My Adventures

Climbing season has arrived....

2009-03-17T23:47:00.004-04:00

I got out to the Gunks today after a long winter of hibernating. (A.K.A getting the new house unpacked and looking like a home.) This is probably the earliest in the season that I've ever climbed, and why didn't I start this early before is a mystery to me. I only got three climbs in today, I was taking it easy. Miss Baily (in honor of St. Patrick's day) Middle Earth ( A Gunks regular for me) and Ant Line ( A new project). I only lead pitch 1 and 3 of Miss baily, cause I freaked out at the fact that pitch 2 had minimal protection on a face climb. Any way the roof of Miss Baily was solid and I took it like a champ.

Next we were on the Middle Earth. Did it, done it, got the ticket stub except for this time I mixed it up a little. In stead of going off to the left of the roof and taking the actually route, I went straight up and over the roof. Once again proving that Sean likes to hang on roofs.

Ants Line was a new challenge for me. A 5.9- that was sustained and had a really nice crack with good hand/finger jams. Too bad I couldn't complete it without falling. Douh!!!!!!!!!

It's a shame more people weren't out today, oh yeah they were WORKING....

I'm Back....

2009-01-21T17:42:00.003-05:00

It's been quite a while since I last posted due to the holidays and moving into the new house. We finally closed on the house January 5th and we've been officially living here for fifteen days. The first week was the hardest because I was still working and had to try and unpack in the small amount of time I had before and after work. It all got better once the sixteenth rolled around which was not only the first day of my vacation but Autumn's birthday as well.

The march of the turkey's

2008-11-28T09:17:00.006-05:00

Another holiday is approaching and what better way to kick it off with a good road race with dad. We ran it back in 2006 together and our times were ok. This year was perfect. The weather was in our favor (no rain like in 2006) and for the first time I can remember Autumn and Jaedyn came out to cheer us on. Nothing like a, "go daddy run faster, go daddy run faster" to get me moving. Let me tell you, boy did it ever. I didn't think I had anything left by the time I hit the last hill to the finish line, but hearing my little girl cheer me on pushed me beyond my limits. I finished up with a 35:38 a whole 6 min better than my old personal best. Dad had a new personal best as well with a 49:28. (2min off his old time)

The Hunt continues.....

2008-10-09T15:10:00.002-04:00

Autumn and I have been waiting for this for a very long time. The time when everything comes into line and we are able and ready to buy our first home. Of course, finding the right house in our range and being able to purchase it without some scum sucking leaches snatching it away from us, is a different story.

Autumn has been relentlessly searching the Internet to gather a plethora of homes that our realtor (Adrianne) can show us as well as the houses that she was able to find. The first time out scouting was bitter sweet. We thought we had found the one only to realize it was a money pit and in the long run would be worth the effort. The second time we went out looking at houses, we had given Adrianne 13 houses that we had wanted to look at, not necessarily in one day. When we met up with her she informed us that approximately 6 of those houses had accepted offers on them in the last couple of days. Thankfully our top two were still up for sale. To make things short, our second choice became our overwhelming favorite and we made an offer on the house that day. Unaware to us, another party had made an offer that very same day. So while Autumn and I were in Newport, RI Adrianne e-mailed us stating that the seller had made us a counter offer in case the other seller fell through.

So thats where we are in the real estate game, confused and with out house....

Cape Ann Camping

2008-09-24T11:29:00.010-04:00

Well it is supposed to be a diver's retreat but it seems that only about five of the twenty or so people that go actually dive. It seems that Mel Rich (the coordinator) has been going to this particular camp for many years now and arranged for our group to have a section of approximately fifteen sites reserved for us. Cape Ann is located a little north of Gloucester, MA along the salt marshes. Obviously since Jaedyn and I don't dive we dropped the kayak in off one of the jetties and paddled through the salt marshes, which were defiantly a different experience. They start out like a very calm river following the tides, weather is going in or out, and then they get narrow and start to wind around like a maze. Every once in a while I'll come to a dead end and have to turn around and remember how I got in to begin with. Oh who am I kidding, they were all dead ends. A couple of times I tried to stand up on the grassy marsh and see if I could find a way through to the river but it just looked like one big grassy field. As the picture can clearly show, between the grass are small thin water ways that i was paddling through. Sometimes I thought that I was coming to another dead end and suddenly a water way would appear around the high grass. This was defiantly like nothing I'd ever paddled through. I only wish Jaedyn had gotten to see it. Yeah she feel a sleep about twenty minutes into our trip and I had to wake her up when we arrived at the boat ramp.

Now how could I forget about dinner on Saturday night... This is what we were all waiting for. The LOBSTERS. I'm not talking about your 1 1/2 pound'ers that you get at the market. These babies were right off the boat. Lets see, we drove into Gloucester Saturday morning around 9:00 A.M. and went to the back door of warehouse on the water and waited for a scruffy old gentleman to let us in. We walked into a room with large crates floating in water that was being circulated by large hoses, kind of like a jacuzzi for lobsters, only the water was really COLD. Then we just let him know what size we wanted, payed and left. I can tell you that know one got anything less than three pounds and the largest was ten pounds. We opted to get a six pound that we split. Next time we're going to get a ten, because at six pounds it cost us $46 and a ten only costs about $12 more. Oh, we ate well that night. We had already brought our own corn potatoes and butter but it seems that Mel and his friends had already chipped in to get corn and potatoes for everyone, thanks any way.

