Picnic

Jan fixing our picnic lunch and Cyndi helping.

Minnesota's Maple Mountains

Photo taken just before sunset this evening. The colors are starting to get really nice out there!

New Legs! The Bicycle as Sculptor

Since I started riding Graham (my Rivendell Sam Hillborne), a few readers have commented that I have nicely defined legs in my pictures. I generally don't do well with compliments, but I think this particular one is worth addressing - because I have my bicycle to thank for it.

The legs are quite "new" and seem to be a direct result of riding a roadbike. Having ridden upright bicycles since Spring last year, I experienced a general increase in my level of fitness and some definition in the calf muscles, but nothing like this. Before the roadbike, the area above the knees was ...shall we say, cottage-cheeselike. Now it's long, lean muscles, and I still can't quite believe that they are mine.

The change began to happen almost immediately when I started to ride in a leaned over posture, and even in the process of cycling, I can feel the difference between this kind of cycling vs riding an upright bike: When I am leaned over, it feels as if I am pushing with the back of my thighs; when I am upright, it feels as if I am pushing with my calves. When going uphill, the strain increases, but it always remains within the bike-specific muscle group. That is, I never feel as if I am pushing with the back of my thighs on one of my loop-frame bicycles, even when going up the steepest hills.

I have the bad habit of forming theories too soon about things I do not entirely understand, so I asked an acquaintance - bicycle fit expert Kevin Saunders - whether what I felt happening is real or imagined.

Kevin's explanation was that the glutes (butt muscles) and quadriceps (thigh muscles) need the cyclist to be bent over for them to engage, so it makes sense that this should happen when cycling in a leaned over posture. Furthermore, if you are pushing down hard enough on the pedals, you are holding up your torso with your core and back muscles, which act as a resistance to the load generated by the glutes and quads. Essentially, this means that the muscles in your abdomen and back will get strengthened as well - resulting in a flat tummy and a decrease in "muffinage" - both of which I have noticed as well.

Don't worry, readers: This is not a fitness website and I do not intend to start regaling you with the details of getting in shape. But I do get questions from women about fitness, and I think that may be because they feel more comfortable asking me (a self-admitted "unathletic girl") than someone who was more sporty to begin with. Getting in shape was never my goal, but I admit it is a nice side-effect. The bicycle is a talented sculptor!

Bertus, the world-famous cat in Utrecht

During the Christmas holidays Dutchman
and I strolled down Catharijnesingel in Utrecht. Catharijnesingel is a canal
that rims the south western part of Utrecht’s old centrum.





We both love walking, and of course as
part of this activity we have to stop by at a café to grab something warm to
drink. Café de Poort was a very convenient choice as it is located on the
corner of Catharijnesingel and Oudegracht.




In Café de Poort we
met ‘Bertus’. The regulars in the cafe told us that he
is very famous in Utrecht. He is a male ginger cat and he is the house cat of
the café. His favourite spot in the caféis sitting on the top back ridge of the second and
third seats facing the Oudegracht. We were also told that sometimes he can be spotted at the other café across
the road.




Bertus is a very picky and arrogant cat as well.
He has this kingly posture that says—‘Who are you? What do
you want? I am the boss here and do not mess with me, stay away from me!’



He actually gets peeved when people pats him longer than a minute. Interestingly, he doesn’t like women. How did I know? Well, firstly, he doesn’t like me (ouch, that severely injured my ego), and all the female specie that came around to pat him, he sneered and clawed at them.He does allow a few regular male
guys to stroke his back, including the Dutchman, for longer than a minute, and repeatedly as well. UNFAIR. Why is that?!




I don’t know why but cats always fall
under the charm of the Dutchman. He has this magical magnetic animalistic aura in him that
cats cannot say no. I’m envious.






Visit Period: December

Chilkoot River Bears

Caution... lots of photos...
Tuesday, August 24th - - I had noticed this sign yesterday on my way to the campground at Chilkoot Lake but didn't give it much thought. But this morning when I was leaving the campground, I noticed a bunch of cars pulled off along the road and people milling about with long telephoto lenses on their cameras. I stopped the car, grabbed my little point-and-shoot camera and walked over to see what they were looking at... these bears were outside the bear zone! Guess they don't know how to read ;-)

There was Mama bear and her cubs (could be the same ones that Sue and Fred saw a couple of days ago). There were three cubs, they just never all got together for a group photo...





Look at those claws! And it's just a baby...




This evening, as I was going back to the campground, there were some scattered rain showers and I was greeted by a double rainbow! To the east, the direction in which I was going, the sky darkened and it poured down rain.

