Galveston Oh Galveston

With the shorter days and lots of rain this is what some of our bicycle rides look like and have taken place in the garage. On the bright side it's safer and no helmet required, it also stirs up more of our addiction to travel.

Galveston Island has always been a place I like to visit, sometimes a little seedy but you have to like a place with a newspaper named the Twisted Parrot. Michele and I loaded up the camping trailer and took off for three days to see how things are in the wake of last year's hurricane.

" Sippin" on the dock of the bay is where we spent Saturday after a morning bike ride along the bay and on the hard packed sand of the gulf beach. The event was a wine and food festival that was our first of this kind, we sampled some of over 60 wines and lots of cheese, pasta, cured meats, and a really good Blues band. The event was hosted by the South Shore Harbor and this is a really nice upscale Marina, I could see us living on a sailboat here (not gonna happen).

The State Park is where we stayed and we met a nice couple retiring in a few months to travel full time in their 5th wheel travel trailer. The park is still suffering from the damage inflicted by hurricane Ike and was not exactly what we were expecting, but the ocean is still the same. This was sprockets first trip to the beach and he loved it, he wore himself out chasing gulls and investigating all that the sea washed up.

The Island itself is recovering from a lot of damage and the beachfront homes look nice since most of them have been repaired and have fresh paint and roofs, of course a lot of them are missing too.

I had one of my best runs ever when I did 6 miles from our campsite to the beach and watched the sun rise over the Gulf as I ran along the waters edge and had the place to myself. The hard packed sand is a perfect surface to run on.

The rain and shorter days has limited our cycling somewhat but last night we started our night ride season with the bicycle club and had a nice hard ride, much nicer than riding the trainer.

Dennis

J22 North American championship/ Niagra falls

Last Wednesday Bobby, David and I went sailing, the plan was to install a new Boomkicker boom vang on the sailboat. Bobby had been wanting one of these popular boom supports that eliminates the topping lift line from the boom to the top of the mast. He found the kit locally for $239.00 plus tax and asked me to see what I could get one for, the manufacturer wanted $199.00 plus shipping but a little more research and P-Yacht delivered it to my door for $167.00. I told Bobby for an extra $20 I would tell his wife it only cost $100.00, it looks good and performs too.

When we left the Marina and hoisted sail I noticed a lot of sailboats on the South end of the lake and we sailed the Bobcat down to take a look, what a treat and nice surprise to find the North American J-22 Championship in progress. These sailors are pros, the fleet stayed in a very close group and the sail handling and spinnaker work was impressive. The picture is not the best but we stayed a respectful distance away and with a stiff breeze the boat was anything but still.
We also had a busy weekend in Buffalo New York attending Michele's Nieces Wedding, it was an extravagant event in a Beautiful Church from the 1820's and the reception was in a Private facility also from the early 1800's with frescoes on the ceiling and large Marble columns, the open bar was nice too.

While we were there we also bagged another Lighthouse, The Buffalo Lighthouse marks the entrance to the harbour and the Erie canal. On this stormy night we caught the light as it came on.

Of course we had to visit the Niagara Falls, no photo can do justice to the power, size and magnitude of these falls. For a little perspective the boat in the basin is the Maid of the mist and is maybe 80 feet or more long. Of course we took a trip on the Maid and got a good close look and also got wet, even with the poncho's they give you, to wet for a good pic.

I even had a chance to run with the Buffalo, well we stayed with Michele's friend Leisamarie who lives close to Delaware Park where I went for a 6 mile run, the trail just happens to pass by the Zoo and the bison enclosure, it was nice to have the fence between us.

Bagged a Lighthouse and one of the seven wonders, even saw a world class sailboat race, sweet.

Dennis