Weekend in Vermont

We had a wonderful, fun-filled weekend with Mom - and gorgeous weather and beautiful foliage to boot.

On Friday Mom completed a 17-mile Long Trail hike from Lincoln Gap to Middlebury Gap.  Go Mom!  That was a long day for her, and we met her near the end of it.  Now Dad has completed the entire Long Trail, between doing the northern section himself and Mom and I carrying his ashes on the southern section.  A special way to finish the Long Trail, for all of us.

Saturday evening we had a make-your-own-(delicious!)-pizza supper at Carmen and Steve's house.  It was great to see them and their kids Catherine and Michael again.  It has been over 5 years and the other side of the US since we got together at their previous home in Hilo, HI.  Thank you Carmen and Steve for a delightful evening!

On Sunday we took a tour of a local farm that sells milk to Cabot Creamery, and Renee got to meet some calves:

Then we drove over to Little River State Park to admire the foliage and take a walk up the hill.  I finally managed a few photos of the amazing color we have been gawking at lately:

Yay for a beautiful day and good company!

John took the Hedgehog option...

Renee wondering why I keep stopping:

We had a bit of excitement when I somehow managed to drop the car key somewhere along the trail.  We searched for it all the way back down, but luckily someone else had found it and left it with the car.  Phew!

Back to the sightseeing, no more drama.

The views from the dam at the Waterbury Reservoir were also really nice:

An excellent day to be outdoors:

Happy Anniversary, Mom and Dad!  I just love this photo from Afghanistan (they met and married in the Peace Corps):

Nipmuck Trail Marathon

Another quick post without pics...

(I thought about stopping for a photo of us with the beautiful fall foliage along the roads of Connecticut, but it was raining and we had had about enough of being wet at that point)

We drove a couple hours yesterday to participate in the Nipmuck Trail Marathon.  It was a really nice race on a good little trail, out and back in one direction and then out and back in the other direction.  I started at an easy pace and focused on foot placement among the rocks and roots.  It was lightly raining in the first half and I hardly noticed.  In fact, it was a lovely morning for running.  The colorful leaves were just so pretty.

In the 2nd half it started pouring.  Maybe that's why I picked up the pace, maybe I was just feeling good and ready to run.  I cruised on the road section and kept on cruising the little rolling hills after that.  My momentum got checked by several short steep climbs, but after the turn-around I started looking for people to pass.  That's always fun.

John and I got to see each other twice, a nice feature of an out and back section.  He ran well and had a good time, and neither of us were too bothered by the rain.

The vegetarian chili afterward was a highlight!  Also the gift certificate to the NY deli-restaurant where the chili was made... we stopped there on the way to Hartford and tried our first egg creams.  Wow yum!  I should have been seeking these out in NYC apparently.

All in all, a good day, and one that helps me appreciate being indoors and dry now  :)

Connecticut updated:
http://www.kipley.com/marcy/race_locations.html

Listing for our Albany condo

After spending every day in September (well, every day we weren't traveling) on painting, organizing, cleaning, doing minor repairs, and replacing a few things in our condo, we are now ready to sell it.

http://www.coldwellbankerprime.com/maribeth.duclos/Property/NY/12203/Albany/32B_2_PINE_LA

We're happy it came out looking good, just in time for the autumn leaves to add more color to the neighborhood!

New York City - Urban Dare

We were looking for a Super Dare qualifier and any excuse to spend just one more weekend in New York City.  We got both last weekend, along with beautiful weather and some "hang-out time" with Ron and Jerome for the first time in quite a while.

All in all, lots of fun!

The Urban Dare race started on 14th Street a couple blocks east of Union Square.  From here, the race course could go in just about any direction for whose-knows-how-far.  At least there were plenty of subway options along 14th Street, we just needed to figure out whether to jump underground, where, heading in which direction, and which stop to get off at...

One of the checkpoints referenced a tavern and George Washington, so I suspected we might be going way south.  Dave on the phone confirmed this when he figured out another checkpoint that was near City Hall.  We had been walking toward the green line and that was all we needed to run down the stairs.  Amazingly, there was a subway train sitting there waiting for us, so we jumped right on with one other team.  Happily, it was a #4 train heading all the way south.

Things were starting out well.

