golv: jordan creek parkway

Todays walk was a Get Out Lehigh Valley walk in Jordon Creek Parkway. This is a really nice section of Jordan Creek and at this point it is a county park. The parkway begins as a city park and once connected, will connect with this section of county park. Then it will connect again at Parkland High School, and finals the Trexler Nature Preserve. In total, it will be about 14 miles long when cobbled together.

There was about 50 people today. The lot was full because there was also a biking group. I had to park in a second lot across the street.

The walk took us down the main path, and then we took an off-shoot to the creek. It was muddy and often slippery. I had wished I had taken my hiking stick. Eventually we came out on the main road and walked toward Mickley Road.

After crossing the road we continued on the path to a bridge over the Joran Creek that the Wildlands built so the trail could continue on. The next section willl connect this area with the area near the high school. Once completed the athletes won't have to run in the street any more. That's a win-win. The section to the Nature Preserve is further away.

When we returned we used the main path the whole time. Overall we were in the shade about 80% of the time.

Miles/Steps:        4

Weather:             86, sunny, 56% humidity, shade

Bathrooms:         I-4.5 

Wildlife:              a lot of chipmunks, female blue jay, centipede

Photos:                me, get out Lehigh valley fb page

hot enough for a mall walk

By the time I finished my running around this morning it hot out. We've already crossed into the 90s. And it's humid.One pm is no time to take a stroll. Instead we headed for the mall. Yes, I do feel like an old lady. No, I don't care. It's air-conditioned and flat. What is there to complain about? All you need to do is stay away from Cinnabon.

We entered the mall on the second floor of Macy's. That's where I always enter the mall. Macy's, however, is remodeling and it was a maze. We got out of there quickly. We went downstairs to the first floor and walked down toward Penny's, doing the food court circuit as well. Then we walked around the perimeter of Prnny's. At that end of the mall the LV Hospital has added a children's play area. Then we headed back and made the loop thru Boscove's and returned to Macy's. 

Since Macy's was a mess, we just took the escalator up, and came out in the mall and repeated the first round. Of course the second floor layout is different, there are two smaller food concourses.

The mall has changed a lot since I was last there. Yet it has changed very little. Dunderbach'ss still smells terrific. Spencer's is still tacky. Stores have come and gone. Lydia was particularly interested  in "Dough Life", a cookie dough restaurant.

Ultimately we ended up getting a frozen banana. Mine was covered in dark chocolate. Fruit and antioxidants. What could could be wrong with that? I could barely finish it. But I did.

Miles/Steps:        2 wish

Weather:             90+, humid, sunny 

Wildlife:              it was a mall. Define wildlife.

don't forget your neck

Yesterday was supposed to be the Volkssport walk in Sea Girt, NJ. It was announced Sunday.. I looked at the long range weather and decided I'd go. I cleared my calendar for the day. Invited Bonnie. Lydia invited herself along. We were. set.

Wednesday night I got a text from the club saying the walk was canceled due to the weather. It was going to be over 90, humid with a land breeze,  Unsafe to walk.Wait.Isn't that thereupon the people go to the beach?

I said we were still going. She contacted Maureen, the president of the Princeton group see if she had the instructions from. She didn't, but if we wanted to come to Long Branch, which is a little further north, she'd meet us. So instead we went there.

We met Maureen at the 7-11 and checked in. She lives down the street and needs no directions. She does the walk EVERY day. In fact she walks 8-10 miles everyday. Yikes.

The walk was pretty simple. Down to the ocean, make left on the boardwalk and walk it till it ends. Then head around Seven Presidents Park, and continue a little further east. Then we turned around and repeat. There were so many people on the beach, boardwalk, and boats of many sizes in the water.

Lyd was overheated so we left her at Seven Presidents Park in the shade. Maureen got her in for free. You pay by the carful. Pedestrians are $8

The boardwalk has a lot of comfort stations (which are apparently open year-round). I's say they are half-mile apart. There is also beach access at these points and place to buy your tags. Seniors were free so we didn't pay. The girl left Lyd go in free as well.

The whole beach, boardwalk, stores, everything has been redone since Hurricane Sandy. The cute bungalows that used to dot the shore line have been replaced by big hotels and condo units built by the President's son in law. Maureen said he has not bought several blocks in the at risk part of town to do off-ocean developing.  If you like gentrification, this is the beach for you. We ate at a seafood place and no-one had seafood!

Some of the shore tacky remains like theWind Mill hot dog shop. I hear the dogs are good.

After we finished the walk and ice at Strollo's Lighthouse Ice ...

... before heading to climb a real working lighthouse at Sandy Hook National Park. It was a short one, only 95 stairs, but we got to go to the light! The last flight was a later. It was 99 degrees there so we didn't stay long. It was a narrow and tight climb. Twenty pounds heavier and I would not have fit.

