Getting the itch.......in a good way.

It's Fall and the best time of year, around here anyway, to do any kind of backpacking and camping.  Sure it's a touch cold on some nights, more importantly the mornings, but it's worth it.  The lack of crowds and bugs, it makes it more doable.

However, since I only have one trip set to happen for sure (annual brothers camping trip), there aren't more in the immediate future.  So I have to look forward.  My son wants to go to Maine again to see the place with the trampoline in the water, I don't blame him because it was a neat place to see, but there are so many other places, how do you repeat once place in lieu of trying another place that might be even more amazing?  That's a question my wife and I have time to decide about.

That thought brings up the thought of all the other places we'll never get to see or explore.  That is depressing!  I sit in this chair at my desk, trying to figure out a way to get to these new places but unless the lotto comes through, there's no way for me to get to do that without disowning my family and being poor.  Not something I want to do.  I guess the only solution is to do as much as you can, whenever you can and for as long as you can.  You can only do what you can do, right?

Sometimes I'm fine with that thinking and other times I hate the very thought of it.

In the next few years I hope to put several miles on my tired of sitting at my desk sore legs.  I love being in the woods.  I love being up on an exposed rock top, wind blowing by my ears, the sun sneaking through the cold and the wind.  It's an extraordinary feeling, once I miss almost every day.

So with the new job comes a new search for where the next year will take our family on the road, although local places are great, they're just that, local and mostly easy to access.  We can do them any time.

Here's to planning your adventures.

A Walk thru Ivyland and a Walk Thru Time

Ivyland (Borough) is a small town in Bucks County, PA.  The Borough itself is a historical place, with many of the homes over 100 years old and in very nice condition.  There are tree lined streets with sidewalks flat with the street and no curbs.  The speed limit is 25 everywhere, but there's barely any traffic.  Most homes have slate roofs and some form of barn that is as old as the homes, complete with sliding doors and just the appropriate amount of wear and tear patina they deserve.  The train runs through the edge of town, right where it goes from being a quaint little borough to a modern industrial park, complete with offices, traffic, noise and full parking lots.

As I am almost halfway through my last week of work at my current employer I went for a nice walk through the borough.  The leaves crinkling underfoot, the smell of many variety of old trees and old houses wafting through the air set the scene.  You'd never know you were a quarter mile from a very busy state road and three-quarters of a mile to a major, four lane, state road.  It's very quiet, weirdly quiet.

I have walked through this little place many times in the past almost nine years, and it always feels the same.  It feels like I have walked through a timewarp, I'm in a town that as a child I never stepped foot in but the feel and the air make me feel like I'm walking back in time, through a memory.  For my childhood neighborhood had trees nearby with the same smells and leaves as this town.  There were only new homes in my neighborhood, with the exception of a few, and those houses smelled just like this whole borough.  The smell of the leaves I think is the part that directly drives me back to my elementary school days, the smell of fall always drives me back to that time period.  I almost feel like no one is there, anywhere.  It's as if nothing else existed outside of this small town and my walk through it.

I'd walk home from school a lot then, it feels a lot like my walks though Ivyland, which I think is why I feel so close to the place.  It's so hard to explain the feeling, it feels like my childhood home but I know it isn't.  Between the silence and the ever so random falling leaves, it feels like time has almost stopped.  It always makes me think of so many things, life, where I am in it, adventure, home, family, holidays, being a kid, playing in a local park, being able to walk to a local store or your friends house without an ounce of concern about how far you were going because they were within four blocks.  It makes me think of snow storms that would bury these homes and being inside them, warmed by a fire, the smell of an old home, looking out weathered windows.  I feel holiday dinners, with all the tradition and fanfare, but none of the department store bullshit.  Just family, food and a warm comfortable home filled with love.

I think it's the changing of the seasons that does this to me, it's just just where I am, it's the season in general.  It's the bringing the end of a year, the end of a fruitful season filled with outside fun and sunshine.  It's time to stock up the firewood, get out the blankets, build a fire and sit with loved ones in front of it while it crackles through the cold night.

I am very much looking forward to the cold nights ahead, nights spend cozy on the couch or bundled up outside watching the stars on a cold, crisp and quiet night.

Family Road Trip to Maine to New York to PA... Cabin to Tenting...

Chillin' at LL Bean

We normally do not do a week straight vacation, mostly because we like to take a lot of longer weekend trips and space out our vacation time.  But this year, we started out that way, only doing four days in New York's Adirondack's then it turned into my wife wanting to go to Maine again and we filled out the first part of the week enjoying some unplugged time in Maine.  Going through Canada was just an interesting experience in itself.

