Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Monday, July 21, 2008
Yosemite Trip
The past 4 days were spent at Yosemite. This trip was different: a July date means hotter days, more crowds, and less water.
Midnight (full moon) Half-Dome hike was scheduled for Friday evening. We left about 20 minutes late, and the pace was hurry up and wait. Having 21 people meant the rabbits had time to cool down while waiting for the tortoises. Once we reached the stairs (1 hour prior to the cables), well, no one was waiting on anyone. The majority made it to the top for the sunrise. There were more people at the top of Half-Dome than either of my two prior trips.
The reserved curry village tent filled for two of the three nights. Great people. I had a confrontation with a momma bear and her cub at 3:30am Friday morning. Then the park rangers showed up – with a shotgun!
Midnight (full moon) Half-Dome hike was scheduled for Friday evening. We left about 20 minutes late, and the pace was hurry up and wait. Having 21 people meant the rabbits had time to cool down while waiting for the tortoises. Once we reached the stairs (1 hour prior to the cables), well, no one was waiting on anyone. The majority made it to the top for the sunrise. There were more people at the top of Half-Dome than either of my two prior trips.
The reserved curry village tent filled for two of the three nights. Great people. I had a confrontation with a momma bear and her cub at 3:30am Friday morning. Then the park rangers showed up – with a shotgun!
Sunday, July 13, 2008
Ottawa Bluesfest
Bill, Cathy, and I arrived in Ottawa on Friday for the BluesFest. The Marriott was in a great location, walking distance to the venue and downtown. Tasty Lunch was at D'arcy McGee's, and then we walked about downtown, Parliament, and the Rideau Canal.
We met up with Vance and 7 others from Massena at the Heart and Crown. Great place! Bill and I left early to see the last half of Shelby Lynne’s show. We made a quick dash to what we thought would be the Great Big Sea stage that currently had Theory Of A Deadman playing. I am not normally into metal rock but TOAD put on a great show. Really funny moment when a fan jumped on stage and began playing air guitar until roadies dragged him offstage.
Stupid me, GBS was to play on a different stage. Estimates were that 30,000 people were there to see GBS, and every one of them managed to push past me or spill beer on me. We pulled back from the stage to get breathing room and watched the show on the big screen. The show was great but we underestimated the crowd size by a factor of 10.
Everyone met up at the Marriott lounge afterward. In hopes of seeing GBS (staying at the hotel), two girls had hula-hoops and were hooping whenever a tour bus drove up. A pizza delivery truck pulled up and one of the girls jumped on the elevator with him. All efforts were to no avail as the band did not show up.
Saturday was another beautiful day in the Canadian capital. What an absolutely stunning city.
We met up with Vance and 7 others from Massena at the Heart and Crown. Great place! Bill and I left early to see the last half of Shelby Lynne’s show. We made a quick dash to what we thought would be the Great Big Sea stage that currently had Theory Of A Deadman playing. I am not normally into metal rock but TOAD put on a great show. Really funny moment when a fan jumped on stage and began playing air guitar until roadies dragged him offstage.
Stupid me, GBS was to play on a different stage. Estimates were that 30,000 people were there to see GBS, and every one of them managed to push past me or spill beer on me. We pulled back from the stage to get breathing room and watched the show on the big screen. The show was great but we underestimated the crowd size by a factor of 10.
Everyone met up at the Marriott lounge afterward. In hopes of seeing GBS (staying at the hotel), two girls had hula-hoops and were hooping whenever a tour bus drove up. A pizza delivery truck pulled up and one of the girls jumped on the elevator with him. All efforts were to no avail as the band did not show up.
Saturday was another beautiful day in the Canadian capital. What an absolutely stunning city.
Thursday, July 10, 2008
Long Island Visit
I visited Conkling’s on July 9. Karen and the kids picked me up at Massapequa Park station since John couldn’t get away from the office. The afternoon was spent catching up with the kids. Bass (Mackenzie), cello (Christina), and clarinet (Matthew) were pulled out. Courtney did not have a flute yet, so she played the piano. We went to the Fire Island lighthouse. Courtney decided to stay back so Karen and she turned back. Great view from the top. Evening plans were to go to the Symphony Pops concert. Met John at home, talked for a while then loaded up a picnic. Found out the concert was postponed when we arrived. Why couldn’t this have been put on their website?!?! So John suggested an Applebee’s dinner.
Monday, July 7, 2008
Letchworth State Park
Bill, Chris, and I traveled to Letchworth State Park Sunday. It would be great to see during the fall (colors) or spring (water runoff). We had a drink at the Glen Iris Inn then traveled to Canandaigua for dinner and ice cream.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)