Ordinary Adventures

Summer...

2010-10-13T15:09:00.000-07:00

So clearly we didn't do anything this summer... bah... Stretch finished the CDT, Michael (Heaps) was here in May before he started the CDT, and we worked all summer. Biking was lost on me, while Anna bike commuted almost every day. We did one hike with Andy and Kathy in the Catskills over Memorial Day which was nice. Fixing up and maintaining the house has proven to be a time consuming job. Perhaps someday we'll be able to sell it and live in an intentional community or squat on some land in a yurt... or maybe just move to a big city and get better jobs and live in a tiny apartment. Next project: enough dinner for leftovers.

Spring time...

2010-05-19T05:01:00.001-07:00

Anna leaves for a conference in DC this morning, and I'll be going to work as usual.

The house is empty now, after a week and a half of house guests, Andy, Kathy, Glenn, and Michael (Heaps). Now I guess we'll have to get some of these projects around the house done like putting in a guest bathroom, refinishing the upstairs guest bedroom, putting the fence up for the goats, working out a hut / house for the goat(s).

There's so much going on, but I have no energy and little time to do it all. Hiking has ruined my life. To anyone who ever thought they wanted to hike a long trail, don't. You'll never want to go back to normal life. Stretch/Sarong/Jason is hiking the CDT now Northbound. Michael/Heaps is going to be starting the CDT Southbound in mid June... I suppose they could meet by chance in Wyoming.

The good news is our electric usage has dropped off the charts thanks to replacing the well pump and re-wiring some of the electric panel. All of which my dad did while Anna and I were working.

We're getting excited to go hiking over Memorial Day weekend for a couple night trip, and I'm looking forward to the Canoe Regatta on the Monday of Memorial Day weekend.

Baaaaa

2010-04-28T18:26:00.000-07:00

There's possibly a goat on the way... but that seems up in the air.

Tomorrow Anna's going fishing with Grandpa Doyle and maybe more of the Doyle/Cole's - full on rod and reel fishing for panfish, catfish, etc. With a hot dog cookout included, I think she'll be in all her glory.

Friday we leave for Richmond, where it's forecasted to be 90 degrees Saturday... it will be a regular tropical vacation. Anna will stay down in Richmond for a week, and return after Kate's (soon to be Sister In-Law by marriage, or something like that) Bridal Shower to be held in Philadelphia next weekend.

Such a wild ride this whole regular life thing is versus the simple hike all summer gig.

Spring is here!

2010-04-11T11:29:00.000-07:00

The snow has melted, and hopefully isn't coming back until next year. And we've been getting a garden ready, cutting back bushes to expand the yard, chopping two loads of logs for next seasons' fire wood, emptying out the barn and cleaning up what was buried by snow this winter. The hillside we live on seems to grow rocks, but that's our only complaint as luckily their hasn't been any problems with water running off the hill, and the other things we noted as possibly being a problem haven't come true yet.

We've both had colds but we're recovering and enjoying the fresh air this weekend. I better find something else to do... there's never an end to these projects.

Ketchup

2010-02-07T10:58:00.000-08:00

This blog is very out of date.

Since the last post, the table has been finished. It is sitting in the dining room of our new house. Many projects have been begun, completed, or thought over to fix up and finish up the house. There was a fun day of insulating the attic with my dad, putting in Anna's dream light fixture over the dining room table, lots of painting and trim work with the help of Anna's parents, a couple functional building projects (building a shaker style coat rack, shelf in the kitchen, and installing a unique shower curtain rod that cost less than $5 around the tub).

Anna has been slightly annoyed that there's hardly any snow in NY this winter, while Delaware, Virginia, and DC have had multiple 1ft or more snow storms. I was shaken up when I heard a guy we hiked on the PCT with for a short bit is going to be hiking the CDT from Canada(Montatana) to Mexico(New Mexico) this year.

I just accepted a job at the National Bank of Delaware County to start February 16th; it will be good to get back into the habit of working to support my love of outdoor sports. It's downright impossible to buy a kayak to compete in the canoe regatta, or boots and axes to ice climb with, let alone keep the house heated without a job!

