Observations From A Bicoastal Family



Friday, August 27, 2010

The Real Swamp...Finally

We've lived on the edge of The Great Swamp for two months.
The word "swamp" conjures up many images.  Most of which come from watching too much Scooby Doo.

On a rainy-ish Sunday afternoon we went to explore the swamp.  The Great Swamp was only footsteps away from us and we really needed to know what we were dealing with here.
Exploring meant going around a locked gate.  I say around because the gate is locked but you can just take a step over a very short wall and be on the path to swamp land.
We felt adventurous with the whole locked gate thing.

We brought the dog for protection?

Jenna had been exploring on a different occasion and when we passed this area she said,
"There it is.  There's The Great Swamp." 

We kept walking because I was going to be really disappointed if that was the swamp.  The swamp had to be bigger than a little pool of water.  After all, on the real entrance side to the swamp they have a sign that looks like this:


We kept walking with great anticipation of what we would find at the swampy site.
We made it to the swamp and this is what we found.


There really was a swamp. 
The Great Swamp is actually a National Wildlife Refuge.  And we saw evidence of that with some wildlife swimming around in the water.  Swampy water.

To take these pictures we, and when I say "we" I mean the kids, needed to climb up a compost pile.


The swamp lay just beyond the mulch pile.  How interesting.
During the week people can drive over to this side of the swamp and drop of recycling and pick up any mulch they may need.  How interesting.


Feeling somewhat accomplished for discovering the swamp, we headed home through the locked gate leaving the mulch where we had found it.

On a different day the kids and I went to the real entrance and took a hike through the refuge.
It was very pretty and very un-swamp like but we felt like we had truly explored every facet of the swamp land.


Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Fishing and the Telegraph

You may be wondering what fishing and the telegraph have to do with one another.
The answer is, they don't have anything to do at all with each other.
Other than the fact that across the street from the Speedwell Historical Park, the site where the telegraph was perfected, is a fishing spot.

I'm not sure how it happened but Alec has the idea that fishing is amazing.
He loves to fish.  Before this fishing excursion he had been fishing one time off of the Santa Monica Pier.
Alec was determined that we go fishing while we were out here.  Even though I had not allowed him to pack his Ugly Stick or anything else that looked like a fishing pole.

This fishing experience started off by going to two different sporting good stores, getting slightly turned around and a little lost, finding the telegraph site, and ultimately taking a hike to find the perfect edge of the lake to put the poles in.


I'll just say it.  We were ill prepared to go fishing.  Even with our poles in hand.
 We were very determined to show Alec that would live up to the conversation, actually several  conversations, we had had assuring him that there was plenty of time to go fishing while we lived out here.  Um, we were running out of time.  So, if we needed to fish in the most amateur of ways, so be it.

After finding a decent spot, the hooks were placed, the bobbers, and even lures.
Hey, whatever it takes.
Knowing this was a long shot and knowing the kids would get restless, Jenna and I took a little trip to the grocery store.  In the name of fishing we went to the store to get bait and snacks.  I'm willing to miss out on the fishing experience, or at least 20 minutes of fishing, for the sake of the team.

We arrived back at the fishing spot with bologna.  I think this is the first time in my life to buy bologna.  Anyway, we had bologna for the fish, bread for the geese, and ice cream sandwiches and sour patch kids for the people.

It looks good with the bologna!
Alec did catch one little minnow and sacrificed it while he waited for me to get back with the real bait.
So, this fishing story doesn't end well.


This is really the extent of what the boys caught.
If you're wondering what you're looking at those are weeds.


Meanwhile Jenna and Heath had a great time trying to attract the geese with pieces of bread.


 
It was a very smooth fishing experience until the line started getting really tangled. 
You would think with a pole and the reel the line would stay where it should.
It doesn't.
 

Scott is holding the bundle of fishing line that was ultimately hacked off with a rock.
When I said, "Ill prepared," I was not exaggerating.
I'm not sure the day was completely unsuccessful in the fishing department.
Alec had got the fishing experience he needed and we got to hang out with geese and bologna.


Sunday, August 22, 2010

Brilliant

I think each of us, at one time or another, has had a brilliant idea.  And, at the time, that brilliant idea truly seemed great.  Like no other idea we've ever had

We have lived here for almost two months.  We've seen some weird things. 
Weird things that were once someone's brilliant ideas.

Take these powerlines for example.  At first examination there is nothing special about them.


Take a closer look.  Someone decided that this space was perfect for their garden.
Really?  A garden.  Do you really want to eat the fruits and vegetables that come out of this garden?
Powerlines and cancer.  Not the best idea I've ever seen.


It's a dilemma trying to find the perfect spot for the kids to play. 
Does the green space under the powerlines look like the perfect spot for children to be playing?


Take a closer look.


Yes, someone thinks that a really cool swingset belongs underneath these powerlines.
Powerlines and cancer. 

I'm just saying, some of our ideas really are brilliant and some of our ideas not so much.

Part Two to the Run - The Boathouse

This post is part two of the Conservancy Run in Central Park.
I don't want to bore you and so I'm trying to make the posts shorter. 
It's just really difficult when there is so much to say!

If you remember, way back when, the day of the Conservancy Run was during a New York heat wave.
I can't really describe what the heat and humidity does to a person.  The only way to describe it is to show you pictures of what it makes people do.  The hot, heavy, drippy air made me walk around Central Park in sweaty clothes and not even care what other people thought.  It made me use an outdoor porta-potty.  And those of you who know me know that this is something I will avoid at all costs.  The layers of sweat even made me think it was acceptable for each one of the kids to use those event porta-potties.
It is forbidden that I recall those porta-potty memories ever again.

