We got back from our canoe trip Sunday noon. We drove to Port Jervis on Thursday (5 hours), dropped off our canoes and stuff and shuttled the van to the take-out point at a campground in Portland, NJ ~50 miles away. Steve took a taxi back to Port Jervis. It was cool and windy while we waited.

We got in the water at 3:30pm and paddled for 1 hour. We passed the Tri-State Stone marking the intersection of NY, NJ and PA.

We decided stayed at campsite #1 as it was starting to spit rain with predictions for more. Campsite #1 was on the NJ side of the river with some camps across the water from us. One of the camps had a very vocal rooster that we heard at night and early the following morning. Knowing the weather forecast and schedule we picked up sandwiches for dinner to lessen our workload for the 1st evening. It rained heavy during the night, but stopped before we arose.

Our normal routine included Bob making breakfast and dinner. Steve made coffee in the morning. Jim set up the rain tarp and Jim/Steve/Skip washed dishes. Below Steve is set up for early coffee.

The Delaware River Water Gap National Park has designated campsites through out and several river side parks and boat access points. We expected to see other paddlers but did not see any other paddlers. However, there was a Shad Fishing Tournament that attracted a number of boats and shoreline fishermen.

We paddled 25 miles on Friday and stayed at picturisue campsite with a large rock cliff adorned with blossuming dogwood across the river from our site.

We saw 1 white swan, 6-8 Ospreys and 7-8 Eagles; lots of Canada Geese and ducks.

The river flowed along at 2-3mph so we enjoyed a good current helping us along. There were a few class II rapids and places with 1-2′ standing waves that splashed us but nothing dangerous or caused us to dump.

We experienced temperatures in the mid-forties to mid-fifties. We were lucky in that we only got rained on during the night while we were in our tents or one morning while we were under the rain fly having breakfast.

Delaware Water Gap is a deep, narrow gorge cut by the Delaware River in the Kittatinny Mountains. The gorge is three miles long, with steep, rocky walls which rise 1,400 feet on each side. Mount Tammany is located on the New Jersey side of the gorge and Mount Minis on the Pennsylvania side.

The actual Delaware River Water Gap was impressive with two large rock walls concentrating the river, Interstate 80, a railroad, and a state road. It was impressive, but the traffic noise from the interstate detracted from the experience.

Saturday we paddled to the end point at Delaware River Family Campground where we showered, re-packed and prepared for our Sunday morning return.

This weekend I celebrated my 55th birthday. It began by taking some time off work early; going to my friends Jim & Pam to get a load of aged horse manure for the garden. While Kathryn and Eric visited with Pam it took me about 1 hour to fork a heaping load on the truck, tarp it and lash it down. Below the “compost” is ready to be deployed as mulch between rows, once the plants are coming up. At this point there are 4 rows of peas just beginning to show through the dirt.

Saturday was a work day as we picked the house, cleaned and did loads of laundry in the morning. In the afternoon we raked a couple of the nasty areas on the lawn and transferred deck furniture from the barn loft to the deck.

Sunday Mom, Barbara, Billie Jo and Dakota joined the Kathryn, Eric and I in a chicken & biscuits birthday dinner capped by yes, Tomato Soup Cake – rich and spicy and filled with raisins, walnuts, and topped with a cream cheese frosting. I calculate I have probably had Tomato Soup Cake for my birthday for about 40 consecutive years now. I may have missed one or two in their, but I can’t recall the misses. Just the cakes.

You ask how could a cake come from tomato soup? and what on earth would possess someone to ever conceive of including it in a recipe? My research reveals that during the Great Depression many ingredients were not readily available to homemakers. They “made-do” with what they had… some depression-era homemaker went through her cupboards to see what she did have, and laid them all out before her….flour, baking soda, sugar, raisins, nuts, spices. A bit if this and a bit of that, and a humble can of Tomato Soup. When there were no eggs, she came up with things like Tomato Soup Cake. And thank goodness for that moment.

I was honored to receive a basketball & net, gift certificate to Miller’s Nursery (for grapes), a GSI Dualist cook kit, Home Depot gift certificate and fish worms as presents. Eric gave me the fish worms so we had to cap off the day by going fishing. He caught a nice big catfish ~16″ and a 12-13″ bass.

Playing Power Rangers is one of Erics favorite games.  He has male, female, all sorts of colors and special powers.  Here are some of them on display.

A few weeks ago, on a Friday, Kathryn picked up Eric and Trevor from preschool. Driving home, Eric says, very calm and serious, “I’m not going to school on Monday, Momma.. I am going to stay home and take care of you, because you are not over your cold yet.” Kathryn thanked him for his concern. How sweet, she thought.

Then Trevor says, again very calm and serious, “Yeah, and I am not going to school on Monday either. I have lots of chores to do at home.”

At that point Kathryn knew something was up and said “Then you boys will miss the field trip your class is taking on Monday.”

