Returning to Rhinebeck OR Fall Excursions in New York (the State)

Last year, my wife and I had only recently arrived east of the Mississippi. This put us in road-tripping distance of the New York State Sheep and Wool Festival in Rhinebeck, NY, known by knitters simply as "Rhinebeck." So we went. (Day 1 and Day 2 from last year.)

This year we went again. Because it's awesome, that's why!

Simon the Sheep is using all of his zen process to contain himself.

Before we begin, I'm gonna conduct a brief poll:

Who thinks of knitting as a polite, quiet, and generally sedate activity?

Without even tallying the results, I'm going to laugh heartily at you. Because no matter how quiet and reserved knitters might be normally, when you get them in a group they become a force with which to reckon.

Witness: The line to enter the fairgrounds on Sunday morning. Before the fair even opened.

Outside the fence...

…Inside the fence.

They let the first hundred or so people with pre-paid tickets inside the fence. They waited, calmly and peacefully watching the arms of the tiny volunteer standing in their way.

Then the arms lifted and the girl stepped aside.

Unleash the kraken!

These knitters ran, yes ran, to get to the booths with their favorite yarn. And this was on Sunday, when the crowd was half as large. (For those of you keeping track at home, the Saturday crowd was something like 47,000 people. Just on Saturday.)

And why not be excited? Rhinebeck has hundreds of vendors of yarn, accessories, and wool-related items. Not to mention the food building.

All of those green buildings are vendors.
The orange ones are for sheep and things.

Three of these are open air "buildings".

Packed to the canvas-covered rafters with wooly wares.

The one "normal" building was filled with gourmet food vendors for foods like honey, cheese, maple products, biscotti, sauces, and other things that are just making me hungry.

There were enough samples that wandering through was almost a meal by itself.

Then there were the "barns," which are actual barns set up for booths for vendors.

Yes, that is a second story up there.
Oddly enough, you can only reach it by going up the hill outside.

The rest of the barns were much more rustic.

And there aren't just a few barns.

A rare moment of peace between the barns.
(Everyone was lined up at the myriad of food stands.)

Speaking of food, there is, of course, more than merely yarn here. The whole place is a splendid celebration of fall and general rural awesomeness with a classy twist.

For example, food booths like the Flammkuchen trailer. (Flammkuchen is a German flatbread that's like a pizza crossed with awesomeness.)

This was the only time the line was less than 30 minutes long.
…but they are so worth it.

Then there's the maple syrup from local growers. And their maple cotton candy, which is the best cotton candy in existence. I particularly enjoy the tasting stations where you can try the various grades of the season.

I treasure maple syrup like others treasure fine wine.

I was tempted by the First Edition maple syrup (the lightest and most flavorful), but opted to walk away with just the Light maple syrup. (I told you I treasure it!)

Then it was off to the demonstrations, such as the top coat sheering they do before the sheep are judged.

Simon knows he looks good. You don't have to tell him.

The sheep and the shearer do not gossip about the barnyard during this process.
Proving that sheep have better manners than most salon patrons.

And finally, a fascinating display of what sheep herding actually looks like. (And no, there was no pig involved.)

"I say, this is a nice little pasture. We certainly have nothing to worry about…"

**JAWS theme plays**

Overall, I loved the second year as much as the first. And will strive as much as possible to make it a yearly occurrence.

Give Me Home Where the Turkey Do Roam OR Running Into the Woods

Indiana turned 100 years old in 1915. It seemed as good a time as any to establish a state park system, and the second park the commission bought was Turkey Run State Park in 1916. (In an odd twist, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway gave the park commission half of the money it needed to make the purchase.)

The park straddles Sugar Creek like a blanket made out of trees.

An uncomfortable blanket with random bridges in the middle of it.

Thing is, all of the parking and less nature-type attractions on one side of the river, while the hiking trails are on the other side. So a good chunk of the people hang out at the pool, nature center, and other places that have actual plumbing.

Others take lazy trips down the river. Often involving booze.

Foreground: Scenic Sugar Creek
Background: The Indiana Drunkard in its natural habitat.

Eschewing both plumbing and booze, we forded the creek (the main bridge was closed) and set off into the wild on the far side.

By "wild" we mean "well-maintained nature preserve."
But you get my drift.

Turkey Run features many nice paths through forests, but that's not why anyone hikes there. People hike there for the sandstone gorges.

Once you step off that walkway, it's just you, the creek, and the gorge.

Turkey Run lies just south of where the glaciers halted during the Ice Age. The tallest thing from there to Lake Michigan is the windmill electric generators. So the canyons and hills are pretty striking.

But let's pause for a second to consider history. Before Turkey Run was a state park, it was largely owned by the Lusk family. They did things like farm the nearby flat lands and built a coal mine with very low ground clearance.

This is the opposite of the "You Must be This Tall to Ride" signs.

