Here are the orchids in bloom at my house today (seven in all). I'm taking advantage of the day off and the sunny day to sit on the deck and re-pot some of them. More of the photos are on my Flickr stream at http://www.flickr.com/photos/nhallberg/
I've been growing orchids for something like 11 years now, and now you know why I've got a photo of an orchid as the title for my homepage. That photo is also one of my own.
I can't wait for the annual Orchid Show at Penn State coming up next weekend. when, of course, I'll go with the best intentions of "only buying ONE orchid." I say intention, because self-control is not really my strong suit. :-)
I can't wait for the annual Orchid Show at Penn State coming up next weekend. when, of course, I'll go with the best intentions of "only buying ONE orchid." I say intention, because self-control is not really my strong suit. :-)
That was the name of our triathlon team.
Jen lives two doors down from me. She & I have been running together for about 3 years now. Usually a 5K around the neighborhood, but we've also done a half-marathon together. While training for the half-marathon last summer, Jen decided she really wanted to do a triathlon, but she's not comfortable swimming, so she looked for and found one that allowed us to compete as a team.
Suzy, who recently joined our book club (I'll have to do another post on that sometime) is a swimmer. So that seemed perfect. Suzy agreed to do the 1/2 mile swim in the lake. Now all Jen & I had to figure out who was running and who was biking. So after several biking outings we decided Jen was the stronger biker, and that was our team.
We entered the Hollidaysburg YMCA triathlon as the team "Sure, We'll Tri" and finished with an official time of 1:44:20. I was a very, very humid day. So my own time on the 5K was not as good as I'd hoped for. I really do wilt in humidity. But Jen came through with a 50 minute bike ride and we were expecting closer to an hour, given the nasty hills on the course. And Suzy's swim time was just about where we expected. All in all, even though we came in 2nd out of the two teams in our age division, we were pleased with the day. And most importantly we had a great time. We're already trying to recruit even more people to get a bunch of teams of folks we know to give it a shot next year.
Jen lives two doors down from me. She & I have been running together for about 3 years now. Usually a 5K around the neighborhood, but we've also done a half-marathon together. While training for the half-marathon last summer, Jen decided she really wanted to do a triathlon, but she's not comfortable swimming, so she looked for and found one that allowed us to compete as a team.
Suzy, who recently joined our book club (I'll have to do another post on that sometime) is a swimmer. So that seemed perfect. Suzy agreed to do the 1/2 mile swim in the lake. Now all Jen & I had to figure out who was running and who was biking. So after several biking outings we decided Jen was the stronger biker, and that was our team.
We entered the Hollidaysburg YMCA triathlon as the team "Sure, We'll Tri" and finished with an official time of 1:44:20. I was a very, very humid day. So my own time on the 5K was not as good as I'd hoped for. I really do wilt in humidity. But Jen came through with a 50 minute bike ride and we were expecting closer to an hour, given the nasty hills on the course. And Suzy's swim time was just about where we expected. All in all, even though we came in 2nd out of the two teams in our age division, we were pleased with the day. And most importantly we had a great time. We're already trying to recruit even more people to get a bunch of teams of folks we know to give it a shot next year.
I'm back home and feel like blogging about other things, so I'll just do a quick wrap-up post about the rest of the trip... The dinner train along the Arkansas River through the Royal Gorge was nice. Pike's Peak was cool ... very cool. 36 degrees on a July afternoon! We felt OK outside though it was cold, but as soon as Brian or Mom or I headed into the snack bar/gift shop at the summit (14, 100 ft.) we got light-headed. I think too many people were inside trying to get warm and sucking up all the oxygen.
We also spent time at the Garden Railroad Convention, and got some ideas for a new garden railroad here at this house. We planned to put one it shortly after moving (you can see photos of the old one on my personal website), but still haven't gotten around to it.
All in all, we loved the sightseeing and the time spent with relatives.
We also spent time at the Garden Railroad Convention, and got some ideas for a new garden railroad here at this house. We planned to put one it shortly after moving (you can see photos of the old one on my personal website), but still haven't gotten around to it.
