Life is Simple - Saratoga Springs, NY

Peggy and I have been hanging out in New York all week - watching Fall come to New England/New York (New York is not considered part of New England you know). The temps are dropping into the 50s and sometimes 40s during the evenings so the leaves are really starting to change colors now.

From March 1970 through April 1980 I served in the US Navy. In March 1970 the world was kinda different. We had just landed a man on the moon and safely returned the crew to earth, the Vietnam War was still going hot and heavy, we were trying to figure out what happened socially in the late 1960s, and the "Cold" War was still very much in progress. For those of you who weren't around then let me explain the "Cold" War. The "Cold" part of the war refers to the fact that both the US and the Soviet Union had lots of nuclear weapons - but didn't use them - just threatened their use. If you nuke us - we'll nuke you back. This was affectionately known as "mutual assured destruction" (AKA "MAD"). Sounds pretty crazy doesn't it! It was - it still is - and it has worked since the mid 1950s.

In order for MAD to work - the other side had to believe that we could deliver on the threat ... that's where nuclear submarines come in. Both sides had long range bombers that could carry nuclear bombs - and both sides had radar to see them coming and fighter planes and missiles to shoot them down. Both sides had land based ICBMs that could deliver missiles across thousands of miles to hit the other side - and both sides knew where the other sides' missiles where located - so those would be the first locations targeted. But that left the missiles on-board those nasty stealthy submarines that could hide just about anywhere in the ocean and fire their missiles with little to no warning. The only countermeasure to a submarine launched attack was to find the submarine - track its movement - and sink it before it could launch its missiles. This is where the "War" part of the "Cold War" comes in. The missile firing submarines (SSBNs) would go out for several months at a time and basically hide. The attack submarines (SSNs) would go out and find/track the SSBNs - prepared to sink them if it looked like they were going to fire their missiles. Hide & Seek - underneath the oceans - played by 20 year olds with nuclear weapons. And it still goes on today, albeit to a lesser extent.

So that's what Mikee did for a living back in the 70s. Actually - I was only assigned to 1 SSBN during my career - the USS Ethan Allen SSBN 608. During the two years I was assigned to the "Allen" I made 4 "Nuclear Deterrent Patrols" as they were called.

So why am I picking this moment to reminisce about the not-so-good ol days? Well it seems a reunion of all those who served aboard the USS Ethan Allen was being held in nearby Saratoga Springs, NY this last week - so Peggy and I attended. She was an ex-officio member too ya know - the wives of submariners also have a special bond.

We attended the reception on Thursday night where we met my ex Executive Officer and his wife. We had a nice visit and decided to have dinner together in downtown Saratoga Springs. I gotta tell you - it was kinda strange having a social relationship with a fellow who was second in command of the submarine I was on - and later commanded two submarines himself including the USS Hyman G. Rickover. I still wanted to call him "Mr. Spruitenberg." Regardless - we had a good time.

Last night we attended the reunion banquet and we sat with Bill and Lynn Baxter. I worked with Bill at Maine Yankee for many years and it turns out he was on the Allen in the mid 60s. Not only that - they are also avid RVers - traveling the country in their converted Bus. Good Fun and Good Conversation.

While at the banquet - and as a doorprise - I "won" the opportunity to pick an item from the prize table. There really wasn't too much to pick from so I chose a T-shirt that was size 3X. No - I don't need a 3X yet - I chose the shirt because it had a message that really explains what bonds submariners.

Birthday Girl - Topsham, ME

First let me finish off the logging story. Last Sunday I had to head back to New York for another fun-filled 4 days of w*rk. That left Peggy to watch as the Tree Guys finished up their work on Monday. On Friday and Saturday they had already cut down most of the small maples, chipped up all the limbs, de-limbed the big pine and shortened it up a bit. So Monday it was time for the big timber to fall.

This was the main reason I hired the Tree Guys - That big pine needed to come down without hitting the deck or the house or ME. So the Tree Guys aimed it to about the only place it could go and "TIMBER" down it came right where it was supposed too! As you can see in the pictures - that was a pretty solid tree. So all the trees along the back fence are gone - the stumps are ground down - and the holes and dents in the lawn are sorta filled in. The plan is to let the ground settle over the winter and then replace the fence and re-loam/re-seed the yard next spring/summer. I guess we will have to stay home long enough to get that done!

Happy Birthday to Peggy as she turns 50-Ten today!!!!! As most of you know - I have known Peggy since we were about 8 - but didn't really "meet" her until we were both around 12. So I have the experience to say she doesn't look a day over the 20 year old she was when we married - almost 40 years ago. There ... that and a promise to take her to dinner tonight might get me a nice home-cooked breakfast!!

Here it is mid September! Wow - where did the rest of the year go?! I have another couple of months worth of w*rk to accomplish in NY then it will be time to enjoy Thanksgiving and Christmas -- and then off again to wherever for a few months. I'll get kicked out of the RV Park in mid October when they close for the season so I'll have to get the Winne home, cleaned up, and winterized for a short period of time while I finish up in NY - staying at some extended stay kind of motel I suppose.

Peggy and I went to Captain Mike's for some seafood last night. I had the baked stuffed shrimp that were really good ... but as I mentioned to Peggy ... it's just not Big Daddy's in Alabama. So it's also time to start figuring out the 2011 Winter Escape itinerary. Do we kinda do a repeat of the last couple of years and head down the east coast and then over to 'Bama before winding our way home -- or do we head southwest to maybe Arizona and slowly work our way east to Texas for awhile and then 'Bama for Mardis Gras before heading home? And then there's the other million or so possibilities. We'll have to start fixin' to think about it.