While on the train we pulled out all the maps we had stashed in John's pack to try to figure out the running routes in the angular streets around Wall Street.  We were debating which subway stop to aim for, thinking initially we might try City Hall but then changing to Bowling Green.  Reading through the clue sheet, John recognized the "Roots" sculpture in the same area.  He thought it might be right at the end of Wall Street, so as the train pulled into the Wall Street station we impulsively decided to get off there.

That was about perfect, as far as that checkpoint location goes.  And the sculpture is awesome too:

We had a bit more difficulty getting over to Fraunces Tavern trying to rely on our memories, with help from Dave who was trying to catch up with where we were vs. where he thought we were going to be.  Also a guy on the street who enthusiastically pointed us in the wrong direction at first, and just as happily pointed us the right way as we came by him a second time...

It gave our crew time to locate and map the bonus clue of a "Dancing Figures" sculpture.  We initially picked the wrong sculpture by Keith Haring but quickly adjusted to find this around the corner - cool!

We ran back up Pearl and over to Water Street to find an inland lighthouse at the Titanic Memorial.  No race photo because this was a "dare" - specifically the Spellbound Dare where we had to find numbers corresponding to letters and add them up for the word on our passport.  We knocked it out and got a stamp on our passport.

A picture of the lighthouse, because it's pretty cool:

Then we ran on up to City Hall Park for another dare, this one a 3-legged shuffle around the fountain.  We spotted the team that had been on the subway with us, go ladies!

It was a short hop up to Foley Square, but we spent a few minutes there looking for a race volunteer.  Another couple teams were also wandering around, and we all decided the Dare must be missing (turns out the guy showed up late).  Here is our photo there instead:

We tried to convince a couple of tourists to help us with a picture of them posing like the famous WWII kissing photo by Eisenstaedt.  The first couple I asked was completely "no English", the 2nd one claimed to speak some English but we had a devil of a time trying to explain what we were asking them to do.

We really should have worked harder at that or tried again with someone else afterward... this is clearly borderline unacceptable as a race photo goes:

Dave directed us to turn north on West Broadway and look for Moore Street going off to the left.  It was supposed to be between White and Walker St, but when we got to that block we saw nothing but buildings.  Dave suggested it might be a small alley?  We weren't sure if we should try opening doors looking for a way through...

We were all confused until I told Dave we were at "393 Broadway" and Google pointed out that BROADWAY is 2 blocks east of WEST BROADWAY.  Ah ha!  We all will not soon forget this fun fact.

Soon we were in the right spot, in front of a firehouse that showed up in the movie Ghostbusters - too funny:

From there we ran several blocks up West Broadway and turned down Prince St. to find one of several galleries in this area:

Across Houston to the south end of NYU, we found a gigantic Picasso Head in a courtyard, along with a couple volunteers administering a trivia dare.  We got the easiest trivia questions ever, something to the effect of:

What emergency response technique did Henry Heimlich invent?
What was the only thing on the menu at the Billygoat Tavern in a Saturday Night Live skit?

Another excellent location that deserves a photo even though we weren't required to take one ourselves:

From there Dave directed us west into Greenwich Village.  I have not been looking forward to the day we would need to do race navigation in that area, with the crazy, confusing angular streets.

I was right to think this.  We made almost a full tour of the triangular block of 7th Ave, Bedford, and Commerce/Cherry Lane, frustrating all 3 of us before we figured out what we were doing and located the Cherry Lane Theatre.  At least it was a small block.

The zigzag back east went better, even with all the pedestrians to dodge.  Dave did a fine job of getting us to the Blue Note Jazz Club:

Another excellent bit of navigation to the east, including a perfect angle through Washington Square Park, and then we were at the Cooper Union Library.  We weren't quite sure that we were at the right building at first, as it didn't have any "library" signs, but the lady inside immediately confirmed we were at the right place.  Apparently we were not the first team to inquire.

Just a few more blocks of running and we were done!  Our photos were good, for first place.  A fine way to finish up with our Northeast Racing Series.  Huge props to Dave and our crew for helping us get there.

Side note - the race director didn't have to accept our WWII scavenger hunt photo, but if he hadn't we would have had the option to try again or take a 15-minute penalty.  We had enough time before the next team arrived that we could have accomplished this, so we don't feel quite as bad about that.  But it's a good reminder to not be sloppy next time.

Post-race wanderings...

