year-of-adventure

Ziplining and Guy Fieri

Now that's a good title!  We did not actually SEE Guy, but ate at one of the places featured in Diners, Drive ins and Dives.

But I get a head of myself.  The trip was a type of circle tour of Western NC for a break, and to use some vouchers we'd collected that had a pending expiration date.  The first stop was ziplining in Kersey Valley.  We've done several ziplining tours, but this one was the best - the longest, the highest and the most helpful staff.  Ziping is trendy and there are many places across the country. There is nothing to fear, even for those skittish about heights - once you walk up the first tower the adventure starts and you never look down. In the photo you see the critical link - your harness clipped to a tower pole - the Kersey group never lets you be unhooked and safety is their prime goal.  Their ziplines are long, high, and fast.  I frequently had to break to avoid hitting the tower at dizzying speeds.  Interesting point is that the company has each person blow into a breathalyzer before starting how breathalyzers work.  After 2+ hours, we were zipped, tired and ready to move onto the next destination on the trip - the Inn of the Patriots - the most patriotic B&B in the USA.

The Inn is a fantastic collection of memorabilia from the owners displayed in a home-like museum setting with a great tour putting it all in perspective the morning after arrival.  If you're into presidential dinner plates and china settings, this is the place to come. Our room was the highest priced room in the place - the Grover Cleveland room

The room dimensions suited the namesake - nicknamed  "Uncle Jumbo".  Not much shaking in downtown Grover so if you're looking for quiet, you'll find it here.  We were sad to miss the reasonably-close World Grits Festival and I dared Kathryn to dive into the wading pool of grits, but it was not to be - we had a time line and the 3+ hr drive south was not worth any amount of grits.  We moved on up to Charlotte to stay for the night and eat at Jakes Good Eats.  Great food, excellent service.  The lady who answered the phone (Jake's mom I suspect) said that at opening time at 5 PM you can expect a wait of 45 minutes for a table in the small dining room.  She was very nice and assured me that for the two of us, if we got there before 5, she would find a table right away - she did.  Don't you love it when people do what they say they will do!

Last stop on this adventure was a visit to friends Eric and Rita north of Asheville.  They have a perfect setting with a beautiful house they've created and a variety of farm animals.  Here Eric gets up close to do morning bonding with one of the donkeys - the maternal ruler of the bunch of 4. 

Next post ...  I become a mobile fablab volunteer and take a course on the plasma cutter

Sailing in Maine in the summer heat

The last post described our planned trip on the Grace Bailey sailing out of Camden Maine.  The Grace is their flagship and 19 guests, 4 crew and Captain Ray made our way out of Camden harbor for the open water - 70's during the day, no rain, and 50's at nigth were a great change from the 100's of the rest of the country.  The cabins are "tidy" and believe me, we needed the blanket nearly every night.       Captain Ray is a great host and always finds something to chat about from sailing to Labyrinths.   The food is hearty and cooked on a wood stove in the galley - Travis, the cook, is the highest paid crew memnbber and well deserved - he is in the galley at 4 AM and stops only after dinner dishes are put away.  The high point of the trip is a Maine lobster dinner cooekd on shore.  Lobsters are about $5/# up here and the guys in the cooler are ready to rock   Fully a quarter of the people did not like lobtser so there was plenty to go around.  Of course the scenery was incredible.  This trip was about sailing and we got plenty of wind with several days at more than 30 knots.  Captain Ray is an old salt who knows his ship and did not feel we needed to reef, so we heeled and loved it.   Mornings were crisp, sunny with a bit of fog over the water - great for coffee and fresh pastries to greet the day. 

