Category: Travel

Memories and Melancholy

Posted on by chappyshi

I got a bit melancholy the other day as I was reading the travel section in the Washington Post.  For some reason, the article I was reading made me think about Canada and places I had been to there repeatedly due to work.  One place is St. Georges de Beauce in Quebec, another is old Quebec City, and the other is Toronto in Ontario.  St. Georges and Quebec City were places I went to for business and pleasure when I worked for Canam Steel and Toronto I went to for business while I was working for DDi…that was a pleasure also.

St. Georges is a fairly small town where Canam’s IT department was headquartered.  I remember fondly (not fondling) being entertained on the town by my Canadian coworkers.  At the end of  trip up there I would usually take a couple of personal days at my expense in old Quebec City.  It is probably not much harder to find an old world, read “European,” environment than Quebec City in North America expect perhaps for Montreal.

My favorite place to stay in old Quebec City is the Hotel Le Clos Saint Louis which is comprised of two old merged townhouses with a variety of accommodations that were always reasonably priced, especially, considering the location and included a free breakfast in the basement of the place, which kind of put me on edge, being in the basement that is.

I have a vague recollection of departing the place very early in the morning one time, waiting for my cab to the airport, and realizing I had left one of my bags in the foyer and already dropped off my key.  There was no one on the front desk that early and repeated attempts to roust someone via the door buzzer were futile.  I had no cell phone at the time but when the cabbie showed up we used his phone to call the hotel to no avail.  Meanwhile, I needed to get to the airport!  Finally, as desperation was peaking, some folks came walking out the door, I ran in, grabbed my bag, jumped in the cab, and made it to the airport on time.

Toronto has supposedly the largest immigrant population of any city in the world…over 50%.  That in and of itself meant good things to me.  I met people from all over the world and ate their food.  The remarkable friendliness and kindness of the immigrants made me question why there was so much strife and hatred in our world.  Toronto’s location on Lake Ontario, thankfully, makes up for it’s unbelievable flatness.  Best of all though were the friends I made at DDi Toronto.  We worked hard together, we had some good times, they had a birthday cake for me in the office one day, and I went out with a few folks who treated me to dinner that night.

So I am a bit sad thinking back.  I have been out of work for so long that I reflect back on the work relationships that so define our day to day existence.  They really did and continue to mean a lot to me.

Raining in Vermont

Posted on by chappyshi

All summer I have been hearing from friends in Vermont about how miserably rainy the whole summer has been.  Fortunately, yesterday, for the Vergennes Union High School Class of ’79 reunion the weather was perfect.  It was sunny and in the low to mid-80’s.  The folks who coordinated the reunion did a great job and there was a pretty good turnout.  It was nice to have a chance to talk to old friends!

Anyhow, I started my trip up here on Thursday, which was a beautiful day.  I kayaked on the Susquehanna River a bit north of Harrisburg, PA, en route Watkins Glen from home.  I camped in the state park there for the night and the rains started at about midnight.  I broke camp in the morning in  the rain and it rained on and off most of the day.  Yesterday was beautiful but today the rains came back with a vengeance.

This is putting a damper (no pun intended) on my kayaking and camping plans, to say the least….

Trip to Vermont for VUHS Class of 79 Reunion (Not That I Graduated There)

Posted on by chappyshi

I will be, depending on the results of a job interview I had yesterday, heading out of the DC area north toward Vermont on Thursday, 30 July.  I would like to stop in the Scranton area to kayak on the Susquehanna River and visit an old Navy buddy in Avoca or camp in the area.  Should those plans come to fruition, I hope to be up at Linda Devino’s the next day around noon.

Saturday I will go to the reunion at D.A.R. State Park, which is about a 5 minute walk from the Devino’s.  My good friend, Danny Mack, will be in the area visiting his mother…we hope to hook up sometime other than during the reunion.  My good friend, Mike Livingston, who lives in Middlebury is another person with whom I would like to hook up at a time other than the reunion, hopefully at his camp in Ripton.  I love that place.  I would be happy to hook with anyone else that might be around while I am in the area.

