This has been an active week. As you know there has been some preparation now that my new job is about to start. I will be working with a colocation service called venyu. They’ve been around for a while, and being well established they get a lot of business, so it should be a good company to work for. I’m pretty stoked. Handling information in remote secure servers is not something I’ve worked with before, but I do have the computer science studies to back me up, which is how I got the job. I can’t wait to learn the ins and outs. New stuff is always sort of refreshing right? I’ll let you guys know how it goes as time goes on. In the meantime, here’s the tried and true weekly roundup to hold us over!

• • • Saturday we did a day trip to Sand Lake (see below)
    • Sunday we attended a wedding reception for Joe Riolo, a long time co-worker and friend at the Marcy Town Park.  We enjoyed good food, a good band and Eric got to attend with us.
    • Wednesday I worked at the Airborne Network Technology Expo.  The conference highlights plans and approaches to deploy an Airborne Network.  I helped the 18 vendors set up for their demonstrations and trade show presentations.
    • Thursday I went to Syracuse for business meetings with Syracuse Research Corporation.
    • Friday we went to Mark and Danielle’s wedding.

On Saturday we did a day trip into Sand Lake. It requires a 1/2 portage to the lake including a short section that is normally quite boggy. The portage combined with the soggy and uneven trail means that few people visit the 300 acre lake. We packed in lunches and fishing gear for the day. We picnicked on big rock that permitted wading, fishing and sunning.

We shared the rock with at least 4 garter snakes, one of which had recently eaten something large that created quite a bulge.

  We caught a few small fish and notably Eric and I took our 1st canoe trip with him paddling – previously he has been a passenger or only playing at paddling.  In the picture below he was working on his back paddle as we approached shore.

Saturday night we went to see Dan Hicks & His Hot Licks ( http://www.danhicks.net/ ) at the Earlville Opera House ( http://www.earlvilleoperahouse.com/ ). The music is a blend Gypsy Jazz, Western Swing, Jazz, Jump, Be-Bop, Folk and Country music to create the a sound he sometimes calls “Folk Jazz”.

Sample Dan Hicks performances can be seen at

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kiERMbv4AMs

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gu1n0Rh6ylA

Twenty years ago we used to frequent Spy Lake for quick overnight canoe camping. Spy Lake is close, has 5 designated campsites and it has a remote feeling. Then the private landowners installed a gate and although Spy Lake is ¾ surrounded by NYS land there was no easy access.

When Ed was a little boy (-20 years) Ed, Kathryn, myself and our friend Rich put in on the Piseco Lake outlet off Route 10 and paddled into Spy Lake using the Spy Lake outlet. I remember it as small, twisty and having a half dozen beaver dams that required lift-overs, but largely navigable.

On Friday evening Skip and I revisited Spy Lake via the Spy Lake outlet. It was small, twisty and extremely shallow.The dry summer has left SpyLake water levels down and subsequently the outlet has very little water. Our short trip in took about 90 minutes.We counted 6 lift-overs , 8 ‘scoot-overs’ and one “involved maneuver”.An inch or two of additional water would make this a much more pleasant trip.The outlet is so narrow that it would cause issues for double bladed paddlers.

We arrived at Spy Lake around 7:30pm, set up camp on Campsite #5 and sans a fire we enjoyed an evening sitting on the beach watching the sun set and the stars pop out. At night we were serenaded by an active loon population. Saturday morning we toured the lake and inspected the other campsites.

After exiting Spy Lake outlet we proceeded up Mud Lake outlet where we saw a brood of ducks riding on their mother’s back and we believe we saw two otters. Although shallow we only had one lift over navigating the Mud Lake outlet. Pictures are at: http://www.jimmuller.com/canoe-trips/spy-lake/

On Wednesday Kathryn and Eric took Amtrak from Rome to WDC with friends Linda, Bonnie and Cindy. They visited the National Zoo on Thursday and the Mall on Friday. Our friends Kent & Kathy flew in on Friday with their two daughters Marisa and Julia. Everyone returned to Rome by train on Saturday.

On Sunday we packed up the camping gear, hooked up our pop-up camper and went to Soft Maple Reservoir for an overnight camping trip. It was the girls 1st opportunity to go canoeing (with mixed results) and Marisa caught her 1st fish in the same ‘below the dam’ fishing hole where Eric caught his 1st fish at age 2.

Upon our return home on Monday evening ate a fantastic meal out on the deck and enjoyed some bird watching before yielding to a night filled with fire flies. The kids caught several in a jar before releasing them. It was one of the nights that was so nice you dreaded going inside to sleep it away- but we did. The next morning I transported our guests back to the train station where they departed for WDC and the rest of their vacation.

Saturday morning I went to look at a horse. Lotza Hot is a 9 year old AQHA mare that is western pleasure bred – by of Hotroddin Zippo who is by Zips Chocolate Chip and out of a mare by Hotrodders Jet Set. On her bottom side she is out of a mare sired by Speedy Pine Glow. She is a nice size ~15.2H, cute, quiet and nice to be around. This coming week I am hauling her to a vet to be examined for lameness issues.