A fun High Line Trail window box where people can sit and watch traffic below their feet:

The next day we ran over to see Grant's Tomb, then spent the afternoon wandering around museums.  Ron and I spent some time at the Met.  It was so great to see you, Ron!

A hawk hanging out on top of the Met, attracting a lot of attention:

Another fun one in NYC!

Let's Xplore Boston!

We had so much fun with the Xplore race in New York that we kinda couldn't help ourselves in trying another one.  There is also an "I love Boston" factor about it all.  And it meshed well with a race we were going to on Sunday in New Hampshire.  Let's do it!

John and I raced solo again, hanging together at the beginning until we found a reason to forge ahead separately.  We initially fumbled just slightly, as we were hoping to catch a northbound bus, but the race started a few minutes late and there was no bus to be found around the corner.  We decided to head for the North End on foot.

Back the other way, over to the Greenway... there was team Zack Attack.  They were taking their picture at a road tunnel for CP12, and we thought this was a great idea so we followed suit:

My phone contact Dave directed us over to the Quincy Market to take a video of ourselves galloping around the plaza shouting "the British are coming...the British are coming!" for 15 seconds.  Slightly embarrassing, but at least it was quick and easy.  I got a few looks as I ran around and made a spectacle of myself.  John declined to do this checkpoint.  Are you sure, John?  He was sure.

Time to run to the north end of the North End.  John ran ahead and we soon found the plaque for the Boston Molasses Flood next to a park:

We noticed Zack Attack leaving the park, which was again helpful as it highlighted the swingset in the back for our CP9 photos of us jumping off a swing:

Then a quick jog down a couple streets to find a couple green doors at the front of the place where Rose Kennedy lived - we always learn a little more history at the Xplore races:

Now we needed to split up, as I was skipping the Science Museum checkpoint but John needed to go meet with T-Rex since he skipped the Quincy Market video.

Dave guided me back down to the Greenway and the Rings fountain for a video.  As I was putting down my water bottle, I noticed an armband on the ground that looked familiar.  Hey, I think that belongs to one of the Zack Attack guys.  I picked it up, and it had a phone in it!

I scanned all around, no sign of the team.  Hmm... well, I couldn't leave it there sitting on the ground, so I put it in my waistbelt to bring to the finish line.  Not sure what else to do.

So the checkpoint - I had to take a video of myself touching 25 different light fixtures.  The trick was that the lights were embedded in bricks in the ground, and they were alternated with water jets that started and stopped in various patterns.  I managed to touch 25 of them without getting wet, but it was close!

Now up to the Granary Burying Ground for photos with the graves of 2 signers of the Declaration of Independence (out of 3 who are buried there).  On the way, Dave and I had this conversation:

Me: "Are John Hancock and John Adams - I mean, Sam Adams - Declaration signers?"
Dave: "Yes they are!"
Me: "Who is the 3rd one?"
Dave: (pause) "I - don't know"  (i.e. why does it matter?)
Me: "Just for my information, like, for trivia knowledge"

A couple minutes later...
Dave: "Robert Treat Paine!"
Me: "Great!  Good to know!"

I didn't find Paine's gravestone but did get photos with the other two.  Thanks anyway, Dave!

Dave did a super job guiding me across the large Boston Common park, at angles past a bandstand, near a Reggae festival, through the crowds, across the pond, and over to a large statue of George Washington.  I coaxed a group of tourists into taking a picture of me with two of them posing in front of it.  Thanks y'all!

Dave told me it was a bit of distance to the next CP - at Fenway Park!  Sweet!  I ran to the nearby T station, waited a few minutes (longer than normal for the Green line), and eventually got on for a few stops to Kenmore.  I had time to figure out the details for the 3 checkpoints in this area, and you would have thought that would not be too much to remember.

My phone didn't regain "reception consciousness" for several minutes after getting back above ground, but luckily we had been in this area in a previous race and I was a little bit familiar with Fenway.  I started running around it on the north side, looking for a banner with digits that add up to 23.  Or any banner, I wasn't seeing anything.  But it was great fun listening to the announcer over the loudspeaker, as the Red Sox were playing the Yankees in Fenway at that very moment - someday I'll actually get back inside this historic venue!

Finally I got back in touch with Dave and soon after that I spotted a couple banners from 1903 and 1904.  Dave told me I needed 1967...  there was an entrance at the corner but I would need a ticket to get in.  I peaked inside and saw more banners.  The one for 1967 was just visible, sweet!

