Iron Girl Nancy

Nancy completed a Iron Girl Triathlon in record time of 2 hr 25 min. After much training and preparing she made it. Lots of family members were in attendance for this feat. Steve, Ben, Brian, Amelia, Kay Farrell, Renee, Alex, Mom and Dad all were there to cheer her on. Nancy also saw Kelley and Rob along the route. Nice going, Nancy. We are looking forward to her next competition the Marine Corp Marathon in Washington, DC in October.

Vermont August 2008

Vermont Expedition August 2008

Monday 8/7 – Steve, Ben and I drove to Newark Airport to pick up Ted and Chris. Ted was there when we got there but Chris’s flight was late, about ½ hour after we got there. Ted and Ben went for a snack, Steve stayed with the car and I went to meet Chris about 12:15. Off to River Edge to pick up Tim. Loading and a few pictures and we were off. Lunch along the way from Dante’s .Easy ride up the NY Throughway to the side roads of Vermont, especially VT 100, to Waterbury and the Old Stagecoach Inn where we ended last year. Nice supper at Arvad’s a couple of blocks down. Everyone slept well. One of the rooms was the same as last year.

Tuesday 8/8 – Winooski River Bridge at Rt 2, Jonesville to Buchanan Shelter. Nice breakfast and a fairly early start. Trail description all up and wet but nice weather when we started. 8.3 miles. Tim and Chris drove the rest of us to the trailhead and then drove off to the Alpine Inn at Stowe. The rest of us started hiking. Similar trail conditions to our first year with water running down a not too rocky trail. After a couple of hundred yards,WHOOSH the mud sucked off one of Ben’s shoes and he was skipping through the water with one shoe and one sock. Steve rescued him, reattached the shoe and his feet were great the rest of the day. Uphill slogging for the rest of the morning, warm and my shirt and most of the others were soaked with sweat. Ben was not comfortable with his pack and Ted carried his sleeping bag for the rest of the day. Tim and Chris caught up about 11:15. A lot of controversy about Dad’s lunch selection. Personally I like the European rye with Dante’s salami and Ben was satisfied with his peanut butter on white. Tim had his own provisions and Chris had acquired some rye bread and cheese. After lunch Ben, Chris, Ted and Tim hiked on ahead to Buchanan Shelter. Started raining near the end. Steve and I arrived a bit later (maybe 2 hours?). Rotten thing the shelter was .3 mile off the trail. Downhill but slippery and WET. Very nice shelter with enclosed sleeping area and a verandah. The first hiker we met (he was going south) was from Ridgefield Park, NJ. Only one more man going south and two girls going our way to the same shelter. Ben found the girls were 21 years old and they were from Colchester, VT. Nearby. Ben and Chris and Tim built a bonfire (quite a trick with wet wood) and Ben entertained the girls with a “sparks” shower. Rain started hard late in the night with loud pattering oon the tin roof. Mice scurrying about and some heard a loud, bloodcurdling scream “OOHAW-LEE” from some unknown animal. Chris thought maybe a moose. Ben did a good job of leading us on throughout the day. A vertical climb of more than 2,000 feet.
Wednesday 8/9 – Raining at wake up and breakfast. Decision made to split up. Tim, Ted and Chris to go on uphill north to Bolton Mt. and Taylor Lodge and then to Lake Mansfield via the cut off. Ben Steve and I to return the way we came (downhill) back as far as Bolton Notch Road. 3.3 miles. We saw the boys off and completed our packing. The rain continued and Steve slipped on the stairs of the lean to and broke off about two inches of wood from two steps without hurting his back. We all went back up the .3 mile to the main trail (although some thought the distance was underestimated). Steve said it didn’t seem as far in the morning as at the end of the day before when we were tired. Ben did a good job of leading us downhill despite the wter. We saw one man who passed us mid-morning. Asked if he saw two 40 year olds and a 16 year old going north. He said no but he did see three 20 year olds. So much for reliable witnesses. One other woman and a man passed us. The man had a GPS and said the Bolton Notch Road was .2 mile ahead. Hooray! We were there in 15 minutes. Took off our packs and tried to call the taxi or the Alpine Inn. Not much luck in getting their numbers but Steve finally succeeded in calling and leaving a message at the Inn. Luckily a nice lady stopped and gave us a ride to Waterbury on the way to her Yoga lesson there. Also gave us some information on an alternate trail in the Adirondacks which is more level. We called the taxi for a ride to Stowe. In the waiting time lunch at Arvad’s again where we had supper the first night. Checked in at the Arbor Inn and showered. Shortly after Steve got a text from Ted that they would be at Lake Mansfield at 3:30. A short time letter a message that they were already there. Picked them up and Ted will relate the story of their walk. While waiting to be picked up they were told there was no beer for sale (to them at least) at the private Lake Mansfield Trout Fishing Club. Interesting couple as innkeepers at the ARbo Inn in Stowe. Both Polish immigrants (about 25 years ago) Jolasta and Witold Lukasiewicz. He related a lot of fun in English speakers pronouncing his first name. It was listed as “Willy”.