Meanwhile, over to the west, the sun was shining. Ya gotta love it. Continuing on toward the campground, I noticed movement off to the side of the road, and then, what did appear before my eyes?
Why, Mama bear and her three little cubs! By the time I had grabbed the camera and turned it on, Mama was already across the road. (I was safely inside the van as they were way too close for comfort. This photo was taken through the windshield.)

Half an hour later, I left the gloomy campground (it is heavily forested and not much light gets through the trees, especially when it is cloudy) and went back into Haines for a while.

On my way, people were gathered in one area alongside the road so I stopped... Mama bear was there and at least two cubs. They were further away than those this morning and the cubs stayed close to the bank, hidden by the weeds and brush.


It was so neat seeing them like this, in their natural habitat. They went about their business, generally ignoring us humans, though they did check us out now and then.

More Busch Gardens

Yesterday, the guys went to Busch Gardens together. They managed to lose my cell phone while there, but beyond that I think they had fun.



Today we went back with all three of us. I only snapped a few shots while there. These are of the Ramp Jam show. It was incredible.



Pretty cool, huh? We had another great day here today. We are enjoying having so much to do while in this area. We're going to miss it when we move on.

The Berlin Family :: John D. and Susannah

Born on December 8th, 1792 near Abbottstown in York (now Adams) County, Pennsylvania, John D. Berlin was the eldest of nine children of John Frederick Berlin whose wife was reportedly Juliana Dietzler.



A record in the “Orphan's Court” of Adams County, Pennsylvania dated August 25, 1845 shows that John Sheffer, as heir at law of Frederick Berline in right of his wife Loretta, petitioned the court stating that “Frederick Berline died intestate September 18, 1843 leaving issue eight children, to wit: John, Henry, George, Loretta (wife of petitioner), Eli, Joel, Polly and Frederick. All over the age of twenty-one.”



Census records suggest that John D. Berlin may have resided with his father through 1810 in Adams County, Pennsylvania. I have not located John in the 1820 census where he would have been 28 years old and single.



It is not known when John D. Berlin settled in Columbiana County, Ohio but on February 16th, 1826 he was married to Susannah Huffman in that county. They resided near Washingtonville which lies on the line delineating the counties of Columbiana and Mahoning.



Susannah Huffman (or Hoffman) was born March 9, 1804 in Columbiana County, Ohio. She was the second of eleven children of John and Catherine (Coy) Hoffman. There arises some confusion in several published biographies of Coy family members. It seems that Susannah's aunt, Elizabeth Coy, also married a man by the name of John Berlin! Those biographies state that Elizabeth and John Berlin resided in Nappanee, Indiana. Not true. Elizabeth Coy did marry John Berlin but they lived in Ohio. That John Berlin was born January 8, 1777 and was probably the son of John Nicholas Berlin (brother of John D. Berlin's grandfather) which would make John and John D. first cousins once removed. A record on Find A Grave shows that that John Berlin lived to be 101 years old. He is buried in Stark County, Ohio while his wife Elizabeth is buried in Summit County.



I have never seen a record that indicates what the “D” stands for in John D. Berlin's name but suspect that it was used primarily to distinguish him from that other John Berlin. Columbiana, Mahoning, Portage, Stark and Summit counties are all in the northeast corner of Ohio, which is where both of them lived at various times. His mother's maiden name is reported to be Dietzler, so perhaps he used the “D” in her honor.



On May 26, 1827 Solomon Berlin, the first child of John D. and Susannah, was born. They remained in Columbiana County, near Washingtonville, for the next 19 years and had eight more children: Catherine, 1830; Lydia, 1832; Josiah, 1834; Jacob, 1836; Mary, 1838; Sarah, 1840; Elizabeth, 1843; and Lovina, 1845.



In 1846 John D. Berlin moved with his family to the Rootstown area in Portage County, Ohio where they lived for 18 years. Their youngest son, Joseph Milton was born there in 1848. He was killed in the spring of 1856 in a wagon accident, at the age of seven years.



As with the majority of my ancestors, John D. Berlin was a farmer. As a result, there doesn't seem to be a lot of records on him. I've found him in land records and census records: In 1830 and 1840 in Columbiana County, Ohio as John Barlein and Jno. D. Berlin, respectively. In 1850 in Rootstown, Portage County, Ohio he is enumerated as John Elsworth! He and his family were listed on the lines immediately after Dolly Elsworth. The names and ages of the children match his family completely so there is no doubt that it is the family of John D. Berlin. In 1860 he was enumerated as J. D. Berlin and was still in Rootstown. At that time only the four youngest daughters were still living at home.