No power on the ship so not much to do after sunset except talk a bit and turn in.  Next post - the foods of Montreal

 

 

 

Horsing around in Colorado

The Winter Park visit continues - so much to do and the people seem to HEALTHY and energetic.  Found a horse stable outside of town that offered "trail rides", but the ride was unlike the usual level ride with many ups and downs that increase saddle sores.  My horse (Duke) took the whole thing in stride as if he'd done this many times before.  The experts suggest that if you are going on a longish ride, wear something like lycra bike shorts under your jeans to lessen saddle sores - next time....  This group also does cattle drives for a day or week - "City Slickers".  In the previous post  mentioned the YMCA of the Rockies - an example of upscale nontraditional camping is the yurt - nicely furnished and spacious.  We dedcided to go south a bit for an adventure to see Pikes Peak.  On the way is a beautiful state park called Garden of the Gods with spectacular red rock formations Garden of the Gods.  The, on to Pikes Peak - as a huge mountain it is immediately visible in the area, but is actually one of 54 peaks in Colorado over 14000 feet Colorado 14ers.  The railway system up is the original and reservations are required, even in the winter - check it out for interesting Pike Peak history (Pikes Peak cog railway, Cog Railway history for railroad buffs).  The cost of $33.00 may seem a bit steep (yuck, yuck, no pun intended) but the tour guide said that the original rides were $5.00, quite a  price in 1891.  Their specialty at the top is doughnuts, go figure... apparently there is some technical feat to getting doughnuts fried at this altitude.  Sampled them and not as good as Krispy Cream - plain fried dough and no Jimmies, nuts, cream or frosting.

Colorado in the morning.  We'll be coming back for some skiing in Feb. 

 

Colorado in the summer

We got the opportunity to visit Winter Park Co, in the summer as part of a home exchange deal.  Some of you readers may be skiers and know of Winter Park as a first class ski resort close to Denver (formerly served by the "ski train" that dropped passengers directly at the resort in about an hour trip from Denver Denver Ski Train).  They stopped service in 2009 after 69 years, but folks who rode it said it was a convenient and cheap way to get to ski country.  The pass over the mountains to get to Winter Park climbs to over 12000 feet with the usual switch-back curves one sees with mountain driving.   On arrival in Winter Park you feel the base altitude of 9000+ feet right away.  It's a charming town famous for the resort and for the YMCA of the Rockies - a super ranch setting just outside of town offering rentals all year long in a colorado setting.  More importantly, for those adventurers, they offer an active volunteer program (YMCA of the Rockies - Snow Mountain Ranch).

The place was wonderful and close to everything in Winter Park. The first day we explored the nearby Rocky Mt National Park and shared the road with about 50 bikers. Be aware that if you are over 60 you may qualify for the Senior Park Pass for only $10.00 National Park Service Passes.  The pine trees in Colorado have been infected with a deadly mountain Pine Beetle (Mountain Pine Beetle).  The brown tress in the foreground and background are dead

 This area of the valley was once popular as primitive dude ranches offering fishing, hunting, and trail riding in the 1920's. Although they are still around in other parts of the state, this valley has returned to nature. The brisk wind in august was a reminder of the harsh winters.

Kathryn practicing her ropin skills...

 

Back in Winter Park we explored the local coffee roaster Rocky Mountain Roastery .  Single Track is their signature blend for the necessary caffeine hit. 

A brisk Saturday morning and we headed out at about 5 am to catch a hot air balloon launching. The enticement to help with balloon setup is that "crew" get to ride ont he second day. Lots of people as crew and only 1 passenger, but the sight of 15 or so balloons heading off into the morning air followed by a hearty breakfast starts a great day.

    

A short taste of eco camping

Part of this adventure has been the concept of working to offset room and board costs.  Kate had suggested the Maho Bay Camps on St John's US Virgin islands and whether you're there as a guest or as a volunteer, the website is very complete maho bay.  Before committing to  a 2-4 week volunteering adventure, we decided to check it out with a short stay.  The short answer - GREAT, but....

Who can find issues with beautiful, relaxing St. John's  - certainly not me.  If you check out the website, you know about the tent camping, the need for a flashlight, the MANY stairs, the shared bathrooms, and the excellent enrichment programs in pottery, glass blowing.  The units are clean, well-maintained and ours had a prime view above the beach with only neighbors above us. 