On Sunday we drove into Gloucester and walked around shore and by the statues on the coast, like the "old man and the Sea." Then finished out or trip by having lunch at "The Gull" restaurant, which supposedly have the best seafood chowda. I'm glad that we went and if at all possible I really want to go again next year. Although the way things are looking right now, Jaedyn, Autumn and I may be living in New York in our first home. So we have a lot of good things going on right now and we are all really excited.

He's done it now...

2008-09-06T00:30:00.013-04:00

High Exposure that is. I finale led High E with minimal beta on a beautiful September day. Meghan and I warmed-up on Horseman and broke it into two pitches to give her some practice at breaking down the anchor and giving me a little bit less rope drag after the traverse. Then we made the long walk down the carriage trail to a place I've never been, the base of High Exposure. It's only rated a 5.6+ but the final pitch has a lot to do with that. It sounds strange but my first reaction when we got to the base was, "I thought it would be bigger."

The first pitch was simply a means to an ends, it got me to the GT Ledge, the real exposure. When we first got to the ledge I didn't know what to do, organize myself for the next pitch, rest, take pictures. For the first time I was at a loss. I was just taken in by it all, the view, the people around me and what I was about to conquer. Now, that first reach around to the face where there is nothing but air to your left, right, above and below you was exhilarating, frightening and accomplishment all wrapped into one moment. The holds are all there, it just messes with your head a bit. I was so jacket up preceding the last pitch that I forgot to give Meghan and indication of what she was in for or how to approach this climb, not that I really knew myself, I didn't know what was in store for me beyond the roof, but I should have at least given her a little pep talk. When I reached the top I was hooting and hollering and dropping F bombs like a drunk trucker. Yes, I was excited. Meghan had a different expression on her face when I saw her at the top. Her face said it as well as her voice, "I'm so glad to see you." So, after she whipped the tears from her face she started to smile again. All was good as we rappelled down, Meghan likes the repelling part possibly more than the climbing.

We headed down the carriage trail back towards the parking lot and stopped at Ken's Crack for one last climb of the day. I was dreading the though of putting my shoes back on but I made it quick and as painless as possible. Meghan was just too tired to complete the route but it still ended off as a great day at the Gunks.

The Last Horah!!

2008-08-27T10:37:00.011-04:00

The count down to kindergarten is coming to an end with ONE DAY LEFT. As summer is coming to an end I decided to take the family on one final camping trip. We decided on Lake Warmaug state park in New Preston, CT. Autumn actually did a wedding several years ago at the country club right down the road. The days prior to our trip had me a little worried because the fuel pump on the Saab broke and had to spend some time in the shop. So I was a little uneasy about going away an not knowing if I was going to have a car on Wednesday to get to work. Everything did work out and Barney and the boys at Swedish motor works took care of everything while we enjoyed the cool night by the campfire and kayaking around the lake. It seems that the company that rents out kayaks close down at 4:00 and by the time we had set up the camp site and gotten our bathing suits on they were no longer renting for the day. No worries, Autumn and I just took turns chauffeuring Jaedyn around the lake. After dinner, smores and a good nights sleep we woke up to a cool morning and a nice hot fire to eat breakfast by.

After packing up the camp site we headed off to Kent to see the falls and check out down town. The falls were nice; I can only imagine what they'd be like in the spring time after a good rain. Autumn was talking the whole time about filters and her other cameras and coming back in the spring to photograph the falls again. All in all a good couple of days to relax before we take on a new adventure with Jaedyn and for us.

When Sean is away...

2008-08-15T10:26:00.005-04:00

Well, for the past four weeks I've been opening a new "Stir Crazy" in Estero, FL, which by the way went amazingly well. Before I returned home my parents took Jaedyn to Vermont to give Autumn a little break. While I was gone my family had several momentous events happen. The first being my daughter Jaedyn riding her bike by herself for the first time. My sister, Melissa and my brother in-law Dan, are expecting their first child. The one big project that has been dragging since I left is the new deck my father is putting on there house. It looks great now and is the final stages of being complete.

Another good day at the Gunks...

2008-07-12T07:54:00.009-04:00

Seeing as how I'll be leaving for Florida in about a week to open a new restaurant, I won't be climbing any time soon. So I was going to make the most out of the time I had. I was meeting up with several people today, Meghan at Rock and Snow, and Danny and Angela at the base of Horseman. A foursome, I've never had one of those before... So, after suiting up Meghan with all the appropriate gear we were off to the Gunk's. Despite the many times I've visited, I'm still amazed at how easy the access is to some of the best climbing in the north east. We literally got out of the car walked down a flat carriage trail and were climbing in under 10 minutes. Yeah, I got a little side tracked...

Danny and Angela were running late so I decided to set up a top rope on the first route I saw, Black Fly. A nice little warm-up to get the blood flowing. After cruising that route we headed down the carriage trail even further to meet up with the rest of our group. With guide book in hand and eyes looking up to the cliff, like a Japanese tourist, I knew this had to be them. They had that look about them that I all know too well. The look of excitement and awe that most of us get our first time to the Gunk's. So lets get it on...

