Feb 23, 2017

I worked at Memorial for a Social Studies class in the morning. At first I thought it would be a long day with fourth block off, but it ended up being great to get done work early and be able to go out to play disc gold with Ryan and Becca. It was a beautiful day to be outside.

Alycia and I took advantage of the weather as well, albeit a little later than we planned since she got stuck at work and in traffic. We had a nice bike ride through her area as the sun was going down. It started getting a little dark so we turned around.

We were still a way from her house when I felt my tire go flat. I didn't have a spare tube so she had to ride home and get her car to pick me up. I walked a long way before she got there to keep occupied and people really don't yield to pedestrians on a road with no shoulder. We went to get dinner at a Chinese place after deciding not to meet Chuck and Alex in Mount Holly. It was just too far and we were already late. After we ate we went to Target and killed some time before going to Telford Inn for trivia with her friends. The upside of this was that Becca could join us. It was a bit awkward with the seating and already established team, but we had fun on our end playing together.

Apr 5, 2014

I went up to Legacy in the morning for a day full of graduation re-training with the group. We sat through a lot of slides reiterating what settings the camera should be on and what every little dial should read. I would expect this much teaching if we had to learn how to compensate, but we are really just learning to set our cameras and leave them there. After a long day of sitting and then practice shooting, I headed down the street to pick up the Schuykill River Trail in Conshohocken. 

I biked down the beautiful trail into Manayunk and stopped in at the brewery for a quick beer. I talked to an old guy that I couldn't tell if he was drunk or not. I had my one English beer and then headed back out to the bike. The weather was pretty nice, but the wind kept picking up on the way back and slowing me down. That always seems to be the way it is. I was happy to get back to the car at that point.

I found a parking spot off of Market Street and walked down to the Tin Angel, where I got a bourbon and ginger and sat down to watch Sarah Ault play her set. Joanna showed up during her set to join me. I grabbed a Malibu Bay Breeze during intermission and then sat back down to watch Mary Scholz play an amazingly beautiful set of songs from her new album. I had to say hi and then run to get back to my car before the meter ran out. Joanna and I found a campground at Lums Pond and parked there to camp for the night.

Apr 2, 2014

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I worked at Memorial in a social studies class during the day watching a video about Shays' Rebellion. It was a good video, but I wanted to be outside. I got done a little early and decided to go for a bike ride.

I pedaled out toward Fortescue and turned around at the big oak tree where the road splits. It was nice, though a little windy at times.

I pedaled back up Buckshutem Road and around the race track to the airport road. Overall I was happy with my route choice as far as traffic was concerned. That's my least favorite part about riding around here. I was getting a little sluggish at the end of 16 miles. I need to get back into it.

Chuck and I had our weekly Quizzo alone time, where we thought we had a good chance of winning when really we were still really far behind the first place team. The last round was a sports question and we actually didn't do too badly by naming random baseball teams.

Oct 27, 2013

I was up early and it was nice out so I drove to the parking lot for the lake trail loop at Belleplain State Park and got ready for a run. Since I haven't run as much lately I wasn't sure how I would do. Once I got started I felt great. I knew I could keep going and I did. The mental aspect of running has always been the struggle for me. My body can do it, and I rarely if ever give out physically. Normally the ennui kicks in before I start, but once I get going I'm good. I ran 5 miles through the beautiful autumn forest whose trail was blanketed with crunchy leaves and whose trees waved red and yellow flags to mark the season. 'Twas a great run.

When I got home I guess I hadn't had enough because I biked up to Vineland to meet Ryan for a round of disc golf. I just wanted to keep being outside. We had a great game and then decided to take a walk around the lake while we were there. After that I biked home. I had lunch, a shower, and a nap. It was a nice afternoon. Later I went to Kate's and had a few beers that were leftover from previous outings. Thus concluded my day of excitement.

Sep 3, 2013

We drove into Providence in the morning and found a bike trail called the East Bay Trail. We parked at a lot and headed into the overcast morning. The bike path was very nicely maintained and it took us through wooded areas as well as small towns and large parks. We biked along the water for much of the path, with Providence's skyline on the horizon. Part of the trail goes over an old railroad bridge, low on the water. We got to the end of the trail and took a break for a snack and rest before turning around to head back. I believe it was about 16 miles total. Nice start to the day.

