Weekendus Horribilis

This was amongst the worst weekends of my life. On friday, my younger sister was diagnosed with cancer. An not just cancer, but big cancer, LMS (leiomyosarcoma, info at:
www.leiomyosarcoma.info . It's a really bad one, and she's in for a huge fight against the beast. She'll be starting chemo this week.
x
On saturday, the first tornado in, oh, forever hit our small village. Luckily nobody was hurt, but not the way you want to spend your saturday evening. The rain was incredible. Having been in an F-5 once before when we lived in Cincinnati, this paled, but it was still a bad memory.
x
And then sunday I ran out of patron tequila, which got me through friday and saturday. Anyone had a weekend that bad?
x
"This week: asteroid strikes earth, destroys humanity; Bush survives" Lumpy out

Muggyville, USA

Took a quick drive down to Philly yesterday; well, quick if you discount the, oh, 200 MILES of construction on 90, 81, 481, 76, 15, and 390. Like NYSDOT and PADOT lives to make my life miserable.
x
Had a great time catching up with the MEDE boys and some other folks along the way. It was about 85 and 110% humidity the whole day, except when it was Tstorming. Which was most of the drive. And THAT's a really good time in a Mini Cooper
x
Lumpy out

It's a Family Affair

Rosenthals and Kathy on a rare rest break.

x

We paddled Lake Ontario a bit this past weekend with the Rosenthals. The weather was a bit choppy, on the Pond on the way out, but it got MUCH choppier once we hit the lake.

x

Kara was exhausted from her morning 2 hour swim workout, and she was really lagging through the Pond segment. But, when we got to the Lake, it was all hooping and a hollering as her small boat was thrown all over the place by the waves.

x

Kathy however was another story, as she discovered budhism and was doing yoga and praying to Krisna just to not flip her boat. Which, she didn't. And man, was I happy about that!

x

"A tale of two paddlers" Lumpy out

'Yacking down the Genesee

TOP: Acrobatic biplanes with smokers doing loop-d-loops over the river

BOTTOM: Kayak Kathy lubing up before her post-yak nap/sunning session

x

One of my other projects is to kayak the navigatable length of the Genesee River (some dams and falls stop it from being totally boatable). Last weekend we did the section from Mt Morris to Geneseo, about 15 miles in total. We put in just below the Mt Morris lower dam, into what looked like a class 5 rapids. Fortunately, it only looked wild, it was just water with a lot of bubbles in it. Must be something that the dam caused. The river was flowing nicely, and we made over 4 mph. Peter and his dad Lee went in the tandem, and Kathy and I solo.

x

It was also "Dumping Day" on the river, as first peter and lee dumped during a bio break, and then about an hour later Kathy did the same. Can't these people learn to pee and portage at the same time?

x

We anticipated a totally secluded, quiet river paddle, and it was for the first hour or so. Then, unbeknownst to us, it was the day of the Geneseo air show, and the river basically circumnavigated the airport. So we had things like packs of P-51 fighters, acrobatic biplanes, and an F-18 take off directly over our heads. They shook the entire river, and the wildlife was going insane from the noise...as were we. But, we had a bird's eye view of the festivities, and they were very cool. The highlight was a WWII fighter flying in formation with an F-18 at about 200 feet off the ground. Very cool stuff indeed.

x

The session ended on a tough note, as our exit point turned out to be about, oh, 60 feet below the roadway. In thick, shoe-sucking mud. And up a rockface. And through a pricker bush grove. It took us 4 hours to paddle, and over 2 hours to get the boats out of the gorge through the muck, rock, and brush. Then, peter had to run a couple of miles to get the car, drive back, get me, go get the trailer, and then do the boat re-loading. A great paddle turned out to be a very long day...

x

"Apparently F-18's are faster than kayaks" Lumpy out

Driving Miss Monsoon

TOP: And this is all we saw for, oh, 3 HOURS on our drive down

2nd: Yup, just the sign you WANT to see when you're off mountain biking

3rd: Manayunk arts festival in full swing

4th: Our favorite mid-trip restaurant is closing. RIP Mamasitas

x

We headed down to philadelphia last weekend to do some visiting and eating. An old friend of mine had just sold his company and wanted to take a few of us out to dinner as a thank you for our help in getting him off the ground. It was an awesome meat-fest at one of those brazillian meat houses, dead animals on a skewer, plus boatloads of mohito-like drinks. Not a bad way to spend an evening.