We left for Maine Sunday night, arriving at the LL Bean mother ship around 10:00 am.  We got out stretched, returned my wife's boots and checked out some things.  Many people aren't LL Bean fans, but I do love some of their stuff and that there's just so much outdoors stuff to be seen.  We spent some time there, my wife picked out new boots (they didn't have them in stock) and had a so-so Lobsta roll and made our way to our destination, a remote Sporting Camp near Jackman, ME, known as Bulldog Camps.

Weather for the trip up was perfect, blue skies and nice temps.  Traffic was light and we made pretty good time getting there.  There's something about driving down roads where there's almost no buildings and when you see a for sale sign, that call out 70 acres, it makes me feel good.

We arrived down a long forest road, first impression was the view was outstanding.  A large. beautiful lake and mountains were laid out before us.  Quiet as can be.  Weather wasn't staying super nice but it was certainly plenty nice.  My son couldn't wait to get into the cabin, he asked us almost immediately, "where's the TV?"  I took him on the front porch, nature splayed out before him for miles, and I said, "here is your TV".  Tacky, maybe, but he got the point.  Never asked once.  We spent out time there paddling the lake for hours, checking out the remote cabin, the massive rock slides, the crystal clear lake and searching for Moose and Loon.  We swam, enjoyed delicious dinners and happily stayed unplugged occupying ourselves with time spent together.  There were times when we'd irritate each other, but they were over quickly.  The kids explored, we included, a hike to hidden falls over a magically bridge was taken.  My son and daughter practiced fishing with their first fishing rods.  He was getting very good and very proud of himself.  My 2-year old daughter did very well also, but will be better next year.  This is the first time we ever took the dogs, mostly because they weren't allowed and it's hard to travel with them and the kids.  They had a blast and were very good.  They're both great camp dogs and my kids bonded more with them more than they ever have.

Our First Humble Abode

The "Remote" Camp...

View From the Dock

The dog is excited...

 As you can see, Maine is amazing.  There were only three Loon's that blessed us with their calls in the evenings but it was still nice.  Some camps I've been to the Loon's keep you awake at night, but it's a nice kind of awake.

Off to Canada, car problems, and eventually New York.

First time for Wife and Kids

America is Popular

Her sleeping routine

 

 

 

 

Me being the Semi Kayak hauling System

After driving with car problems, through Canada (beautiful BTW), we made it to Forked Lake in New York's Adirondack's.  It's a beautiful place, if you get the chance, go.  It's a boat-in/hike-in place, with most sites only boat in access. It's beautiful wilderness and people love and respect the area.  The site we reserved, was a mess, no water access and I'm sure the bugs were going to be horrible because of the marsh/bog like area in front of the site.  I paddled back, asked the caretaker for another site with a beachy area, for the kids, and he obliged with a nice site across from our reserved site.  Had a nice dock and small beach access.

When nature calls...

Room with a view...

More to come...

In the rain at the lake

We're on the edge of Memorial Day weekend.  A weekend dedicated to remember all those brave men and women who fought and sometimes gave it all so that we would have our freedom that most cherish so dearly.

For most of the day all I could think about was getting out of work and getting home to see my family.  I had enough and was ready for some time outdoors with them.  Mother Nature has been a fickle lady this year, a rough winter for those who don't like the cold and snow and a very wet Spring with several major rain events.  But with the sun shining, even so briefly, we headed to the lake.  We grabbed some dinner from the best place around and headed off.  As the clouds moved in, we got to what normally is an insanely busy part of the lake.  But I guess the cool temps and the threatening rain scared all but several brave souls away from the lake.  We were one of three cars in the parking lot, a young family was trying to get out on the lake for a quick kayak ride before the weather kicked in.  I warned them about the impending monsoon coming but they rushed off and got a few moments in on the water.  While we ate in the comfort of the truck, he packed up the kayak and wished he listened to me, his words, not mine.

We noticed what might have been a brief window of clear weather on the radar and we were off to the next place.  We got out and had twenty minutes of cool, but dry time playing by the lake.  There were only three other cars in that lot, a couple of people trying to get their boats in before the storm and a few casting from the shore.  It's not the far off destination I dream about often, but it's all I need for a short, quick fix.  Watching my kids enjoy the simple pleasure of getting their feet wet, throwing sticks to our eager dogs and eventually tossing small pebbles into the water was all I needed for my day to end on a great note.  The only thing better was them asking to go to another lake... I only wish I could oblidge.

Like the saying goes, all good things come to an end, the rain kicked in, we packed up and headed off.