All in all, we loved the sightseeing and the time spent with relatives.
With Mom & Dad we also drove the Lariat Loop which goes through Evergreen (pretty little town) and over Lookout Mountain. At the top of Lookout Mountain is the Buffalo Bill Museum and his grave. We passed many, many cyclists going up the mountain and again, I am in awe of the everyday athletes here in Colorado. We also had a hang-glider go over our head - barely! I think this guy passed about six feet above the roof of the car. Had there been a tractor-trailer on the road he would have splatted right into the side. Then again, no sane truck driver would attempt that road!
Downtown Golden has a quilt museum. This was a stop I wanted to make with my Mom, the quilter. They did indeed have great quilts, but I was amazed at how few there were. I expected it to be bigger. I think I've seen more quilts in little shops in PA than here at the "museum."
Downtown Golden has a quilt museum. This was a stop I wanted to make with my Mom, the quilter. They did indeed have great quilts, but I was amazed at how few there were. I expected it to be bigger. I think I've seen more quilts in little shops in PA than here at the "museum."
The main purpose of the trip to Colorado was to see family, especially since we don't get a chance to get together very often. So my brother & sister-in-law from California, my parents from New Mexico and some nieces in Colorado were all able to see each other. With my brother & sister-in-law we toured the Coors Brewery in Golden. An interesting tour, but I still don't like Coors beer or any of the other brands they make. It's only stouts for me. I never really learned to like lagers. I guess this comes from learning to drink beer in England and having a "pint of bitter" (i.e. stout).
With my parents we toured the Red Rocks Amphitheater, the Quilt museum in Golden, the Buffalo Bill Museum and Lookout Mountain.
Red Rocks Amphitheater is an amazing place, and I really wanted to see a show while we were here in Colorado, but it just didn't work out. The only night that there was an event that we had free was the 4th of July. Blues Traveler was playing for the 4th and I really like Blues Traveler. Opening for them was Lewis Black. I think he's one of the funniest comedians out there these days. However, I would have my teenage daughter along. Now, I know she knows the F-word, and I don't usually think of myself as a prude -- but somehow paying for a show where I know she's going to here that word repeatedly, and I do mean repeatedly (for those of you who've ever seen Lewis Black, you know what I'm talking about) just didn't feel right. I guess you can never stop being a Mom!
But the theatre was cool in an of itself and Dad even walked all the stairs in the amphitheatre. When we arrived there was a fitness class in progress and folks were running the stairs. Inspired, I started to run to the top myself. About 20 rows from the top though, I gave out (I think there were about 80 rows). I also gained a deep respect for the folks in that class!
With my parents we toured the Red Rocks Amphitheater, the Quilt museum in Golden, the Buffalo Bill Museum and Lookout Mountain.
Red Rocks Amphitheater is an amazing place, and I really wanted to see a show while we were here in Colorado, but it just didn't work out. The only night that there was an event that we had free was the 4th of July. Blues Traveler was playing for the 4th and I really like Blues Traveler. Opening for them was Lewis Black. I think he's one of the funniest comedians out there these days. However, I would have my teenage daughter along. Now, I know she knows the F-word, and I don't usually think of myself as a prude -- but somehow paying for a show where I know she's going to here that word repeatedly, and I do mean repeatedly (for those of you who've ever seen Lewis Black, you know what I'm talking about) just didn't feel right. I guess you can never stop being a Mom!
But the theatre was cool in an of itself and Dad even walked all the stairs in the amphitheatre. When we arrived there was a fitness class in progress and folks were running the stairs. Inspired, I started to run to the top myself. About 20 rows from the top though, I gave out (I think there were about 80 rows). I also gained a deep respect for the folks in that class!
Most of my favorite vacation spots seem to be about natural wonders, and Colorado is just chock full of them. The red rocks in the Garden of the Gods are marvelous (see my photos). We walked around the park. I got a note from a friend that she used to use the park trails as her running trails when she used to live out here. How lucky!
There were rock climbers too. Although after having climbed on granite the day before I was amazed that these people would want to trust the very soft sandstone for climbing. Clearly they were both more experienced and more trusting than I am.