x

But first, we had to get there. I drove to Binghampton, then switched off for a quick snooze. I believe my last words were "huh, those clouds look a little dark don't they". Anyhow, within a mile of kathy taking the wheel, the heavens opened up into an epic thunderstorm, huge lightning bolts flying everywhere, trees down all over the freeway (and, of course, this was all happening in a major road construction zone to increase the fun), torrential rain (as in it was like you were underwater the rain was so intense. Kathy drove for about 3 hours, which turned out to be 20 miles, before she finally found a pullout to changeover. And, I swear, within 2 miles the skies turned completely blue again, and the sun came out. I guess we know now whose side god is really on...the atheist's!

x

Following the meat-fest, we went up to Jim Thorpe PA and mountain biked the lehigh valley trail. It's an awesome trail, riverside for miles, and we got to watch a ton of rafters and kayakers below us on the river. Lot's of history in the area also, as this was the major coal mining region for a fledgling united states.

x

Sunday we met old friends andi and lou for breakfast and then hit the manayunk arts festival. I can say in good faith that I did not purchase ANY jewelry there; I cannot make the same statement of "she who has her own income again". Lovely necklace however.

x

Another mirror ride home. I drove for 3 hours of bright sunshine, 1 mile after Kathy took the wheel, another huge thunderstorm and torrential rain. And then clear again once we switched off in Syracuse.

x

Along the way we stopped for dinner at our favorite little mexican half-way house near binghampton. It's tucked away in a little no-name town, and we stumbled upon it maybe 5 years ago when we were desperately low on gas one drive. As we walked in, there is a sign saying that the restaurant was closing that night at 9pm forever; the owners were retiring. It was sad to see, and I have to give a shout out to the Mamasitas crew on Lennoxville PA for 5 years of awesome fresh made guacamole, burritos, and lemonade. Enjoy your retirement, and godspeed.

x

"Crying the Mexican Blues" Lumpy out

Couple More SD Pix

TOP: DelMar Beach at sunrise, on my way to hiking Torrey Pines...I looked for Tiger Woods, but nowhere to be found

2nd: Fortuna Mountain. Apparently "mountain" means you have to hike uphill

3rd: Old Mission dam on the SanDiego River. Very cool little setting

BOTTOM: "Arnold" Lumpy on the Santa Margharita trail

Home, Sweet...ah Crap, we don't live there anymore!

TOP: Lumpy hits the trail in Fallbrook

2nd: Lumpy, Catherine, and Jeff hanging at Casa de Nichols

3rd: Kamper Kathy leaping across the San Diego river

4th: Kathy and Scott oceanside in OB

x

We just got back from a great trip to San Diego. We started the trip visiting with our buddy Scott in OB. Scott's been fortunate enough to pickup a great place about 5 blocks from the beach, built a huge rooftop party deck, and uncharacteristically stocked the fridge with beer...who'd a thunk it! We walked around everywhere...down to the beach, to the local bars, and then did a marathon walk over to catch the finish of the SanDiego marathon which just happened to be going on that weekend. Scott has been doing the team-in-training anti-cancer athletic group, and is heading out for a century at lake tahoe in a week. I don't want to be on the road when he cannonballs down off spooner summit...I hit over 50mph on my own!

x

Next we went off and did 3 days of good hikes...black mountain, iron mountain, and fortuna mountain. Each eventful in it's own right. Iron was completely cloud shrouded when we hiked it, and then about 2 minutes after we summited, the clouds all dissapated and it looked like the other lower hilltops had villas floating in the clouds on their summits. It was awesome. Fortuna we just did a walkabout, going up wherever we could, and then trying to figure our way back down. Who the heck needs a map anyways when you've got the "human compass" Lumpy with you! And on Black Mountain, we were only about half way up when a huge Tstorm rolled in. We beat a hasty retreat back to the car, just keeping ahead of the rain and lightning by a couple of minutes. That was scary. We lived in SD for 2 years, and never once saw a lightning storm there.

x

Next, after a couple of days of that dreaded work thing, we headed off to visit our friends the Nichols up in Fallbrook. Fallbrook is the far NE end of SanDiego county, and a beautiful place nestled up in the mountains. Their villa sits atop a ridgeline, and has about a 15 mile view off the expansive deck. We emptied their wine cabinet...well, ok the cabinet only held a couple of bottles...the wine CELLAR had about 2,000 bottles that we never even touched, had an awesome fresh salmon meal (I now know how to cook salmon!), a morning hike, and then an awesome mexican breakfast in fallbrook village. Great visit, and always a treat to catch up on lives.

x

Heading back to ra-cha-cha today, and to the grind.

x

"Take me home, country road" Lumpy out

Hey Bugs, What Ya Doin'?

