More fun in the Notch

Smuggler's Notch is a 2.5 mile pass that connects the Smuggler's Notch and Stowe ski areas gets closed in the winter due to its snowfall and narrow, winding road. It is one of the first places in the season to get enough snow to ski, so this time of year it gets lots of traffic from cross country skiers, hikers, and snow mobiles. There is a lot of great ice climbing in the Notch, so it gets some traffic from climbers as well.

Both Saturday and Sunday were very similar for Isaac & me. Each day, Isaac got up around 6AM with his friends Ross & Kevin and hit the road to start climbing. I waited until 9AM and then headed off to the Notch for a ski. While the guys climbed, I skied back and forth along the closed stretch of road, and occasionally hiked up to where the guys were climbing to say hello. Once we were tired and satisfied, we headed home, ate, and collapsed for the evening. What a great weekend.

The feature shown above is Elephant Head, and Isaac tells me there is a fun gully climb nearby that I might enjoy.



This is the closed road. I thought the trees were really pretty with the ice on the branches.

Isaac on Territory

Close-up of Isaac on Territory

Happy Thanksgiving

Before heading out for Thanksgiving dinner, Isaac and I decided to ski into Smuggler's Notch to check out the ice climbing. Rumor has it that some of the climbs are in pretty fat.

Deb skiing in the notch

We skied along the section of road that gets closed in the winter, and once we got near the climb we took off our skis and hiked up the remaining 200' to the base of the climb. Normally it would have been post-holing, but the snow isn't deep here yet. Although a couple of the climbs were rumored to be in good shape, the one we checked out was not. Isaac checked it out from various angles, and then decided the smart thing was to back off.

Isaac checking out the ice

By the time we hiked back to our skis, the light mist we encountered on the way up had turned to heavy mist or light rain. This made the ski back to the car very wet.

Deb on the way out

Later on that afternoon, we went to Parima restaurant, which is owned and operated by our next door neighbors Jip & Darryl. They were planning a meal for family & friends at the restaurant (which was closed for the day), and they invited us when they learned we were losers without plans *smile*. They are the most wonderful, kind, friendly, and down-to-earth neighbors a person could ask for, and I am certainly lucky that they live right next door.

The meal was fantastic - all the good turkey, sides, and pie that makes the day Thanksgiving. The company & conversations were great as well, and the next thing we knew, 4 hours had passed. With distended bellies, we waddled back to the car and drove home.

Chocolate mousse in white chocolate cups
(yup, Deb made these and brought a bunch to the dinner)

Now, it is time to get some sleep before we head of to northern New Hampshire to play in the White Mountains for the rest of the weekend.

Snow!

The first snow (more like slush) of the season has hit Williston.

Garba/Dandia Raas

Weekend of October 20th

While Isaac & Ross went climbing to celebrate Ross' birthday, Stephanie & I went to a dance event hosted by the India Cultural Club of Vermont. It was held to celebrate a multi-day holiday. I'm not completely sure what the holiday is about - I spoke with three people and got three different answers: harvest, fertility, and celebration of good triumph over evil. In India, thousands show up for dancing each night. I wish I had taken pictures, but Isaac had the camera for the day. When I get pics for others I will be sure to post them - it was a blast!

On Sunday, Isaac & I were supposed to go to the Lake George area to paddle some whitewater. We were going to meet Adam, who is a moderator on cboats.net. He has a bit of a c1 museum at his home - about 30! The goal was to paddle a few on whitewater to see if there were any I liked - Debby needs a new boat. Unfortunately, my body was beat from 4 hours of dancing the night before, and I didn't feel up for whitewater once we got there. I paddled some different canoes on flatwater instead, and Adam helped Isaac and me learn how to roll.

Canoes I liked:

• Sith
• Viper
• Descender

Canoes that weren't my favorite:

• Hornet
• Oxygen

Canoes I wish I could try but he didn't have:

• Finkenmeister
• Prelude

We tried the Oxygen, even though we are not interested in squirt boating, because there were only 11 made. Squirt boats are extremely low volume c1's and kayaks, and this low volume allows the paddler to do various tricks that involve sending parts, or all, of the boat underwater in a river. There's even a 'mystery move', where the entire boat & paddler disappear underwater and reappear downstream. Squirt boats are hard to keep upright to begin with, and the Oxygen is the least stable of them all. With this in mind, Isaac still seal launched the thing off the dock. He managed to stay upright - how I don't know - and paddled it straight for shore. If you look at the blown up version of the picture below, you can see his cheeks are blown up like a puffer fish - and rightly so - that was one scary boat to paddle (even on flatwater).