This coming week is my last week of work-free time for the foreseeable future, so I'm hoping to get down to the Catskills to snowshoe/hike to Blackhead Mountain. Andy and Kathy are coming out for a day or two next week, so that will be a fun couple days too.

That about sums up the last two months... I'll try to be more active on here in the future.

6 Person Harvest Table

2009-11-24T09:54:00.000-08:00

With all this unemployed time, I decided to put myself to work and try to learn a little about carpentry.

We don't have a dining room table for whenever we move into this new house. So Anna and I visited a few of the local antique barns, and furniture stores to get a pretty clear idea of what we wanted. After finding that the tables we liked were around $150-$200 or more I set out to try my hand at furniture building. If we ended up spending that much on tools, and materials, oh well, at least it's been an interesting project.

After about a week of thinking about how to do it, and a week of working on building it, we have an unfinished 6-person harvest style dining room table.

All it took was about $65 dollars in materials (24 feet of White Pine 2x10's & 28 feet of White Pine 1x3's), some pipe clamps, sand paper and hand miter saw from the hardware store, patience, and help from my Dad. Once we get into the house we'll pick out a stain to finish it off.

Here's a few pictures of how it has turned out:

Waiting to hear about a new house...

2009-10-25T18:10:00.000-07:00

We are supposed to hear whether or not our offer on a house was accepted any minute now. The anticipation is getting to some people who shall remain nameless.

Here's a couple pictures of the house though...

Hand-Stitched Gas Tank

2009-10-19T08:30:00.000-07:00

So it's not what most people think of as a gas-tank, but it sits on the top tube of your bicycle (like a motorcycle gas tank) and is usually filled with food (fuel). Inspired by the Gas Tanks of Epic Designs http://www.epicdesignsalaska.com/.

I spent nearly all day yesterday sewing a gas-tank for my bike by hand. It would have been a lot easier with a machine, but why not do things the hard way once in a while.

The project cost about 25 cents in materials thanks to the Eureka Camping Center in Binghamton selling tent rain flys for $3, and some garbage picking for the plastic mesh that gives the tank it's structure. It seems functional, but someday when I have the motivation I'd like to re-work it to have a dual zip opening, and some more robust fabric.

Northville-Placid Trail

2009-10-13T05:38:00.000-07:00

The Northville-Placid Trail was created in 1923 by the Adirondack Mountain Club (ADK), the walking trail running from Upper Benson to Averyville, with road walk segments extending to Northville, and Lake Placid. The trail runs 133 miles from the Southern Adirondacks to the High Peaks Region to the North.

Last October I started out to hike this trail, with the hope to complete it in 4 days. After the first day, I was 30 miles from Upper Benson, had turned my ankles many times with the leaves down on the rocky trail, and an injured shoulder from a recent mountain bike accident, that I was having problems with carrying my pack and using hiking poles. So I made the decision to spend the second day hiking back to the car.

It's that time of year again, so I can't help but remember what happened last year.

Plenty of time to dream...

2009-10-10T17:08:00.000-07:00

We came back from California in July... since I haven't yet found a job, I've had plenty of time to dream about what to do next, where to live, what kind of job I hope to do, really anything and everything.

I've come up with a short list of goals for the future:

Hike the Northville-Placid Trail (133 miles through the Adirondacks)
Become a Winter 46r (hike all 46 Adirondack high peaks in winter)
Ride the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route (Mexico to Canada)
Become a NY State Licensed Hiking Guide
Hike the Pacific Crest Trail (Canada to Mexico)
Bicycle across the country (Transamerica Route or Northern Tier Route)
Complete the General Clinton Canoe Regatta (1 day, 70 mile race in a Kayak)
Hike the Continental Divide Trail (Canada to Mexico)

This is a pretty out there post... but that's kind of a life's list of adventures.

This blog is hopefully going to wind up being more of a journal for myself to keep track of the smaller trips and everyday adventures... we'll see where it goes though.