see much in the way of critters.

It was muddy as hell in many spots making for slippery, sloppy conditions.  But I had the good fortune to meet a couple at the top of a hill, as I was breathing heavily from the ascend, who had just seen a hawk, Bluebirds, a Downy woodpecker and, they said, a Red Headed woodpecker.  I stopped to pull out my binos and caught all the aforementioned birds less the hawk.

I pondered the likelihood of seeing a Red Headed woodpecker at the time and a bit later after checking my bird book realized that the woodpecker was really a Red-breasted which are much more common in my area.  The Bluebirds were brilliant.  I have seen them before later on in the season when their colors are not so vibrant.  I followed a flock of them for awhile and everyone I saw had very pronounced blue on the back and wings as well as pronounced orange on the breast.  Beautiful birds!  I also saw a Tufted Titmouse.  To cap it off, I heard either one rapidly moving Bard owl or two of them calling out to each other.

There was  a downside to the whole venture unfortunately.  As soon as I got on the trail I heard and saw 4-wheelers on the other side of the creek.  One was stuck revving its annoying engine trying to get out while a mud-splattered friend was trying to push.  Never in the three or four years I have been hiking on this trail have I encountered 4-wheelers.  They were not on my side of the creek in the park but they were certainly annoying.  I saw at least four 4-wheelers and one dirt bike and heard them and smelled the exhaust for most of the six mile hike I took.

I could see the trails they had blazed including areas where they went in and out of the creek to the islands and up and down the embankments.  The noise and smell was annoying enough but when I think  about the potential erosion and degradation of the flood plain and all the crap that will flow down the creek to the reservoir and eventually to the Chesapeake Bay I just cringe.  I also have two friends who live on that side of the creek who must hate the noise of these off road vehicles.

It is a shame that the northern side, the Fairfax County side, is protected as parkland but the Prince William County side to the south is wide open to such abuse and devastation.

Idoly Paddling With Myself, Uh Oh!

Posted on by chappyshi

I had another great paddle in my kayak on the Potomac River yesterday.  I launched at Algonkian Regional Park, one of my favorite local places to put in.  There was minimal wind, the water was crystal clear, and the air was crisp.  I saw about six or eight other people out paddling…making the most of the good weather before the winter settles in.

I did not see much in the way of wildlife just one Great Blue heron and a Bald eagle…both a a distance.  The park itself was still doing quite a business with a number of people out fishing and barbecuing.  I got out there on the water a little after two and after being on the water for about two hours, the light had already diminished considerably.  I think I might be able to get a couple of more paddles in before I bring the kayak in for the winter.

Here are a few pictures from the venture:

Back to Work, Starting the Night Shift

Posted on by chappyshi

Well, I start week five of my new job tonight.  I did two weeks of normal business hours, two weeks of days (0600-1400) and now I am starting nights (2200-0600).  I am working Monday through Friday night this week.  Next week I think  I am on Sunday to Wednesday so I will  only get one day off in between.  Then I go to Saturday through Thursday nights for the foreseeable future.

I think that I will be working on Thanksgiving night but should still be able to enjoy the dinner prior to going to work.  Since I will work Thanksgiving, I should get Christmas off.  I do not know how long this schedule will be in place but I will deal with it in hopes of better things down the line.

Today is the tough day since it is my first night shift.  I have been getting up reasonably early and today I was up at 0730.  I  will probably have been awake for nearly 24 hours by the time I get to sleep tomorrow morning.  I feel confident that sleep will come easily.  I  never had much trouble sleeping during the day when I was shift working in the Navy.  Of course I am 16 years older but….

I did get out and get a nice paddle in on Burke Lake and walk on the treadmill for about 35 minutes.  I would like to get more walking in but am having problems with my left leg.  What I believe is a pinched nerve or sciatica is causes alternating numbness and achiness when I stand up for too long and/or walk.  Nonetheless it was a beautiful day albeit very windy and a bit chilly.  Not chilly enough to keep me off the water though I did use my splash skirt.