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Well, that was quite the cross country jaunt: one night in Brooklyn, one day in NJ, and two days in Lake George. It's always great to see family -- we don't see them nearly enough given where we live and the fact that virtually everyone short of my sister and brother-in-law lives in the New York metropolitan area, but I gotta say that going cross country for a four day trip isn't easy. Apologies to all my East Coast friends who I wasn't able to see: this was a last second trip and as noted, a quick in and outer. Not to mention, it seems as if whenever I go away for a short break, work beckons in a big way. Note to self: book an annual vacation out of the country, preferably in a developing nation that doesn't get GSM or 3G signals.
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The Adirondack Mountains in NY is really a gem of an area. It's the nation's largest State park (not national, but State) and if you enjoy the outdoors, then it's an East Coast nirvana for Winter (cross country skiing, access to Vermont skiing just an hour away) and Summer (sailing, boating, trail running, hiking) activities. My favorite activity there, aside from open water swimming, is the hiking. It's very different from West Coast trails, in that Adirondack hikes are typically big, gnarly ascents up craggy mountain faces, featuring big vertical gains. West Coast trails are longer and a bit more meandering and while there's a fair amount of climbing here too, it's more gradual. Anyway, great trip overall and again, good to see the family and all the nieces and nephews.
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In regards to previous posts, the Howard Solomon Race for Thyroid Cancer: which I am renaming the Howard Solomon, JT and CrazyMama Race for Thyroid Cancer (JT and CrazyMama: I intend to make my donation to ThyCa in all three of our respecitve names, if that's cool by you) can take place on your choice of September 8th or 9th. Biking counts too -- what the heck. There's no rules to this thing. The point is to get everyone out there doing something aerobic. Michael B has an awesome idea: please email a photo of you before, after or during your respective *event* and I will post on an accessible gallery.
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For all you magazine readers out there: I sugges the new issue of Portfolio. It's an interesting magazine, well written, but I'm not sure what the target is quite yet or if has the "legs" it takes to succeed over the long haul. But the articles are definitely interesting and they have some top tier contributing writers.