Adventure in the Poconos

We spent the weekend in the Poconos with our friends Craig, Tonya, and Aaron. Our big adventure was a 4-hour whitewater rafting trip on Saturday. We were a bit concerned about the weather, which was listing scattered thunderstorms all week. We were quite fortunate that the weather was perfect, a few clouds kept it from being unbearably hot and the thunderstorms stayed away.

We were also fortunate that they allowed all 7 of us to go in the same boat for they usually limit boats to 6 people. It wouldn't have been the same experience at all if we had to break up into two groups. Since I had done this trip last year, I was nominated as Captain and would shout my orders: "Hard left! Right Side row! All paddle!" My crew did a fabulous job and we had no mutiny from my loyal and hard-working crew. Tonya did donate her sunglasses to the river, but that was our only casualty.

We stayed at a lovely guest house called the Canal Side Guest House. It is a restored canal house on the Lehigh Canal and was built in 1820s. The owners, Rod and Jen, have done a remarkable job restoring this house. It obviously is a labor of love that they have dedicated themselves to and the work that they have done is mindboggling. Rod and Jen live in an adjoining apartment and are outstanding hosts and really neat people. They are both avid cyclists and they have created this house as an affordable way for outdoor adventurists and travelers. Rod even spent a year cycling the entire circumference of the United States and has a map detailing his route. They have also cycled in Iceland, Vietnam, and other places throughout the world. We really enjoyed hearing their tales about their adventures as well as the house. The house was decorated with many beautiful antiques, quilts, old sports memorabilia, and books. There was a comforting sense of nostalgia in the house especially with an Atari system with every imaginable game cartridge. I'm not quite sure who had more fun playing Space Invaders, Pong, Pitfall, Asteroids, Pac Man, Defender...me or the kids. We all got a good laugh at the quality of the graphics and sounds that seemed so cutting edge back then. The kids also got a lesson on vinyl records, for Rod and Jen had quite a collection along with a working turntable. Craig explained to the kids, "these are vinyl records. Sound is generated by a needle that goes around in grooves in the album." Megan even remarked when she found the switch to go from 33 1/3 to 45 rpm, "There's a fast forward button on it." Priceless. There was also a trampoline that the kids spent hours on. All in all, a very comfortable and relaxing place to stay with a lot of character at a very affordable rate.

On Sunday, after sleeping in and lazing around the Canal House, we packed up and headed to Jim Thorpe for the day. We did bypass the Redneck Festival that was going on right down the street, but got a laugh out of some of the activities listed in the paper (toilet races, Daisy Duke look-alike contest, armpit chorus band...) but didn't have great desire to investigate further. Jim Thorpe is a lovely town with quaint shops and a lot of walking (working our lower bodies after Saturday's upper body workout). We even had some fall foliage coming out, that we later found out to be Aspen trees.

We did go to the old Jim Thorpe jail and took a tour--an eerie experience in a jail that only closed in 1995. Here we learned about the Irish coal workers, the Molly Maguires, who were accused (wrongly, it was later found) of killing the mine bosses and hanged in the gallows in the jail. It was a very interesting, although creepy tour. Megan learned what it would be like to be in jail and has since promised to be good!

It was a wonderful summer ending weekend that seemed much longer than just 2 days.

An Evening with Styx/Boston

Last night we went to Tag's with another couple to see Styx and Boston. It was our first time seeing either of these bands and our first time at Tag's. I must say it was an enjoyable evening all around. The weather was perfect. Getting in and out was fairly hassle free and the concert rocked! Sherry and I both preferred Styx to Boston and wished that Styx would have played longer. The keyboard player/lead vocalist was a decent replacement, although his spinning keyboard, while initially amusing, became a bit schlocky in my opinion. Styx did many of their big hits with "Come Sail Away" being both of our favorites. Boston did many of their hits as well, but also did several songs I wasn't familiar with. They were a bit overly instrumental, with 7-8 minute guitar solos that could have easily been cut to 3 or 4. Maybe I'm getting old. That being said, it was still an enjoyable combination and a rockin good time!

Tag's is a cozy venue for a concert and there really wasn't a bad seat in the house There was quite an age range from 10 to 60 or so. People who wanted to stand for the most part occupied the sides and people who wanted to sit were able to sit more in the middle--sitting at a rock concert--again must be a sign of getting old! I would definately recommend this concert pairing and this venue.

Today I sit wondering if "I have too much time on my hands..."

