Wordless Wednesday: Bikejoring

All Good Things are Wild and Free

In the Catskills by Thomas Doughty
"Generally speaking, a howling wilderness does not howl: it is the imagination of the traveler that does the howling." - Henry David Thoreau

Unless, of course, you travel with dogs. Then maybe it's more than your imagination.



I didn't have work on Friday, so I packed up the dogs and drove up to Chester. We went to Hacklebarney State Park, where I've hiked many times. It was about 70 degrees, warm and sunny, but you could feel that fall breeze starting to creep in.






The trails were slick in some spots from the recent rain. And the rivers that cut through the park were flowing fast. It made Nali nervous, but Dexter wanted to get closer and dip his feet in.



I think the leaves were starting to change colors -- but I can't be sure. I spent most of the hike focusing on not falling down. This was Denali's first real hike and she pulled with all her 40 pounds the entire time. She was in harness, so that's exactly what she should be doing, but it made the walk pretty intense.



Going uphill with two dogs pulling was a relief. Going down hill, or trying to maneuver over the rocky trail, was borderline scary. In hindsight, I should have avoided the rocky areas. I was asking for a sprained ankle, but somehow managed to make it out in one piece.



We only went about four miles, but it was pretty warm and I was beat. Denali could have went another ten, I bet. Dexter was content either way. On the way home, I stopped at Alstede Farms for some cider, apple pie, and honey. Nothing beats locally grown food.

All in all, a perfect kind of day.

Let Water Wash Away

Last weekend, Hurricane Irene tore through the Northeast. Some areas were hit worse than others. We were lucky -- we have no basement to flood and we were only without power for about 15 hours. Oh, and no trees fell near us, thank godzilla. The lake and streams around our neighborhood flooded worse than I have ever seen. A week later, almost every house has a pile of flood-damaged items sitting on the curb. It's a shame, but it certainly could have been worse.

In happier news, yesterday was our annual Labor Day barbecue. Despite a crappy weather forecast, the rain held off all day. The town canceled the fireworks, but I think the day was still an overall success. If you're not from South Plainfield, you don't quite understand the importance of Labor Day. I also get to share the day with a ton of friends, both new and old, and many that I only see a few times a year.

When I move out of this town, I'll surely be back the first Monday of September. Always.

P.S. I just got an e-mail from My Memories and it looks like I'll be hosting a giveaway for them -- right here on my blog! Check back in a day or two, I'll be posting a review of their scrapbook software, some coupons, and giveaway details! :)

Earthquakes and Hurricanes

On Tuesday (August 23rd), I experienced my first earthquake. Surprisingly, I felt it right here in central New Jersey. The epicenter was in Virginia and the shock could be felt as far north as Canada. It was a lame little shake -- something I'm sure Californians would barely notice. But holy crap, did it get everybody excited.

This weekend, the Northeast is preparing for hurricane Irene. New Jersey is already in a state of emergency, with the governor urging evacuation of the Jersey shore. If it turns out to be as bad as they're speculating, we're in for a doozy.

I wouldn't mind some power outages and flooding. Back to basic survival mode. I'll just travel via canoe if I have to.

The Trail

Sorry for the crappy cell phone pictures -- it's all I carry when I'm hiking.
I will be buying a durable point-and-shoot soon!
I've been more active in the past couple days than I have been in weeks. Sad, but true -- daily 30-minute walks aren't cutting it. I had Thursday and Friday off, thanks to some Jewish holidays, but found myself without anyone to share the days with. I did what I often do in this situation: I harnessed Dexter and hit the woods.

On Thursday I took a 3.43 mile baby-hike around the Watchung Reservation. Friday we doubled it with a 6.65 mile hike at Jockey Hollow. We hiked the longest trail they had to offer, and it felt amazing! I honestly could hike forever. I had Dexter attached to my waist and he's learning to walk without breaking me in half. I'll probably order a padded "hands-free belt leash" (Dan, go ahead and laugh) in the next few days.

Anyway... while hiking around Jockey Hollow, I started thinking. I'd love to do a really long, multi-day hike -- maybe through part of the Appalachian Trail. I still need to learn a lot -- especially how to pack for such a trip. I'll spend the next year or so training. I need to increase my speed and trail length considerably before I can do anything too extreme (or Xtreme). Not to mention get some real hiking boots -- I don't think Converse sneakers are doing my body any good.

One of the best things about all this hiking is that it makes for one tired dog! On Saturday, Dex accompanied me to the Tails of the Tundra Siberian Husky Rescue fundraising event. It consisted of a two mile hike and lots of other dog-friendly activities. It was really more of a walk than an actual hike, but since I spent the day taking photos and Dexter spent it wrestling huskies, we were both sufficiently exhausted by the time we got home.

Sunday was also spent with canines -- this time, the Howling Woods Farm wolfdogs. No hiking was involved, though. Just taking pictures and educating the crowd. Unfortunately, Dexter had to stay home this time -- not sure my wolfy friends would appreciate his company.

I have more days off at the end of this week, and I plan to scope out some more hiking destinations. If it's cold enough, I may even bike with Dex. We'll see!

