Day 1: Pennsylvania and Death Defying Feats.

Alarms went off at 4am. We had to be in Danbury at 5am to load up the kitties and head over to Denny’s for breakfast. After a late start we hit the road at 7am. New York went by quick. Craig and I were the follow car; reporting back about any swaying issues with the trailer and acting as guides to when it was safe to switch lanes. All was going pretty well. Then we entered Pennsylvania. Where do I begin…carnage is a good start. I don’t think I’ve ever seen so much road kill consistently along the side. Construction, holy crap they closed a lane every 30 minutes or so. First, drunken cone placement. They were all over, never actually on the white line. Tractor trailers kept knocking them over and sometimes they’d flip back into traffic. One proceeded […]

Weekend at the beach

Black Point Beach We spent the weekend, courtesy of friends at a beach rental in East Lyme/Niantic. It was a nice break from life and great times with friends. Our friend’s kids kept Craig busy wanting to play games and go exploring. While at the beach Dunkin Donuts flew their banner over head several times. It was really peaceful to be in a private community where you can walk around, leave the house unlocked, everyone waves and says Hi, and people follow the speed limit. There was also something rejuvenating being near the water and having the expectations lowered significantly for two days. More photos on Flickr.

Hiking Black Rock

In my efforts to lose weight and get my health back, I opted for an impromptu hike nearby last weekend. We’ve tried to hike at Black Rock twice before but our timing wasn’t the best (frigid winds in the winter). I came armed with my map found at the CT DEP‘s site. We headed up the blue trail on the western side of the park. As usual with CT, it starts off gradual for about 50 feet and then up! This is a deceiving “short” hike. The funniest part was on the way back down we passed several people in their 20-30’s who said, “good grief I feel old”. I’m guessing too many of us sit behind our desks and computers too much. Then there was one guy who was pretty lean and limber and was doing the loop, up […]

Southford Falls Long Exposures

Wednesday had an unexpected downpour in the afternoon, right when Kelly and I were supposed to be meeting to shoot photos at Southford Falls. It didn’t look like it was going to pass in the next 15 minutes so we opted to reschedule. By the time I got home it was dry and I decided to head down there after dinner. The park was empty and I was trying to beat the setting sun, but I’m very happy with the photos and how they came out. All of the photos I shot were with my tripod, a wireless remote and a neutral density filter. The photo settings were all the same as well, f/22 for 30 seconds at 400 ISO.

Sunset at Topsmead

Last weekend Craig and I picked up sandwiches and headed up to Topsmead State Park for a walk and to enjoy the sunset. The last time we were up there, I drove my car through a good foot+ of mud and there was snow/ice mounds. Now the grass a luscious green, the plantings haven’t come in yet, but the trees were in full green leaves. We explored a section of the park we hadn’t been to. I can’t wait to go back with my bike, and ride this never ending road. There is a beautiful stone wall that runs the length of this road on either side. I loved the old trees. We headed back to the main house to enjoy the sunset from the back porch. There were people playing frisbee and families enjoying the grounds. As the sun […]