The North end of Skaneateles Lake, one of the lakes we visited A few weeks ago I went with friends to the Finger Lakes area in upstate New York to camp and bike. It was an important opportunity and exploration for me, and wanting to write about the experience tipped me into starting a blog for these posts and others. I'm including a table of contents of the trip postings towards the top of each one: Finger Lakes 2019-06 Biking: Overview + preliminary travel, June 2, 3  ⇐ You are here Finger Lakes 2019-06 Biking: Tuesday, June 4 Finger Lakes 2019-06 Biking: Wednesday, June 5 - small incident, no biking Finger Lakes 2019-06 Biking: Thursday, June 6 Finger Lakes 2019-06 Biking: Friday, June 7 - campsite transition, no biking Finger Lakes 2019-06 Biking: Saturday, June 8 Finger Lakes 2019-06 Biking: Sunday, June 9 Finger Lakes 2019-06 Biking: Trip Wrap-Up I love to travel by bike and to camp, and did some substantial outings summers during high school and college. Duri

This is posting #2 of a camping and bicycling trip I took with some friends through the Finger Lakes region of upper-state New York. Here's the complete set of postings: Finger Lakes 2019-06 Biking: Overview and preliminary travel, Sunday, Monday June 2, 3 Finger Lakes 2019-06 Biking: Tuesday, June 4    ⇐ You are here Finger Lakes 2019-06 Biking: Wednesday, June 5 - small incident, no biking Finger Lakes 2019-06 Biking: Thursday, June 6 Finger Lakes 2019-06 Biking: Friday, June 7 - campsite transition, no biking Finger Lakes 2019-06 Biking: Saturday, June 8 Finger Lakes 2019-06 Biking: Sunday, June 9 Finger Lakes 2019-06 Biking: Trip Wrap-Up This was my first day of substantial bike riding. It also turned out to be a significant test of my endurance. Around 50 miles total: Shared Tuesday biking map . The map is embedded at the bottom of the page. The destination was Clark Gully, "Birthplace to the World" . Steve informed us that the Seneca know it as the p

This is posting #3 of a camping and bicycling trip I took with some friends through the Finger Lakes region of upper-state New York. Here's the complete set of postings: Finger Lakes 2019-06 Biking: Overview and preliminary travel, Sunday, Monday June 2, 3 Finger Lakes 2019-06 Biking: Tuesday, June 4 Finger Lakes 2019-06 Biking: Wednesday, June 5 - small incident, no biking   ⇐ You are here Finger Lakes 2019-06 Biking: Thursday, June 6 Finger Lakes 2019-06 Biking: Friday, June 7 - campsite transition, no biking Finger Lakes 2019-06 Biking: Saturday, June 8 Finger Lakes 2019-06 Biking: Sunday, June 9 Finger Lakes 2019-06 Biking: Trip Wrap-Up I took a recuperation day off from biking on Wednesday. I also needed to stop in town (to get a toilet plunger for the single bathroom in the lake house where we were staying), and also got a bag each of dried apricots and and dried dates, to try as part of the "fueling" experiment. To return to Watkins Glen State Park (w

This is posting #4 of a camping and bicycling trip I took with some friends through the Finger Lakes region of upper-state New York. Here's the complete set of postings: Finger Lakes 2019-06 Biking: Overview and preliminary travel, Sunday, Monday June 2, 3 Finger Lakes 2019-06 Biking: Tuesday, June 4 Finger Lakes 2019-06 Biking: Wednesday, June 5 - small incident, no biking Finger Lakes 2019-06 Biking: Thursday, June 6     <- are="" here="" i="" you=""> ⇐ You are here Finger Lakes 2019-06 Biking: Friday, June 7 - campsite transition, no biking Finger Lakes 2019-06 Biking: Saturday, June 8 Finger Lakes 2019-06 Biking: Sunday, June 9 Finger Lakes 2019-06 Biking: Trip Wrap-Up This was my favorite biking day. Again around 50 miles total: Shared Thursday biking map . Again, you can see the map inline at the bottom of this post. The night before was Ash, Ingrid, and my first night actually camping at Watkins Glen. The ca

This is posting #5 of a camping and bicycling trip I took with some friends through the Finger Lakes region of upper-state New York. Here's the complete set of postings: Finger Lakes 2019-06 Biking: Overview and preliminary travel, Sunday, Monday June 2, 3 Finger Lakes 2019-06 Biking: Tuesday, June 4 Finger Lakes 2019-06 Biking: Wednesday, June 5 - small incident, no biking Finger Lakes 2019-06 Biking: Thursday, June 6 Finger Lakes 2019-06 Biking: Friday, June 7 - campsite transition, no biking   ⇐ You are here Finger Lakes 2019-06 Biking: Saturday, June 8 Finger Lakes 2019-06 Biking: Sunday, June 9 Finger Lakes 2019-06 Biking: Trip Wrap-Up Another day of no-biking for me, as we relocated to another campgrounds and I did some shopping to fill in some equipment gaps and get some meat for dinner. Ash launched Ingrid to avoid an icky part of the route to the next campground, Cayuga Lake State Park. (I enjoyed taking down and subsequently putting back up my Big Agnes Jack

