Jun 30, 2013

We went down to a place called The Bakery for breakfast in the morning. They didn't have a whole lot of vegan options so I got a hummus bagel that was quite lovely. After breakfast we continued walking to the historic part of New Paltz where the oldest houses are. It was a cool little walk into history and we did a lot of laughing. Joanna and I packed up our stuff and thanked Alex and Chuck for our place to stay. We had to go get our vegan dogs from Kosiner Brothers. Damn, was that a good hot dog. The slaw and relish really made it awesome. A great way to say goodbye to this town.

We hit Beacon Glades DGC on our way back home. The course was a great woods course with a few open shots. It was mostly narrow and somewhat hilly shots through trees, but it was fun. I almost lost a disc a few times, but that will happen anywhere. I'd definitely come back.

We headed to FDR Park to play their course, but it started to rain as soon as we got in. We abandoned that plan, but soon after we left the rain stopped so we ended up at Leonard Park to play a round. This was another very wooded course with some rocky parts and elevation. This one was a lot of fun except for a few blind holes that I thought could be improved. The open area toward the end was quite muddy, but it was nice to be able to throw a long shot. I took Joanna home and dropped her off and then took the short long drive back to my house.

Jun 29, 2013

Joanna and I got up early and snuck of the room as quietly as we could then headed to the trailhead for Bonticou Crag. It was a foggy morning, and the wide trail looked really cool as we found our way via the criss-crossing paths and open fields. There was some uphill on the way, but it was pretty mild.

The trail opened up to a large boulder field that we climbed over, through, and around. This was the fun part. There were a few areas that necessitated hand over hand climbing. It wasn't so bad, but my sneakers were slipping a bit.

We got to the top and wandered around the big open rocks with great views all around. It was a beautiful morning and there were clouds laying low in the distance.

After enjoying the view for a while and jumping around and taking photos on this outcropping, getting too close to the edge, we started back down. After finding out that there was a ridiculous parking fee at the Mohonk House trailhead, we came back to our original parking spot and got a map, beginning our hike about a mile or two earlier. We started at the same spot as our last hike, but branched off soon after that in the direction of Mohonk.

There were several steep climbs on the hiking/mountain biking path up to the Mohonk Reservation, but it was a nice trail; rocky, well-marked, and beautiful with fallen trees and stream crossings. It got a bit confusing when we got on the actual grounds because trails went everywhere, but we followed our instinct and got to where we needed to. The place is beautiful and gargantuan! Look at that monster. There's a reason we're staying in our friends' room at a hostel and not in one of these rooms.

Along the edge of the lake is where the trailhead for The Labyrinth is. It is a bit hidden, but that makes sense. We climbed through the narrow opening and began down the path, over some stairs, and through some more narrow slots we had to climb through.

Our progress quickly halted when we got behind a group of older people on some kind of team-building exercise. These were not outdoors people and they were not really into this. We slowly overtook them, one by one, very slowly, after standing still at each obstacle for minutes at a time. We finally got by them and starting crawling over and under the huge boulders, following the path that was laid out or something like it.

The tight squeezes and big rock climbs were great fun, and we thought it ended too quickly when we finished. So we went back down and did it again! This time there was almost no one there so we got to go at our own pace, up ladders, through the lemon squeezers, and over big gaps. It was a lot more fun on round two. We started to do it again as a race, but it was a little wet, so a short distance in we called it for the day and started hiking back.

After our long hike back down (that's how it always goes) we went back to New Paltz downtown and wandered through the little downtown shops and got something to eat at the health food store. After going back to the hostel for showers, we came back downtown with Chuck and Alex to go to the Gilded Otter Brewing Co. for lunch. I sampled their beers. Nothing of note, really. The root beer was good so I got one of those. We had a good lunch and then went for a walk around the nice, quiet neighborhood.

After regrouping, we went out to the Bacchus Bar for a few beers from their big bottle list and hung out there talking for a while. I'm not sure what I expected, but it was more of a chill evening and we were all kind of tired and not wanting to stay there too long. We headed back to the hostel and hung out there for the night until we were all ready for bedtimes.

Jun 28, 2013

I spent the day at home, not doing much besides packing some things up and hanging around. I cooked up some asparagus to take on the trip this weekend. It was delicious. I headed up to Joanna's in the evening time and then we drove up to New Paltz to meet Chuck and Alex at their nice little hostel room. They had a spare bunk bed to offer us to we gladly took them up on that. When we got there Chuck and I had a couple of beers and we talked for a short time before we all got to bed.

Jun 27, 2013

We ended up leaving the house a little late, but that was okay. We went to Warwick DGC, where we played a fun round. It's a great course with a lot of challenging shots. We shot pretty well, even after it started to rain a little bit toward the end. After eating we went to Conscious Fork for lunch. I got this amazing bowl with kale, tofu, and veggies. It was absolutely wonderful. I would like to eat something like this every day. I had a tasty smoothie with it as well and a macaroon to go that was also fantastic. I want more!

Our next stop was the Campgaw/Mighty Gaw course. They changed the names so it's all Campgaw now, but the different layouts are Green, Blue, and Black. We played the long one; Black, I think. It used to be Mighty Gaw. The course is quite short on the first few holes, but it gets very soon after when you get to the uphill shots. That one uphill shot is a pain. Through the dense woods we made it to the top and around the other side.