We stopped at Trinity Brewing downtown before heading out. I remembered liking their beer last time I was there. It was totally empty when we got there, which is a complete contrast to the night I last visited. I did a flight again, expecting to love a bunch but only really being wowed by the Point Break Pale Ale. That was great, but the rest were just good/average.

Once we got back to New Jersey I met Alex at JJ Bitting Brewing, which is right down the road from Joanna's house. Not sure how I've never visited before. We had a couple of beers and talked about everything since we hadn't hung out in a year. I ate someone's tortilla chips because they left them on the bar, and some guy kept talking to us about beer and other strange things. We decided to take a walk around the area to get away from the bar. We took a pretty long walk and came back to pay the bill. It was great to catch up with her after so long. I was definitely ready to go home after that.

Aug 20, 2013

I woke up in the morning and just decided that I was going to ride my bike to Ocean City and back. It was an absolutely perfectly gorgeous day and I was not about to stay inside. I put some air in my tires, got myself ready, and headed out. The clouds were so nice, and it was warm, but it felt good. The ride there felt great. I was moving pretty quickly, and I felt like I could keep going. Biking past the grassy inlets was a beautiful sight. These things make me smile.

After crossing the treacherous bridge into Ocean City I made it to the beach. I parked my bike, ate my banana, and had a walk down to the water. The beach was crazy crowded. I always forget how popular it is. Once I'd seen enough shoreline littered with people I headed back, filled up my water bag and was on my way back. I stopped to shoot a picture at the sunflower patch that I always want to shoot but never remember to.

The ride home felt slower, probably because a bike seat gets uncomfortable after a while. I stopped for a rest about halfway home and had my Clif bar under the shade of a big tree. I was listening to a podcast about extreme athletes so that helped a little. I was so happy to make it home and not have to sit on my bike seat anymore. I did a total of 55.66 miles in just over 4 hours. I was happy with that. I don't have any time to beat or anything, but the distance seems good. I still want to do a city to shore ride one day. Once I got home I fell exhausted into my chair where I remained, watching TV, for the rest of the night except for a quick trip to Shop Rite for food.

Aug 14, 2013

It was a nice day for some disc golf so I went out and played early in the afternoon. I wasn't ready to not outside so later in the day I went for a long bike ride. I ended up going 17 miles around this general area as the sun was going down. Riding into the sun is both nice and annoying. You get a nice view, but you can't see it because it's so damn bright. After I got back and showered it was about time to head to Quizzo. And then we did that.

Aug 11, 2013

I met Ryan and Erika at the gym for some circuits in the morning followed by a walk at the park with Ryan. It was another beautiful day so I wanted to stay outside. I went for a bike ride later and took the longest circuitous route that was easy enough to do before it got dark. I rode down through the airport and had a beautiful sunset. Why would I want to come inside on a day like this?

Well, after it got dark I came inside and Chuck came over for some beers while we watched the long-awaited season premiere of Breaking Bad and wow, is it going to be an awesome season if it it keeps up like that. We opened up the Elevation Triple IPA from Renegade so Chuck could try some of the amazing flavor explosion while it was freshest. We also started the Vanilla Imperial Stout I got from Schlafly. A good night we had.

Aug 6, 2013

We looked up biking trails all around the Superior/Lafayette/Louisville area, finding references to a lot of trails, but only one stood out as a good long distance path. Conveniently, there was a trailhead half a mile from Steve's place. The three of us biked down there and picked up a map before opening the gate and heading onto the crushed stone path that led into the wide open plains of Colorado that butt up against the moutains. It was a gorgeous day with puffy white clouds against a blue sky, warm air, and amazing scenery. The ride took us on a loop through the three towns, keeping mostly to the same kind of path and off the roads until the end. It was tiring but a ton of fun. We were both happy that Steve could join us.

When we got back Joanna and I headed over to Native Foods for lunch and then to REI so I could return my trekking poles. After being out for a while we picked up Indian food and beer to bring home for the night. The food was amazing and we spent a couple of hours watching The Daily Show and The Colbert Report while stuffing our faces and drinking Red Hook's sampler pack. Another succesful night.