Thursday 8/10 – A day of fun. Went to the Waterbury State Park and Reservoir in the morning with stops for fishing tackle and a license for Tim. The pack was anxious to swim across the lake again, including Ben, Steve, and Ted this time. I rented a canoe and followed. Ben swam with them about half way across. I then threw him a life preserver and Steve put it on him. He swam a bit further and then got in the canoe to help me paddle. The group went the rest of the way and returned drafting each other in a “peloton” on the way back. Beautiful weather and scenery for nice pictures. Had a nice lunch and headed for Stowe. We all rode up to the top of the Alpine Slide on the ski lift and all enjoyed the slide down. Walked over to the Euro Bungee where Tim and Ben jumped up and down and Tim did a few flips. Walked over to the Gondola to the top of Spruce Peak. One unnamed member relying on Al Gore’s theory of anthropogenic air pollution really did a trick on the air quality in the gondola. Quick action in opening the ventilation windows prevented asphyxiation. Nice experience at the top although clouds soon moved in. Back to the Inn and later supper at the Alchemist Pub in Waterbury.

Friday 8/11 – Relatively uneventful ride to River Edge via the ferry at Fort Ticondereoga.

Europe 2008

Helsinki

After the excitement of Russia we headed to neat and tidy and stylish Helsinki. We really loved this city but here we felt the dollar's decline more than anywhere on our trip. A beer at the hotel bar was 6 Euros, around 10 dollars.

We took a bus from St Pete's and on the way we talked with a very pleasant Finn who gave us some ideas on what to see in the city and came up with a quote that we thought fitting-"without Winter there is no Finland."

We were only in Finland 4 days but we made much of these days traveling to the many islands in the Helsinki area via the incredible tram, ferry and bus system that serves the area. This reminds me of another quote we heard during the trip, "the Soviet Union created a workers paradise, in Finland." Finland really is a social democratic wonderland-free health care, an extensive mass transit system that serves all, generous paternity and vacation benefits, a strong labor movement and all this with much of the flash of capitalism because of the Finish/Scandinavian sense of style which is omnipresent.



Beyond enjoying the workers' paradise we moved outside the central city a few times to enjoy the islands that make up southern Finland. The two places we enjoyed the most were the World Heritage site Suomenlinna and Seurasaari Open Air Museum. Both places take visitors way back and in the case of the Seurasaari all the way back to the iron age.



And on Suomenlinna we were able to tour part of the Finnish Navy that was hidden from the Soviets in the 1940's:

Europe 2008

Landed in London on the 15th after a LONG flight on Virgin from Chicago. A fine airline but maybe I am getting older and that 7 hours in a tin can at 35,000 feet now makes me a lot more swelly and cranky. We were soon on to Cologne and went out to dinner with Paul's brother in law Johannes and his friend Frank Peters in an Italian neighborhood for a fine meal and the France/Italy football match which Italia thankfully won. Got a glimpse of the Cologne Cathedral once again and was again wowed by this Gothic colossus.

The following morning we were spirited at 140 KPH in a Mercedes wagon cab to the airport for our flight to Moscow.

Russia-Moscow

Got into Moscow to a midday drizzle that seemed fitting to the grey but booming former center of the Evil Empire. What is immediately striking in Moscow is the construction. Everywhere we went there was surveying, digging, banging and craneing...lots of craneing...oh, and the subway. The subway, Lenin's plasticized corpse and Socialist Classicist architecture seem to these eyes as one of the major remaining visible symbols of Soviet aesthetics. Moscow's Metro is worth a tour in and of itself.