Amidst the humidity though, there was beauty.


The heat made us think that going to The Boathouse was a good idea.
Was it really a good idea to row around in a metal boat during a heat wave?
The humidity said. "Yes. Rowing is a good idea.  It will be fun!"


Cute turtles basking in the heat on the shoreline.
We've seen so many turtles on this trip!




Please note that I did not post any pictures of myself in the boat.  I was really dripping with sweat. 
My clothes were a different color they were so sweaty. 

After rowing around the lake for almost an hour we headed back into the park to replenish our liquids.
Scott, sensing I wasn't the same person he had married, asked me if I wanted to change my clothes.
I was prepared for the sweat and I had packed a change of clothes.  I was lugging them around in a back pack.

Of course I wanted to.  Not to mention the fact that I desperately needed to.
I shockingly used a public restroom for the second time in one day.

The kids were hungry and we were all very thirsty so we made our way over to the Shake Shack.
It's a burger and shake place that is always crowded.  The restaurant uses quality ingredients and the burgers aren't disgustingly large.  The food was good and the liquids were even better.


Apparently we didn't want our sweating to end so we walked around the city a little bit more.

At one point we passed a woman who had a few cats in cages.  She was sitting outside a store front. 
The kids wanted to know if she was giving the cats away.
Scott replied, "No, the cats aren't free.  Nothing in New York is free."
At that very moment Ammon says, "Hey, look! They are giving away Italian Ice in that store.  It's for free!"

For FREE!

We proceeded on our journey and happened upon Magnolias. 
 We purchased some yummy cupcakes to be consumed at a later time.


Air conditioned room plus Italian ice equals happy children.

When you are carrying around precious cupcakes in the heat and in the miserable humidity it is imperative to make your way to an air conditioned location as soon as possible.
We made our way back to the car.  Scott had parked by the Manhattan Temple. So, a few blocks later we were safe and sound in our air condition haven.



Can you see why I needed to make the run a two part post?
And even this is too long!


Tuesday, August 17, 2010

Washington Headquarters: Who Knew?

Who knew that George Washington had his headquarters in Morristown, New Jersey?
Certainly not me.

There is more to New Jersey than meets the eye.  New Jersey isn't just smoke stacks and factories.  There's some history here that I never knew existed.  I will admit that I never knew it existed because I haven't really felt the need to dig into any history for this area.  But it turns out that a famous guy had his Continental Army live in Morristown for two winters during the Revolutionary War.

Historical sites can be interesting and they can be boring.  I took the kids to the Washington Headquarters and Jockey Hollow and I was going to be brave and positive.  This was going to be both interesting and fun.

Morristown is very close to Chatham.  About a twenty minute drive on country roads.  We found the headquarters without any problem.  It seemed like we were the only visitors that day because the parking lot was empty.  This was good for me because I wasn't sure how this history lesson was going to turn out.

The Ford Mansion and Headquarters sit right by each other in a very beautiful wooded area. 
After watching a short filming and looking at very cool old items like George Washington's Will and land deeds, silverware, quilts, a harpsacord, and other really old things that we were asked not to take pictures of, we walked around the grounds and then headed over to Jockey Hollow.


Jockey Hollow is about a ten minute drive from the headquarters.  It's a very peaceful area with street names like: Goose Down, Feather Bed, and Country Glen.  I want to live on Feather Bed Road.

Morristown was the perfect place for more than 13,000 troops to camp out in during the winter of 1777 and 1779-1780.  History books talk about the winter at Valley Forge being a very cold winter.  However, in George Washington's biography, written by Douglas Southall Freeman, Washington wrote that the winter of 1779-1798 "was a period of far worse suffering than the corresponding months of 1777-1778 at Valley Forge."  Apparently George Washington knew how cold New Jersey gets in the winter.

We had a good time at Jockey Hollow as long as we were inside.  This was not winter.  We wanted it to feel like a winter day.  It was hot and the humidity was stiffling.  This little adventure would have been perfect for a spring day.  But I was determined to go through the history lesson about the Contential Army living at Jockey Hollow before defeating the British at York Town.



After hanging out in the visitor's center for a few minutes the guide suggested we look around the Henry Wick home that sat on 1,400 acres of land that the 13,000 troops lived on.
It was very historic. However, we needed to keep moving because of the overwhelming heat.

We saw a sign that read: Bunk House - 1 mile.
We needed to see the four or five bunk houses that were still standing.  How cool is that?
One mile is not very far.
It's not very far if the sign is telling the truth.  We have our doubts as to the truthfulness of that "1 mile" sign

It's okay because we had a beautiful walk in a foresty area, looked at and sat on the memorial plaque for the soldiers who lost their lives during the winters in Jockey Hollow, made our way up to the bunk houses, and had sweat dripping down our backs while we enjoyed the paved road back to the visitor's center.



On our way out of this hot, historic and beautiful place Alec spotted a tree frog. 
 I think finding the frog made them forget for a brief moment how sweaty they were. 



When we reappeared in the visitor's center, very tattered and dripping with sweat, the guide noticed our condition.  I explained that we had walked to the bunk house.  He laughed and said that next time we should just drive up there.  He then pulled out a map trying to find a lake we could go swim in.

We opted to skip the lake and go directly to the pool.
On the drive home I wished we could make the car cooler than 60 degrees. 
We all thought wintry thoughts.