Planning is essential to coordinate the many steps needed to get there, but any seasoned traveler can do it, and any person in reasonable physical health can manage the stairs - lots of them, but no-one says you have to climb them in a hurry!  This is about halfway up/down with level walkways in between for rest.  The details of the volunteer programs at Maho Bay and Concordia:

- about 3-4 hrs of work/day for 5 days/wk in return for a place to stay; food is discounted at the resort restaurants (40% maho Bay; 10% concordia), people with skills are especially valued (carpentry, painting, cleaning, registration), but everyone has some skills, couples are preferred at Concordia because it is a bit more remote.  The island bus system is $1 any where on the island and travels somewhat on island time.  Maho gets a lot of on line applications; Concordia somewhat less so.  Volunteers are not needed in peak seasons (winter).  We met folks who had been at concordia 5/7 years and loved it.  They spent every free moment on the beach or in water sports.  What's not to love!  Both resorts are very friendly with excellent staff geared toward families and customer service; food prices are fair for large portions that are plenty to share.

One of the best grouper reuben sandwiches ever at Miss Lucy's on the drive back to Cruz Bay and the required bloody mary with red pepper seasoning.

Check out either resort for a reasonable vacation in non-peak season; we're still undecided about volunteering  for 4 weeks.  Don't try to make the entire trip back home from Maho Bay in 1 day - all of the following have to work:

45-60 min shuttle on a fixed shuttle schedule from maho camps to cruz bay to pick up the hourly ferry; 20 min ferry ride; 45 min taxi ride thorough the center of downtown St. Thomas to the airport; tighter airport security; flight on time, etc, etc.  You get the picture....

But, the views are spectacular and the water is great for diving/snorkeling

 

Wandering the Outer Banks

We had a timeshare week to spare and decided to spend it on the Outer Banks of North Carolina.  We'd been here before for short visits and not been impressed with the over development (large; largely vacant) beach houses for rent stretched along every available inch of beach front.  That changed with this visit and a new perspective on the history (and GREAT seafood).

The  term "Outer Banks" was coined around WWII as a method for identifying (and bringing tourists to) the string of sand dunes and minimal road system that runs from Ocrakoke Island to Corolla. At that time there was predominantly a military presence on the dunes to protect against the German U-boat threat (you may recall the term " Atlantic Turkey Shoot" to describe the German submariners ease of sinking merchant ships from January-June 1942).  Prior to that, the sandy beaches were accessed by hunters who came to  Duck in the late 1800's and early 1900's for the plentiful duck hunting and general peaceful isolation.

We took a tour from a local, the best way to learn the good stuff about an area.  Danny of Hatteras Tours is a local and his stories were verifiable by basic web research. 

 Some pearls:

- The prevailing currents of the trade routes made approach to the dangerous Diamond Shoals a risk for mariners and the series of now-famous NC lighthouses were placed to help them steer clear of the shoals and almost certain destruction in a storm. The Hatteras lighthouse, moved with  great fanfare in 1999 to protect it from beach erosion, is one of the most recognized of East Coast lighthouses.

- The local fame of the Pea Island life saving center (the only "black" lifesaving crews in the US with many courageous rescues).  The best documented is the rescue of the 8 crew, including the wife and son of Captain Gardiner of the ES Newman in 1896.  The stats from Danny are that in the period from late 1800's-1915, over 178 thousand people were rescued by lifesaving stations with an efficiency rate of over 99.5%.

- Youpan tea, a naturopathic alternative is a local tea made from Texas Holly leaves and the only wild tea with caffeine. It has been used by Native Americans up the east coast as a purgative and was prominent in Danny's childhood.  Locals who drank it had distinctive black teeth that were a giveaway to mocking kids and required a regular cleansing with baking soda to avoid permanent stains.

- The life guarded portion of Ocrakoke beach was named the #1 beach in the country in 2007 Dr. Beach's national winnersThe announcement marks the first time a beach outside Florida or Hawaii has been named to the top position on this celebrated top 10 list, and once a national winner, the beach is retired from further ranking.

There is a certain draw to the concept of a fishing pier; a bunch of local folks who gather to swap stories, catch fish, and drink beer while balanced high over the surf. The Avalon fishing pier is one of the classics in this area at 705 feet long; built in the 1950's.  Avalon fishing pier. It's seen many storms and sways with each wave, but it's an energizing experience.  No significant fish were landed while we were there, but the $1.00 for sightseeing was worth it and you can stay as long as you want. 

A spectacular sunset after a day of rain with the colors and rays enhanced by the intervening timeshare unit. 