Solomon Berlin, the oldest child of John D. and Susan, married Fianna Slabaugh in 1851 and shortly thereafter moved to Locke Township, Elkhart County, Indiana. Catherine Berlin, the next oldest child, was married about 1854 to Frederick Daniel Richmond. They lived in Iowa for several years (where their first two children were born) before settling in Elkhart County about 1858. Jacob Berlin, fifth child of John D. and Susan, was living with his brother Solomon in Elkhart County in 1860.



Susannah's sister, Elizabeth Coy, had married Jacob Stauffer and they had moved with their family to Elkhart County in 1852. John D's sister, Loretta (full name Clarissa Loretta) and her husband, John Shafer, and their daughter and son-in-law, Anna and Isaac Rodibush (or Raudenbush) moved to Elkhart County, Indiana prior to 1860 where they are enumerated in Union township.



With family (and undoubtedly some friends too) already living in Elkhart County, Indiana it was not surprising to learn that John D. and Susan moved there also. Family letters show that John D. and Susan left Portage County, Ohio just a few days after the marriage of their daughter Sarah to George W. Greene (they were married on August 28, 1864). Traveling with John D. and Susan were their daughters Elizabeth (aka Lizzie) and Lovina, and their son Josiah along with his wife and two sons. Three daughters of John D. and Susan remained in Portage County – Sarah, Lydia and Mary Ann. Lydia had married Myron Collins in November 1858 and Mary Ann was still single.



John D. Berlin and Susan were found in the 1870 census in Locke Township, Elkhart County. Residing with them were his brother Frederic (a blind potter, age 60) and his sister Polly (age 58). By then the two youngest daughters had married: Elizabeth to Samuel Coppes in 1867 and Lovina to Eli Yarian in 1866. Lydia, Mary Ann, and Sarah were all still living in Portage County, Ohio.



Lydia's husband, Myron Collins, had died of disease in a hospital in Nashville, Tennessee in April 1865. Nine years later (September 1874) she would marry Henry Woodruff and move to LaCygne, Linn County, Kansas. Henry died in 1898. Shortly thereafter, Lydia went to live in Elkhart County, Indiana.



Toward the end of 1866 Mary Ann Berlin also moved to Indiana. She was living in Elkhart County in 1875 when she married Lewis B. Winder.



Thus it was that Sarah (Berlin) Greene was the only member of the family who remained in Portage County, Ohio. She would live in the Ravenna area the rest of her life, giving birth to seven children, five of whom would live to adulthood. One of her children, Harry B. Greene, would move to Nappanee, Elkhart County, Indiana prior to 1900.



On November 11, 1879, John D. Berlin passed away at the home of his daughter Mary Winder in Locke, Elkhart County, Indiana. His wife Susan died five months later, on April 22, 1880 also at Mary's home. They are both buried in the Primitive Baptist Cemetery in Locke Township, Elkhart County, Indiana.





The family of John D. and Susannah (Hoffman) Berlinfront row: Elizabeth, John D., Susannah, Lydia , Solomonback row: Mary, Sarah, Lovina, Josiah, Catherine

A copy of the above photograph was received in the late 1990s from a descendant of Solomon Berlin. It is not known who now has the original or whether there were any markings on it to indicate where or when it was taken. I'm guessing that it was taken between 1862 and 1868. The son Jacob is not included – he was killed on April 7, 1862 (the second day of fighting during the Battle of Shiloh) – and Josiah died in March 1869.



John D. and Susannah (Hoffman) Berlin are my 3rd great grandparents. Their daughter, Lovina, married Eli Yarian and their daughter Susie Yarian would marry Henry Phend. They were the parents of Rolland Victor Phend who would marry Hazlette Brubaker. And they would become the parents of Virginia (Phend) Wiseman, my mother...



Additional information on The Berlin Family:

• Bible Records


• Introduction to The Letters


• The Cast of Characters


• List of The Letters

New Arc'Teryx soft shell?

I found this link earlier today. Haven't seen or used the new Arc'teryx Acto. But I agree with much of what the author, Jason Kruk has written here. Different combos, looking for same results.



"Arc snuck this beauty onto the new fall '11 website without any fanfare. They should have made a bigger deal, though, it's the best thing to happen to softshell jackets ever. I had given up on softshells for my upper layers. The once game-changing Gamma Jacket hadn't received an update in far too long. The material was too heavy to justify using on a serious alpine climb. It didn't breath particularly well, either. I would sweat like a pig while climbing or working hard on the up while ski touring. I switched my systems to a lightweight fleece layer like the Delta LT and a Gore piece on top like the Alpha LT or new FL"



More here:



http://blog.jasonkruk.net/



under:



"The Acto PSA!"