Isaac seal launching the Oxygen
(look at it dive!)

I was less brave and started out on shore. I was able to shift my weight back, sinking the stern & pushing the bow up into the air.

Deb hanging out in the oxygen

Adam was super nice to help us with our rolls. It was a beautiful fall day, but he still had to put on dry gear get in the water. Neither of us got our rolls, but we're off to a start, anyway.

Deb getting ready to try a roll

Isaac trying to roll

Wisconsin Wedding Weekend ... WOO-HOO!!!!!

While Isaac was climbing in Utah, I went to Sheboygan, Wisconsin for the wedding of my cousin, Heidi. This was the weekend of October 12th (I'm catching up on the blog posts ever so slowly).

Congratulations to Heidi & Patrick!!!

Things I love about Wisconsin weddings:
(ok, much of this applies to any excuse to visit Wisconsin)

1. Getting to see family who I haven't seen in a looooong time. Especially my crazy cousins Heidi & Kevin. So many good memories ... (does it get any better than Christmas in Sheboygan with the Zwitters?)
   
2. Making a pilgrimage to Kopp's. My goodness, how does one decide between burger and grilled cheese, speciality sundae or scoops, flavor of the day or chocolate custard?
   
3. Remembering Grandma & Grandpa Zwitter and the house where my dad grew up and my grandparents lived for as long as I knew them.
4. Open bars with bartenders who make stiff drinks. Really, really, stiff drinks.
5. Driving on roads that are well maintained. The ones in New England suck. They blame it on frost heaving, but, what ... you don't think they have frost heaves in Wisconsin ???
6. Seeing a shout out to the Green Bay Packers in the wedding ceremony program. Love it!
   
7. Seeing pictures of the bride in groom as children ... wearing Green Bay Packers helmets.
   
8. Mars Cheese Castle in Kenosha, WI, proudly serving all of your deluxe cheese & sausage needs since 1947
9. Bratwurst. Can't find any good brats out east, that's for sure!

Here's me & my brother, Zack, enjoying the fruits of the open bar

Breakfast with Mom, Dad, Zack, and Sarah

Utah climbing trip

Isaac went on a climbing trip to Southern Utah with some friends. I think it was the 2nd week in October, and I think it was Indian Creek, but I'm not 100% sure because I'm insanely jealous and didn't pay too close of attention. Here are some pics, though ...

Better Late than Never ...

A few weekends ago (late Sept, I think), Isaac, Ross, Stephanie, and I climbed at Upper West Bolton. I just never posted about it until now because I was too lazy to go through the pics.

Ross started out by leading the Thorn ...
He went free as far as he could go, and then he switched to aid. Isaac then started aiding the Rose, which was just to the left.
And here's a nifty one of just Isaac on the Rose:

We need more rain!

It's been so dry all summer and fall. All the rivers in NW Vermont are all too low to paddle, and not even the rains which shut down my garage sale were enough to bring the rivers up. Here's a great you tube video of some amazing open canoeing. I don't do anything near this crazy, but man, it is sure fun to watch!

Doesn't it feel good ...

... to lighten the load? I held my first garage sale as an adult, and I unloaded so much stuff that I no longer need. Who am I kidding ... much of it I never needed in the first place.