Otherwise,  I will be traveling about Vermont kayaking and camping for a week or so.  I hope to get back up to Brighton State Park where I spend a very enjoyable three nights last October.  I would also like to get up to Lake Carmi State Park, Grand Isle State Park, and paddle in Lake Willoughby, the Missisquoi National Wildlife Refuge,  and Otter Creek.

I did all of this last October (see the pictures) less hitting Lake Carmi but I did it off-season.  I might have some difficulties during the peak of the summer vacation season getting the awesome campsites I got last year in October.  I would also greatly enjoy spending a night at Ed Devino’s deer camp in Pittsfield if I can swing it.  Who is to say whether or not I will be able to fit all this in especially since I would like to get a day or two of camping and paddling in New York state either in the Adirondacks or the Finger Lakes on the way back home.

To top it all off, my brother-in-law, Ed Davidson, who is from Rutland will be there visiting his folks.  He of course wants to show me some of his world and introduce me to his folks and I want to show him Vermont from my perspective.  So much to do and so little time.

Oh, and we will be drinking some beers and playing some Cornhole!

200905 Vacation in Salvo, NC.

Posted on by chappyshi

Thanks to my sister Kim and her husband Don, I got to spend last week in Salvo, on the Outer Banks of North Carolina.  We ate well: beef tenderloin, Caribbean Jerk chicken, bratwurst and hotdogs, Talapia with mango, habenero, and tequila sauce, Chicken Divan (an old family favorite), shrimp, and pizza.  We drank Margaritas, Pina Coladas, Mojitos, and beers, including a very good Bell’s Brewery IPA called Two Hearted Ale.

It was a pleasure to share the house with, at various times, Kim’s  ex-husband’s sons, Brian and A.J, and Brian’s wife Sarah as well  as AJ’s girlfriend Tina.  Kim’s ex-husband’s first wife,  Judy, who is a beach fanatic and the mother of Brian and AJ, joined us on Sunday and stayed the night.  That was good since she could be with her two sons for Mother’s Day.

I must say I enjoy the company of all  these people.  The relationships are very comfortable even though not blood  kin by any stretch.  I’ve known everyone for so long that the are like cousins, nieces, and nephews I never had.  I look forward to the time when my blood nephew Henry and niece Ava can hang out with us all.

The house was cool and within easy walking distance of the beach.  I must admit, that since it was early in the season, we didn’t spent too much time on the beach.  The house had a pool and a hot tub which we made good use of.  The water in the pool was a bit chilly but quite refreshing.  The ocean in contrast was much colder and rougher.  The waves and the undertow were intense.  Any time spent in the water would have involved a struggle and a swimsuit packed with sand.

We did bring the Cornhole  boards down and get some good action going.  Tina was very competitive.  She and Julie did their best to dominate the men but AJ and I were able to fairly consistently come out ahead.

I paddled twice in the Pea Island NWR.  That was okay, basically on the Pamlico Sound  side, but there were times when the water was just too shallow and I had to get out of my boot and wade to deeper water.  I had hoped to paddle twice at the Alligator NWR but worries about the weather kept me from going there for a second day.  And of course the weather was fine but by the time I saw that,  it  was too  late.

Overall, the weather was nice, and cool, enough that I slept out on the balconies for four nights!  That was good training for camping  out this holiday weekend at a friend’s  house on the Shenandoah River!

Creatures sighted include:

  • Great Blue Herons
  • Snowy Egrets
  • Great (American) Egrets
  • White Ibis
  • Red-winged Blackbirds
  • Scarlet Tanagers
  • Goldfinches
  • Ducks
  • Brown Pelicans
  • Laughing Gulls
  • Common Terns
  • Tri-colored Herons
  • Plover, Willets, etc?
  • Alligators

I am terrible at identifying shore birds so I can’t be too specific on many of the birds I saw.
Here is an alligator I spotted on Sawyer Lake in the Alligator River NWR.
Alligator from Sawyer Lake

There were hundreds of these butterfly’s feeding on these plants as I drove on the wildlife routes in the Alligator River NWR.