It really wasn't a productive mine. It pretty much gave them enough to use at their house. Today it's ruled by the Lord of the Bats. See that grating? It's specially designed to keep stupid teenagers out while allowing bats in. How do I know this? Why, an informative plaque, of course!

Informative!

Educational activities aside, we opted for the trail that took you over the most varied path. Otherwise known as the most fascinating path.

Mud? Rocks? Dirty water?
Exxcelllennnt...

The path we took takes you along the creek bed through a canyon. You're often climbing on the actual rocks the water travels over. Being the mountain-raised fool I am, this meant barefoot hippie climbing.

Others might sigh and find a way around.
I rip off my bourgeois shoes and bound forward like a toddler after a shot of espresso.

This is definitely my favorite part of Turkey Run. But the other end of the gorge still involves a lot of fun ups and downs.

Sometimes very up.

But the great thing, of course, is the nature everywhere. There's something heart warming about being surrounded by nature.

Even if it does raise it's middle finger at your maintained pathways.

The whole thing was a great reminder that nature hangs right outside our manicured fields, lawns, and towns. Much like how stereotypical hoodlums hang outside stores smoking cigarettes and sneering.

Nature would like to say, "Screw your wooden staircases!"

Sometimes, however, steps just aren't enough to get through the canyons. But nobody lets that stop them.

Seriously. This is just part of the trail.

What's kind of neat is the reminder of how much people had to claw their lives away from the wilderness.

Because once you walked along the river's shores...

Please note: Kayakers are not authentic to the 19th century.

...and once you walked past the dramatic cliffs...

The cliffs, however, are authentic to the 19th century.
...and, you know, thousands of years before that.

...you'd find the old Lusk family home in a small clearing surrounded by woods.

You know, the one that used coal from the short mine.

And while I got the pleasure of enjoying Turkey Run on a lovely early fall day, the Lusk family lived there all year. Including the dead of winter.

But that's the thing. No matter how much nature raises its wooden middle finger at me, I still love it. And as the Impressive Clergyman would say, "Chewish your wove."

Even if it means running around like a crazy turkey.

50th Post! OR One Year Later (Please Don't Do the Math)

I went to write a post about visiting Turkey Run State Park. But then realized that I'm on the big 5-0 of posts. So I moved that post to next week, and decided to do a bit of a retrospective. Because sometimes perspective is a good thing.

Back in June of 2012, my wife and I sold a bunch of our ungainly things, shipped a lot of smaller things (mostly books), and jammed the rest of our stuff in our car. Then we said goodbye to our old street in Montrose, CA...

Goodbye, Trader Joe's at the end of the street!
I'll miss you most of all!

...and hit the road for Indiana.

Including the long, straight, empty road across Nevada.

Since our two cats were in the backseat (and, it should be noted, freaking out the whole time), we decided to take the trip a little slower and stop several times along the way.

This picture features our packed car (complete with cats),
and the only gas station/anything within 80 miles of the Nevada/Utah border. Seriously

So, we thought, why not take pictures? And what if I put them up on a blog? It would sure beat the hell out of showing everyone a boring slideshow of our road trip.

Our trip took us across Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Kansas, Illinois, and into Indiana. Some roads were more exciting...

The canyons of Utah certainly made for colorful driving.

...while others were "very, very relaxing."

By which I mean, "boring."

At this point, we had vague ideas about me doing a blog. Possibly as a way to keep in touch with those still living in California. Possibly as a place to practice writing. Or, most likely, as a way to spread the random things I tend to see around me. Whether they were picturesque...

Scenic old town Glenwood Springs, Colorado

...or bizarre.

Also Glenwood Springs.
Because who DOESN'T need a random Bavarian restaurant?!?

Then we arrived in Anderson, Indiana, where we still live to this day.

Home of Strange Prehistoric Mounds

Not gonna lie: I wondered how I'd still find things fascinating enough to write about. After all, it's not like I'm constantly driving cross-country. I kind of expected the blog to slowly die away as I got too busy.

But it didn't. Quite the opposite. The blog's regular schedule forced me to constantly keep exploring the world around me. (Don't do the math on my 50 posts and "weekly" schedule. It just makes me look bad.) We officially arrived in Indiana in early July 2012. We've now been here slightly over a year. In that time, I've explored a great deal of my new nearby metropolis...

Turns out Indianapolis is an actually real city with actual neat things to do.
Who knew?!?

...I've re-visted old haunts...

Including landmarks that I totally didn't climb multiple times.
That would have been stupid, and unlike everyone else, I didn't do anything stupid in college.

...and I've explored my new state.

Which, yes, does include tractors in parades.

But you know what? I've learned a lot, and seen a lot of neat places.

And read many informative plaques.

They're just so damn informative! Informative, I say!

In retrospect, this blog has been one of the greatest decisions I've made. And it was almost totally made on a whim.

So for those who have been following the blog this whole time, I hope you've had as much fun as I've had. You all have a standing invitation to join me for coffee.

