Winding down the summer - It's been a good year back at home

The season is apparently passing on now, I should do an update.  I say apparently as the weather has been a little nuts; the leaves are falling early from the lack of rain, and temps in the 90's the last week or two of September.     And it's been about a year since we've been back, I can tell because the cable internet bill just when up by 150%.       Seriously, life is good here;  no hurricanes, everyone is healthy, 50% of the children like school but 100% are excelling.

In the last post we started off on our first summer trip.  A great benefit we're fortunate to have is a good couple several weeks of vacation a year, and Annie's job happened to end about when school finished.  (and now in the fall she has another job at a local charter school, so she'll be off again next summer!)

So we're going to summarize the summer;  it was good.

Starting off, as an entertaining gag, we pulled my cubemate's leg at work; everyone at work telling him that I just took off again while he was gone the previous couple weeks, and then looking over his shoulder when he checked the blog or facebook, to see us leaving on another apparently extended camper trip, last minute trailer repairs and everything like before.

First, we spent time with both of our parents and family reunions in western New York, rode around the lake with the cousins, and then made a couple stops on the way back.

Letchworth SP,  Elliot & I rode around the gorge.  That was a real big ride.

I fittingly drank a Genny or two from the gorge.  The gorge was pretty, but standing in the cold case at Wegmans, my eyes really lit up!   (The Genesee River flow through the gorge, and that's what goes into the cans....)

We met up with Annie's college roommates for the afternoon.

CCC Camp Seneca,  More biking and hanging out.  This was a great hidden little park, outside cute little town of Ellicottville, with great mountain biking, and also near Griffis sculpture park where Annie & I went on an early date decades ago...

This was the Bent Rim trail  (serious, that's the name, and it's got a couple rocks on it.  You have to be real good to clean this trail, not put a foot down.)

 Ants invaded the camper one day, and I had a good time evicting them.  I happened to tie this strap to a small tree with the anthill at the base.  The ants all said 'lets go up the beanstalk'.

Lake Erie SP,  More biking, Elliot started using clip-in bike pedals, for little 40+ mile ride.  Fireworks for the 4th, a little windsurfing.   Alice took some really great sunset pictures one evening.  Nice pictures Alice!

On the way though, we stopped by a great windsurfing shop south of Buffalo for a little more modern (used) setup.

Port Dover, Port Colbourne ON,   a couple of great windsurfing spots.  One I want to stop at again in Port Colbourne, great for windsurfing and could potentially boondock at,  if it's windy enough to merit overcoming objections about the stinky mud and goose poop.   Another spot, Turkey Point, where we did stay for the day right by a nice beach area and also great for windsurfing.  Annie & Alice walked the beach and biked around the neighborhood, and Elliot took another trail ride to a nearby provincial park, and I sailed.

Holly State Rec, MI    We camped one more night and spent a few hours at a mountain bike trail work day, clearing the trail.


We came back home for about a month in the middle, doing work work, and camper projects.  (wiring the camper  solar panels with grid tie inverters)

Then we headed south to go see the eclipse, and meet up with my brother and family.  More camping, biking, windsurfing, hiking, playing in the water.

The eclipse was worth the trip.   During totality we could see the corona, it was really amazing.  As totality was ending, I still had the filter off the camera and caught a couple shots with some corona, some flares and the sun peeking back out.   All of us, including the camera could still see fine the next day!

       I took a video of us watching the eclipse.    Annie, Glenn and all the kids were down at the water, Kristine & I were up at the campsite.  It was pretty neat hearing everyone cheering as the totality started and ended.  The camera is on a kitchen timer rotating stage which didn't keep turning the whole time, that's the ticking at the beginning.   Totality is about 2/3 of the way through.    

Since school started, the kids have been running local mountain races, they've had a real good time.

And that's about it for the summer.  The whole summer in one post!