This is posting #6 of a camping and bicycling trip I took with some friends through the Finger Lakes region of upper-state New York. Here's the complete set of postings: Finger Lakes 2019-06 Biking: Overview and preliminary travel, Sunday, Monday June 2, 3 Finger Lakes 2019-06 Biking: Tuesday, June 4 Finger Lakes 2019-06 Biking: Wednesday, June 5 - small incident, no biking Finger Lakes 2019-06 Biking: Thursday, June 6 Finger Lakes 2019-06 Biking: Friday, June 7 - campsite transition, no biking Finger Lakes 2019-06 Biking: Saturday, June 8     <- are="" here="" i="" you=""> ⇐ You are here Finger Lakes 2019-06 Biking: Sunday, June 9 Finger Lakes 2019-06 Biking: Trip Wrap-Up Another 50 mile bike ride: Shared Saturday biking (and driving) map . See the inline map at the bottom of this post. This time from Ithaca, where Ash brought us so we could all watch Germany's World Cup soccer team play against China, and then ride

This is posting #7 of a camping and bicycling trip I took with some friends through the Finger Lakes region of upper-state New York. Here's the complete set of postings: Finger Lakes 2019-06 Biking: Overview and preliminary travel, Sunday, Monday June 2, 3 Finger Lakes 2019-06 Biking: Tuesday, June 4 Finger Lakes 2019-06 Biking: Wednesday, June 5 - small incident, no biking Finger Lakes 2019-06 Biking: Thursday, June 6 Finger Lakes 2019-06 Biking: Friday, June 7 - campsite transition, no biking Finger Lakes 2019-06 Biking: Saturday, June 8 Finger Lakes 2019-06 Biking: Sunday, June 9     <- are="" here="" i="" you=""> ⇐ You are here Finger Lakes 2019-06 Biking: Trip Wrap-Up A 55 mile day: Shared Sunday biking (and driving) map , and inline at the bottom of this post. Ingrid and our bikes at a town plaza in Skanaeteles, N.Y., at the northern tip of Skanaeteles Lake. (Visit the virtual reality rendering to look around.

This is posting #8, the wrap-up, of a camping and bicycling trip I took with some friends through the Finger Lakes region of upper-state New York. Here's the complete set of postings: Finger Lakes 2019-06 Biking: Overview and preliminary travel, Sunday, Monday June 2, 3 Finger Lakes 2019-06 Biking: Tuesday, June 4 Finger Lakes 2019-06 Biking: Wednesday, June 5 - small incident, no biking Finger Lakes 2019-06 Biking: Thursday, June 6 Finger Lakes 2019-06 Biking: Friday, June 7 - campsite transition, no biking Finger Lakes 2019-06 Biking: Saturday, June 8 Finger Lakes 2019-06 Biking: Sunday, June 9 Finger Lakes 2019-06 Biking: Trip Wrap-Up     <- are="" here="" i="" you=""> ⇐ You are here This trip was demanding, and worth every bit of the effort. I'm very glad I went. Before summarizing some bits that are important to me, I want to summarize the most important - thanks to friends (old and new) for helping to make it hap

For a long time I've needed a website platform that is versatile while also being easy to use and maintain. I've found that I can use Google Sites, in combination with a minimal paid G Suite Basic account, and satisfy my rather stringent requirements better than I could have hoped. In the process of the evaluation I've gotten clearer about my requirements. That clarity, plus some nuances in the way I'm achieving them, is worth describing. Here are my crucial criteria: Easy to use and navigate. The editing interface is fairly simple and easy to use, and the nuances, to get complex functionality, are of the sort that I like - discoverable, if you ask sensible questions. Page layout is fairly easy to understand and employ. It's sometimes constraining, but that can actually be a good thing for me, in so far as it tames my tendencies to communicate in overly elaborate ways. The constraints have not prevented me from doing any of the sophisticated things that I act

My first blog post is a good opportunity to introduce myself, and a good starting place for that is a confession: I'm a bit of a "depth junkie". I like to explore, to understand how things fit together, to build stuff, to develop - abilities, understandings, designs, opportunities. I'm not very quick at it - I'm almost 60 and haven't been married nor had kids. I spent some of that time occupied by digestive problems from infancy that reoccurred in my late teens. I feel I started to get a handle on them in my twenties, and eventually returned to being fairly healthy, but I continue to contend with and be puzzled by new twists and turns. I have had some work successes but am still striving to develop insight and expertise the area where I'd most like to concentrate. I always go for a walk after my daily meal, and I do not walk fast. I am patient, and curious, and willing to play the cards I have been dealt and see how I can make the best of this life. Grad