Another team was there, and we took each other's photo.  It's the blue banner on the left.

Apparently there is another set of banners on another outside wall of the park, which is where John took his picture.  I lucked into the one that was closer to the next CP, the victory garden and memorial stone in the Back Bay Fens:

Dave did another nice job of remote navigation through a park, and I popped out at the back of the Museum of Fine Arts.  He said I was looking for "baby heads" although he wasn't sure what that meant.  When I saw these giant heads, it was so strange and obvious that I had to laugh:

More giggling, as we were discussing the need for a tea bag, and apparently Dave's wife cracked up every time he said something like "you still need to get a tea bag", making him laugh, which also made me laugh.  CP4 was a tea bag-related video, no, a real tea bag, and we had thought about buying them at Starbucks early in the race but there was a long line and we didn't want to wait.

Also confusing was that Dave told me to find "the T" and we were trying to differentiate that from "the tea bags"...

I saw a T car waiting at the Northeastern University stop, so I made a run for it and made it.  Yay!  It sat there a few minutes before starting up, but at least I didn't have to wait nearly as long as John had for his rides on the subway.

On the way back toward the finish line, I discovered that the Quincy Market video was nowhere to be found on my camera.  What the heck?  Not sure how that happened.  At least it was close to the finish line, it would just take a couple extra minutes to redo.

Then I doublechecked the rest of the pictures and suddenly realized I didn't have an "X" pose with the banner at Fenway Park.  D'oh!!  It was clearly a photo requirement, and I clearly did not want to reverse steps at this point.

What to do?  I had previously skipped the T-Rex checkpoint, but I was actually on the subway that was headed right for it.  I started listening to the train announcer, "This train terminates at Lechmere", OK good, it doesn't stop before the Science Park station.  At least, I hoped T-Rex was at the Science Museum, I was only making an educated guess based on looking at the clue sheet.  Would my prior knowledge of this city help me or throw me completely off?  It could go either way.

I jumped off the subway, rounded the corner, and found this - yay!!

I called Dave with the bad news that I was on a detour that cost perhaps 15-20 minutes.  I initially tried the Green Line to get back up the hill, but there was no train in sight so I got back out of the station and ran for it.  Dave helped me get back to Quincy Market after I missed the turn onto Merrimac Street.

So here is my even-more embarrassing video - really, I do love the British, I do!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=go6bz2gjCVQ

Almost back to the finish, I ran inside Mr. Dooley's bar where Dave had prearranged for a couple tea bags to be available for me.  And they didn't even charge me for them.  Wow, thank you all!

I took a quick video of me emptying the contents of the tea bag onto my tongue and holding it there for 10 seconds.  It was slightly comical trying to talk to Dave while finishing the video with tea leaves in my mouth, but not really worth posting on YouTube.

One block over, and I was done!  Zack Attach was already there, having run a very clean race and easily coming in first.  Even without my detours I would not have beat them.  I was most happy to be able to return Mike's phone to him, glad that worked out!

In the meantime, John was still out on the course dealing with long delays on the Green line.  Here are some of his photos:

The right way to get the Fenway Park checkpoint photo!

John had put down his pen, clue sheet, and map on a table while someone took this picture.  He then ran a block away before remembering to pick them up, so he went back to get them.  But the table was gone!  He asked around and managed to come up with the items from a nearby trash barrel.

But at least he had flashed the "X-pose" in his picture.

Baby head taking a look at John's compass and clue sheet:

Oh my!

And Sam Adams:

I met John at the Rings fountain to take his video there, and it's worth a giggle to watch it again (especially for the reaction sounds from the spectators):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kKQ3iRF2IN8

He got back to the finish line, complete with tea leaves in his mouth, just in time to snag 3rd place before Mighty Motrin came running in a couple minutes later.  Not our finest hour(s) but we'll take it!

A photo compilation from Xplore's Facebook page - we were attempting a new version of the "X-pose" on the lower left:

Thank you guys for another fun day in the city!

We capped off the weekend with an excellent evening with Elaine and her family and their new dog Sadie on Saturday night.  Then Sunday we drove up to New Hampshire to run the Pisgah 50K trail race.  Beautiful weather, lovely woods, and we now have done a race together in state #25!