Monarch Butterflies?

Here I am at the end of Sawyer Lake starting my return trip…before I saw the alligator.

Sawyer Lake Water Trail

These are the remnants of a shipwreck on the beach right near our rental home.

One of the Many Shipwreck on the Outer Banks

These are White Ibis’s…many of which I saw in two paddles in the Pea Island NWR.

What I Think Is a Whte Ibis

Getting a Leg Up After Skinny Skiing

Posted on by chappyshi

I sprained my knee in a bad way three days ago on our last ski run of the day.  Over the course of three days, we had been occasionally dropping/jumping off this eight foot or so drop off from the Giant Boulder trail at Seven Springs Mountain Resort in PA.

We have a group trip there every year that is good skiing and great companionship.  Last year we started doing a race that is comprised of the four Black Diamond trails on the north side of the resort.  The race went well this year though we had only four participants.  Two of them took the wrong lift up after the first run and ended up winning the race.  More on that later.

We had figured for a more leisurely run down one of the Blacks to wind up the day when Dan Elbon suggested we hit the drop off one more time.  We were all game for it but both Dan and I ran into problems.  According to friends and family on the lift that had  a great view of the action, Dan didn’t stick well and rolled down the whole drop zone.

I got a good stick but lost it shortly after that.  Dan was okay but with skis and poles akimbo.  I somehow managed to keep everything close.  My downhill (right) ski bindings finally popped, albeit too late for my knee, and one of my poles broke loose.  I got one good roll in that smacked my, thankfully helmeted, head into the ground.    I think perhaps I should have  just taken the fall.  I may have tried too hard to stick to my line which torqued my knee.  What can I say?  Can’t look back, eh?

So why “Getting a Leg Up After Skinny Skiing?”  I am keeping the knee elevated per the doctors orders…I  guess to keep the swelling down.  What to I know?  And I broke my streak of not falling.  Then last night I watched Caddyshack on TV.  Chevy Chase is talking to Judge Smails niece who says she likes “skinny skiing.”

I haven’t fallen in four or five years.  It was my mantra.  Then I kept bringing it up so I had to have jinxed myself…truly.  I skied in Vermont for five days in a row two weeks ago and stayed erect the whole time!

As regards the knee…it did not  feel good on the mountain.  I could not put weight on it in a way that I felt like I could get down the rest of the run.  As I mentioned,  a few people  I know saw me take the spill and there was a ski patrol shift supervisor going up the lift right about the time I realized that I needed help.  We talked, he came right down after he got to the top.  After a quick evaluation, he called for a sled, they splinted my leg, loaded me on a sled, and took me down to the First Aid shack

…that was scarier than getting out of control on a speed run…I was strapped into the sled upside down with my head on the down slope…perhaps the ski patrol dude was pissed off at me…he did not waste anytime getting down the hill…

where they loaded me up in a Suburban to take me to ski patrol central.  There they did another evaluation and someone like “Stuttering John” took my personal and accidental information for the records.  My sister Julie had tracked me down and had her hubby bring my hiking boots down for me so I could get out of my ski boots.

As I reflect back on the questions they asked about the whole incident, I wonder why they didn’t ask what the hell  I though I was doing running off the drop off.  I have only seen a few people do it and they mostly just drop off from a dead stop where as we were keeping up speed going off the thing.  Oddly, the ski patrol guys that I was talking to as they loaded me up in the sled agreed with me that it was a good drop off.  I guess they figured if I had the balls to go off the thing,  I was probably okay.  They said it was awesome earlier in the week when there was some fluff and the snow in the drop zone was softer.

Even considering the spill and risk I took, the ski  patrol did not give me any grief.  I am sure that they had seen  me on mountain.  My Budweiser pants  are hard to miss.  We had actually almost got shut down after the first run of our race.   Could have been anyone of us that got called for it because we came into the lift  area hard but Lee and I passed through to the next, and correct, lift while Matt and Dan stopped.  I think  it was Matt who was chastised for coming into the lift line too fast.