Riding the NC ferry system is a joy. The last of the free ferries to Ocrakoke is the regular from Hatteras to Ocrakoke Island.  The 40 min ride was smooth and sunny on this Tuesday.  Loading vehicles is a special skill with large front loaders, construction equipment, RV's and cycles mixed together by the loading staff member. There were 38 cars waiting to get on to the return ferry and 13 of us made it along with a full length motorhome, tractor trailer towing a front loader, and 4 cycles. The next made it onto a ferry coming back in 30 minutes.

Stack-em-high, an outer banks tradition since 1981 - pancakes and homefries to start the day ....

....and, oysters and beer the perfect way to wind it down on the deck,  awaiting a sunset. These oysters are from James River Virginia with good salty flavor.

 

shopbotting

The most fun part of this adventure has been the ability to try new experiences - sort of like following threads that have been collected over many years as "things I'd like to try". 

So, here I am in Durham NC ready to start level 1 training on the Shopbot - a type of robotic cutting tool.  The interest came from my sister who found excitement and personal growth etching excellent items on acrylic and glass on a production laser.  They have a shopbot very near to her as part of a "fablab", so I wanted to try the technology before I go there for a visit.  The president recently visited this very fablab and if you're interested in some of that background, follow the link LCCC Fab lab.   I've collected several small scale wood projects that I want to cut as a test of my programming skills and the machine.  I've done wood-related projects for a long time, but been frustrated with the inaccuracy that comes from a hobby-user and their tools.  The Shopbot is a quantum leap for me in the quality of work possible.

I've tried to make this a real time blog, so the first paragraph was prior to, now the after segment... WOW!  A wonderful experience with helpful people selling an affordable production machine for the average small business.    Shopbot was started by Ted Hall and colleagues about 15 years ago in North Carolina as a revolutionary upstart to bring high quality computer cutting to the average person and after 3000 + machines in use, an active blog, user group, maker faires, and classes, the machine is a success.  My partner at the class was a guy who builds custom magician props - apparently the trade has creative development of new illusions all the time and his shop produces the highest quality stuff for not only the stock "saw-the-girl-in-half", but for any illusion a magician can create.

My goal at the class was to cut a panel from a door to later insert a glass panel as part of the kitchen remodel at the river.  That was a piece of cake and could have been done with a hand router, but doing it on the Shopbot required me to write the cutting program and help the guys set up the door on the machine to do its work - definitely cooler than the router.

 Anyway, a productive weekend and that thread led to another one on the Maker movement - to be covered in a later post.  Briefly: "The Maker Movement, a push to re-imagine the objects we own rather than throw them away.  Although the movement started with just a few techno geeks, artists and hobbyists, it has attracted thousands over the decades. A record 65,000 people waited in traffic for two hours to get to the Maker Faire in the San Francisco area this spring. Make Magazine now has a circulation of 110,000. Maker's Law: On a basic level, the movement is about reusing and repairing objects, rather than discarding them to buy more. On a deeper level, it's also a philosophical idea about what ownership really is. "If you're not able to open and replace the batteries in your iPod or replace the fuel-sender switch on your Chevy truck, you don't really own it."   Those who may find that interesting can check out the link Make magazine

Went on a cruise recently and thought I'd post some food photos for fun.  I'm a fan of most cruise food.  It looks appealing and the lines have gone out of their way to serve smaller portions with less waste.  Are any of these what you'd choose based on the photos? Of course, the menu describes them in flowery language... Both were great!

 
 

Year of adventure summary for those interested

Here is a summary I put together for Holly's website Center for Interim Programs.  There are several people who contributed their experiences and you can find them on the website.

Have you ever had a day that made you seriously reconsider your career or working environment? Of course you have. About two years ago, after a particularly stressful day of patients, meetings, and general administrative problems, I got the idea for a break. I had worked long hours for twenty-six years in an academic medical school. A year break seemed like the right amount of time to get reoriented and rebalanced. I wanted to explore adventures other than medicine, those "always wanted to do , but never had time" possibilities. I wanted skill-building, not a vacation; excitement and stretching outside my comfort zone, not a plush travel experience.