July 23, 2013

We continued driving toward Yosemite in the morning, stopping at a Barnes and Noble when they opened to look up hikes online while we could still get WiFi. We found some information then we headed into the park. We asked the ranger at the entrance station about some things and then we headed off to find a campsite at Tamarack Flat. We definitely got one of the last ones. We headed down into Yosemite Valley to bike around for the evening.

We biked all over and up the trails to Mirror Pond, which is much less of a body of water anymore let alone a reflecting one. It was also overrun by a group of teens there on a trip so it was less than peaceful. We had a Clif bar snack while we were up there and quickly headed back to our bikes. 

As we were coming back around the loop to get back to the car the sun was going down and there was this beautiful area by the water so I stopped for a long while and shot photos. Watching the sunlight slowly climb the giant rock formations is really amazing. The way light works in the valley is breathtaking.

After I got my fill of photos, we biked back to the car. It was basically dark by this point. It was a great ride. I was glad we had done something active and seen a lot of parts of the park at the same time. We headed back to our campsite, which was nice to have, and had dinner before turning in for the night.

Jul 21, 2013

We drove from Oregon to the Redwoods area of northern California and stopped in Crescent City. Joanna dropped me at the Starbucks with my bike and headed down to the forest for a hike. I got lunch and a couple of local beers at Good Harvest Cafe before braving the big hills of Route 101 South. Coming out of Crescent City there's a big climb that doesn't stop for a long time. I took at least one opportunity to stop and rest on the way. The road continued like this, but it was more balanced. Big, big climbs followed by beautiful, breezy, downhill coasting that seemed to last forever. All the while I had views of the gargantuan redwoods on either side of me.

Aside from the hills, traffic was my other concern. It seemed like people were accustomed to cyclists on this road, so it wasn't too bad. I still worry. The ride was amazingly grueling, yet exhilarating and rewarding. This amazing view was just one of many. I stood and watched this for a while. It was chilly and windy, especially near the open ocean sections, but pedaling hard warmed me up. I met Joanna in Klamath, a little town along 101, after riding a hard 21.5 miles. It was fantastic. I felt great.

We met next to an emu farm so we talked to this guy for a while. I think I named him Frank or something like it. He's from Australia. Once we left Frank, we went down to Redwoods State/National Park and walked the Revelation Trail. It's a really short trail near the parking lot with a lot of very old and amazingly huge redwoods and sequoias. It was dusk, but we could still see the immense size of some of the trees. It was a nice, relaxing little walk. 

We got showers and pitched our tent in the biker/hiker area since the campground was full only to get told by a ranger when we were parking the car that we had to take it down since we are neither bikers nor hikers. I wanted to tell her about my recent long-ass bike ride, but I refrained. We had to drive pretty far up the road before we found a place to park and camp for the night.

Jul 19, 2013

After consulting with the rangers at the visitor center, we decided on the Glacier Vista trail because of its supposed lack of bad snow/ice conditions. We hiked up the paved trail from the visitor center, stopping at a waterfall view for some photos. We crossed a couple of bridges and continued up the steeper slope until we saw snow.

I guess the "less snowy" trail doesn't mean no snow. It was surprising to see so much snow cover, but we got right into it and learned the best way to walk through it was to dig our heels in for each step. It became easy once we got the hang of that. The snow was really nice and we were still in t-shirts, Joanna in shorts. The weather was great.

We stopped for photos in several places. I did some feet shots and tried to get a good angle on the huge mountain in front of us. We kept climbing up to a point where we could see the blue of several of the glaciers on the mountain. There was something about staring at the face of Mount Rainier that transfixed me and filled me with such a good feeling. Being in the presence of natural wonders will do that I suppose. It is awesome.

On our way down we decided to take the less-traveled route through the snow and down the slopes. We had no skis, but we did have heels and our backsides so we found a way to use them. It was a little cold, but it was a ton of fun.

You get the idea. We went up and down the slope a few times, sliding down and wanting to do more. The rest of the way down we did some sliding, but mostly on our heels. This was definitely one of my favorite experiences hiking for several reasons.

All of the campgrounds in the park were full, but we found one not far outside one of the entrances called La Wis Wis that ended up having a few spots. We found our spot, then we found a better spot, so we set up our tent there and smiled at it. We noticed a trail near our site so we took to it to find out where it led. It was a slightly steep walk that took us along a cascading stream with several small waterfalls and pools of water. They were really nice to look at and, it turns out, refreshing to dunk your head in.