After all, I know quite a few good coffee shops.
And I'm finding more all the time.

But enough of this think. It's time to get back out there and find more fascinating things.

Possibly involving dinosaurs.

So stay fascinated, people! I know I certainly will.

Tigers Messing With Tourists OR Just Monkeying Around

We're back at the zoo again this week, and while I know we all love aquatic animals and gardens, it's time to look at the rest of the animals.

So come with me down the path that contains many animals of the air and the ground.

After all, the path is so nicely wooded!

Let's start with the various birds and flying things around the zoo. Why? Because they're so fabulous.

Especially this one. Faaaabulooouuussss!

One of the neat attractions they had (just past the fabulous flamingos) were the aviaries, where you could enter the cages and hang out with the birds.

To be fair, they did more hanging than I did.

These bird houses had a wide variety of aviary attractions, from the stylishly colored...

Colonel Orangechest knows you can't keep your eyes off him.
Go ahead. Drink it in.

...To the ones with... um... good camouflage skills...

The first, second, and third place winners of the Rock Lookalike Contest.

...To the birds that clearly dressed themselves this morning before coffee.

It suddenly occurs to Phillipe that he may be color blind.
...Also that this branch might not be food.

Farther away from the aviary there was a bald eagle habitat, where the eagle hung out looking stately and posing for pictures.

Which includes glaring at me through the fence to make sure I get his good side.

"Wait, wait, wait," I can hear Cynical Reader saying, "Aren't bald eagles protected as our national animal or something?

They certainly are, C.R.

This Informative Plaque brought to by the
Coalition for Reminding You Who's Really In Charge Here. (CRYWRICH)

And now, we shall leave the land of our feathered friends...

Whhaaaaaaaaa......?

Okay, we'll show a picture of a toucan, THEN we'll transition away from feathers to the mammals. Specifically, the flying kind.

Well, at the moment they more hang out and eat than anything else.
Kinda like teenagers.

These particular bats were mid-sized bats, as we found out by the nearby informative plague.

Not pictured: The Batman.

Nearby there was a bear hanging out in his pretty cool habitat. Honestly, I like bears, always have, an affinity only strengthened by a couple close encounters in Montana at one point. In general, they're dignified creatures that have great strength, but generally will grant respect if you give it to them.

Also, don't laugh at them being adorable. Even if they do something really, really adorable.

Like the cuddle up to their widdle weather toy.

We then wandered through the heat over to the tiger area, but I was glad to know we weren't the only ones feeling the effect of the weather.

I kept thinking the red panda was going fall...
...but evidently "sacked out on a branch" is a natural position for them.

Now, one of the tigers was calmly chilling and posing for photos...

All the while pointedly pretending we weren't there.

...The other tiger? Well, it was having fun messing with visitors near one of the glass barriers, as shown by this progression of photos.

My first thought was, "Oh, look! It's coming right over!"

About now some monkey part of my brain realized,
"There's a tiger about five feet from me."

About this point, it was telling me, "Holy crap, you are going to die!"

When the tiger finally turned away right next to the glass, I swear I could hear it chuckling about foolish humans.

This interaction reminded me about my similarity to monkeys rather forcefully, so it made sense to go hang with them.

Literally.
(Okay, I'll stop making jokes about "hanging" now.)

That baboon would bounce up and down on the netting above the habitat, then at just the right moment reach through the netting and grab leaves from the tree several feet away. It was pretty frikkin impressive to watch.

The other monkeys were less about acrobatics and more about social commentary: Every time the black monkey would reach through the netting and grab leaves, the white monkey doing nothing would simply take a majority of the leaves.

It was like watching a theatrical play steeped in metaphor.

Next month they're doing a production of Waiting for Godot

Now, what animals should we look at next...?

"Ooh, could you apply your incredible wit to African mammals?"
"Nobody likes a kiss ass, Carl."

Sycophantic nature aside, Carl has a good point. The African habitats were large, with plenty of space, and plenty of animals.

A zebra chills in the shade.
In the distance, you can just make out a person on pavement in the hot sun.
Why are we the more intelligent species again?

Charles "Big C" Giraffe silently curses himself
for letting his style-cramping brother come along.

The adult elephant: Stately. Dignified. Proud.

The baby elephant: Daaaawwwwwwww....

Towards the end of the African section was an attraction to let kids and men run off they're excess energy. (Women are smart enough not to sprint in this heat.) As a bonus, they get to look silly for charity!

That's right: Every time a cheetah puts you in your place, their conservation fund gets a donation.
That right there is called a win-win.

When you "raced a cheetah," you actually tried to sprint and see how close you could get to a cheetah's top speed.

Answer: Not very.

Oh, and where were the actual cheetahs during this?

They're so fast...
...they're fast asleep!

And on that awful joke, I'll leave you. But remember: We may be entertained by seeing animals at zoos, but I'm pretty sure their number one source of entertainment is messing with us.

Number two is sleeping.