 

I was giving a lecture at a conference in a distant city when fate intervened. The morning paper featured an article on a gap-year option for students. In my generation, a gap year occurred less often as we steadily plowed forward from one institution to another - high school, college, professional school, marriage, family, and now retirement - all very programmed, secure, and predictable. The gap-year concept sounded pretty good as a time to explore and experience new adventures. I called the lead organization featured in the article, the Center for Interim Programs. I represent a different demographic than their typical client. Kate Warren of Interim described it as "more mature" euphemistically referring to my fifty-five+ status and AARP membership. Holly Bull, president, arranged a detailed phone interview to better define my interests. My goal was to participate in three different experiences spread out over the year; each of sufficient time to allow an in-depth exposure, each relatively low cost, each in geographic locations I would not normally go, and each in areas of skill building that I could use in my hobby of house renovation. Interim tapped its database of over five thousand programs and made suggestions.

 

I have been considering remodeling a cabin in the NC mountains. I had been thinking about incorporating stonework in the cabin renovation, and so my first choice was to find an in-depth experience in the technical and artistic aspects of stone masonry. Kate and Holly suggested traveling to Alaska to work alongside Brian laying stone and building residential stone fireplaces. Wow - Alaska! Alaska was more fun than I could have imagined with super views of Denali, great summer weather and an unusual summer with only a few legendary Alaskan mosquitoes. Two months of hard manual labor in exchange for room and board had the added benefits of meeting some interesting characters and enjoying clean outdoor living.

 

To keep family and friends up to date on my activities, I created a blog as a focus point to chronicle my "year of adventure," sharing photos and musings on a nearly daily basis. The blog was another skill-building aspect of my "gap year."

 

My second adventure presented a much greater cultural challenge. I've always been interested in Eastern Medicine for its ancient roots and its holistic approach to the patient. Kate sought the assistance of a long-standing Interim contact to locate experienced health care professionals in Nepal to act as preceptors for an overview of Tibetan and Ayurvedic medicine. The Nepali contact emailed me a draft daily schedule outlining a two-month cultural immersion program: one month of study focused on Tibetan medicine and one month focused on Ayurvedic medicine, combining didactic instruction and patient contact mixed with cultural experiences and excursions with local guides and homestays with local families. Nepal is a wonderful country and the local contacts, Vidhea and her son, Yanik, made the adventure safe, and enriching. It would be difficult to have this quality of experience without local contacts.

 

Tibetan medicine uses a different body of knowledge than western medicine with almost none of the examination or diagnostic techniques I've used in my twenty plus years of medical practice. Nonetheless, the patients are open, appreciative, and come to the physician with many of the same complaints as western patients. My Tibetan homestay and local language/culture lessons helped fill out my immersion with the local environment, diet, cultural and religious holidays. I gained a new perspective on Tibetan political issues by daily interaction with the Tibetan people who love their country and miss their independence.

 

There is a striking practical and philosophical difference between western medicine and Ayurvedic Medicine with strong links between mental health and disease; bringing the diseased body back into balance through a combination of diet, mental training, and behavior and lifestyle changes. The providers are much more holistic than the mechanistic-based western medicine providers. During my month of study, I had on average 4-5 hours of didactic instruction in various phases of Ayurvedic Medicine including diet, spices, food preparation, herbal plant qualities and medication formulations and uses. Each of the four instructors focused on differences between Ayurvedic and Western medicine, and learned from my western experience. This daily dialogue made the experience practical and interactive. For the month of immersion in Ayurvedic medicine, I stayed at the only Ayurvedic Health home in Nepal and sampled the massages, diets, and mental training and meditation. The health home is strictly vegetarian and the meals are substantial, healthy and varied. Food is prepared with only the freshest ingredients in combinations tailored to the individual patient. I ate with the patients staying in the health home and had good conversations with a predominantly German patient population there for a variety of illnesses.

 

Kathmandu is rich in the history of traders and ancient caravans. To round out the cultural immersion aspect of my adventure, the in-country coordinators booked weekly cultural excursions to local sites of historical or cultural interest led by a superb local guide; the type of excursion that transcends tour books. After an excursion, I was even more excited about updating my family and friends back home with blog entries and photos. Internet access was easily available at a local internet cafe (on average, 50 cents/hour for broad-band speed) with uninterrupted power supplies to deal with the periodic power outages in Kathmandu.