Efficient, functional, inexpensive (in a city that is now one of the most outrageously priced in the world) gaudy, beautiful and a monument to public/collective space. Entering the stations you know from the beginning this is not a run of the mill people mover. The entrance ways tend to make a statement and then you descend, really descend, on tightly torqued escalators, that take one deeper into the depths than one would seem imaginable. All are then (millions a day) treated to all the world's styles of arches, vaults, chandeliers, mosaics, some socialist realism (less then I thought there would be), marble, columns and a lot more. And it works, well, and on time. Here's a video on the granduer that is the Moscow metro.

Our hotel was in an old converted Soviet building on the edge of the city in a working class neighborhood. Ann really enjoyed the wallk across the railroad track (there was a light for pedestrians although I am sure there have been a few casualities over the years) which we crossed daily on our way to the Metro.



In the few days we were in Moscow we walked the main tourist areas, visited Red Square, Lenin's Tomb,



the Kremlin, St Basil's Cathedral,




Pushkin Square, the Peter the Great Monument and sculpture garden



and the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour (which was destroyed in 1931 and recently rebuilt),



amongst other sites.

To be blunt, Russians are rude. Service seems to be learned at a gulag finishing school. In the subway the women workers, we saw no me, were never mean but rarely nice. Smiles are a rare commodity. Our favorite cranky service moment was in a kiosk that we frequented near our hotel. I had bought some cheese, bread and meat there a couple of times prior to our 2nd day when I went to repeat purchasing a Syrian loaf and I picked up the bread like I had previously. This set off our humble Slav. Grabbing the loaf aggressively she threw the bag of bread 8 feet back to its appropriate spot. I guess one is supposed to point to one's bakery and then she will retrieve it from the back NOT grab it yourself. I will not make that mistake again.

A word on Lenin's tomb: I have always, from a democratic perspective, been opposed to the idea of putting Krupskaya's husband on display in rigor. It supports all of the concepts us materialists supposedly oppose-the cult of personality, obscurantism, authoritarianism and an aesthetic that hearkens back to the religious relic collecting of the East. This being said I was surprisingly moved by the viewing. The overall process of the viewing helps build the gravitas of the event. When we were there there was a substantial line that was administered by cops. You then are required to hand over all bags, cameras, etc... You then pass through a metal detector and are searched. You then enter Red Square in an area restricted to those who waited on line. The Kremlin wall acts as a backdrop as you walk towards the triangular red marble mausoleum. The internationalism of the revolution is celebrated as the name of Irish and American (Big Bill Haywood) radicals, among others, share places with heroes of Russian Bolsheviki. As you enter the dark tomb ominous looking, formally dressed soldiers bark out SHUT UP to any chatterers. It sets the tone of sacredness and solemness (fear?) as you descend. Viewers then turn and then ascend again towards a well lit encased corpse. I guess his make-up artists have varied in quality over the years but the current artist is top notched. It amazed me to no end that this person had died in 1924. He looks pretty good. It reminded me of a wake. I was moved. It was quite creepy.

Leaving the mausoleum I now understood the power of the cult. It is solemn. It was powerful. If I had studied Marxism-Leninism since my early years and constantly read about the greatness of the balding one, I too would be moved, oh yeah, I was...even though I was born in the heartland of anti-communism.

Russia-St. Petersburg (Leningrad)

After a few days in Moscow we took the Moscow Metro for the last time to Lenin Station to catch the train to St. Petersberg.



The train was quite new, spacious with a very professional staff. Old Soviet movies were the entertainment which made this one of the most enjoyable train rides of the trip. Took this shot in a very old train station along the way to St Pete's:


Jeff and Natasha met us late at the train station which was quite nice given the late hour and new surroundings.

Two years ago Jeff and I stayed at Hotel Anabel on St. Petersburg's most famous street Nevesky Prospect. We again stayed there this time around with Don and Tim Revis of Kenosha who had joined Jeff earlier in Riga. The Wisconsin 5 where now in St Pete's for an action packed week.