Morning Routine

It's like the movie Groundhog Day with Bill Murray at my house every morning.  My son comes into our room, blanket and pillow in tow, asks for his milk, makes himself cozy in our bed and enjoys his morning milk.  You can guarantee that is going to happen every morning.  From there on out it's a crap-shoot.

His little routine makes me laugh every morning.  Sometimes it's a bit annoying because he comes in at different hours, ranging from 5 am to 8 am, depending on the day and when he went to bed.  If he comes in to early, we don't sleep well, if he comes in late, we feel so rested that it's like we missed some part of the morning, or overslept.

I don't think we'd have it any other way.  I think to myself, "when will this end?"  When will my little boy not want to cuddle in the morning anymore and at what point is he to old for that kind of behavior.  But that's one of those things that I'll relish now and worry about it in the future if I have to.

Firefighter Life.

I am a volunteer firefighter and have being this 'job' for almost 20 years now.  It's been a blast most times and other times it's like any job, it can have it's down sides.  Normally it's after a tough call where the situation didn't go as well as you had hoped it would go.  Sometimes it's just the weather, hampering your efforts.  Recently the volunteer fire service as a whole has been in a slump.  There used to be more volunteers than you knew what to do with, now we're running low.  Adults are far to busy working more than one job, taking classes towards a degree or additional degree, taking their kids to their various sporting events and school events, no one has time.  Now, teenagers and young adults have also been dwindling in numbers in the fire service, this is mostly due to a lack of caring, effort and the willingness to put down their iPhone for a few minutes to realize that there's more to this world than Facebook.

At my station we are lucky enough to have a streak going of several volunteers that are not yet adults but are willing to spend additional hours training, on top of school work, to be a part of a service that helps members of their community and surrounding communities.

Last night for drill we spent the night training with hoselines and ground ladder placement for various types of scenarios.  Being "Juniors" they aren't allowed to enter a burning building but they are allowed to help outside as much as they can.  It was a pleasant surprise to see almost all of our junior members show up to drill ready to learn, we were missing several senior firefighters but it's understandable as not everyone can come to every drill or call.  The few senior firefighters that were there went through the basics and techniques we've been taught over the years and have used on the fireground before.  It went well and it seemed that they got some good training out of it to hopefully prepare them for down the road when they attend fire school and eventually go on emergency calls as active firefighters.

At the end of the night we went to the local Dairy Queen and then our Deputy Chief took part in something going around as of late known as the 'Cold Water Challenge'.  It's where you get hosed off, or jump in a pool or lake before it gets warm enough for swimming in honor of our fallen brothers and sisters in the fire service.  The person called out also donates $100 to the Fallen Firefighters Foundation and calls our five other people for the challenge.  This was a great moment for me, you get to see the fun side, the honor and brotherhood of firefighters and the bond we have.

Being a Father.

One of the greatest gifts of all time for me is being a father.

It's a bolt statement and sure there are trying times, I'm sure in the instance that I go upstairs to bed tonight and awake in the morning the routine of my son asking my wife and I where "we're" going today will end in the same saddened angry voice that gets said so many times through the weeks that it's to the point where it's funny, in a weird sort of way.  It's funny I suppose because my wife and I know that he really likes school, probably not for the learning, but for the friend's and fun activities he gets to do throughout the day while mommy and daddy are plodding away at work.

Right now my wonderful son is having his back rubbed, another funny routine, by my wife like she does almost every single night.  He knows it's time to get to sleep when one of us comes in, he normally asks what are we doing, then we say it's time for bedtime, he flops on his belly and pulls his shirt up so that we can properly scratch his back so that he is properly ready for bed.  One last heavy sigh and a "I love you" and he's ready for bed.

My sweet angel baby girl asks for me to put her to bed, which is funny because her bedtime routine includes a dash of milk and as many songs as she can get out of you before you sneak out the door.  Since I'm a terrible singer and know hardly any songs, I muddle through a few and tell her I love her and that "daddy has to use the potty" and make my exit.  She doesn't cry or get upset, she just gets cozy and goes to sleep.  Maybe it's my horrendous singing skills, or complete lack of knowing the right words because my wife, who knows most of the songs, is in there a lot longer then I am and my baby is not happy when she leaves.

There are times throughout the day that can and will turn your hair many shades of gray, but in the end, when you stop working, stop caring about the crap that fills your day with stress, your kids can come through for you tenfold.  With a simple act of a good night hug or a surprising, seemingly out of nowhere hug, all that crap is gone.  I can only hope that my children love me as much as I love them.