We're New Here Ourselves

Under the heading of 'don't rush into anything' and in keeping with our new policy of impetuous behavior, this afternoon we hied ourselves to a couple of places of interest here in the capital district (without the benefit of 'real maps') - after all we've only been here for 31 years.

First we visited Cohoes to see the famous Cohoes Falls. Actually they are fairly famous among "falls afficienados"). At first blush they do not appear overly impressive.

Even in close ups, don't seem like such a big deal:


However, in the spring they carry as much as 20 times the current flow and cover all the rocks from shore to shore. We promise to go back next spring and take pictures.

From there in an effort to balance education with nature we went over to Newtonville (extra credit to anyone who can tell us where that is) and visited the Pryun House. The house dates back to 1830 and the interior has been completely restored and period furniture added (although not the original).

Also on the grounds are lovely gardens:

An old English style barn:

And a one room school house that was actually in use until 1958 (originally located on Route 7).

So, we can't wait to see what else we might find of interest in our little corner of the world.

MEMORIES

My daughter Sharon posted this on her blog, and I thought it was a fun little activity.

1. As a comment on this post, leave one memory that you and I (or any part of the family had together).

2. Next, report these instructions on your blog (if you have one) and see how many people leave a memory about you. It's actually really funny to see the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you.

Summer Vacation Continued

Welcome back. Moving right along with our house tour. Starting upstairs,

New sliding door to the deck:


New window that replaces a sliding door and new fireplace (critical need in July):


And a pretty new deck:


Now moving downstairs, the new door and deck off the master suite:


Okay, for all you HGTV fans - Show is over!!
On to other pieces of fun and games. The weather was actually better than we usually have - sunny, bright blue skies relatively low humidity and temperatures between 80 and 85F (those on the other side of the pond will have to do their own conversion). And no rain in Nags Head. It only rained the one day we went shopping in Corolla - not quite sure what the significance of that is.
Only fly in the oinment was Hurricane Bertha which kicked up the waves and caused rip tides - so most of the week no swimming was allowed. Attempted a shot of the waves which were around 6-7 feet high - doesn't really show the height, but will give you an idea as to how nice it was.



Anyway this provided extra time to walk on the beach, where one day to our surprise we met one of Cora's best friends. She was speechless at meeting us, but did permit a picture:




We actually tried several new things. First and most amazing was Jockey Ridge State Park. We always thought it was one sand dune from which crazy people did hang gliding. It turns out to be many undulating high dunes covering a large expanse of land. From the high spots, can see both the ocean and the sound. It also affords a spot to watch some fabulous sunsets. Again the pictures do not do the scenery justice (Cora, we need your expertise!).

First, the dunes:



Then, the sunset:





And finally, to prove that we actually got all the way up there, some pictures of the intrepid hikers.



And yes, the person next to Nina is Harriet (slightly windblown).

The second and third new things we did this year - eat in 2 new real, big person restaurants. It was a nice change of pace to get out to eat.

We leave you with a picture of Harriet relaxing on "her" deck.


And our traditional end of week shot.


We all had a blast and look forward to next year!

What We Did On Our Summer Vacation

It is July. The weather warms and our thoughts turn to getting away from the baking northeast and heading to the always comfortable Outer Banks.
This year we will provide a one blog covers all rather than attempting a day by day recap (at our age just remembering that we were in North Carolina last week is solid long and short term memory). As you can tell by the feeble attempts at witty repartee Mike is authoring this version (don't be surprised if Harriet doesn't provide some revisionist history).
Anyway on Saturday the 12th we awoke in the middle of the night and actually loaded the car quickly, with no arguments (will wait until you recover from that piece of astonishing news). Shared the driving and had minimal traffic issues, arriving at Dunes South about 3:45 (Nina was waiting).
Got settled in, ate dinner and then caught a little bit of a sunset from the deck.




Of course a good bit of time had been spent oohing and aahing over all the improvements to the unit.

New stairs and siding:


A new front door (from the inside):


New furniture downstairs in the two small bedrooms:



And upstairs in the living room:


And way upstairs in the loft:



And surprise - can you guess who the photogapher is??


Think that is enough excitement for one day (for me). The saga will continue at some point in the future.