Getting four people to the top of a 110 ft. cliff is no easy task with two ropes. I lead, of course, and Meghan followed cleaning the gear as she climbed. Nice job by the way. Danny was next to climb. He seemed to struggle with this one a little. Trust me, going out on to the traverse can be a bit scary. No worries though. We all made it to the top and down safely. Next up was Rhododendron, a beautiful 5.6 crack. This was my highest on site at the Gunk's and it felt great, I only wish the route was longer. Angela did a nice job using some text book techniques and Meghan learned a couple of new ones herself. The ever popular foot jam and her first lay back. (tear)

To finish off the day I was looking for a nice easy multi pitch, Belly Roll is what I found. (I love the names) The first pitch might have taken a little bit too much out of Meghan, that or it had just been a long day of climbing but she just couldn't muster up the energy to finish the second pitch, so I lowered her to the bottom. Luckily two climbers on a route near by were willing to do a double rope rapell and let me clean all my gear on the way down. Thanks Max and Dan. The sunset from the top made the day a little bitter sweet. By the time I had reached the bottom the darkness had closed in and we were collecting our gear by flash light. I've said it before and I'll say it again, "I've never met a climber I didn't like." Today proved me right once again. Thanks again to Dan and Max as well as Angela and Danny for another good day at the Gunk's.

Her first time...

2008-07-07T21:38:00.009-04:00

Well, Jaedyn and I finale got my wife, Autumn, to go kayaking with us. I was expecting the worst and hoping for the best. It turned out to be the later of the two. She did really well despite some unforeseen challenges. For example, I thought she would use my sister's kayak witch is smaller and thinner which makes it easier to paddle, but the seat wasn't comfortable, the boat wobbled more and the cockpit opening was smaller, all of which made our boat more appealing. The only problem was, jaedyn has to ride in our boat because it has the storage compartment which she rides in. Normally not a problem but for someone who has never been in a kayak and is still trying to get the technique down, Jaedyn doesn't exactly make things easy.

So, we were on our way up the saugatuck river. I got a couple good shots of my two girls paddling. Too bad they were going in different directions. So after ducking under two bridges and letting the tide take us up river for a little break we arrived at the first small dam. I can't tell you how proud I am that Autumn made the trip and not only did it but, actually looked like she enjoyed herself.

As always I'm proud of my little girl Jaedyn who not only enjoys riding with mommy and daddy but has taken a real liking to kayaking. She even paddled by herself, of course I was close by to make sure she didn't get in over her head.

Forget dinner mom, I'm commin home with Crabs..

2008-07-01T11:11:00.002-04:00

Another beautiful day Kayaking on the Saugatuck with my favorite girl, Jaedyn. We headed down stream and out to mouth of the river to cockenoe island. We paddled into the small bay on the island and took a little swim, took some pictures and stumbled on to a baby seagulls nest that their mother didn't want us near. After leaving the island we paddled over to what Jaedyn and I have rightly dubbed "crab island."
After flipping over some rocks to find sand crabs scurrying all over the place, I started to search the shallow waters of the sound to see if we could find some more. She thought it would be better for me to collect them. She wasn't into going any where near the crabs especially once we started finding bigger ones. Jaedyn really wanted to go swimming but after realizing how many crabs were in the water, she changed her mind about swimming. We found a lot of small sand crabs, one spider crab and a large horse shoe crab. None of which, Jaedyn would touch, but I did get her to step on the horse shoe crab, for all of one second.
With as much paddling as I'd done and exploring that Jaedyn did, we were getting pretty hungry, so we headed back home. What better way to celebrate a good trip on the water better than to go home and cook up some tasty crab cakes.

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Jaedyn vs the Giant

2008-06-20T11:29:00.010-04:00

Don't worry, the giant was sleeping. Jaedyn and I went hiking at Sleeping Giant state park in Hamden ,CT today. I wanted to scout out a couple of climbing routes from the top of the chin so we decided to take the blue trail up the back side of the cliff. It posed to be quite a challenging hike, but Jaedyn wasn't going to let that giant get the best of her. She was determined to get to the top, she even showed up a couple other hikers who were struggling to scramble up the rocks. Once we reached the giants chin we took some pictures, climbed on rocks and even spotted a rabbit. Jaedyn actually spotted the rabbit first, she getting to be quite the little animal watcher. As we hike she's always telling me to walk quietly so I don't scare away the animals. Hopefully I'll be able to get back to the Giant latter in the season to climb "Wiessner's Rib," another route on my to-do list...

Whoa baby its hot!!!

2008-06-10T20:25:00.012-04:00

We've been going through a heat wave the last couple of days and I'm not sure when its going to end. When I say heat wave I'm talking about highs of about 99 / 100 degrees and lows of 86 / 87. I'm doing any thing and every thing to keep near the water and that's exactly what Jaedyn and I did today.
We got all of our gear to take the kayak out, life jackets, water (tons of it) and of course snacks. With out snacks what would I use to keep Jaedyn's hands from dragging in the water and slowing us down. She loves to drag both of her arms in the water as deep as she can get them, thus making it more difficult for daddy to paddle.

