Time...

It's time....

to do what exactly I'm not sure yet. But I can feel a big change coming.

My mom's cremains were delivered last Friday. I have to divide them up among family members. And I'm going to bring some to her father's grave and plant them there with some flowers. Pansies most likely - mom loved when they came back year after year as Johnny Jump-ups. Their happy little faces all over the place.

My words just aren't coming out this morning....I just know I'm on edge. Work, life, everything seems like it needs to be jumbled up, sorted out and rearranged.

We'll see how it goes...

Memorial Day

I'm still mulling this over in my mind, but I'm thinking about heading to Cooperstown/Hartwick area to plant some flowers at my Grandfather's grave. His name was Dannie "Boone" Weir and he was born on the same day as me but died 4 years before I was born in a tragic car accident. My Great-Grandparents and some of his siblings are buried there as well. We still don't have my Mom's cremains - she donated her body to the Anatomical Gift Program at SUNY Upstate Medical Center and is apparently being very helpful! As always! My Grandmother and Yankee both did the same, but their cremains came back within 6-9 months.

It may be a drive around and visit places that we used to go to....I really miss my Mom and our adventures. Her Geo Metro could climb mountains! Monday may be memory day for me and trying to honor my Mom and her life.

Canal Trail from Little Falls!

Bike Ready - Check!, Canal is out there (kinda high) - Check!, My legs are ready - Check!

Water Falls - that don't normally exist off the trail - we've had a lot of rain!

We don't usually have to go through running water on the trail.

Used to be able to walk through where that water is coming from - it used to be a small trail.

Made it to Mindenville - but realized the old trail was no longer there - at least the part that went across the stream that must have become a river. This happened last year....so I'll have to go again soon and investigate the rest of the changes.

The clouds are coming, the rain was coming and the headwinds were brutal. But...It took me about 10 minutes of riding to get back to the blue skies and sunshine.

See! Blue skies and only 2 miles left...

Same view but now you can see the trail! Gorgeous day. Glad I went. 19 miles down! Yeah!

On way home.

Wind and rain were not my friends!

But I used stick-to-it-iveness to do it! New word!

Canal trail

Holy moley bad picture! But great canal ride day!

Canal Trail - I'm starting over...

A few years ago I used to ride the Erie Canal Trail all the time and post pictures of it. Well I fell out of the habit in a hard way and with the new bike I'm at it again. Thursday night I rode (with my friend LM) 9.82 miles on the trail from Whitesboro/Marcy to Utica and back. The bugs were amazing! LOL - hair, ears, eyes - they got in everywhere! This morning I decided to head out again but I started in Utica - the trail ends there heading east until you get to Herkimer area (there may be a few little bits and pieces open). And actually Little Falls is where it really opens up all the way to Albany. So I went to Utica, hopped on my new bike and headed west. I got to meet Bill Kardas, our local weatherman from WKTV and his dog Buddy at the beginning of the ride - then I went to business and pushed myself. There were times when 17MPH and 15MPH felt great and others when 9-10MPH was all I could do. The wind was pretty strong and changeable so it wasn't easy at times. But I rode all the way to Oriskany - took a short water break and rode back. It felt fantastic. So...now that I'm "back in the saddle" I'll start posting from on the trail. Happy Mom's day!

New Bike, New Adventures

I finally got a new bike, the weather hasn't cooperated much, neither has my breathing but I've managed a short ride. Got a Neko SL by Trek. It's got the front end suspension when I'm riding the bumpy canal trail and other off road trails, but I can switch it off when I'm on the road, helping me to speed it up a little. And I just checked the weather and it looks like Saturday and Sunday will be great for a ride. Woo Hoo! Going to CT&TT's house on Saturday afternoon - for fun - TT is going to change my tires out for me - RB may come over too. I may vacuum out my car and then fix CT's computer, make chicken BBQ pizza - and just have fun. :) Life is good! Should have a video and picture uploaded to the site - depending on how slow my internet is. Gracie is having a wonderful time on the canal trail and the other was just an awesome picture of Birch trees.

Winter Adventure

Adventure Day - January 21, 2014 It was a surprise for me from RB - Make sure that I was dressed warm and wore my winter/hiking boots. We went to Bald Mountain in the Town of Webb, in the Adirondacks. It.Was.Incredible! Best.Surprise.Ever! I've wanted to go up there for the past year and it just always seemed to be too wet, too hot, too cold. LOL it was -10 (yes minus) when we went up but it was fantastic. I sweated my butt off! There was no wind so it was perfect.

The sign at the base of the Trail.

Bundled up, but starting to be way too warm!

First glimpse of the frozen lakes.

There is something about blue sky and snowy trees.

My favorite view of the Rondaxe Fire Tower

Beautiful view of the chain of lakes to the North

I climbed to the top of the Fire Tower - holding on so tight the whole way. This is the trail we followed, at time crawling and praying we wouldn't go sliding where we didn't belong.

From the tower, looking to the east.

From the tower - looking down the side of the mountain. Not really a smart idea!

Awesome tree - showing the strength of the sculpting winds.

From the fire tower looking to the south.

Heading back down the mountain - loved these three trees.

Trees dressed for a winter ball!

This part of the trail was scary - long way to fall on the one side and ice and snow causing a little instability. It was fun though.

More trees dressed for the winter ball!

Light and Shadow through the trees.

This was such a wonderful day in so many ways. I really loved it and there was no one else on the trail and that made it even more special. We slid down certain parts - was a blast. I was a little hesitant at first on some of the hike, afraid I would fall, but I got more sure footed as we went. My Christmas boots from RB a few years back are awesome. Thank you RB for a wonderful adventure day!