Junk that I'm glad is gone:
That rug that Webb left in my basement
That stupid red exercise ball
My old tandem bike (glad someone will be enjoying it)
A sliding screen door
A cat play tower (they used to use it, anyway ...)
A large white dry erase board
A dress form that is too small for me
A hammock
Many pieces of "art"
A bunch of stationary & cards
Lots of books
Lots of speciality kitchen crap
Some old clothes
A silly radio that played sounds of "nature"
A slide viewer
A full visible spectrum "S.A.D." light
Some board games I don't play anymore
A map of Vermont
A pressure canner/cooker
A Sears Tower keychain (yes, someone actually bought it for 25 cents!)
An 8-pack box of Annie's Mac & Cheese
Lots of other junk, too miscelaneous or embarassing to mention

And then, there's left-overs (expecially since it started raining around 1:00PM). But, there's always Craig's List ... anybody need a nice food dehydrator? How about some stunning oil lamps for that holiday table scape? Scared of what the holidays will do to your waistline ... now's the time to get going on that in-home exercise routine.

For stuff that is still left over but may be useful to someone else, there's always the ReUse Zone. It's a shed at our local recycling center & waste location. Pay a disposal fee, but the items go into a shed where others can go and take whatever they want out of it for free.

Next phase ... don't get acquire "stuff" in the first place!

And now for the rest of the summer ...

Wow, somehow the summer flew by without posting for the last couple months. We put the guest room to use with visits from my dad and Isaac's mom & her boyfriend. While my dad was here, we did a bunch of fun stuff. We took him whitewater canoeing on the Lamoille river

and went sailing.
Well, I actually wouldn't say that we were doing the sailing ... we drank while the owner and his assistant did all the work. It was still a nice way to see Lake Champlain, though.

While on the boat, the assistant "joked" about throwing me off because I was wearing a Yankees hat. People here are weird about their Red Sox. Really weird. It usually seems like they are more interested in hating the Yankees than cheering for the Red Sox. I won't even wear it into a restaurant out of fear of what they might do to my food.

When Isaac's mom & her boyfriend visited, we got in lots of good socializing, enjoyed some good games, and went canoeing on the Waterbury reservoir. There was probably lots of other fun stuff we did, but I don't remember because my memory sucks and I didn't take any pictures.

We got out paddling a few times - mostly just dam release stuff because this summer was really dry. We went to the Fife Brook section of the Deerfield river, and Isaac finally paddled the Zoar Gap rapid. I went with Stephanie and Andrew to the MVP Pigroast event. We paddled the Pemi and enjoyed camping at a great hippie-style festival with $20 covering camping, all you can eat side of beef, potluck, beverage, and merriment. Isaac & Ross climbed nearby at Rumney, and joined us uf the festivities. We all climbed on Sunday. Here's Stephanie paddling the Pemi and her first time in a solo WW canoe - and a C1 as well.
There was a really big bonfire, too:

We also got out for the West River release with Ross. We paddled the lower class II section - Isaac & Ross in the Caption and me in the Detonator. Isaac & Ross swam twice - which was not fun because the water is fast, shallow, and rocky. They did well working as a team to get themselves and the canoe to shore. Even though they swam, they did a great job in the tandem - it's a tricky boat to paddle. For the first time, I seriously considered paddling the Upper West. The release was a little lower this year, so it would have been a great time to try it. I was feeling strong and confident that day as well. I couldn't find anyone who I knew who wanted to paddle it, and I didn't want to rely on people who I didn't know for my safety, so I just watched. So sad.

We also got in some climbing this summer. Isaac got in lots of climbing - I think he made it out most weekends. I made it out a few times, the most memorable of which was a trip the the Gunks where I found this Copperhead:

Done for now

We've got the "renters room" to the point where we can use it as a guest room. It's not perfect, as it still needs window treatments and art, but it's comfortable.

Work Weekend

We're getting my former "renter's room" converted into a guest room, hopefully in time for my father's visit, starting Wednesday. Crown molding, paint, and furniture all need to be done.

I still have time to do fun stuff, though. I found this great quilt by stitchindye on Etsy :

Isn't it fun?

Another great weekend

Wow, we had yet another fantastic weekend. Isaac climbed at the Gunks all weekend with some friends, and I did a bunch of stuff. I climbed with them on Saturday, and it was my first time at the Gunks. I can't believe I've lived here for years and hadn't been until now. What a great place to climb! Here's Isaac on the Horseman:
Once I was too tired to climb, I jumped into the car and headed off to NJ to visit Grandma for the rest of the weekend. It's been too long since I saw her last, and I wanted to spend some quality time with her. Along the way, I stopped at a great farm stand. What can I say, I have a huge weakness for farmstand produce. A bunch of cherries, blueberries, tomatoes, and corn later and I'm back on the road to Grandma's.