The Great Escape

I spent the weekend at my friend Eric’s beach house in Lavallete, NJ. It was perfect. We woke up early, ate delicious home-cooked breakfasts, and spent the afternoons on the beach lounging and swimming.

We came in for sandwiches and some AC, then hit the beach again in the late afternoon for more sun. The evenings were full of amazing BBQ food, ice cream, fireworks, beer, raccoons (a separate post for these guys coming soon), and friends.

I could not have asked for a better Fourth of July. I didn’t bring my camera, and I abandoned my cell phone for most of the trip. I forgot all hair and makeup products, so it truly was a complete break from the day-to-day. I wanted to disconnect, and it was a great escape.

Bike Trip #1

It has taken quite a bit of time for me to sit down and write about our journey -- almost a whole month has passed since Dan and I set out on the longest bike ride I've ever been on.

Our original goal was to ride our bikes from my house in South Plainfield, all the way down to Point Pleasant. I spent several days mapping and re-mapping the route, doing my best to avoid traffic-heavy roads but still keep our trip under 50 miles.

We both had our doubts about the journey. We practiced for a mere two weeks, going no more than 20 miles in a single outing. Some days were easy, the weather was warm and my legs felt great. Other days were torture, freezing cold and legs stiff as boards.

On Monday, April 5th, we were off of work thanks to the Passover holiday. We woke up early and prepared our muscles for a long ride. We loaded our back packs with water, snacks, maps and clothes. Our last preparation involved two salty bagels from the Bagel Pantry, to keep our legs from cramping.

Just after 10 AM, we were off. Cycling through South Plainfield was a breeze. Metuchen was a bit more hilly and a little strenuous. Approaching the Fair Lawn/Edison area, we were rewarded with some downward sloping roads. We crossed over the Raritan River via Route 35, "Convery Boulevard". At the top of the bridge, we rested and applied more sunblock.

After the bridge, things got a bit more difficult. My directions took us up 35 North to avoid the perils of 35 South -- but at the time, this didn't seem right. We back tracked down 35 South, but soon realized I had avoided this route for a reason. We went back up north and found our way.

As we made our way through Sayreville, we missed a turn and went a bit too far. Luckily, a hot dog vendor was able to redirect us and cut down our lost time. We continued riding until we hit Starland Ballroom, a familiar spot from my high school years. Low on water, we decided to stop for some lunch.

This is where things started to fall apart. After finishing our pizza, we asked around for directions -- we hadn't seen the turn we were supposed to make, but figured we were close. That wasn't the case. Apparently, we had gone a few extra miles and completely missed our turn. We asked half a dozen people for directions before finally accepting our fate.

Things went from bad to worse pretty quickly when we discovered Dan's bike had a completely flat tire. We opted against bringing a hand pump -- and I'm not sure why. I believe there had been intentions of mapping out gas stations along our trail, but that essential detail was overlooked. We pondered giving up there, but our rescuer (Terri) wasn't able to get us for a few more hours.

So we were left with no other choice than to back track again, following the directions we received from various shop owners. I pedaled slowly to keep pace as Dan walked his deflated bike. Oh, and did I mention? It was hot. Around 80 degrees hot. The sun beat down on our necks and we struggled on, passing great mounds of dirt and minerals along Water Works Road.

We decided to go back to a gas station we had passed quite some time earlier, before continuing on the turn we had initially missed. With air pumped back in the tire, we were revitalized and kept riding. This time, we stayed on course all the way into Matawan.

The next stretch of our journey would have taken us along a massive bike trail through Marlboro and into Freehold. Dan's tire was losing air and we decided to call it quits. If we got another flat along the trail, we would have been stuck. So we ended up at an ice cream shop, eating Italian ices and reflecting upon the day. Terri eventually made it to us and we drove the remaining miles of our journey to Point Pleasant.

We spent the night on the boardwalk, eating over priced seafood and fried Oreos, then back in our hotel room. We drank beer and cranberry vodkas in the comfort of our creepy, in-room jacuzzi tub and could barely stay awake past midnight.

The next morning we pulled ourselves out of bed early for the crappy, complimentary breakfast and bid Terri (and our bikes) farewell. We made plans to take the train back home, but soon learned that my parents would be in the area and could drive us back.

Dan and I walked the perimeter of Point Pleasant until we were close to starvation; a hunger that could only be subdued by Jersey Mike's. One enormous sub later, I was fit as a fiddle and ready for more adventure.

We made our way back to the beach where we lounged for a few hours. Relaxation isn't the right word, because there were children shouting a few feet from us. But it was still nice to lie in the warm Summer-like sun. As I began to burn, we pealed ourselves from the sand and bought lemonade to pass the time. My parents eventually arrived, treated us to some drinks and took us back to central New Jersey.

In total, our trip was about 33 miles, zig-zagging around central and southern NJ. Despite the heat and exhaustion, I could have easily gone another five or ten miles. I'm convinced that if we hadn't missed our turns and hadn't had bike problems, we would have made it the entire 50 miles. But I'm certainly not ashamed of our "failure". Just more eager to go out and ride again!