So I am sitting here with a leg, actually both, up the sofa.  It has been three days but I can put weight on the right leg and walk without support, though having my walking stick helps.  I got some crutches when stopped at my doctor’s on the way home  yesterday but they suck.

Many thanks to Julie and Ed…Julie took Ryan back to school at WVU and Ed drove me and my car home.  And thanks to them for taking care of me including moving all my baggage around and such.

I was able to put my socks and shoes on  by myself Monday which was good.  Today my knee feels much better.  I think the swelling is going down.  I am mobile.  I can feel the soreness in my right leg muscles which I gather are compensating for/protecting the ligaments or is  a result of the overall strain on my leg.  Flexibility is increasing and swelling decreasing daily.

Wiping out was a sorry way to wind up the trip but at least there seems to be no permanent damage and it was the last run of the day on what probably would have been the last day I skied on the trip. At least I got three good days in.

News from the Road

Posted on by chappyshi

I have been on the road since last Friday when I left to head up to Vermont to ski.  En route I stopped to see my old Navy buddy Terry Boone in Avoca, PA.  We did our usual…head out with Terry’s boys and his dad for dinner and then went out for  few drinks.  Terry’s hospitality is endless.  I always enjoying seeing him and his family.

Saturday I drove from Avoca up to West Addison, VT, to visit my friend’s the Devino’s.  There’s another crew with endless hospitality.  They put me up a couple of times a year with hardly a whimper.  That night we got about 8 inches of snow.  I was dying to be on the slopes for the freshies but was committed to making chili.  Once that was  going well and needed only the occasional stir, I headed off to do some snowmobiling with little  Ed and then cross country skied for about two hours.

I had to cook the chili because everyone that tried it the the last time I made it there requested a repeat performance.  Did this one with venison.  I doubt most people would have known the difference but I could taste it in the cubed parts that I added.  It went over quite well again.  Linda made, at my request since it was my birthday, a pineapple upside down cake.  I love that stuff and rarely ever have it.  They all got me a six-pack of TB’s for my birthday…how well they know me.

Monday I had a good 2-3 hours of skiing at Mad River Glen before my legs gave out.  Tuesday I drove down to Killington and tacked a half day onto my 3-day package.  Once again I got in about 2-3 hours on the mountain.  When my legs are in good condition, I can ski about about 5.5 hours a day.  Yesterday I got about four hours in but it was in the single digits.  Today it was -8 at the bottom of the mountain when I got started at 10:30 and -1 at the top when I headed down for my last run at about 3:45.

I managed to stay reasonably comfortable by doing some serious layering, slathering my face and ears with Vaseline, and adding a thin fleece hat on top of the the balaclava I wear under my ski helmet.  Unfortunately, the toes are usually the first to get cold.  Thankfully you don’t really notice that when you are pounding down the mountain.  I did break down and buy some serious mittens at the end of the day today.  My gloves, though quite a nice pair, just weren’t cutting it.

One last note on managing the cold…as in lesson learned.  At one point yesterday I was moseying down a long cruiser trail.  I didn’t have any wind breaking pants on.  Take that as you will…  Also, for some dumb reason I was going camo.  Even though I had three layers of clothing on the lower half of the body, I darn near froze my you know whats off.  It was mighty uncomfortable.  Never again

Tomorrow it is supposed to be a few degrees warmer.  I’ll get out first thing and stay on the sunny side and try to get 4 or 5 hours in before I call it a day and head back up to Linda’s.  I’ll probably head out early Saturday to get back home.  Then we are off next Friday for 7 Springs for three more days of skiing.  Then I really have to start looking for a job.

Here are a few pics from the trip.  There’s nothing special.  Though all but one day on the mountain has been beautiful with views for miles, it has just been too damn cold to take pictures.

Leanto’s in DAR State Park in Addison County, VT.  I was cross-country skiing from my friend’s house.

DAR State Park Leanto

 View across Lake Champlain to NY from DAR State Park.

DAR State Park View Across Lake Champlain

 Mad River Glen Ski Area.