After GotG, we headed to see Seven Falls (still in Colorado Springs). Seven Falls is the 2nd highest waterfall in the U.S. The highest being Yosemite Falls which we saw a few years ago. It's acutally seven small falls one after the other to create one very high one. The coolest thing about this one was the stairs. We've seen a lot of waterfalls over the years, and each time we get to do something a little different. At Niagra Falls, we took the Maid of the Mist boat and got sprayed, at Cucumber Falls in PA, the kids walked behind the falls, in Yosemite they hiked right up to the base and played in the water, here was got to take stairs the entire length of the falls to the top. That's what I said - stairs - 224 of them. But worth every step.
There were rock climbers too. Although after having climbed on granite the day before I was amazed that these people would want to trust the very soft sandstone for climbing. Clearly they were both more experienced and more trusting than I am.
After GotG, we headed to see Seven Falls (still in Colorado Springs). Seven Falls is the 2nd highest waterfall in the U.S. The highest being Yosemite Falls which we saw a few years ago. It's acutally seven small falls one after the other to create one very high one. The coolest thing about this one was the stairs. We've seen a lot of waterfalls over the years, and each time we get to do something a little different. At Niagra Falls, we took the Maid of the Mist boat and got sprayed, at Cucumber Falls in PA, the kids walked behind the falls, in Yosemite they hiked right up to the base and played in the water, here was got to take stairs the entire length of the falls to the top. That's what I said - stairs - 224 of them. But worth every step.
The kids and I took Rock Climbing lessons in Estes Park. It was wonderful. The most we had done before was rock climbing walls. The real thing was much better. You get a real feeling of accomplishment when you get the to the top and look out over miles of Colorado and not just a gym or the fairgrounds.
We can all now climb, belay, and rappel. Plenty of photos for you to look at.
We can all now climb, belay, and rappel. Plenty of photos for you to look at.
After hiking in the Rockies we pulled into Estes Park and stayed at the Stanley Hotel. This hotel was Steven King's inspiration for "The Shining." They do play it up too, since I'm sure it helps with the tourist trade. But we experienced no paranormal activity.
It is a beautiful old hotel, in the ballroom were two grand pianos, Brandon sat down at one and just started playing. He started to draw folks in, because he really is pretty good. The dining room manager came over and pulled the door closed a bit so that people from the restaurant couldn't see into the ballroom. He told me he hoped people would think it was a ghost playing the piano. A ghost playing Coldplay, Five for Fighting, and Foreigner, yeah right!
Brian hated the fact that the rooms weren't air conditioned, but I didn't find it too bad. I loved the wicker furniture on the expansive front porch, that overlooked the lake and had a great view of the mountains. I spent most of the night just relaxing and reading on the porch.
Photos at http://www.flickr.com/photos/nhallberg/sets/72157621234773173/
It is a beautiful old hotel, in the ballroom were two grand pianos, Brandon sat down at one and just started playing. He started to draw folks in, because he really is pretty good. The dining room manager came over and pulled the door closed a bit so that people from the restaurant couldn't see into the ballroom. He told me he hoped people would think it was a ghost playing the piano. A ghost playing Coldplay, Five for Fighting, and Foreigner, yeah right!
Brian hated the fact that the rooms weren't air conditioned, but I didn't find it too bad. I loved the wicker furniture on the expansive front porch, that overlooked the lake and had a great view of the mountains. I spent most of the night just relaxing and reading on the porch.
Photos at http://www.flickr.com/photos/nhallberg/sets/72157621234773173/
What was on my mind -- getting as high as possible atop the Rocky Mountains. What was on my daughter's mind -- a headache from the altitude. I love mountains, I've always been more of a mountain person than a beach person. Unfortunately, for my beach-loving daughter, most of our family live in the mountains, and therefore we vacation there far more often.
After meeting my brother and sister-in-law, their granddaughters (my grand-nieces) and my sister-in-laws parents, we all piled into two vehicles and left Denver headed for the mountains. We crossed the continental divide at Berthold Pass and the kids threw snowballs at each other.