We set off from one of our more popular spots, the Saugatuck river boat ramp, due to the easy access. Only this time we set off down river towards the mouth of the Saugatuck and out into the sound. A couple of days earlier (Saturday) we paddled down stream as well, paddling along the shore and out to Sherwood Island. Since there were so many boaters and jet skis out that day we didn't go too far from the coast and played it safe. Today being a Tuesday I was a little more apt to explore. So once we reached the mouth of the river we headed south to a small private island in Norwalk. Know one seemed to mind having Jaedyn and I there as she played in the water, climbed on the rocks and shared a sandwich with me.

After Lunch we headed off to our next destination which was another island. This one was more a product of low tide. None the less, we stopped and Jaedyn posed with her N.S. Tiger and hopped from rock to rock. We also were treated to a show from a local kite surfer, although he wouldn't come close enough for me to get a good picture.

Well, Jaedyn and I enjoyed another fun filled trip. My only hope is I can get Autumn to join us next time. I promise that I'll make the first time memorable...

More Crazy in the Gunks

2008-06-03T20:45:00.009-04:00

Well, after a goods nights sleep under the stars I was ready to take James and Meghan up Middle Earth. The one climb that I have yet to lead in its entirety, until today. It ended up being the first and only route we did that day. By far the longest I've taken to complete a three pitch route (five hours, whoa!). Anyway, I cruised up the first pitch with one rope trailing. When I finished the first pitch I set up my anchor and ATC guide to belay the two of them at the same time. James started up the route first with Meghan close behind.

It seems that James didn't learn his lesson the first time because once again his knees and legs took a beating, and he left some bloody rental shoes behind to prove it. After completing the first pitch, I set off for pitch number two, which was a 5.2 that I almost didn't place any gear. I did eventually clip into a tri-cam that was welded into a crack and slung one tree. That was it for 50 ft. James and Meghan didn't have any problems with it either. Now pitch three.... That was a little different story. It was a short pitch as well, except 15 feet up was a roof that you have to reach over and pull yourself through. By far the section the two of them struggled with the most. James made an attempt at the roof first with no luck. Meghan told him to take a break and regain some of your strength while I try it. She tried and conquered. So while James made another go at it Meghan was off exploring the top of the cliff. Taking pictures of inch worms and caterpillar nests and nature stuff.

In the words of an unknown climber, "if you don't drop a couple F bombs your not really climbing." Than all I have to say is James was the hardest climber at the crag that day, and everyone knew it.

Kayaking on the Sagatuck

2008-05-30T19:20:00.006-04:00

I couldn't be happier that Jaedyn enjoys kayaking as much as she does. Just the fact that I've introduced her to something that we can share and explore together warms my heart. Today she was more interested than ever, asking questions about the water level, tides and of course the animals we came upon.

Lets see... we came across some mallard ducks, beautiful swans, and what I believe was a woodchuck or ground hog swimming. I'd never actually seen a groundhog myself so I was pretty enthused to follow him/her around the river for a while. We made a couple stops along the way for a snack break and to get a couple pictures with her tiger.

Now, to get a little background on the tiger...

While Jaedyn, Autumn and myself were at her new school, that she'll be attending next fall, they gave all the parents a 8 X 11 logo of her school. Their / our project for the Summer was to take a picture of our child with the logo or a stuffed tiger, the mascot, and in the fall they would put together a collage of the pictures submitted. Autumn and Jaedyn went to Bush Gardens while they were in Florida and picked up a stuffed tiger that I am determined to give the coolest adventures of the summer with Jaedyn.

Rain at the Gunks

2008-05-15T22:19:00.004-04:00

Well, I had planned on camping and climbing at the Gunks Wednesday threw Friday But it seems mother nature had other plans. Wednesday night was perfect sitting by the fire with a couple beers some cheese and crackers and relaxing with a good book. It was warm, the bugs stayed away and other campers in the park weren't obnoxious or loud. I was very much at peace. Now it did rain a little over night, approx. three to five in the morning, but most things seemed dry by ten o'clock. The sky was blue the sun was out and Jeff was pulling into the West Trapps parking lot to meet up with me. I though for sure we had threaded the proverbial needle.

Now Jeff had never been to the Gunks and the first climb we approached that struck my fancy was "Horseman." I started clipping gear to my harness when Jeff asked if he could take the lead on this one. I told him to have at it and I'm kind of glad he did, because the traverse around the block was a little heady even on top rope. Next on my to-do list was Middle Earth, because I still haven't lead the first pitch, but of course another group was on it. So we decided to do "Minty," a nice little 5.3. I figured it would be an easy onsight and kill some time until M.E. was available. Well, it turns out that Minty also intersects with another climb, "Tipsy Trees" that is also a 5.3. To make a long story short, we climbed the first pitch of minty, kind of, and the second and third pitch on "Tipsy Trees." It doesn't really matter because it was a fun climb either way, and thats all that matters in my book.
So, back to "Middle Earth" we go. So as I'm climbing I feel a little sprinkling of rain. I don't think anything of it because most of the day at one point or another it sprinkled a little bit. So I keep climbing and the sky just opens up and lets loose. In the words of Jeff, "the wrath of God." I've never been caught in a flash flood, but I imagine this was pretty close. Now at this point I had about four pieces of gear in and was about thirty feet of the ground. I made the decision to traverse to a near by tree and have Jeff lower me down instead of continue up the route. Jeff then cleaned the route and rappelled from the tree. We quickly packed up our gear and headed back to the parking lot. As if the rain didn't piss me off enough, the sun started to come out as we got back to the parking lot. At that point everything was soaked and we had already made the decision to leave. There is something about the first pitch of "Middle Earth." I swear there is a force that is constantly preventing me from leading it. The last time I was at the Gunks it was another group doing mock leads, and today it was another group plus the flash flood. Next time I visit the Gunks it WILL be lead, come hell or high water.