Once playing the back area and down the fun drop shot through the thick woods, we came back up through the high grassy, annoyingly steep shots that I always consider skipping. We saw this little guy in the grass, hiding and scared when we almost tripped over her! Our final shots down the big open ski trail always seem like they will be fun. Inevitably, they are bad shots and we end up searching forever for our discs. We never learn. After collecting all of our discs from the grasses, I took Joanna home and then headed home myself.

Jun 26, 2013

I picked up Joanna in the morning and we headed to Field of Dreams DGC. We had a fun round, remembering a lot of the holes as we went along. I had some good shots where I'd remember how I messed it up the last time. After our game we headed over to Mt. Tammany and got into the hike. The somewhat steep and rocky trail is always shorter than I think it is, but the boulder section is always fun.

And of course, the view is always worth it. I have a whole different perspective on this view now. I'm still in love with it, but after seeing so many sweeping views of huge mountains in the west it seems tame to me at this point. I remember thinking how amazing it was to be standing above the flying hawks, but now I don't get that feeling. There will always be a soft spot in my heart for the beautiful views of New Jersey, but it just feels a little different now.

We decided to do some geocaching on our trail back. We started in a somewhat overgrown area where blazing through the brush on the side of the mountain wasn't the easiest thing to do. We finally came upon the small cash after finding a rock lodged in a hollow tree that was concealing it. Then we stayed off the trail for a little longer before heading back.

On our way down we hiked on rocky, open trails that eventually met up with the White Blazes of the Appalachian Trail. We talked about hiking the trail and what it would be like once we left, not having a place to go home to for the night when we finished. It all seems so scary and exciting.

Of course I had to partake in some stream crossing shenanigans before we got done. I remember doing some of this stuff with Ryan when we came a few years ago, but I'm not sure I crossed like this.

Once we had our fill of messing around on the rocks and fallen trees near the waterfalls, we took some more photos and then made our way down the last bit of the trail to the car. It was a good day of hiking.

Next stop: New Brunswick. We went to Tata's Pizza, where they have some tasty vegan slices. I was almost hit by a car crossing the street because I wasn't paying attention. Good save, Joanna. We took our food and ate in the parking lot at Brunswick Zone before going in for a few games. I haven't been bowling in so long, but I still remember how it seems! I'm not better or worse than I ever was. After that we headed back to her house for the night.

Jun 25, 2013

I spent all day editing Dave and Chelsea's wedding photos because I wait too long to actually get started. The only way I can assure myself that I'll get it done is by imposing a finish date and then I get to work. So I went through the tons of photos I shot and did my tweaks and edits to each one. I really like a lot of the shots so I was happy.

I needed to get away from the computer after so many hours so I went over to Silver Run for a run on the trails. I took the long trail and looped through the other trails to end up on the other far side where I encountered some wildlife. I saw two turtles. This guy was right in the middle of the trail and then I saw another huge turtle off to the side. I mean, he was big. When I was almost back to the parking area I saw a skunk meander across the trail and slowly walk into the grass. Pretty sweet day for a run here.

I went back home and continued powering through the editing. I was in the zone at this point so I was getting things done. Once everything was finished I breathed a sigh of relief and took them over to Dave's to show them. They seemed happy with the shots so my work here was done.

Jun 24, 2013

I spent my morning editing wedding photos and paying bills. I'm really liking how some of the photos from Jess and Bill's wedding came out. Sometimes it's the unexpected ones that are my favorites and the ones I was hoping would be great that disappoint me.

My dad and I went down to the Atlantic County Bikeway for a nice long ride. It's a long, fairly flat, and paved path through Mays Landing to the Shore Mall. It was a beautiful day for a ride. When we got down to the mall area we decided to stop and have something to eat at Jalapeno's. After lunch we biked back. The 16ish-mile ride felt pretty easy, but it was fun and that's why we went.

Later I went to dinner with my mom, where we talked for a long time about a lot of stuff. I came home and tried to edit more photos for the night, but I ended up mostly just watching shows.

Jun 23, 2013

I spent the morning editing photos from Jess and Bill's wedding before heading to Camden for my last day at Cirque. I always park on the Shark level at the parking garage. It was a double show day so it was poised to be long. I worked the front of the tent and inside like I have been doing most days.

My final meal was a good one. There were peppers stuffed with chick peas and veggies, some kind of tasty fries, and corn on the cob. It was a good last meal and we enjoyed our time in the cafeteria trailer. During the second show I said goodbye to people and told them to come over to the bar after the show for some farewell drinks.

I went over to The Victor after the show with Jess and Taylor, hanging out and waiting for the others to arrive with a tasty beer in my hand. Miles, HIM, and Kanda made it over, as did some of the ushers. I spent my time wandering around talking to everyone, joking around and having beers. It was nice hanging out with everyone outside of work. I got to talk to Gaby for more than the few minutes we usually get before the show starts and I had long, serious talk with Miles. I love that dude. I will miss him the most... But it was a fantastic sendoff for me and I'm happy to have made some good friends and had a great time with this crew.