Corning, New York

Today we visited Corning. It was very rainy and cloudy, but the town was still so pretty. From a local publication we picked up: Corning, New York is a small city with a cosmopolitan flair and a captivating history. Nestled in a river valley with steep hills, Corning is also a southern gateway into the beautiful Finger Lakes Region of Central New York. Corning is world renowned for its glassmaking past and present. Discover the art, history, and science of glass at the state of the art Corning Museum of Glass.

Sky Watchers (Auroras and Perseids and Milky Way, Oh My!)

Just got in from watching and shooting the Milky Way, Northern Lights and Perseid meteor shower from the top of Mt. Maude. What an amazing night! The northern lights were very low along the horizon, but they were dancing and putting on a decent show. Yet again, I am amazed by the wonders of the night sky! This photo shows my friends Jake and April enjoying the amazing sky.

Ridden to Distraction

[image via Amsterdamized]

I have noticed that I feel a greater need to concentrate on the road when riding for transportation than other cyclists I know. This is not a criticism of others, but an admission of my own cognitive deficit: Whilein many ways I am a multi-tasker, this trait has bypassed anything that involvessensorimotor coordination, and sadly I am one of those people who has a difficult time chewing gum and walking at the same time. I am also a scary-horrible driver, never quite sure when it's safe to merge or at what angle to approach a parking spot.

When it comes to cycling for transportation, I am actually remarkably calm and collected - provided that I pay attention to the task at hand. For that reason I am uncomfortable chatting while navigating traffic, and no doubt appear rude to those who innocently attempt to socialise with me during their commutes. Sometimes another cyclist will pull up and start talking to me when I am on my way somewhere, and all I can think is "Oh my God, you're blocking me in and I need to make a left turn!" - not feeling very friendly at all. Needless to say, talking on the phone or texting is out of the question for me, and I am always stunned to see cyclists who are proficient at this - texting away as they execute complex traffic maneuvers in the most relaxed manner imaginable. Listening to music is something I can do on quiet country roads, but not in busy urban traffic. Drinking coffee on the bike? Forget it. I can sometimes rummage in my front basket for my sunglasses and put them on without stopping, but that is probably the height of my achievements.

Though I believe it is "dangerous" to perform sensory demanding tasks while riding a bike, I am aware that my views on this are influenced by my own inability to do these things safely.So, out of curiosity, what is your distraction threshold when you're cycling in traffic? And if you're also a driver, does it differ from being behind the wheel of a car?

Dalia

Had to let everyone see the photo my sister sent to me. Thanks, Sis.

The Last Day

The Morning World, originally uploaded by ParsecTraveller.

Well, it seems the end of the year has crept up on us again...

I want to thank all my great blogger friends out there for stopping by regularly and checking out my blog. I really appreciate it :)

Happy New Year!

The Eiger?

Ally Swinton, on the Eiger's summit ice, photo courtesy of Dave Searle




"With 1800m of climbing above us and no bivy kit or down jackets we wanted to get a move on so we put our heads down and soloed up to the base of the Difficult Crack."

Jon Giffith



http://daily.epictv.com/blog//02/11/eiger-north-face-a-must-for-every-alpinist/

Davis Mountains Interlude

Upon leaving Big Bend National Park on the morning of March 3rd, my “plan” was to go north to the Guadalupe Mountains National Park, which is in northwest Texas and bordering New Mexico. One of the other campers suggested that I stop at Davis Mountains State Park, which was on the way to Guadalupe.

The 100+ mile drive from Big Bend was uneventful. Which is good. The largest town along the way was Alpine. They had a McDonalds and it had Wifi, which is also good. I stopped for lunch, stayed two hours and was able to check email as well as get several posts uploaded and scheduled. The next town down the road was Fort Davis.

A few miles north of Fort Davis is Davis Mountains State Park. The campground is nestled inside a canyon. The sites are quite nice with lots of trees providing shade, which in the summer would be a blessing. The weather was beautiful during the day with temperatures in the 60s, mostly blue skies and sunshine. After the sun went down, the chill set in and the temperature dropped into the low 30s. Quite similar to the weather at Big Bend, but at least it didn't snow!

A section of the trail leading to the top of the “hill” on the north side of the campground.

Looking to the north across the Davis Mountains.

Looking to the west, from the top of the hill. I don't know the significance of the pile of rocks, if any, but found it amusing that it mimicked the peak in the background.

Looking south. A section of the campground is tucked away beneath the row of trees in the center.

The trail follows the top to the west end then takes you down into the canyon where the Lodge is located. This is the view looking east from about half way down. The row of trees in the center is where the campground is located. You can see a portion of the “Skyline Drive” built by the CCC. As well as providing some magnificent views there are also several more trails up on top of that peak.

My stop in the Davis Mountains was a very pleasant interlude that lasted six days! The fact that the town of Fort Davis was ten minutes away and the Jeff Davis County Library had an excellent, secure, wifi connection, made it even more pleasant. Sometimes you've gotta have some downtime! I was able to get caught up with email, wrote and scheduled blog posts for nearly a week, even read some blogs, and checked in on Facebook! Oh, and I got my taxes filed too.

To top it off, the library staff was very helpful and courteous. The building wasn't much to look at. And the old wooden floors kinda creaked. But there was a steady flow of people in and out and when school let out for the day it was abuzz with kids. I can only wish for more libraries like this one. The only “downside” was that the library was closed on Saturday and Sunday. But that's okay. I'm just glad it was there!