Kayaking with Jaedyn

2008-05-12T10:10:00.004-04:00

Well, Jaedyn finale got to ride in the kayak. I thought that she might get bored after a few minutes and want to go home but she loved it. The only trick is keeping her hands occupied. She likes to drag both of them off the side while I'm tyring to paddle and in such a small boat it makes quit a bit difference. None the less, we both had a blast even though it was a short little trip around lake hills. It's too bad that after Memorial Day we won't be able to get in to Lake Hills due to the staff checking for "members only." You see, the lake down the street from our house is a private lake that only certain property owners can use. Of course know one enforces their beach and lake policies between Memorial Day and Labor Day.

First Day at Ragged 2008

2008-05-06T21:00:00.006-04:00

Well, today was my first day out at Ragged mountain. I met up with Jeff (Dr. Feel Good) and Ben (General Benson) at the Starbucks. The weather was perfect, sunny and in the low 70's with a lite breeze.
It's been all winter since I've done any climbing and needless to say I was a little anxious to lead and since know one seemed to object. Let's see... I took the sharp end first on "Wet Wall." I've yet to do this route the right way. I keep finishing it off on the "knight Move" crack, this time was no different. Ben and Jeff followed with no problem.
"So what do ya"ll want to do next?"(silence) How about "Wish Bone?" They looked stoked to do the route but neither of them was in the mood to lead it either. So I took the lead again. This route is always a little skecthy in the beginning with the crux so close to the ground. Its not until I sling the chock about 20 feet up that I start to relax and start to actually climb the route. The rest of the route I felt strong and confident about every move I made. Like every route I complete on lead, the moment that I throw my hand over the final hold that lets me know you've done it, that feeling of accomplishment, power and relief all overcome me at once. "It's going to be a dam good day." I just wish Ben shared my enthusiasm. It seems that the crux had him grunting and cursing like a trucker, but he powered through it and managed to reach the thank god hold right after the small roof. Jeff on the other hand was tyring to set some sort of speed record and raced up the route like a ladder.

After the grueling 5.6 Jeff wanted to show Ben and I up a little so he chose the "Tower Crack" as his lead. "Wow!" That was an amazing off width crack. I gave Jeff a lot of credit for leading that route. The route was only about 30 feet but it was a very sustained 5.7 with some great moves. That route is defiantly going on my tick list of routes do lead.

Next up, a Ragged favorite, "Broadway." This route always seems to get done every time I visit Ragged. My technique and strength felt good, but I was very disappointed in some of my placements. The most important was the #1 power cam I placed under a flake in the crater. The main reason was because the next couple of moves were the crux, which makes for a heady climb. (translation: heady - scared shitless)

After finishing up on Broadway Jeff and I headed off to find the "May Block." Now I'd only been there once before and it was about two years ago so apparently my memory was not as good as I thought. Of course, if you ask any one of my family members they'd say I can't remember what I did yesterday. We ended up hiking for two hours with a 40lb pack and were way off. By the time we found it we had walked by it twice and were too tired to climb it. So we decided to mark the area better with some stone piles in hopes that next time it would be easier to find.

All in all, I couldn't have asked for a better day or better guys to share it with. I'm hoping we can climb a lot more together this and future seasons.

Stir Crazy in The Gunks

2008-04-20T11:27:00.016-04:00

So a couple of my co-workers wanted to try rock climbing...
Of course they really had no idea of what to expect. All I was expecting out of the day was for everyone to have a good time, enjoy the beautiful spring weather, and as always know one getting hurt. The forecast called for sunny sky's and a high in the 70's all day. I couldn't have asked for anything better.

I would expect nothing less of James than to roll out of bed and still be in his pajamas when we met at 9:00 at "Rock and Snow." Me on the other hand had been up since 6:30 and had already packed up our gear and food for the day, stopped by the "Muddy Cup" for a bagel and coffee and was waiting outside R&S for them to arrive. So next up was getting these guys some shoes and helmets. I knew that fitting them for shoes would be interesting... If you've ever worn climbing shoes you'd know that they fit extremely tight and aren't comfortable to wear for more than about 30 minutes or so. I opted for having their shoes on the looser side because I was not about to listen to them whine all day about how their feet hurt. As I would find out later, these two where not whiners and they were more determined than I thought.