Enough said that I will be checking the Acto out asap.



more from a little digging on the Acto



I thought the Actosounded good enough that three days after posting this blogI had one hereto play with. During the winter of /9 I had a very similar fleece jacket from Arcteryx that anotherArcteryx sponsored climber used and promoted. Price was similar but mine was without a hood. It did breath well, and shed water fairly well even in our wet and rainy climate here in the NW.



It isa very similar thickness to the Acto gridded fleece. But it had better cuff detailing and a more trim, more athletic fit. It was made to be used as a mid layer piece as well. Soft grid pattern fleece on the inside and a hard finished soft shell on the outside that other layers moved freely on.



I don't remember the name of that specific piece from Arcteryx for sure but I think it was an earlier version of the Epsilon AR Jacket. Arcteryx lists the Epsilon and several others as "hard fleece".



More here:



http://www.arcteryx.com/Product.aspx?EN/Mens/Jackets#Hardfleece



After seeing the Acto I can say I am a little disappointed on the fit and detailing on this $300 garment. And like my previous garment before it, I am not sure I can find a place in my clothing system, either climbing or skiing, that the Acto makes much sense compared to others I now use.

If you can take a look at one I would to make up your own mind. I think part of the problem is we all seem to want a lwt version of the Gamma MX. The Acto promises a lot and doesn't do much for me @ $300. The Gamma MX seems a steal at $350 by comparison as does the Epsilon SV Hoody @ $225.



I haven't even bothered to look at what else is available from other manufactures for similar style garments. But may be you should if the Acto sounds enticing.

Glen Canyon and Lake Powell

From Lees Ferry it is a short drive to Glen Canyon and Lake Powell, near Page, Arizona. It seems like it would be a nice place to visit, with lots of things to do. It would be really cool to rent a house boat with a bunch of people and explore Lake Powell and the various canyons. Problem was, it was hot. Really hot. Like in the upper 90s. I know what you're thinking. For many months I've been saying that I sure would like some warmer weather. And that's true, just not quite that warm! Give me temperatures in the mid-70s and lower-80s and I'd be happy, maybe.

But, despite the heat, I decided to spend a few days at Wahweap Campground on Lake Powell a few miles north of Page. I found a site with a little shade, not that it helped all that much with the heat, but it did provide a little respite from the sun, and there was usually a light breeze that helped also. Of course, it cooled down a little after the sun went down so the nights were comfortable.

Page has a beautiful public library with free wifi, which I gratefully took advantage of during the hottest hours of the day! I was able to get blog posts written and scheduled up to the start of Jamboree though I didn't get quite as many posts written as I would have liked.

The Dam at Glen Canyon.

A small portion of Lake Powell. The cluster of boats on the far left are at Wahweap Marina.

Clouds over Lake Powell are touched by the last rays of the setting sun.

More New Hampshire From My Window

Going for a scooter ride in the mountains of Lesvos, Greece and a lunch stopover in Vafeios

When Dutchman and I are not doing this, this, this, this, this, and this(this one is unforgettable)during our holiday last summer in Lesvos, Greece, we were out and about exploring the island with our rental scooter.











One of the afternoons we took the scooter for a mountain ride nearby. We were not planning on driving far, we’re just going for a ride, enjoy the views and the fresh sea air and then have late lunch at a taverna in Vafeios that I read about—Taverna Vafios.



In Mithymna, they are offering donkey rides to Vafeios where participants rest for lunch at Taverna Vafios and back. Indeed, Dutchman and I saw the donkey tour group as we went up the mountain. The poor donkeys were so cute, I don’t think I could ever let one of these animals carry me.



On other matters, I have become an expert in taking pictures behind the Dutchman on a moving scooter.








More pictures below... actually, LOTS of pictures =)









A very typical afternoon scene in the mountain villages of Lesvos.





An interesting way of piling up tables and chairs. It almost looked like art installation.











Here were are at Taverna Vafios having a light lunch of Greek salad and yoghurt with honey and crushed walnuts.









I prefer Greek yoghurt with crushed walnuts than with whole walnuts.





It was late for lunch, we almost had the taverna to ourselves except for a table in the corner with English holidaymakers.









Stuffed zucchini flowers.









Stops to enjoy the views... that is Turkey from the distance.











I really, really, really miss summer now.



I think I need to get out of this country for a long weekend. But where? It is still cold everywhere....