Traffic coming home was hell.

Miles/Steps:        20,312 steps. It's been a long time. Includes lighthouse climb

Weather:             88, sunny, 53% humidity, minimal shade

Bathrooms:         Started as I-4.5, but they degraded as sweaty sun bathers used them 

Wildlife:               two pods of dolphins during lunch, gulls of all sizes, shapes and colors

Photos:                Lydia, waitress, park ranger

rustling roots and seeking shade

When I redid my yard 10-15 years ago I planted a "carpet" rose in the center. It was supposed to get two feet high and spread across the ground. The idea was it would spread, kill the grass and give me less mowing to do. It would separate the yard from the flowers. It didn't work. That SOB grew six feet high and had the most, and the sharpest, thorns of any rose bush in the universe. And there was a lot of them. You couldn't even cut the roses. Not a Japanese beetle in sight to eat it either.

That yard renovation — inspired by shows on television — was an epic failure on multiple levels. The flowers never grew in the flower section. The neighbors neglected their yards and my "natural yard" took on lots of weed seeds and is no longer a three time a year mow job.

Bottom line. I'm disgusted with the yard. I almost hate it. It's an embarrassment. I no longer like to garden which makes it much worse. And the rose was a literal thorn in my side.  I'd cut it down and it would regrow twice as big. Last year I took a hedge cutter to it. I killed it. Now there was a dead stump in my yard.

Yesterday on FB my niece messaged me. Her 17-year-old son (how did that happen?) wanted to know if he could mow my lawn. No. He lost that job last year when he didn't show up. Now Lydia does it to contribute non-monetarily to the household. HOWEVER, if he wanted to dig out the stump of that rose bush, come on over.

That kid worked his ass off. And he doesn't have much of one. He had to do a lot of problem solving to get it out. He reminded me of my brother, his grandfather. The culprit turned out to be a root at least 6 inches in diameter. That's what was keeping that bad-boy in the ground. He sawed it off with the Christmas tree saw. He also got down my porch furniture. Gotta love teenagers.

By the time they left it was past 11. I was sweating like a pig being out in the yard, and I didn't do that much of the work. My poison itched like hell. There was probably some heat rash there as well. Lydia and I finally decided to walk at noon. Where do we go at high noon when it's 90 and sunny. Where can we find shade at that time of the day?

After scouting some locations we settled on Monocacy Way and the Burnside Plantation. Although not 100% shady, there are trees on either side of the path that filter the sunlight so it's not beating down on your body.

We headed thru the plantation and down thru the garden and headed south on the path towards Union Boulevard. Surprisingly the Monocacy was very low, and at some places bone dry. The weeds were so high you couldn't see what was going on. I wonder if a tree fell that was restricting the water flow. Some areas the water was very high. It made no sense. Especially with the amount of erosion and mud patches on the trail.

The board walks (above) signal the end of the trail thru the woods. You cross Union Boulevard, then go down Old York Road and thru the historic district. The tail picks up again on Sand Island. We didn't go there. We knew already it was sunny and hot.

We turned around and head back to the plantation.

Miles/Steps:        1.5

Weather:             90, hot and sunny, 40% humidity

Wildlife:              chipmunk

Photos:               Lydia

rain turns to sun

The monument on Center Square, framed by houses.

This morning I didn't think we'd be walking. It was so humid you could cut the air with a knife. The clouds were black. There was no doubt it was going to pour.

The plan. I'd take Lyd to Good Shepherd for her interview and she'd leave walking clothes in the car. Then, if it wasn't raining we'd go to the Parkway. As I sat on 7th street and waited it poured. And then poured more. I was sure walking would be out. But as time past, the clouds became whiter and the rain stopped. We took a chance and headed to the Parkway.

I dropped Lydia off at the comfort station to change, and headed to the Iron Bridge parking lot.  Then we headed out toward the covered bridge. The creek was really high and running fast. There were kids tubing in it. I had never seen that. Maybe the police academy was having camp. But no one had life vests on.

As always, Lydia walks if she can take photos. And she took a lot. But not as many as normal.  We returned on the other side of the creek. By then the sun was out and the humidity rolled back in.

Miles/Steps:        2

Weather:             82, cloudy to sunny and 70% humidity

Wildlife:              blue jay, barn swallows

Bathrooms:         I-2.5 Lyd almost decided not to change there. The car might have been better. The floor was disgusting.

Photos:           Lydia

bugs and birds

Today Lydia didn't go in until 10:45. One of the benefits of working retail. If she takes the bus, she leaves at 9. She suggested at 8 that we go walking and I drop her off. It wasn't super hot out, nor humid, but shade was a requirement. Upscale stores, even in outlet malls,  don't want sweaty clerks.

I picked the Freemansburg trailhead of the D&L. I was fairly sure it was shady in the morning, and being between the rive and the canal should be cooler. Plus it's close to the Sands (soon to be the Windcreek), so it shouldn't be any trouble getting her to work.