And we're off!!!! I had a couple of routes in mind that would be good first time climbs. (Black Fly, Shit or go Blind) But being a busy day at the Gunks and close to the West trapps parking lot, they were already taken. So, "Boston" ended up being our first route of the day. A nice little 5.5 crack climb that I could set up by hiking up to the anchors and rappel down to where Meghan and James were putting their shoes on and attempting to figure out how to put the harnesses on.

Jim was stoked and took the leap to go first, without any knowledge of how to climb this 50 foot crack. Putting total trust in the system and me to make sure that he wouldn't be injured. OK, somethings I just can't prevent... Maybe wearing shorts wasn't the best choice. He scraped up his knees pretty good on the first, second, third, basically on every route his knees took a beating and he just kept pushing on.
I'm pretty sure that everyone has a fear of heights, at least in one form or another, and some people react differently than others. Of course, Meghans' reaction was one that I wasn't expecting. It seems she has an extreme fear of heights that I didn't know about until she completed the first route. The only reason I could tell were from the tears dripping down the side of the cliff. When she got to the top of the route she needed to let go of the rock and lean back, trusting that the rope would lower her safely to the ground. That took a little coursing, but between Jim and I we got her to let go.

Now in true trooper spirit the two of them were ready for our next route, Betty (5.2). Now I could go on and on about the details of every route we did but that would get pretty boring pretty quick. I just wanted to say that I was blessed with a great day of climbing with awesome weather and some new friends. Here are a couple of my favorite pictures from the day.

SNOW!!!!!! Finale....

2008-02-22T23:34:00.010-05:00

Well, the last couple of days was a twofer. It was the first time we've been up to Vermont this winter and the first time I'd been able to get out in some real snow. Wednesday we got up to the cabin around 4:00 and besides unpacking, playing in the snow was number one on our things to do list. Jaedyn and I played in the snow till the sun went down and we couldn't dig anymore. We tried making some snow tunnels in the pile at the end of the drive way but it was frozen solid. Needless to say we didn't get too far. The remainder of the night we spent playing "trouble" and relaxing in front of the fire after a nice hearty dinner.

Thursday Jaedyn and I woke up early and had a protein filled breakfast and headed off to the woods for some snow shoeing. She seemed really into it at first but after about an hour she was pooped and bored. A little break was in order and luckily I'd brought just the thing, a comfy seat and some psittacosis. The break was short lived because she was still bored and wanted to go back to the cabin. Oh well, when it comes to kids in the outdoors you have to be flexible. Sometimes they can go forever but you also need to be prepared for them to be unenthusiastic and just want to do their own thing.

Friday was a snowy paradise that beckoned. After Autumn woke up I took off across the road and through the field. I followed the logging trail on the other side of the field down towards the river in town. Of course, when I have the perfect setting for pictures I forget the camera. I'll try to paint the imaginary picture for you... Frozen river, snowy morning, animal tracks to and from the river, snow covered trees and an old train bridge in the background. Yeah, that good.

So after taking in all mother nature had to show me I started to head back. Only I didn't want to take the same way back and miss calculated. So instead of coming out on the other end of the field I came out in between the two Fairbanks houses, three fields up the hill.

This is what time in Vermont is all about. Play hard during the day and relax well at night. Its hard to describe in a word or phrase but there is something that calms and recharges the soul when I've spent time there, whether its been a week or just a couple of days.

Cold Water Kayaking

2008-02-12T16:35:00.000-05:00

Today started like most of my days do. Jaedyn wakes me up and we both struggle to get ready and get out the door by 8:30 to get her to school. On a rare occasion I'll I have time to actually put barrettes in her hair or pull it back into pig tails or something. Not today. It was "here, put this hat on, lets go!"

So after dropping her off I left the YMCA parking lot on my five mile run down towards the beach and back. It was approximately 24 degrees when I started and I think that might have contributed to me getting a 38.59, a personal best time. I figured the faster I run the warmer I'll get, and it worked. I just kept the pace going after that. My best time up until today was a 40.50 and that was the Thanksgiving day turkey trot race.

Now ever since I received a new kayak for Christmas I've been using my dad's 7mm wet suit to get in some cold water kayaking this winter. Needless to say it's too big and really warm. So I've been looking for a suit of my own that would not only keep me warm but not restrict the movement of paddling. I found that in the NRS Farmer John 3mm wet suit. Today had to be my coldest day out yet and the suit held up beautifully. I wish that I could have been paddling all day but I feel that if I was out on the water longer than 3 hours I would have gotten really cold. I don't say this because of the wet suit but because of the jacket I was wearing. The columbia wind breaker just doesn't have the water proofing abilities of a paddling splash jacket. (next on my wish list) Although the search for the perfect jacket is still a W.I.P. (work in progress)

Air Temp: 24 degrees
Water Temp: 33 degrees
Water conditions: Calm ocean waves
Trip type: Day

Although I know Autumn would never allow it but I found the cutest little wet suit for Jaedyn so she could come with me. O.k. maybe not when its this cold but in the spring or fall when its still cool it might be a good idea. I figure if I start working on her now, Jaedyn will have one by spring time.

They're after our nuts...