In a voice an adult would reserve for discussing something like the preparations for having a colonoscopy, Eric says “That’s ballet! I hate ballet!” Trevor adds in that voice little boys use when discussing anything feminine “Yeah, ballet is for girls!”

Over the weekend we talked to them about keeping an open-mind, and how some ballet moves look like Power Ranger moves. It seems Eric thought he would have to DO ballet and not just watch it. The boys went to see Aladdin and allowed afterwards that it was pretty good.

During the winter we brain stormed ideas on potential canoe trips to include:

• May 1-4 Delaware River 4 days / 3 nights Port Jarvis (Mile 255) to Portland (Mile 207) or Phillipsburg (Mile 184)
• Fawn Lake – Needs scouting trip.  Fawn Lake also has Lake Trout, smallmouth bass and pickerel.  Fawn Lake can be reached via a 1/4 mile hike.  
• Fall Stream to Vly Lake
• Hudson River – from Newcombe (Rich Lake or Harris Lake) access to Gooley Club at the junction of the Indian River spending 1 overnight at Cedar River junction
• Indian River (needs further research) – The Indian River Canoe Route begins in Antwerp, NY and runs north extending more than 100 miles with some minor interruptions and portages until it reaches Rossie in St. Lawrence County. The route takes paddlers on a scenic and slow paced trip which offers campsites and parks along the way. Paddlers can also try their luck at fishing for small-mouth bass and northern pike.  Map
• Fish Creek
• Mohawk River (evening trip) from Oriskany to Utica
• Bazine River Canada late August
• Algonquin Park Sept 13-15

Kathryn and I have been going to Syracuse basketball games for the past 3-4 years as we share season tickets with 4 others. Eric has expressed an increasing awareness and interest in the fate of Syracuse basketball. Last year we took him to a couple of Holland Patent High School basketball games, but, of course, it just isn’t the same spectacle.

Last night we took Eric to the Syracuse vs. Maryland NIT game which Syracuse won 88-72. We chose this game because we could get extra tickets, there is no alcohol sold at the NIT games and the schedule permitted a pre-game nap. We were joined by friends Skip & Bob and nephews Mark & Matt who are shown below.

He enjoyed the whole affair: pizza and a soda,

watching the cheerleaders, looking at fans with orange wigs, and he paid special attention to Otto the Orange. He hollered and cheered during the game. A good time for a 5 year old.

There is a kid’s book called Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day or something to that effect.  Alexander tells a story of all the bad things that happened to him during the course of a day.  Something like “I went to sleep with gum in my mouth and now there’s gum in my hair and when I got out of bed this morning I tripped on the skateboard and by mistake I dropped my sweater in the sink while the water was running and I could tell it was going to be a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day.”

Last night Kathryn had an upset stomach and went to bed at 8pm immediately after Eric.  Overnight she threw up about every 45 minutes through out the night and it didn’t stop until mid-morning. I have been giving her ginger ale and diet coke to sip, rubbing her back, picking up towels and etc to launder.

At 11:40pm Eric woke up with growing pains in his legs.  I rubbed his legs continuously for 20 minutes until the Tylenol took effect.  Then he slept through the night.

It rained hard last night and it was very windy, but no freezing rain.  This morning it was raining really hard.  I had let Scout out earlier but she wanted to go out again.  She stood at the open door, looked at the rain and went to the other end of the house where, I later found, she messed on the hardwood floor.  Fortunately it cleaned up OK.

I am stayed home from work to take Eric to pre-school and the babysitters and take care of Kathryn.  If I am lucky I will squeeze in a little snooze somewhere to add to the 2 hours of sleep I got last night.

If I remember correctly Alexander’s book ends with his Mom telling him “Some days are like that.”

We had some fun this weekend playing in the snow: sledding, making forts, and throwing snowballs. The new snow was so deep and fluffy that we made our own primitive rope tow.

Here Eric returns from a long run.

What good is a fort without an escape tunnel? Whoa, Dad – You better make that tunnel a little bigger!

Armed and dangerous.

Wednesday I was home from work tending to Eric and his stomach bug while Kathryn went to work. Before she left for work she urged me to take the dogs for a walk. We had received 12-14″ of new snow overnight and my old snowshoe trails had been filled in. It didn’t take long for the dogs to stop romping and fall in line behind my snowshoe track.

I always take my camera with me on walks because, well, you never know, but on this day I made a conscious decision not to. I figured with all the freshly fallen snow and it being so deep that I wouldn’t see anything.

On my return loop back to the house I saw where a turkey had landed in the snow. The snow was so deep the turkey sank in the length of it’s legs and it’s wing beat was recorded in the snow. It was so clear that I could see nearly every feather of the 2.5 foot span. It must have happened within an hour as there was no snow filling up the image.

It looked like this, but way bigger, but of course you will have to take my word for it because I didn’t have my camera.

🙁