Last Week Of September

9/26/22

I took Sunday off to recover from my fall, finding a few more scrapes and  bruises. By Monday, there was a 4 hour window of nice weather before the storms, so I set off to bike the Albany-Helderberg Trail to get a nice 22 miles in. I started from the Pearl St end so as to be heading downhill for the return trip. I was happily suprised to find an art display at the Voorheesville end and several free mini libraries along the way. This path offers lots of services (bathrooms, food, shops, tool stands) along the way along with just woods, streams, and farmland. And it is a 15 minute drive from home.

    The big barn and a little library.

    Voorheesville trail head gazebo.

    Tree art display.

    They are painted on acrylic sheets attached to the trees.

They might be pandemic inspired pieces.


The storm clouds are gathering in the northwest distance.

The weather was fine in the southeast.

9/29/22 Harlem Valley Rail Trail

I enjoy this trail so much I decided to see if I could get some other friends to join me for a more lengthy adventure. Ann Marie and Amy Jean were available so we set off at 8 am, got to the trail head by 9 and started riding at 9:20. We are riding for fun, scenery, and food so we set off at a leisurely pace and stopped for pictures whenever a view point presented itself. The weather was chilly in the 50's but we all dressed in many layers and I wore gloves the whole ride. I could have used a hat or buff, but was fine without one.

We stopped to do a little window shopping in Millerton after 14 miles, then again for lunch at the Oakhurst Diner at 26 miles. We finished the day with an even 40 miles!!! We got back to the car with 39 miles but I said no way - and we rode back a half mile to make sure we hit 40 miles. My legs and one hip are very sore. 

Always a fun outing with these BAB's.

    They claim they didn't coordinate their outfits.

    The tiniest snapping turtle I've ever seen.

photo credit: AmyJean

photo credit: AmyJean


    Riding towards 40 miles!



9/30/22 Kayaderosseras Creek Paddle.

I woke up this morning exhausted and sore from the bike ride, but I had a kayaking trip scheduled for the day and a hike for the next day. I spent a few minutes thinking about the reality of my activity schedule and decided to bag the Saturday hike and go kayaking today. It was a good decision.

The weather report was not great - cool and cloudy - but when we set off the sun was shining which made the cool temperature just fine. There were green herons and kingfishers all over the place and I even managed to capture a photo of a small heron. The kingfishers are too quick for my iPhone 12 Pro to get a shot, but I just used my eyeballs to admire their beauty. One flew so close to us, mostly to taunt Susan as she forgot to put the memory card in her fancy camera that could have captured it in flight. Oh well. She wasn't too bothered about it.


    Fall color has started.

photo credit: Susan

photo credit: Susan





    A green heron.


This fawn and its mother were relaxing in my yard without a care in the world. They were mildly interested in watching me unload the kayak and put my gear away. 


The day ended with a dinner out in Troy, NY at the Dinosaur Barbeque. Dan chose it for the fine beer and meat selection as we were celebrating his birthday. We finished the meal with ice cream from the Dutch Udder ice creamery and the sky presented a spectacular sunset. 

I was supposed to hike today, but my body is telling me to rest and sleep in. No waking up at 5 am for a 6 am meet up. Sometimes you just need to take it easy and perhaps tidy up the house. Or buy a new oven range as mine overheated this week and I called time of death for the 15+ year old appliance with several other issues. Retired life goes on...

Comments

  1. MargaretOctober 1, 2022 at 12:35 PM

    40 miles! I'm impressed and my legs and hips hurt in sympathy with yours. I love that diner; it's so atmospheric. I hope the food was good also. I'm glad you're listening to your body and resting. Oven range, refrigerator--I'll need to replace them soon. (26 years old)

    ReplyDelete
  2. MargaretOctober 1, 2022 at 12:35 PM

    Oh, I forgot. You're getting some beautiful autumn colors. It's still too warm here for that.

    ReplyDelete

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