 

My third adventure was spontaneous, just something I’d always wanted to do.  I’d done the usual homeowner furniture refinishing and now that I had time to explore, why not go to the pros and see how they did their artistry?   Kate connected me for a 2 week experience in New England with a dealer in British antiques who did fine furniture repair, refinishing. and antique sales. The experience was more fun than I could have predicted – my tutor gave me an battered antique table to work on from start to finish

and guided me along the way. The finished product went onto his sales floor along with several other pieces I did under his guidance.  What a sense of pride that he felt the work was good enough to sell!  This confidence has continued at home with more advanced projects – after all, if I could redo a multi-thousand dollar pieces, my treasure finds from antique stores got a new life. An unexpected side benefit – my B&B has genuine haunted guests and I had several interesting encounters.

 

My final adventure of several months started out in discussions with Holly as archeology in Romania. I chose that because of an interest in archeology, but wanted to live with people who had experienced a communist regime.  Romania is a fantastic country with Dracula-lore for tourists and scenic beauty and warm, friendly people.  It is about 5 years behind in the US tourist trade, so I felt relatively alone touring the sites of Transylvania and Timisoara.  Romania gave me a special connection to average people. Diggers at the site invited me for beer, my home stay family and project leaders went out of their way to help me see the spirit of the country.  The fortification

was an early dig, still under archeology control, o basic archeology principles applied and I could see them at work.  As the digging got deeper, we went from “modern” 17^th century, through 14^th century, to Dacian times at the base of the structure.  The ground maintains objects remarkably well.  Patient interpretation by the site project leaders made the site come alive for me.  I asked about diagrams, they were able to let me see the plans from the 14^th century and the 17^th century so I could study castle lore during my visits to the local internet café. I talked with the regional planner and contributed my tiny bit of tourist lore to the enduring legacy of the site.

 

What did I accomplish in this year of adventure?  At the start, I needed to break out of a routine. In Alaska and Nepal I learned artistry from a stone mason, compassion and a commitment to patient care from eastern medical physicians, and countless lessons from the people of Alaska and Nepal. In New Jersey I learned artistry.  In Romania, I felt curiosity about life in the USA from a people who produced Vlad Dracula.  I felt their sprit in the rugged and beautiful hills of Translvania.  Any of these lessons required some work on my part to take the first step, but the reward was well worth it.

 

Tips for others considering a time of adventure:

1) Allow yourself to think outside the box. Consider things you always wanted to explore, but were stymied by one or another hurdle.

2) Choose guides well. The guide/facilitator is crucial to the success of your adventure, so the experience, contacts, and price are considerations that will make your time most worthwhile whether in the US or overseas.

3) Set realistic goals. Packing multiple adventures into a short timeframe lessens the value of each by imposing a sense of hurriedness. Leave yourself some reflection time to process the adventure.  Mine spaced over a year with a bit more than 6 months gone from home and no less than a month home between adventures.

4) Mind your health. An adventure can be a challenging physical experience. Prepare well with preventive health measures and reasonable physical activity.  Give yourself permission to try new foods.

5) Keep a diary. People will want to know about your adventure. While photos help, they do not capture the granularity of daily life. I chose to do a daily blog and found that it allowed me to focus the day into a one-page vignette with photos that captured the experience in the moment.  Family and co-workers love to stay in contact and live your adventure through your journal.

6) Decide if this is to be a solo adventure or an adventure with a partner.  Kathryn and I found the adjustment period of 2 weeks on each end of each adventure required some patience.  She decided to visit for the last week of two of the adventures and that was a grand time to show off my new knowledge of the country.

7) Let each adventure crate its own opportunities for mental challenge. Each person who comes brings something different, and a more mature person brings the compendium of their life to date.  People you visit will be interested to hear your story.  Let the adventure show a new way of telling that story.

 

Are you feeling hesitant about taking that first step?  If not now; when?  Act to start this most adventuresome time of your life! "Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover."  - Mark Twain