Wordle of Fun in the Sun

Fun in the Sun

We spent a fabulous 4 days at Lewes and Dewey Beaches in Delaware. Our original plan was to go Sunday morning but we got the itch and left early Saturday morning. The motel that we were staying at did not have any available rooms so we got a nice room at the Beacon Motel in Lewes. We spent our first day at the very clean and well kept Cape Henlopen State Park. The day was hot and sunny, although the surf was a bit rough. We grabbed a pizza and took it back to the room after we rinsed off in the pool and showered. Of course we capped off the first night with some ice cream from the local Dairy Queen.

Day 2 was a bit unsettled weatherwise, and it was our "transition day." We decided to pass on the beach in favor of the pool. We got a late check out and swam in the pool all morning and into the early afternoon. Then we packed up all our stuff and headed down to Dewey, a short 20-minute drive. We checked in at Adam's Oceanfront Motel. As the name indicates, our room was right on the beach, exactly 87 steps from our door to the sand--outstanding. The clouds were rolling in and the wind was up, so we went again to the pool after settling in. Then we walked around Dewey Beach a bit before getting caught in a huge thunderstorm. I had never experienced a thunderstorm at the beach, so it was a neat experience. Dinner consisted of some tasty Maryland fries and other snacks. The burgers that we were going to grill didn't happen due to the rain, but we certainly didn't go hungry. Sadly, the rain kept us from ice cream, but at least the rain came later in the day.

On Day 3 we awoke to hot sunshine. I took a 4 mile walk down the beach, enjoying the early morning exercisers, beachgoers, fishermen, and dogs splashing in the waves. When I returned with coffee and donuts from the motel lobby, Sherry and the girls were starting to stir and ready themselves for a day at the beach. The haze rolled in, which was perfect for our sand sculpting. This year we tried to do a pirate ship, but the mast/sail kept collapsing and the final product looked more like a tugboat. I also did a small lighthouse to go with it. We enjoyed watching the waves come in and destroy them. It was quite cute when two young girls who had watched us build our boat, were desperately trying to repair it, of course to no avail.

I grilled the burgers from the previous night and we ate them on the beach, all the while singing in my head Jimmy Buffet's "Cheeseburger in Paradise." They certainly hit the spot. After a refreshing dip in the pool, we went to Rehoboth to walk around the boardwalk and do some souvenir shopping. We did finish the night with an ice cream treat at a frozen custard spot. We had things called Gelatis, which has frozen custard on the bottom, followed by a layer of flavored ice water (mint chocolate), and then another layer of custard. The custard was delicious, but the combination was a bit weird. I should've stuck with my first instinct of just getting custard.

Tuesday came around too quickly and none of us wanted to go. We tried, unsuccessfully to get a late checkout. We decided to go back to Cape Henlopen State Park for the day because we all needed one more day of beach, but a shower was a requirement for the 5 1/2 hour drive home. We were glad we decided to stay because it was the hottest day and the best day for boogie boarding. Sadly, we showered and packed up and hit the road for an uneventful ride home, arriving at 11:00. We had a wonderful family vacation and all want to move to the beach...

The Quest for Water

The past week has given us the weather that the Middlebrook clan loves--hot and sunny. With the hot summer weather came our repeated quest and discovery of water.

On Wednesday, I met Sherry and the girls at Harris Hill park. While I had been here for annual ISC picnics, I had never been there to swim. We spent several hours at the nice pool, that was surprisingly not very crowded. Sherry and I played Scrabble, which has become our latest competitive addiction while Megan made friends and repeatedly went off the diving board, perfecting her back flip. Harris Hill is one of the few area pools that has a high dive and low dive, a huge plus for the girls. There were some rather large and pesky flies and a thunderstorm cut our swim short, but a pleasant midweek splash.

We've been watching our neighbors' house and watering for them. They happen to have a pool and a hot tub, which they said we could use while they were gone. It's been nice to jump in the pool for a cooloff and to finish our evenings soaking in the spa.

Yesterday, we took an adventure to Ithaca, to Treman State Park, a gem of a place we discovered last summer. It is a beautiful park, highlighted by a waterfall/swimming area, with a diving board right next to the enormous and breathtaking falls. The water was quite refreshing at 65 degrees and quite welcome in the 90+ degree heat. Each of the girls had a friend along, so 6 of us piled into the van for the day. I took the girls for a hike towards the upper falls while Sherry stayed back to keep an eye on our stuff (or so she said :)). The hike goes behind the swimming area and straight up--talk about serious altitude change in a very short time. After hiking for 1/2 hour or so, we came across a smaller set of falls that we had completely to ourselves. The girls plunged right in and splashed around in the falls and surrounding pools for a bit before we hiked back and then jumped right off the board into the cool water.

A daytrip wouldn't be complete without some ice cream, so we stopped at a new place south of Ithaca called Shelly's Barn for some tasty ice cream sundaes. Of course we capped off the day with one final soak in the neighbor's spa.