Our first day we all jumped in a small bus, after quite a lot of line waiting and vague price announcements, to Peterhof, the 18th century palace built for Peter the Great. Once again the feelings of my first visit to the Hermitage two years ago returned as the decadence of the royals was displayed at the "cottage" and gardens. Words cannot describe the ornateness and vastness of this crib on the Baltic. Here a few shots to try and convey the degenerate nature of the Russian ruling class in a nation of serfs:



The gardens are vast with lots of fountains, boulevards, bird houses, galleries, etc....



For our return we hopped on a small speedy ferry that took us to the center of downtown, a pleasant surprise as the ride over was akin to a 1940's ride from Warsaw to Auschwitz given the amount of toxic fumes leaking into the passenger area.

Russia is in the midst of an economic boom fueled by gas and oil. The signs of economic growth are everywhere. Correspondingly there has been a rise in Russian nationalism. The Stalinist style military parade this pasted May Day is one of the most visible examples. In our discussions with Russians the primary way that they are experiencing the new nationalism is through sport. The past year has been a particularly succesful year for Russian teams and they won the only contest more insufferable than American Idol, the Eurovision Song Contest. But as in most of the world football reigns and while we were visiting the UEFA tournament was entering its final games and Russia was surprisingly competing with Europe's top teams. They made it to the semi-finals where they finally lost but in the meantime the people of Russia were in a frenzy I can only compare to the winning of the Superbowl by the Packers in 97. We experienced two wins, one in Moscow and one in St Pete's. The St Petersberg victory created a traffic jam along Nevesky Prospect that included gun shots in the air, public diplays of affection towards anyone that would agree, young men standing on the top of cars at frightening speeds, lots of chanting, etc... Quite the experience:



Dangerous behavior:



This guy would have been very upset if the Russian's had lost:



The following took us to the Hermitage, the Russian State Museum. I blathered on in a 2006 post about the wonderfulness of this place but once again I must strongly recommend a trip once to this amazing treasure of loot that the Russian rulers extracted from the Russian serf. Until I went to the Louvre, see below, I had never seen such a collection of paintings in my life.

Fun with the Revis's at Focus



and visits to St Isaac's Cathedral



finished up the Russian leg of the trip.....Oh and a word on Russian cuisine, one word-Crapdogs!




On to Helsinki.

Beckham at DC United

Went to my first ever professional soccer game today to see DC United play LA Galaxy . Dad was the parab operator and it was a day game and my friend wanted to come along. We found out David Beckham plays for LA Galaxy and that was too good an opportunity to pass up. We really enjoyed the event. Just watching the DC fans is an experience in itself. The stands actually bounce up and down with all the singing and chanting. I may even go again. By the way, DC won 4-1. Beckham is amazing to watch. He made the assist for the Galaxy score. He is No. 23.

Ted Fons Moves East

After many years in California at Innovative Interface, Ted has decided that the midwest looks good again. In July, Ted, Jennifer and Rachel will pack up and move east to reside in Dublin, Ohio with a new job at OCLC. Everyone here is looking forward to their being closer. Here's a brief description of his new assignment. Good Luck, Ted.

Here's the press release.

http://www.oclc.org/us/en/news/releases/200818.htm

May Day May Day

These two had an adventure right here at home that turned into a May Day call. Bubbles were up to the window and they nearly covered themselves in bubbles. Any more people in there? Nancy to the rescue with towels and mops. No one drowned.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2292/2447956880_41f9aaba2d_m.jpg

Ted in Maryland

Ted was in DC for a meeting and stopped by for the day. We spent most of the day at Ben's Cub Scout picnic. The event was held at Broadneck Park and included good picnic food and Rain Gutter Regatta. If you've never been to one, you are missing a lot of fun...Ben placed 3rd overall and 1st in single hull. We won't mention why he placed 3rd, but the other two participants had made catamarans, much to the dismay of the other cubs...Those little sprinters just zipped along and breakneck speed. As mentioned before, Ben used a single hull and placed a respectful 3rd....

Capture the fun with these pictures.

Chris Hits Washington

Here are some pictures from last weekend's visit.

The New York Giants SUPERBOWL Champions!!!

Eli Manning walking on to the field.




Here's a small picture of the large crowd cheering on our team.






