Albany-Days Inn Airport/Wolf Road

As luck would have it, I fell off my bike and broke my collarbone 10 days before my departure to hike in Italy and tour around Turkey. Fortunately, it was not a bad fracture so I was able to travel, and could even carry some weight with my right arm, but couldn't hold a backpack on the shoulder.

My itinerary is: fly from JFK to ...

Upstate New York is just lovely, wooded hills broken up with patches of small farm land - old red barns next to white houses set into brilliant green fields. The thruway is occasionally high enough to look down into small valleys that look like christmas villages. The air was cool, misty and the traffic minimal. All of which was a blessing today after yesterday. I actually went to the car and got a sweatshirt.

I saw cows colored ...

The first part of the ride from the village of Lake George to Glens Falls is mostly on a bike trail. It was nice to have a shorter, much flatter ride the next day down to Easton Mountain, where I attended a retreat over Labor Day weekend.

After the fun experience of really checking tire pressure and filling to specs I was on my way - sounds simple but Visions are not. Too much hardware in the way and make sure your have a gauge with a little hose.
First stop, a short hop to Albany to visit with friends I see far too little of. Delightful way to begin the trip, and a shady spot for the bike to roost for the night.

... one or two ridges to cross. There's a great downhill leading to the Alcove reservoir, southwest of Albany. We camped that evening at a lovely marina on the shore of the Mohawk river, just west of Schenectady.

... and all the flowers are blooming. The picture of the trail doesen't do the buttercups justice, they lined the road and were everywhere. We rode by a number of locks all in use. The Erie trail was beautiful and we spent a good part of the ride on it and being a Saturday it was being used by a number of locals. I rode with a husband and wife for a breif period they were on a tandem and couldn't believe what I was up to ...

... quite a revival. Today it has become home to many antique dealers and their shops line Warren Street, adding to its considerable interest, many business owners have been active in the sensitive restoration of the city’s historic houses.

There has been a local art project running, much the same as we have seen in other towns and cities; remember the horses in Ocala FL and the guitars in Austin TX, well here it is dogs, labs to ...

... form of a smile and greeting) to many, and if there is a bad seed there that may take advantage of it, there are others that will step in to defend goodness. It's as though I have a few angels in human form now watching over me as I jog on through. It's so comforting and a great faith experience. My own faith in my Creator and of the human condition. Later on my walk about town and to the capitol bldg, I walked past a man (might have been homeless ...

... relaxing weekends we have had. Other than getting a little to much sun on the beach, it was a great time! Bella did very well with her second camping experience. She is becoming quite comfortable being outside and going up and down the stairs of the camper. She even buried my feet in the sand on the beach. Who knew Chihuahuascould dig such deep holes!

... the girls ready to play without getting over heated. Our team came out right from the first inning hitting the ball well against a good team that gives up few runs. we were all playing well with Erin pitching on the mound the score was 5/1 our favor. We had one bad inning and the Rhode Island girls took advantage and tied the score at 5/5. Mariah came in to finish ...