My office overlooks our small garden, and recently we've gotten a new visitor. This pudgy little rabbit has been coming by in the morning to checkout our plants, and have himself a morning meal of some of them.

x

I figure another month of letting him eat my garden, and he'll be ready for the spit!

x

"wonder if he's from wales" Lumpy out

Dogs and Children

Hmmmm...which one REALLY belongs "in the cage"?

x

"Just asking the question" Lumpy out

Bob does "The Roc"

Top: "Carmel" Kathy turtle munching

2nd: My home away from home

3rd: Bob chowing down on his first (of 3 I believe) kathy chicken parm dinners

x

My old buddy bobB swung through rochester on his way to hi family reunion over the weekend. Great to see him again, and that he's recovering after a nasty bout of prostate cancer. Soon he'll be back into jock mode, and we can go play on some mountains again.

x

He brought his new dog jack along. Jack is one of those bird dogs, meaning that he's constantly flipping off people. Kind of a "gangsta pooch" if you ask me. The kids however loved him, joanna spending hours playing in the back yard, and nicholas going so far as to get his shirt dirty...oh, the trauma!!!

x

Got in a good couple of days all in all...homemade sauce and chicken parm at Casa de Lump, the Brighton bagel bin, DeBella's subs, stuffed italian sausage at carl's july 4th bash, and abbotts chocolate almond custard. Basically, we did nothing but eat for 36 hours while he was here. And he's still lighter than me...why is that?

x

"Did sleep for a few hours, that was my diet" Lumpy out

Dam, Dam, Dam

TOP: Peter and John riverside from atop the dam

2nd: Looking down on the dam from above

BOTTOM: riverbed uncharacteristically very dry. That would change later in the ride!

x

Had a lovely ride this week with Peter and a buddy of his john down around letchworth (the grand canyon of new york). Awesome ride, well, at least until we got to the furthest point away and a massive pitch black thunderhead rolled over the park. We dashed into a mini-mart and refueled while the rain and boomers hit, and then made the climb out of the park back to civilization. 60 miles, a good pace, some decent hills, and a snickers bar...what more could a person ask for!

x

"Ben Franklin" Lumpy out

TOP: Strawberry fields forever

Middle: Guess which cone Lumpy got? Hint: it had 5 scoops on it....how else do you stay "Lumpy"?

Bottom: Two fisted drinker Lumpy at the Rushville mini-mart.

x

Had a few good rides this week for a change, as the weather turned to the better and my legs started actually having some muscle tone. On a ride out to sodus mark and I came upon a strawberry farm that had just reloaded their roadside stand. We stopped an bought a quart (read gallon) bucket of the little red critters, and wolfed them down on the spot. Later in the week we swung through Naples for a hill ride, beat ourselves into submission (well, mark and therese beat me into submission anyways), and then topped it off with beers at our favorite lakeside bar & grill. Oh, and ice cream post-ride never goes amiss...

x

"Tough keeping Lumpy with all this riding" Lumpy out

Chop Kathy

Ah, friday was a lovely day for a paddle. Well, except for those tsunami-esque waves out on lake ontario. Kathy, me, and the Rosenthal clan and I went out for a "3 hour tour"; which turned into a 3 hour roller-coaster ride out in lake ontario. We turned the bend out of the Long Pond outlet to hear "Hey, what the heck is that wall of water moving towards us?" 2 hours later we made the, 0h, 2 miles back to the safety of the bay. My favorite moment was the scream coming out of kathy when the wave hit her smack-on in the face coming down the backside of a wave.

x

Guess SOMEBODY needs to learn to duck next time :-)

x

"High and Dry" Lumpy out