2008-01-31T15:07:00.001-05:00

O.K. they're not nuts, but seeds didn't sound as funny.
I believe it was Wednesday when Jaedyn and I made pine cone feeders. It was kind of a "twofer," both a rainy day project and lunch. The hardest part for her was not licking her fingers until we where done. After she had finished smearing the pine cones in peanut butter and rolling them in sunflower seeds we hung them in the old Christmas tree on the deck.

After "lunch," and the rain had stopped, we took a hike up at devils den before her doctors appointment. I almost forgot, I had kept Jaedyn out of school that day because of this rough cough she had had for several weeks. We had tried a dehumidifier in her room at night and she was drinking hot lemon honey water a lot, but it never really went away. Good thing we did take her because it turned out to be bronchitis.

Anyway, I thought a nice hike and some fresh air might do her some good and loosen things up a bit. We took a trail that I don't believe I have ever been on before. It goes south off the Pent trail and follows a stream down towards a river. Any time Jaedyn and I have gone for a hike in the winter she always loves breaking the ice, wether it's with her feet or throwing rocks and watching them plunge through. In the case of the picture below she was the one plunging through.

Today, while Jaedyn was in school I took the kayak out. I figured since it was close and I couldn't go for that long I would drop the boat in at sasco beach. Not exactly the prettiest place to go kayaking but it was good to get the blood flowing. Considering the tempetures today I definatly needed the blood flowing, air temp: 28 degrees, water temp 37 degrees.
Oh, and how can I forget the thieves that stole our seeds. I came home after kayaking to find that the squirles had taken a liking to Jaedyn's homemade bird feeders. One was streched from the trunk of the tree to the pine cone, another came in from above and was pulling the pine cone up, but the funiest had to be the little guy who was pulling the mission impossible move hanging up side down.

Kayak Maiden Voyage

2008-01-10T17:41:00.000-05:00

Well, my Christmas kayak had it's first taste of sea water today. I dropped the boat in at the Connecticut state boat ramp underneith I-95 and paddled up river past the Boston Post road bridge. Next, continuing up to the first small water fall where I had to carry the kayak over the shore and back into the river. Further up stream there was a second water fall which seemed to be holding a resevior behind it. A nice little spot for a snack break. I only wish that I had brought the camera. It doesn't seem like a spot that gets a lot of people back there, besides the nieghbors. There were a lot of geese, ducks and even a couple swans.

Everyone felt bad about giving me the Kayak for Christmas and not being able to use it during the cold winter months. Feel bad no longer... I solved that problem with a wet suit, which actually kept me very warm.

Specs:

Water Temp - 40 degrees F

Air Temp - 51 degrees F

Departure Time - 10:30 A.M

Trip Completion Time - 1:30 P.M

Trip Type - Day

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Weekend in VT

2007-10-07T22:17:00.000-04:00

After a couple of days alone with Autumn in New Paltz, NY I spent the weekend with Jaedyn in Vermont. We didn't get up to the cabin until 6 or 7 in the evening Friday so other than the normal ritual of dinner and reading a story before bed, we didn't do anything the first day. Saturday started off with the Chili cook off in Ludlow. There were seventeen different chilies to sample. My favorites had to be the ones with whole chunks of meat as opposed to ground meat, but in the end I voted for Chili Con Carlos. Of course, like any contest there are always a couple entries that push the envelope. For example one had spaghetti and another had mole'. But hey, to each their own. Lenny, Linda, Mary and the baby Erol were up the for the weekend as well. I'm really bad with keeping track of time and how much has past but I do know that's in been a while since I've seen them. After burning all remaining taste buds that I had we headed up to Belmont to watch the cider being pressed. Jaedyn got kind of a kick out of watching the guys putting all the apples in the machine to be chopped then wrapped on the pallets then pressed to become cider right before her eyes. She could have stayed there all day, but if she did that she would have missed the first annual Parrot Festival at Jackson Gore. They had an outdoor grill and bar. They had live music playing old Jimmy Buffet, Dick Dale, and Beach Boys songs. They also had contests for t-shirts and Okemo lift tickets. Although I won the limbo contest and a t-shirt I was really hoping for the lift tickets. To win the tickets, we had to unfold a frozen t-shirt. Easier said than done, that thing was frozen like a brick. Well if there was any question that Jaedyn had a good time all one had to do was look at her pants. She spent most of the time sliding down the hill with the rest of the kids. I was able to pull her away for a short period of time for the limbo contest. Well, maybe it wasn't meant to be, because after the first band had played the rain started to roll in and we headed back to the cabin. After pizza and a friendly game of sevens we called it a night. Sunday started off a little lighter with me and mom hitting up some of the sales at the ski shops downtown. Later in the day we met up with the gang to go apple picking, and who doesn't like apple picking, or should I say eating. Hopefully I'll have time to get some pies made up before I go back to work on Thursday. I'm always so gun hoe about doing these things when we're picking apples but as soon as I get them all home I have a hard time making time to do them. Well, I went up hoping to see some good color in the leaves but I guess due to the dry summer we had and the nights not being cool enough peak has come and gone.

Weekday in the Gunks

2007-10-04T07:48:00.000-04:00

The Maple stone...