After we played by the water for a while, we hiked back to our camp as the sun filtered through the hanging mossy branches. We wanted to do some more exploring of the area so we biked out of the campground up the main road. This is not as easy as it sounds since the entrance to the campground is a supremely steep winding road. I thought we were going for a nice bike ride! We got out to the road and decided to turn around before a steep decline that we would clearly have to come back up to get back to our site.

With the bike idea aborted we went for a walk along the river and around the campground and then came back to chill at our site and watch Breaking Bad for a couple of hours before bed.

Jul 18, 2013

Once we left the Not a Crack House headquarters for the last time we headed to a little place downtown where we got two-for-one parfaits for breakfast. We sat in the car deciding what we'd do with the day while we ate. I needed to get cash so I went to a grocery store where an employee suggested I buy one grape to use the cash back option. I did so, and it cost 2 cents and I got my cash. Brilliant. It was a delicious grape too.

Joanna dropped me off downtown with my bike and she headed off on her own for the day. I biked down by the river and decided I'd like to go for a run. I ran along the river and over a few of the bridges and back, completing about 3.5 miles total. I absolutely love running here. There is something great about it. The scenery and the atmosphere are just great.

I headed a few blocks down to Rock Bottom Brewery for a bite and a flight. They had quite a few tasty beers, including their Belgian White which was fantastically refreshing after a run, and the Imperial Smoked Red Ale, which is just a hearty and full-flavored beer. I got some snacks and talked to the guy next to me at the bar for a long time. He travels down to Portland for work and comes into the bar all the time. He was a really nice guy, and we talked for a long time about traveling and beer tasting. It was a great bar experience.

I hopped back on my back and went for a short ride over the bridge and down the path a bit until I found a nice bench in the shade of a bridge overhead. I enjoyed lounging on the bench, bobbing on the floating dock with the waves from passing boats. I watched Orange is the New Black on my phone for a while until Joanna called to meet up a couple miles away.

When we were reunited in a mall parking garage, I affixed the bike to the car and we moved on to Portobello Restaurant. We sat at the bar for quicker seating and perused the menu. I ended up going with a pizza and a lemonade because that just sounded perfect at the moment. Joanna got some tasty fried balls in marinara sauce that we shared. Everything we had was fantastic. I even took some pizza to go.

Before leaving the area we dropped by Voodoo Doughnut for some fine vegan treats. We got a few tasty pastries for the road and headed up to Mt. Rainier National Park. We got there late and had to drive through all the campground loops before finding and open space. There was a cone there so we weren't sure if we were supposed to stay at the site, but we did it anyway.

Jul 17, 2013

Surviving the night at the house whose WiFi name was "Not a Crack House" after lying on the couch and trying to count the amount of different people I saw pass by and go out the door in the morning, we headed out to the food trucks a few blocks away. We waited for the vegan truck to open and ordered sandwiches. I ended up really liking Joanna's fish sandwich so we switched and I finished it. So good.

We hopped on our bikes and took to the streets of Portland. I love biking in this town. We rode down to the waterfront and planned out a tentative route around over the bridges. We went down the river, zig-zagging across the bridges back and forth along the nice paths made available. There were a couple of detours we had to follow that took us of the path, but we found our way.

Along the route we came upon a brewery called Hair of the Dog so I decided we should go in. It was a nice place for a break and some brews. The Little Dog and Blue Dot were both very good, and the Peach Fred from the Woodshed was amazing. It's a peach beer aged in a bourbon barrel. It was light and huge in flavor. After I finished my pretty-looking beers and had a few glasses of water we hopped back on the bikes and pedaled on.

There are just so many great little things to see as you cross the river. I love this sign, and if you turn the other way you can see Mount Hood. It's such a great town to exist in. I'd really like to live here someday.

We went down to a strip mall that had a lot of vegan stores, like a bakery, clothing store, and grocery. I got a big bottle of Sriracha because why not? I can use that forever on everything. After Joanna finished shopping and I had a chat with my mom on the phone we headed down to Deschutes Brewpub. I know this brewery by name, but not much by beer. Everything was pretty good, but I was really blown away by the Black Butte Porter. That's one I need to pick up again.