Lots of great catching up and of course the Yankees game - can't miss that. Grandma, my mom, and my aunt were all big Yankee fans, and they used to drag my grandpa to the game on "ladies day". They'd all get in for free? cheap? ... I can't remember the story, but Grandpa was the only one who wasn't crazy about baseball, but he went anyway. Grandma still loves the Yankees, and watches them every chance she gets. Saturday's game was tied 1-1, and although we wanted to get some dinner, we also wanted to see the end of the game. It was still tied after the 9th inning, so we headed off to Matthews Diner. Luckily, they had the game on and it was a short drive so we didn't miss much. The service at Matthews was leisurely, good, and super-friendly (as always), and the food was actually good! I wish I could say the same for the Yankees, they ended up losing on Saturday after coming so close to turning it around. Oh well, I had a nice night out on the town with Grandma. We had fun and that's what matters.

Later that evening, we went through her box of bobbin lace that she made over the years. I've always really liked the dainty borders she adds to her pillowcases and sheet edges. I finally asked her what it was, and I found out that it wasn't lace, but tatting and not hard to make. She gave me her old tatting shuttle, and I can't wait to research it and learn how to make it.

Sunday morning we feasted on oats and the farm stand fruits (so yummy), then it was outside to work on the lawn. Grandma does a great job riding around on her scooter to weed and pick up debris (leaves, sticks, etc). She's got her system down, and the yard looks great. Back inside, we watched the mens Wimbledon final and it was a good match.

Finally, it was off Matthews Diner again before I had to head back home. So, it's a blurry picture, but it's what I've got.


So this on its own would be a full weekend, but it wasn't over yet. On the way home Sunday night I stopped off in the Lake George region to try out a bunch of different composite whitewater C1 boats. Adam, who moderates the cboats.net message board, kindly offered to let me try out some boats as I try to figure out what I want. I tried out a Hornet (Mill Brook Boats) and two boats by New Wave: a Viper and a Decender. All three were great ... now I see how many people can't pick just one.

I didn't get home until late - after 11 PM - but it was worth it to have a great fun-filled weekend.

What a great day!

It's been a while since I've done so much, had so much fun, and felt energized at the end of the day. Saturday started out is an 8AM yoga class. It has been more than a month since my last class. I was surprised that I was able to to the entire class without sitting anything out, but I was not surprise with my noticeable loss of flexibility. I definitely miss the energized feeling I get from yoga, and I need to make it a regular habit.

After yoga, I went shopping for a new pair of running shoes. Yup, that's right ... I'm going to give it a try. I found the Ski Rack in downtown Burlington to be very knowledgable and helpful. They even have a digital video camera set up to take closeups of the feet-knees while running on the treadmill. Pretty cool to see what a difference the right shoe can make in providing proper stability while running.

After shoe shopping, as tempting as it was to try running, I decided to go home and try out a new recipe for strawberry soup. I still miss the soup from the Duchess Tea Room, and now that it is strawberry season here in Vermont, all I can think of is their perfect soup! The batch I made tasted too much like yogurt and was too thin. Some heavy cream and/or sour cream and more strawberries should fix that. Seeing that I don't have heavy cream and sour cream in the house, I'll have to finish this project later.

Next, it was off to the Champlain Valley Expo where the Vermont Quilt Festival is being held this weekend. I was blown away by so many of the antique, competition, and faculty quilts. Here are some of my favorites from the antiques exhibit:

Folk Art Applique, circa 1850-1870.
I love the design and colors in this quilt. It is so funky!


Mosaic, circa 1830


Double Poppy Variation, circa 1850-1875


My favorite competition quilt was Isabella, by Eleanor Meaney of South Yarmouth, MA. The design and craftsman ship were spectacular. Eleanor passed away shortly after making this quilt, and I feel truely fortunate to have had the opportunity to to view this beautiful piece!
Isabella, by Eleanor Meaney. Competition Quilt 309 at the 2007 Vermont Quilt Festival.


Detail of Isabella, by Eleanor Meaney.