We spent the night at Shadow Mountain Lake/ Grand Lake. the town of Grand Lake is a great little town. We went through the Kauffman museum in town. I figured that this Ezra Kauffman may have been related to my Kauffman's back along the line. (I'll have to look him up when I get back home).
We all seem to like waterfalls a lot, so we took a short hike to Adams Falls on Monday, and I planned a longer hike (6.8 miles) on Tuesday to Cascade Falls in RMNP (elevation maybe 8500 ft.) for just the four of us. (Greg's crew having gone back to Denver.) The falls were wonderful, but hiking in the Rockies just isn't the same as hiking in PA. The combination of altitude and a cold had Gretchen gasping for breath. Poor kid, but she's tough and she's a trooper. However the 1 mile hike that I had planned for the day at 12,000 ft. had to be cancelled. We did at least get out of the car and took lots of photos.
As we drove up the mountain, Gretchen at first couldn't believe that the road went above the tree line. Then when we got there she was very dismayed to see snow BELOW us. "That's just not right."
In the park, we did get to see lots of wildlife. We saw two moose while hiking to Cascade Falls, and many herds of elk along Trail Ridge Road. We also saw marmots (sort of like a groundhog) and pikas (squirrel-like). The only thing that I had hoped for but didn't get to see were bighorn sheep.
Anyway, our trip through the park concluded at Estes Park. More on Estes Park later....
Photos are on Flickr at : http://www.flickr.com/photos/nhallberg/sets/
After meeting my brother and sister-in-law, their granddaughters (my grand-nieces) and my sister-in-laws parents, we all piled into two vehicles and left Denver headed for the mountains. We crossed the continental divide at Berthold Pass and the kids threw snowballs at each other.
We spent the night at Shadow Mountain Lake/ Grand Lake. the town of Grand Lake is a great little town. We went through the Kauffman museum in town. I figured that this Ezra Kauffman may have been related to my Kauffman's back along the line. (I'll have to look him up when I get back home).
We all seem to like waterfalls a lot, so we took a short hike to Adams Falls on Monday, and I planned a longer hike (6.8 miles) on Tuesday to Cascade Falls in RMNP (elevation maybe 8500 ft.) for just the four of us. (Greg's crew having gone back to Denver.) The falls were wonderful, but hiking in the Rockies just isn't the same as hiking in PA. The combination of altitude and a cold had Gretchen gasping for breath. Poor kid, but she's tough and she's a trooper. However the 1 mile hike that I had planned for the day at 12,000 ft. had to be cancelled. We did at least get out of the car and took lots of photos.
As we drove up the mountain, Gretchen at first couldn't believe that the road went above the tree line. Then when we got there she was very dismayed to see snow BELOW us. "That's just not right."
In the park, we did get to see lots of wildlife. We saw two moose while hiking to Cascade Falls, and many herds of elk along Trail Ridge Road. We also saw marmots (sort of like a groundhog) and pikas (squirrel-like). The only thing that I had hoped for but didn't get to see were bighorn sheep.
Anyway, our trip through the park concluded at Estes Park. More on Estes Park later....
Photos are on Flickr at : http://www.flickr.com/photos/nhallberg/sets/
I can't believe itj's July and I haven't posted on this blog since March. Apparently, vacations are the only break I get. Spring was a blur of softball, gymnastics, and more softball. Gretchen played JV (junior varisity) softball and is now playing ASA (American Softball Association) summer ball. Brandon, as usual, spent the spring umpiring for Little League baseball. And Brian, President for Tri-County Little League for the past six years or so finally handed in his resignation effective the end of this season.
As I write this we're on vacation in Denver and have tickets to a Rockies game in a few days. It used to be that I didn't like baseball at all but after 14 years of having at least one child playing ball, I find the game is starting to grow on me. However, I think it's stil safe to say that I'll take a book along to the Rockies game on Monday.
As I write this we're on vacation in Denver and have tickets to a Rockies game in a few days. It used to be that I didn't like baseball at all but after 14 years of having at least one child playing ball, I find the game is starting to grow on me. However, I think it's stil safe to say that I'll take a book along to the Rockies game on Monday.
