Nothing new

I've been working long hours and its been raining. Overall I've been boring. So here is a picture that makes me happy. Beth and I were walking the streets of Dublin when we came upon these boys performing. Here they are signing Brown Eyed Girl I believe. Oh and yes I tossed some Euro change in the case...

Aren't they adorable?

Pick up truck sculpture art

Mean Molly the carved pumpkin

Two prime pumpkins from Key Foods, Astoria. Carried three blocks.

Tops off. Membrane out. Yes that is pumpkin ale.

Ewww....

Seeds for toasting. Apparently pumpkin seeds are the best thing for your body ever. I googled toasting instructions and nutritional benefits. A few highlights- Prostate protection, improved bladder function, depression treatment, prevention of kidney stones, and my favorite- treatment of parasites.

The finished pumpkins, Carrie's Happy Harold and my Mean Molly.

The King of Halloween

The best Michael Jackson scarecrow I've ever seen is about a block from my apartment. The gravestone says "RIP MJ"

21 miles on the Erie Canal

I've got a bike her name is sal, 15 miles on the Erie Canal. Adrian had never heard this famous song? How not? Obviously he didn't grow up in my family. I think he now has a general knowledge of the song, I couldn't help singing every few miles. Built along side is the Erie Canal Hike and Bike Trail. We rode a portion of the Mohawk-Hudson section that stretches from Albany to Rotterdam. We stopped for a bite to eat and rest in the town of Schenectady (I haven't figured out how to pronounce it yet). The trail goes on road and through the town for about a mile here. We ran into a farmers market so I had a look around and noticed a sign for a Art Bike festival, perfect!, we were on our bikes... uh no Art Motorcycle festival... Interesting however and plenty of leather chaps. Over all it was a nice ride with only a few big hills to detour around a government energy building and a GE campus.

Niskayana trail head, our base camp

A tugboat on the canal

Overlook and HUGE hill

Band at the ArtBike festival. I thought it was an old lady lead singer... nope a little boy

Downtown Schenectady

Spelunking in Howe's Cavern

About a half hours drive west of Albany is Howe's Cavern. Adrian had been as a kid and we found a pretty flashy pamphlet at our breakfast joint so we decided to go. The cave was discovered some time in the late 1800's by Mr. Howe's cows. It was a hot day and instead of standing under a tree they were clustered around some rocks. When he got closer he noticed cold air coming out of the rocks. Mr. Howe spent a year exploring the cave before leading tours through, which were eight hours long and included equipment and a packed lunch. We didn't get either but it was a pretty nice tour.

The hills surrounding the cave

The wandering way

The alter stone. People get married in this cave, like 600 couples. This is the glowing heart rock where the ceremonies take place.

On the boat portion of the tour...

A whole lot of calcite

Standing next to the leaning tower of Pisa for my second time this year

Scary? Yes

It's a large stalagmite named pagoda

Bash Bish Falls

Bash Bish Falls is only a few hours north of the city and is gorgeous. There are two routes to get to the falls: 1. a twenty minute level walk 2. a 300 ft hike straight down. We chose option #2. It was worth it.

The view from the top

The red leaves are my favorite

The falls!

Rocks washed away by the water

The falls from the bottom.