More of the many spectacular quilts can be seen at my Flickr site. Check them out!

After spending hours blissfully roaming around VQF, I went to the grocery store to pick up the ingredients that I needed to improve the strawberry soup. Then I modified it with both sour cream and heavy cream. Much better, although it was still not as good as the soup from the Duchess Tea Room.

Next, I was off to visit my friends Chris & Laurie, who just gave birth to a beautiful baby boy on Sunday. It was really great to see them and their sons Sam and Jack.
Deb holding Jack


Laurie, Jack, and Sam.


Would you believe my day was still not over? After visiting Laurie & Chris, I still had plans to go out with Haitian. She is a colleague from Fishkill, NY, who was visiting us for a few weeks to learn how to perform laboratory measurements. The original plan was to go to a bar, but we decided contra dancing would be more fun. She had never been and was a little nervous at first. Once she got there and started dancing, she picked it up fast and had a great time. I hope she can find some nice dances once she goes back home.
Haitian & Deb after the Contra Dance

What a great day!

Class II Clinic

I helped out at the Vermont Paddlers Club Class II Clinic this weekend on the Deerfield River. It turns out I know enough to provide basic whitewater canoe instruction/pointers ... who knew? It was demofest weekend, so I got to try out a Spark. Debby need. Well, maybe not need, and maybe not this boat. The canoe I paddle now is too slow, and I am ready for something different.

It was really great to see all of the students improve throughout the weekend, but I was especially happy to see the only two canoe students (tandem) doing great with communicating well and trying to catch every eddy they could. It paid off by the end of the weekend with a successful trip through Zoar Gap.


Saturday night was lots of fun, with a few of the instructors and students gathering at my campsite for dinner. Pasta with veggies, olive oil, parmesian cheese, and grilled chicken. Everyone else from our clinic who was staying at the campground showed up later in the evening for campfire and various campfire desserts. There was the usual toasting of marshmallows, but we also made a treat that I learned from my friends Andrew & Marci while on a canoe trip on the Chochocouane: wrap a piece of Pillsbury Crescent Roll dough/triangle around a stick and cook over the fire, then coat with butter and cinnamon sugar.

All in all, it was a great weekend.

Climbing & Sewing Weekend

So, I decided to give this blogging thing a try. Not sure if anyone will care what we are up to, but who knows? This weekend, Isaac, Ross, and I went climbing in the Addirondacks. Saturday morning, we climbed the Standard Route at Chapel Pond. As we were setting up, we chatted with another group who was setting up next to us on Empress, and they seemed to know a lot about the routes. At the belay for the 2nd pitch, Isaac tells Ross & me that he thinks the guy on Empress is Don Mellor, the guy who wrote the guidebook for climbing in the Addirondacks. This type of thing happens to Isaac all the time. When he first arrived in Vermont, he lived in the same apartment building as Mike Lee, and got introduced to John Sykes (established many routes in the Whites) through him. While climbing at J-Tree, we bumped into the guys who wrote the guidebook to ice climbing at Smugglers Notch.

There's a funny story behind this one. So, one of my pet peeves is how when first meeting someone, the first question they often ask is, "what do you do?" This bothers me on a couple of levels; first, because they are subconsciously less interested in what you do, and more interested in getting an idea of your status. Second, it bothers me because I define myself by so much more than my occupation of an engineer. So, back to the J-Tree story. We're chatting with a group next to us who it turns out are also from Vermont. They as us what we do in Vermont, and like the smart-ass geek he is, Isaac responds, "I climb". "No, really, what do you do?" they ask Isaac. It turns out, we were talking with the guys who wrote the guidebook to Smugglers Notch - Good one Isaac!

Anyway, back to the weekend. After the morning of climbing, I head back to Vermont to give my body a break and so Isaac & Ross could climb some stuff that is more interesting. I spent the rest of the weekend sewing. I created a pattern from my favorite skirt that is now too small, and I tried making it. I got as far as the hem, and the knit material kept bunching up under the foot of my serger at the seams. Far from the serger master, I put it aside and will ask local sewing expert and owner of the best sewing store in vermont, Gayle, about how to do this on Tuesday. I made a "Taffy Top" instead and it turned out great!