Yesterday I went to Giants Stadium with a few friends from school after the Parade of Champions in the city. On our drive down the NJ Turnpike we followed the team buses all the way into the stadium. We sat in the 17th row near one of the end zones. Half of the stadium was filled with crazy fans wearing their champions tee shirts and jerseys. The cheered ONE MORE YEAR for Michael Strahan and Coach Spagnuolo and MVP for Eli Manning. This is certainly something I will never forget. Here are some pictures from Giants Stadium! GO GIANTS!!!





Coach Coughlin addressing the crowd and having FUN. :)




The confetti was endless. I took some home with me to save. We were covered in it and I am still finding pieces stuck to my clothes.

STILL CHEESEHEADS AFTER ALL THESE YEARS

We will see what happens after the game today. We may be Giants fans for the Super Bowl. Go Packers

THREE SCORE & 10

You guessed it. Dad/Pop-Pop is 70. Amelia likes the idea

Cali 07 III: Down the Coast

The last 3 days of the trip took us back up to Davis to vist Jennifer, Rachel and Ted and then down the coast to Big Sur and a final walk around in LA. The visit to Ted's was short, we spent lots of time on our way up at the Presidio and lunching in Sonoma, but fun. Rachel hammed it up for the relatives, see pics, as we had a great meal in downtown Davis.

The next day, New Year's Eve, took us down the coast sighting whales and seals on the way to Big Sur. Really one of the great sites on the planet. As Henry Miller (he lived in the area for awhile) put it,

“Big Sur is the California that men dreamed of years ago, this is the Pacific that Balboa looked at from the Peak of Darien, this is the face of the earth as the Creator intended it to look.”

The photos do not do it justice but I'll let them speak for themselves.



The seals near our hotel:



The last sun of 2007:

Cali 07 II: No SoCal

After a marvelous Xmas in Calabama we headed up the San Joaquin valley to Napa. The valley that is the ugliest agricultural factory I have ever seen gives way to the most beautiful agricultural factory I have ever seen, the Napa Valley. We stayed in an environmentally friendly hotel, it had a moat and no electric lights in the lobby, and met Mary and Paul for a frolic of wine tasting and dinner on the Silvarado Trail. Our first stop was lunch at Auberge du Soleil where the view is as impressive as is the pretensiousness of its name. Its an upscale spa/hotel where we could only slum at the bar for appetizers and the hook is the view. Really a good spot to start to get the lay of the land. After the view we headed to Stags Leap winery, ehh, and for the money, forgettaboutit. Then on to Baldacci Vineyards, the best of the wine we tasted by far. Pricey indeed but the Carbernet and Pinot were sausagey and supple, as all wines should be. A day of wine tasting is hard work indeed so after the toil of the day we settled on Rutherford Grille in Yountsville (pronounced yuntsville by some). Comfort food with incredible service, fancy pants surroundings and packed to the gills. Probably the best meal of the trip and by no means the most expensive. The Napa tour was one of the best days of the trip. Mary and Paul made the day as we crawled a small portion of the Silverado Trail in a day to remember.



After a couple days in Napa we drove to San Francisco for a David Sedaris reading and city walking. Before the Sedaris event we stopped at Muir Woods for a hike. Have been to MW a couple of times but this place never disappoints, natural beauty that parallels few places I have ever seen. And damn are those trees big! After MW we drove across the Golden Gate and got in to our one indulgent hotel, The Adagio, (pretty cheap on line though as a last minute special). Located in the theatre district in SF, this boutiqueeee place was really a treat. I think I may have to invest in a king size bed, oh my house is too small! Anyhoo, David Sedaris turned out to be a play BY David Sedaris! It was quite funny although by this time exhaustion had settled in and it took a Herculian effort just to keep the eyes open. The following day we walked the streets begining the day at the farmers' market on the pier a walk through Chinatown and a late lunch at L'Osteria del forno, an unassuming cafe in North Beach that was probably number two on the best meal list although it was simple and modest.



Ann seems to have adapted to San Francisco, no?

After resting up at our swank digs in SF our final morning their took us to breakfast in the Haight and on to Golden Gate Park and the Presidio path for a last look at the city on a gloriously clear and warm morning. This morning brought us spectacular views of the Golden Gate, surfers under the bridge, lots of birds of all types and a dolphin show-they were actually surfing right by the Cliff House.