Dirt biking in the Dax

Yesterday was pretty epic. Since childhood, I have wanted to cruise around the Adirondacks on a dirt bike. Yesterday, that happened. I've had my Honda CRF 450X for about three years now, but it was broken for half that time and I haven't got a lot of throttle time accumulated. I'm still a bit timid on the bike but am feeling more and more confident with every ride. It was just great to rip through the logging roads and snowmobile trails up here in the 'Dax'. 

Family Vacation - Adirondacks

Well, I spent the last week and a half in Munich for work. Now I'm off for a week to vacation with my family in the Adirondacks. Of course, I brought my camera, and have been taking advantage of the sites. I'll try to post some pictures every other day or so, but the wifi at the camp we're renting is spotty at best.

I'm fairly happy with the way this shot of the moon and starry sky turned out. I sat on the dock with a cold Utica Club while I played with the settings to get a decent exposure. I ended up shooting with my 35mm lens at f/1.4 for 2 seconds, then processing in Adobe Lightroom.

This morning I woke up at 7:30 and drove about a mile up the road to the old mill on Moose River. I've driven past this mill since I was the age of 10 and have always been curious to see what's inside. Here are a few photos from this morning.

 

Updates, get your updates.

Hello world wide web. I haven't not contributed to you since March 15th; let's fix that. Sounds like a general update is in order.

Work:

Work has been rough. The new position, which is not so new anymore, has certainly brought a lot of challenge and stolen more time from me that I imagined.  At least I'm down to working 11 hour days as often. It's getting easier, but there's just so much more responsibility in this role than I had imagined, and I'm not so great at delegating, so I end up working myself to death. I'm learning though. Overall, still happy I took on the challenge. I'm the Director of Quality, for a major player in the rail industry. I'll take a pat on the back for that. Oh, and the travel has been awesome. I love to travel, but I'll write more about that below.

Home life:

Home life is good. Debbie is happy. The two bunnies seem happy; I haven't heard them complain. We got new couches which are pretty awesome. The old couch was a monster that just gobbled you up and forced you to slouch down until your chin touched your chest. I do not miss it. Plus, new couch has foot rests that pop out... and drink holders. Win. Landscape wise, I've been enjoying mowing. It's just satisfying. We've had a couple fires in the backyard this summer which were fun. Not so many rabbits in the yard this summer, but I have seen a lot of coyote poop and my neighbor caught a glimpse of some coyotes early one morning. This would explain the pieces of rabbit and bird we've been finding.

Travel:

Work has taken me to some pretty awesome places: Germany, Austria, Czech Republic, France and Spain. Oddly enough, I do not mind sitting on the plane for 10+ hours. It's worth it to get to experience the sights, sounds, food & culture. The Bavarian Alps are beautiful. The Czech Republic strange and has a phony/corrupt feel to it. Paris is amazing, as always and Madrid has the feel of NYC, but with an old world feel. I love how much history this European places have. Our country is so new, by comparison. Still I love living in the US; it's the by far the best! On Tuesday I'm headed back to Munich for a week and a half. Looking forward to it!

Camping/Backpacking:

Debbie and I went camping with her Brother and his family last month at Laurel Hill State Park, and it was awesome. We even cooked crawfish that we ordered from Louisiana. They were delicious. Of course we ate steaks as well. Plenty of relaxing, hammock time, kids getting dirty chasing crawfish (little ones, too small to eat) and swimming.  Debbie's two brothers and I had another super rainy backpacking trip at Ohiopyle State Park as well. Total sog fest. But a blast nonetheless. The weekend I get back from Munich, I'll be driving up to the Adirondacks to spend a week soaking in the lakes, and hiking some of the High Peaks. Gothics is at the top of my list!