Where do I start, I guess the first impression is always a good a place as any. We pulled up to the stone farm house around 2:00 on Tuesday with not a single car in the lot. It seemed like we'd have the place to ourselves. Just a quick lay of the land revealed an abandoned grain silo, an obviously non working red barn and well landscaped grounds. Just in front of where we parked were purple butterfly bushes with tons of monarch butterflies feeding on them. The whole thing screamed RELAX.... Well, after our quick survey of the grounds we were warmly greeted by one of our hosts, Sean. He gave us a full tour of the house and choice of which room we'd like during our stay. (We ended up taking the room that we saw and chose online, the Jenkins Suite.) He explained the idiosyncrasies of the house, gave us our own key and asked what time we wanted breakfast. I swear it felt like we were visiting family and they were putting us up for a couple nights. O.K. maybe not my family, but like you'd imagine in a movie or something.

Well, since we arrived early in the day we decided to take a hike up at the Mohonk preserve. We hiked the carriage trail and watched the climbers and boulders do their thing. Autumn was taking pictures of textures which got me looking for the same. Oooh honey..... is this texture?

We met our other hostess, Pati, the next morning when she made us an incredible breakfast.

Shawangunks...

Some of the best rock climbing in the northeast, and Autumn actually went climbing with me. I know what your thinking, not our Autumn, but yes and she did great.

We started our day by meeting up with CJ (our guide) in the West Trapps parking lot and hiking the under cliff carriage trail to our first climb of the day, Betty (5.2). CJ cruised the lead to set up a top rope anchor. Then after a little lesson in smearing, Autumn was off and going as well. When all was said and done, CJ lowered her to the ground. I asked her, what do you think? The grin from ear to ear was a good sign as she tried to catch her breath. Her reply was, "it was different."

After our warm-up it was off to Snookies Return(5.8), a different route and a little harder. This one Autumn struggled with a little but she made it past the crux(hard part). She didn't attempt Friends and lovers (5.9), but I can attest that they were both awesome climbs. Moving up through the grades, CJ took us to Never Never Land (5.10a). Now it was serious, this was an intense climb which required a lot of balance and fancy foot work. Autumn sat this one out and relaxed in the make shift rock lounge chair while sipping her ice cold cokes that she had brought in a cooler. (aahh, city folk) While I on the other hand was cursing and grunting like a caveman. After topping out on Never Never Land we followed the cliff base trail to Middle Earth (5.5). Now this would be a three pitch climb. The first would be 5.5, the second would be 5.2 and the third would be 5.5. After a long day of climbing Autumn's body was telling her to stop so CJ and I went alone. The climb was good the views were fantastic. The summit was about 150 - 200 feet, it probably could have been done in two pitches. The finishing moves to the summit was an overhang that truly was the perfect end to a perfect day of climbing. Now for those of you that are asking what is an overhang? Picture, if you will and large protruding rock that jets out horizontally. How do you climb over it? CAREFULLY....

Well, on our final day in New Paltz, we decided to take one last hike through the Mohonk Preserve, sampled some local cheeses and check out the local wineries. All in all a fantastic couple of days for Autumn and I to recharge an enjoy each others company.

The butterflies are here!!!

2007-09-09T22:10:00.000-04:00

Well Jaedyn's caterpillars finally turned into butterflies. The four caterpillars that we received several weeks ago came out of their crystallises. Despite the fact that she had split her lip wide open only an hour earlier and the tears were still dripping down her face she couldn't stop bouncing with joy. They're called painted ladies and they seem to only drink sugar water that we've sprayed on the leaves of some flowers that line the bottom of their collapsible net.

I felt soooo bad because during the hole ordeal of Autumn and I calming her down with Popsicles and soft words all she wanted was to go to school. Good news is that she's going back tomorrow and she's eating solid food.

Devil's Den Hike

2007-09-04T22:25:00.000-04:00

Jaedyn's definatly starting to enjoy hiking more and more. We broke up our 3.5 mile hike with her climbing rocks on the side of the trails and looking for animals. She loves playing with the local wildlife, well the ones she can catch anyway. Chasing the frogs into thier under ground homes. Poking the beatels until they curl up into little black balls. Watching the butterflies circle as she spins herself dizzy. Of course the female white tail dear had to be the highlight of our hike. We were coming off a rock slab on one of the scenic vistas and there she was staring right at us. After a quick exchange of glances the doe darted off through the trees.

Here we go!!!!

2007-09-02T11:28:00.000-04:00

Why do we have blogs??? Is it to sell a product, show off, keep family members up-to-date with our lives... I guess for me it would be the later. I want to be able to share pictures of my adventures with Jaedyn and Autumn as well as my solo adventures. A place where friends and family that I may not always have time to call or e-mail can see what's going on in our lives.
I guess I could start off buy putting up a couple of my favorite pictures from the last several years.

What can I say about this picture....

The three boys modeling Jaedyn's new princess stuff.

Who doesn't like making a good ol' fashion snowman.

Just one of the awsome climbs I did out in Arizona. (Mars Attacks)

A ton of thanks to Mike and jodi, it was a trip.

What can I say...

The look on the employees face at the rental car place was priceless.

Let's not forget about the many faces of Jaedyn.....
"I don't want my picture taken anymore"
"Is this how fishes eat?"

Well, that will do it for now. Hopefully I'll have some great pictures from Autumn and my trip to the Gunks in October.