We biked to get pizza at a place that was recommended to us. It was pretty good, but not exactly what we had hoped for. We had to ride a bit back to the park. It was up a very large hill through the park, but we were able to cut some distance off by going this way. Once we got back to the car we went directly to Back to Eden for some ice cream. And it was awesome.

We went to McMenamin's Kennedy School, an old elementary school that was converted to be many things, including a movie theater filled with comfortable couches and chair. We got a great seat on a couch and settled in to watch The Internship, which was really funny. It helped that it was such a cool theater and that we had a couch to sit on. Pretty fantastic. I think I love McMenamin's.

We knew we had some time before the party was going to die down at the house we were staying at, so we went down to The Mash Tun, where I got a flight and we started playing billiards for free! The beers were good (especially the Mild Ale) and the pool was great. The jukebox was also open to play for free so we put on some good tunes from Garden State while we played. We ended up playing pool with people we met instead of passing the table back and forth. They were really nice and it was cool talking to other people.

As the party was still not over, we went to The Bye and Bye to pick up food. I got a meatball sub that was sooo delicious. We took the food back to in front of the house to eat our food and watch some Breaking Bad while we waited for the insanity to die down. Once it did that somewhat we went inside and got our couches ready while people still wandered around at the end of the party. Someone almost pitched a mattress on the floor right next to the couches, but after I suggested that I might step on him he angrily moved away. It was strange, but we eventually got to sleep very late.

Jul 15, 2013

We got up in the morning without a definite plan on what we were going to do, but we decided to take our bikes and head toward the Space Needle. I really love looking at it for some reason. It's a cool landmark. We walked around the park underneath and decided against going up after seeing the prices.

Instead, we decided to go to the Chihuly Museum and Glass, which is underneath the Needle. Dale Chihuly's work is instantly recognizable to anyone who has seen it before, and this collection is amazing. There is such a large collection of amazing glass sculpture here with a scope that is hard to fathom.

The boats filled with ornamental glass tubes and balls were really breathtaking. Even watching the videos showing the process by which these things are made, I'm still left in awe at the detail of work. An entire museum dedicated to one man's work is a pretty impressive thing as well.

I spent some time talking to a photographer that worked the long glass room. We bonded over similar experiences with photographing random visitors.

This room was open and dedicated to these hanging sculptures, which makes them seem even more meaningful. The outdoor garden is fantastic as well. This place was well worth the small admission cost. 

We went to a nearby Asian restaurant for lunch. They had quite cheap food, but the portions were huge! We could have shared a meal and been more than satisfied. It was all very good and we ended up with leftovers to stash in our packs.

We headed off to the Public Market, where we walked the vendors up and down, having a look at the first Starbucks, tasting fresh fruit (especially cherries,) and checking out all the local artists. It was a pretty cool, yet hectic, place to see. We sampled hot sauces, chocolates, and nuts. Places like this are rife with free samples. We watched a man throw a huge fish to another guy amongst the crowd and then he threw it back. It was a thing.

Once we covered most of the vendors and little shops, we checked out the wall of gum in an alley; it's exactly what it sounds like. I took some photos of the myriad awesome restroom signs, and then hopped back on our bikes to head toward Discovery Park.

We walked a nearby sculpture garden that we passed on the way, where viewers were encouraged to interact with this roofed room any way they chose to. I chose to walk on the roof. The ride to Discovery Park was an extremely tough uphill ride. My legs were burning once we got there. We biked around some of the paths in the park and then mapped our route back to the apartment. It was a long ride for the day, but a really good one.

We got dinner at the Wayward Vegan Cafe because the vegan pizzeria that I had been craving all day was closed! Damn! I was really disappointed, but Wayward made up for it with amazing food. The meatball sandwich and the wings were awesome. I was super filled when we left that place. We went back to the apartment and hung with Amol, watching some Indian movie on Netflix that was really funny. We need to catch the end of it soon. Matt was playing an open mic at The Sea Monster so Joanna and I walked down to it so we could see what he was traveling the country doing.

Matt was amazing. This video is just a little taste, but his music was honest, heartfelt, witty, gritty, and catchy as fuck. I was really blown away by his music. I asked him if he records anything and he said that he hasn't really because he wants the music to exist in the places he plays it. That's a really awesome idea, but I want to jam to his music all the time. However, I will try to see him somewhere else in the future without a doubt! After his set we headed back to the apartment to crash.