Mad River Glen

Mad River Glen

 View from near the top of Mt. Killington.

View from Near the Top of Killington

Another Toronto Trip

Posted on by chappyshi

I spend part of last week working in our Toronto office. I rode my motorcycle up and back which was generally good. The way up was better since I broke it up into two parts. The way back was a pretty long 550 mile, 10 hour ride. I was feeling a bit saddle sore….

On the way up I took Route 15 most of the way up to Corning, NY, but cut off to the east to sneak into Elmira, NY, from the south. I have taken that route before. It is a beautiful trip…especially on the motorcycle. I stopped in Horseheads, NY, where I spent the first 12 years of my life. I checked out the old neighborhood. That, and the house we lived in, looked much smaller than I remembered!

From there I went north on Route 14 to Watkins Glen located at the southern end of Lake Seneca. Lake Seneca is part of the Finger Lakes which are prominent in central upstate New York. The whole area is mostly rural and very scenic. It makes for some good bike riding. Sunday was the last day of an Indy Car race yet the town seemed pretty mellow and their actually were hotel rooms available right downtown.

I grabbed a room overlooking the laundromat:

Watkins Glen Motel

and hung out at the Crooked Rooster Brewpub

Watkins Glen Motel

where I enjoyed a few summer wheat beers but no Hefeweisen which they were out of, unfortunately.

In the morning I loaded the ZRX 1200 back up with my newly acquired luggage…wore the last set out…and head north up the western shore of Lake Seneca on Route 14. At the top of the lake, after passing by a number of old, gorgeous lake houses, I picked up Route 20 west to Buffalo. I could have taken the NY State Thruway but why pay the tolls, eh? I wanted more of rural small town America without the mindlessness of the super highway.

So I hit Buffalo and headed for Port Erie and the Peace Bridge. I crossed over into Canada without any hassle for the first time in over two years. Unfortunately, it is a fairly boring 120 mile major highway drive on the QEW and the 401 to the east of Toronto where our facility and my accommodations were. NTL, I had a nice suite with kitchenette at the Hilton Suites Markham so I was happy.

Work was a mostly intense training and orientation for a new network administrator that my boss hired for the facility. The previous guy was long gone to Kenya to deal with parental matters so we had to make do with what we had. Since I, of all my team, had spend the most time up there over the last four years, nearly five months total, it fell upon me to bring Sahib up to speed as best as possible in four days.

I think I did a pretty good job but then I also had a very experienced, easy-going guy to work with. My feelings are that he will work out very well. I hope that time will prove my feelings to be true.

On the way home on Saturday, I saw much more of rural, small town America. As I noted, the Canadian side of the trip is particularly boring less the barely alive geese and dead bears on the highway. It didn’t help that the first part of this journey home I was in a fog for about 100 miles. Since the 401 and the QEW wrap around Lake Ontario on the north, west, and south sides, I guess the route is susceptible to fog. It was a bit chilly and damp but I drove out of it into decent weather.

Driving down 219 on the east side of the Allegany State Park was one of the nicest parts of the ride for a biker. The coolest town I saw on the trip home was Ellicottville in NW New York. There were beautiful old homes on shady tree lined streets. In breaks in the trees I could see the ski runs of Holiday Valley Resort. The runs looked like they were practically in the backyards of some of the homes in town.

I cannot say that there was that much more thrilling about the ride home but it was well worth it. I picked up 322 in PA and followed that to State College and back to Route 15 in Harrisburg where I headed back south to Centreville. 322 was a mix of older road, super highway with 65 MPH limits, and construction. As I said, I was a bit road weary by the time I got home, but then…ride to live…live to ride!

Pictures from Memorial Day, 2008, Camping at Val and Lawrences on the Shenandoah River

Posted on by chappyshi

I messed up the aspect ratio on a batch resize of these photos.  Everything seems to be a bit wider than it should be.  I am too lazy right now to fix them…

Pictures from Memorial Day, 2008, Camping at Val and Lawrences on the Shenandoah River