Showing posts with label train. Show all posts
Showing posts with label train. Show all posts

Wednesday, May 4, 2011

FARM DAY AND "I'M SO EXCITED I COULD SCREAM!"

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We got to babysit Tachel (Rachel) last Saturday, which was also Farm Day at Lollypop Farm!


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Along with our great volunteers, I had to find places for everyone to park.  Sorry if you had to go down Victor Road last weekend and there was a backup...


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Hayride featuring Russ!


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Tachel the cat


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Megan and her pet Tachel


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Bounce House!


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It's been a while since I did a sneak photo attack on the wife...


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Storytelling and Tachel was right up front until she wanted a hot dog.


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Burgers and hot dog picnic with the horses


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Lots of grillin'


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My favorite vehicle to direct traffic for...


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Adrienne, Lollypop's Communications Director, trying to convince Pickles to come down.


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You know, at no other job would this be considered a part of a normal day.  Pretty awesome.  Joanna walking around with a pig that just got out of surgery because it had some kind of stomach issue.


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MORE KITTENS!  So, pick out the one's you want to adopt and come on down!


That's about it for now.  Just planning to watch some Detroit Red Wings in the playoffs and try to finish up Team of Rivals.  Fix Megan's car too.  Then there's the whole house-hunting thing.  Some other stuff too.  Anyway...

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Happy Trails With E.T.

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Megan and I went hiking again last weekend.  This time on the Historic Erie Canal and Railroad Loop Trail in Pittsford, NY.  We did the whole loop in about 2 1/2 hours and that was with heavy lake effect snow according to Megan's hat.


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And my beard...


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Here's a Christmas moose from a tree stump along the Canalway Trail-Erie Canal Heritage Trail just west of the village of Pittsford at Brooks Road.  Probably done by either the Pittsford Sewer Dept. or the Music and Arts Store guys


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Lock 62 was built in 1855 as an expansion of the original Erie Canal opened in the 1822.  Another lock was added on the other side in 1870.  It was made longer in 1887 and abandoned in 1920.  Much of the trail consists of the old canal and horse/mule towpath that was next to the trail.  The rest of the old canal bed heading into downtown Rochester in under Interstates 490 and 590.


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As most of you know, I'm originally from Michigan.  What is interesting to me about this manmade waterway is this is the reason my home developed.  Because of the Erie Canal, settlers had an easy and affordable means to reach the Michigan Territory.  Once there, they could ship lumber, food, and mined products back east and abroad (or to rebuild Chicago after the Great Fire of 1871).  


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There's lots of wildlife here too.  There was a large bird (Falcon or a Hawk, which is still up for debate) that flew within 15-20 feet of us while hunting a rabbit that screamed when it ran away from us.


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If you want to see this and not do the three hour trail.  The easiest way is to park at Wegman's on Monroe Avenue in Pittsford and it's at the back of the parking lot at the top of the hill.


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The other half of this trail is the former Rochester and Auburn Railroad bed, which was used from 1840 to 1960.  Unfortunately, it is little more than parking lot runoff, dumpsters, and dodging traffic from Clover to French Road.  But, once you reach French Road and head south, it's nice again.  This is an old cement sign that told train engineers to blow their whistle.


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Megan telling me with her eyes to stop taking pictures and finish up this snowy hike.


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E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial BOARD GAME!  My wife got this for me for Christmas.


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Here's Megan trying to figure out how to play it.  Pretty much, you roll the dice hoping to avoid the van trackers and Gertie (played by Drew Barrymore), which can be done wearing his Halloween ghost costume.  The point is to collect all six puzzle pieces to assemble his "phone" and get as many unbranded Reese's Pieces as possible.  


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Now, the spaceship is the coolest and dumbest part of the whole game.  It took me a while and lots of difficulty to assemble.  It's folded cardstock with a ramp and all sorts of nonsense.  What do you use it for?  Nothing.  It's how ET gets home, but there is no function as for the game.


An internet "shout out" goes out to Sarah and Pete for tampering with my blog by getting me the hiking book for Christmas.  Thanks again!  Tomorrow, we're going to a professionals networking event.  Friday, going to the Amerks minor league hockey game, which is $1 Zweigle dogs and Molson beer night as well as "Seneca Legends Night featuring Jody Gage http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jody_Gage."  Some playoff football over the weekend.  Then looking to volunteer at a local nonprofit next week.  So, a full schedule.

Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Mike and Megan's Honeymoon: Day 9 - Take Us To Porto!

July 6th

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We started in the south of Portugal in a city of the Algarve called Albufeira. Then we moved on to Lisbon (Lisboa). Now, we head to the final leg of our journey in the north in Porto. It's about the only place in Portugal that seems to have been untouched by the 1755 earthquake is is a United Nations World Heritage Site . But first, we have to get there...

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Waiting to catch the quick, convenient, efficient high speed train.

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If these were in the States, I'd probably never fly again... We met a nice family from Lisbon with the grandparents from Faro. The grandpa kept encouraging the shy grandson to talk in English with us. The family watched Megan write in her journal like a robot and the kid watched me draw. Then he drew a portrait of his grandpa with a lot of nose hair and then a monkey with a banana. We spoke for a little bit and they were nice. Later on, we bumped into them again since we were staying at the same hotel. Found out the mom worked for the IMF and all sorts of other things.

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It's 10:29. 23C inside (73F). 31C outside (88F). And we're going 213 Kilometers per hour (132 MPH). The highest I saw was 222 KPH (138 MPH).

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The streets of Porto

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Ponte Dom Luís I Bridge crossing the Douro River. The river leads to the Douro Valley were they grow wine grapes. The bridge leads to Vila Nova de Gaia where they store and we drink the wine...

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Along the Ribeira

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Right behind the buildings on the river are a lot of really good, really cheap restaurants. The first place we went to we had a water, Sagres beer, and a sandwich for about 2 Euro. No wonder you don't really see American-style fast food joints here. Why eat that junk when it's cheaper and better to eat and one of these joints?

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Looking back downhill in a country that is all uphill...

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Old City Wall with some kids at a statue

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Checking out Rua de Santa Catarina, the pedestrian shopping district

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A church with a completely tiled exterior.

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The Bolhão (market). It was a pretty cool place with all sorts of meat, fruit, flowers and junk.

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Avenida dos Aliados (Avenue of the Allies), which is named on behalf of the alliance between the English and the Portuguese when King João I married Philippa of Lancaster. It's a street of Art Nouveau and Art Deco buildings with Câmara Municipal (City Hall) in the prime real estate.

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Imperial McDonald's. This use to be the Imperial Café, but has been taken over since.

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What do you think? Is this the fanciest McDonald's in the world?

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Estação São Bento (São Bento Train Station).

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Inside Estação São Bento, it is covered in tile depicting the history of Portugal. Here's King João I getting hitched to Philippa of Lancaster. Parents of Prince Henry the Navigator.

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King João I and Philippa marriage is below. Above that is Prince Henry the Navigator taking over Ceuta, Morocco in 1415, which was the first step toward creating the Portuguese empire. At the very top are various modes of transportation dating back to the Roman chariots.

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Scenes from their traditional economy: Transport of wine

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some kind of mill. I really like this one because of the lady who really uses her hands to talk...

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hanging out

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going to the market?

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Waiting in line with the most Portuguese man in Portugal standing guard

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Victory

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Not a bad place, eh?

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Very slender buildings

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Igreja e Torre doe Clérigos (Clérigos Church and Tower) in the distance

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Guy protecting Cathedral Sé

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Cathedral Sé. This is where King João I and Philippa of Lancaster got married, Henry the Navigator was baptised, as well as tons of other events. Built in the 1100s and Baroque art work from the 18th century.

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God's entrance

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Mercure Porto Centro at Praça da Batalha, which was our hotel.

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Another tile covered church.

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Restaurante Guarany, which is a famous artist cafe that opened up in 1933. The most upscale place to watch the World Cup. This is Caldo Verde, which is a cabbage soup. It's pretty much their unofficial national soup. The first time we had it, we thought the finely cut cabbage was grass. We still ate it because it tasted good.

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Fries with everything. Heaven...

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Megan overlooking the boulevard

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This Annie looks terrifying. And the songs sung in Portuguese blasting outside the building were even stranger...

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