And we were off.

We pulled into the new Freemansburg trail head. Talk about a renovation. The bridge is long because it is assessable. The ramps on either end are at least three twists each. And because of all the rain the canal water was clean. There are actual paved parking spaces. And hold on to your caps—trash AND recycle bins. As well as a fish line bin.

Which way to go? Head past the gaggle of mean geese into Bethlehem Township or back toward Bethlehem. A few years ago the tree butchers did their damage to the trees in the Bethlehem section, ruining both the canal and the shade. That wasn't an option.  We had to go past the geese.

The fishermen on the bridge hated me. I sang horrible songs at the top of my lungs to get the bastards to move. It worked. (It always worked in Girl Scout camp during hunting season. "Don't shoot us, we're only Girl Scouts." as every living thing in the forest ran for their lives!) All we had to do was navigate the shit they left behind.

It was indeed shady, and not super hot. We walked behind the mule barn instead of in front of it, but other than that we stayed on the trail. After the barn the gnats and bugs got really bad. I'm sure it's because of all the wet weather we have been having. I came up with a clever title for the blog post while doing this section, but have forgotten it. It's a shame.

We returned to the car and had a half-hour before she needed to be to work. Plenty of time to clean-up, change and clock in.

Miles/Steps:        2+

Weather:             78, sunny, breezy

Wildlife:              female mallard, gaggle of geese and gosling, swan, blue heron on the canal side and then flying away. As well as the normal assortment of song birds and squirrels that we hear and can't identify every day.

Bathrooms:         none

Photos:               Lydia

deterioration and rejuvenation

I'm one of the few people on the planet that budget pedicures in her "medical" category. I can cut my nails myself, but they are never short enough or straight enough and I end up doing them every other week. Historically the bottom of my feet are as dry as sandpaper, cracked, bleeding and a pain. Literally. If my feet hurt I don't walk or do much of anything. If you've seen them, you know.  When I was working I had regular pedi's....at least four a year. And I discovered that my feet no longer hurt. They rarely cracked or bled.  When my finances changed I was back to square one and I didn't like it. So now that category is labeled "wellness" and it is the last thing cut from the budget.

Anyway, on vacation my toenails were long. My regular tech was out sick and canceled twice. Thankfully she is back on the mend. I went on vacay and wore my Birks a lot. I knew the sneakers would kill my feet and they did. I returned to my sisters house bleeding. My one toenail dug into the other. I had to do something.

Today was the day. I had an appointment with my hair salons tech. (I don't trust those Asian places that are in every shopping center.) I had such happy feet when she was done. I returned home and asked Lydia what time her boyfriend was off work. (Her day at work was cut.) She replied. I then asked do you want to go for a walk. We will go to Housenick Park. I knew she would not say no. We first found it in May 2014 and she fell in love with the place.

And we were off. The deal was when her boyfriend texted he was done with work we had to go. We were five minutes away from the car when she received the text.

Since we first went there, there was two parking spots and old driveways and paths. The house had seen better day. You could walk down stone steps to the creek, but the boathouse, kiln, and springhouse were gone. As was the tennis courts. It had been taken over by weeds.

The next time I was there it underwent several improvements. The first was a parking lot and signage.  And a bird blind. There was some, but few improvements otherwise. In fact, it seemed to decline more. The windows were boarded up, more peeling paint. The whole nine yards. The stairs were closed off. Fencing and railings falling. It was starting to feel like a Halloween ghost house.

Today, off the parking lot was a children's garden. Lydia played on everything.

a gazebo and new path are now on the main lawn and there appeared to be another new path, maybe one that was accessible.

The trails that we had been using since we first discovered it were pretty much in ruins. The grass and the flooding ruined them. The stairs near the house were nearly gone. You had to look hard to find them.

And the stairs up were in shambles. They are actually closed off at the top.

The house is fenced off and is being painted. It's got a new roof and windows. The shutters are gone, but the hardware is still there so I think they'll be back.

The grounds are in serious need of a little TLC if they want to make this park a destination. And I believe they do. They are working on the house and restoring it inside and out for weddings and what not. People will not stay inside. They will explore.

I am not a patient person. Everyone knows that. All things take time. The building was important. It could generate money which is an important consideration. But if you also work on the trails, more people will come and watch the phoenix rise from the ashes. They'll be excited to keep coming back.

Miles/Steps:        maybe 2. The park isn't huge.
Weather:             84, sunny, breezy

Wildlife:              male mallard, small pollinating bees working hard and a silver-spotted skipper (Epargyreus clarus)

Bathrooms:         P-3.5. Actually it was very clean, but it stank. Not like waste, rather like a chemical spill sitting in the heat. It was nasty.

Photos:               Mostly Lydia. A few are mine.