Today has been spent finishing up some school work and lazing around the house, although we're all starting to look forward to our next aqua adventure, which will be a 2 1/2 day getaway leaving next Sunday to Dewey Beach. While we normally do a week at the beach, my internship ate up most of my vacation, but we're still beyond excited to hit the surf!

Elmira Interactive Whiteboard Training

So much preparing for the big trainings that start next week. We went down for a fieldtrip yesterday to check out the setup and everything looks good. An instructor board, collaborative tables with wireless laptops, 4 "playground" whiteboards for participants all have software loaded and ready to go. Activotes and slates are registered on each board and an Activwand for each board (New Girl quickly demonstrated proficiency with the wand and you could sense she had discovered her new favorite toy). All training flipcharts were placed on the desktops. Folders are being assembled. Elmira sign-in sheets are on the table and ready to go. Software discs for all participants have been placed in the folders. All documents have been uploaded to my ToolboxPro account and I've even made a bookmark (much to Gail's dismay). Bring on Monday!

We made a stop at Big Top on the way home and enjoyed some ice cream for all our hard work. New Girl was overly excited and nearly exploded at the mere thought of ice cream. She even got a bit cranky as she thought I was driving too fast and that I was going to pass Big Top. After we calmed her down and explained that soft serve chocolate and vanilla were always available and there were 2 additional flavors that changed weekly, she was ok and settled into her hard chocoloate peanut butter. So much for New Girl to learn...it's quite a Journey for her (yes, that's a band from the 70s and 80s).

Off to lunch with Mr. Video...

Independence and Birthday Weekend

Wow--a fabulous, fun-filled weekend to celebrate the country's 232nd birthday and my 42nd.

Friday, Independence Day, was filled with 3 parties, the first at Sherry's uncle's house in Wyndam. Highlights included frisbee and hillbilly golf with the kids. Following the early party, we headed up to Julie's in East Smithfield. After getting rerouted through the country because of the 4th of July parade, we arrived for an evening cookout--more delicious food and drink. A competitive game of Bocce ball and some horseshoes were the activities at this party. We left just after 9:00 p.m. and got home to find that our neighbors down the street were putting off some fireworks they had, so we went down to see the show, which was a delightful end to the day.

I awoke Saturday morning to the great surprise that Alex had made me breakfast in bed to kick off my birthday. The presentation of the fruit and berries around the bagel was beautiful, not to mention delicious. A short time later, I opened my present, which was a Wii that the girls had also pitched in on. We played some Wii for a bit before getting the house in order, so that 30+ people could come over for pizza and wings before walking over to the big Sayre fireworks show that night.

After the house was cleaned, the girls and I went out geocaching for the first time with some friends. A GPS unit is used to explore wooded areas and find caches that others have left. In the cache, there is a log as well as some trinkets. When you find the cache, you sign the log, take a trinket, leave a trinket, and eventually record it on the website. As the geocaching slogan goes, "it's the same planet, but a different world." We had a fantastic time caching.

We had worked up quite a sweat on our caching adventure, so we took a dip in our neighbor's pool and hot tub before getting ready for the party. People arrived at around 6 for the pre-fireworks party. Of course there was no shortage of food and Sherry had done a fabulous job planning and organizing the event. After I played some darts with Craig we got a street game of ultimate frisbee going with the girls, John, Kurt, and Aaron, which was a blast. Speaking of blast, we all walked over to the fabulous fireworks show. Each year it seems to get better. Following the fireworks, we arrived back at home to see that the neighbors had cranked up the chimnea, so we sat out by the fire until the tiredness (and reality of being 42) set in at 1:30.

Sunday was certainly not a day of rest. After sleeping in a bit and a few games on the Wii, the girls and I set out for a mountain biking adventure at Roundtop. Megan slammed her finger between her handlebars and a post, which bled and hurt alot. She also had some bike difficulty when she lost all but 4th and 5th gears. We managed to have a nice ride before returning home to yet another bbq--this time ribs, clams, and corn on the cob. Of course there were still desserts left from the previous days' parties and of course we ate them--turtle cheesecake, homemade strawberry pie, and cupcakes. Yummmm.

A second game of ultimate, this time 4x4 at the field. I used to love this game in high school and I love the fact that Alex is taking such an interest in it. While it was tremendously fun, again the reality of being 42 and getting completely gassed sunk in. Thankfully, the neighbors' pool and hot tub provided relief after the workout. The busy weekend closed out with some Wii and the final olympic trials--Dara Torres, 41 and in her 5th Olympics--wow!

Well, this is my first post to my blog that I set up years ago. Now I just need to continue it. My friends at BOCES have inspired me...