OK ... I best put this computer down and get busy. Gutters to clean and other stuff to do before we head back to NY tomorrow. It ought to be an interesting week ... ya'll will have to stay tuned to find out how my first USS Ethan Allen SSBN 608 reunion worked out.

Stay Safe ...

Logging in Maine - Topsham, ME

Home again. Peggy and I drove back to Topsham from NY on Thursday after I got home from W*rk. It sure made for a loong day and it was near 11:00 PM when we finally got home. I drove from NY to NH and Peggy drove the rest of the way. I normally wait until the next morning when I make this trip but we had the "tree guys" scheduled to show up on Friday morning to start taking down a bunch of trees in the backyard - so we needed to be here Thursday night. Oh well - we made it safe and mostly sound.

Yesterday the tree guys finally arrived arrived around noon. They were supposed to start at 8:30 but needed to finish up on the previous job. I suppose if I knew that -- we might not have driven home until Friday morning - but I doubt it. So while they were busy falling some trees Peggy and I took care of a bunch of errands. Property taxes to pay, truck registration and excise taxes to pay, new tires for the truck, groceries to buy - as you can see - it was an expensive afternoon!!

See Ray - the Crazy Tree Guy - and yes - I did make sure they had lots of liability insurance!!

The tree guys will be back today with two crews to continue their work. We are having about 10 small maples taken down and one huge pine tree removed. The maples aren't giving the tree guys too much problem - they are just close to the house and deck so they have to come down in sections. The pine tree may be a different story. It is probably the closest tree to the deck and about 2 feet in diameter at the base. That one ought to be interesting to watch - maybe from the street rather than the kitchen window!

The yard looked like this after the ice storm in 1999 (only with less leaves)

It looks like I will be taking the truck back to NY this time and Peggy will follow later in the week in the Vue. She hasn't driven that far by herself - probably ever - but I'm sure she will do fine with Lola's (Garmin GPS) help. Then again - she might get her first visit to NY City!

That's about it from here in the northeast. It's starting to look an awful lot like Autumn around here. The trees are starting to get some color and the nights are a little chilly - ahh my favorite time of year!

First Geocache - Schaghticoke, NY

Boy - this 4 days off stuff is pretty nice. In fact - I like it so much I think I'll retire again in a few months.

Saturday Peggy and I decided to try out our new GPS Gadget to find a local geocache.

For you that have no idea what I'm talking about - I'll start with a short lesson. It seems that the Uncle Sam sent up a bunch of satellites in the last 30 or so years and created the Global Positioning System (GPS). The GPS was initially used only for military purposes but then the commercial world was allowed some access and soon we could drive from point A to point B with turn-by-turn directions or navigate the worlds oceans using a device purchased at the local electronics store - pretty amazing stuff! At about the same time, people figured out that this system could be used for navigation of all types - including hiking - and so the hand held recreational GPS device was born. Then we had to find some use for it besides hiking! So some enterprising bunch of folks invented "geocaching." A geocache is like a treasure chest - some are "normal size" like an old army ammo box - some are much smaller like a film canister. The Cache will usually contain a logbook to sign and perhaps a few trinkets. Geocachers will take these Caches and hide them in relatively inconspicuous places throughout the country and will then list the Cache location (by latitude/longitude coordinates) on the internet. So then along comes us novice geocachers who obtain the Cache location off the internet - enter the location into our handheld GPS Gadget and then follow the directions provided by the Gadget to find the Cache. Pretty simple right!

So Peggy and I visited geocaching.com, entered the local zip code, and found a couple of Caches within a few miles to try and locate. After downloading the info into our new Gadget - we were off on our first geocaching safari. The first location was near a small hydroelectric dam near the town of Schaghticoke. So we followed the directions provided by the new Gadget (the new gadget doesn't have a name yet - unlike Lola our Winne/Vue mounted GPS - afterall she talks to us and the new one doesn't). We soon found ourselves on a dirt road near a train trestle over the river and close to the hydro dam. This looked like the place! So we parked the Vue, took out the Gadget and started walking up the road in the direction provided by the red arrow on the Gadget. This ought to be simple enough - just keep walking up the road - the number of feet to our destination listed on the Gadget kept getting smaller and smaller - and then bingo! the arrow moves to the left and the Gadget says we are 46 feet away - into the woods and up a hill. Since I'm not real sure we got it right - I walk back down the road aways and then back to the location where the arrow turned left. Sure enough - same spot. Meanwhile - Peggy believed the Gadget the first time and had wandered up the hill - about 46 feet - to a tree with a forked trunk - and how-about-that - there it was! So we opened up the small container - signed the log - and now we were real geocachers!

Since we were now experienced - we decided to try and find the other location we downloaded. Back in the Vue - drive a few miles to Stillwater, NY along the Hudson River - find Blockhouse Park. The "Blockhouse" in Blockhouse Park used to be located several miles up Route 4 near the entrance to the Saratoga National Historical Park and was in fact the visitor's center there many years ago. We followed the same routine - follow the arrow - get to within a few feet and start looking. We looked high and low and the arrow kept pointing to an area inside a bunch of bushes that I was reluctant to go crawling through. This cache was listed as "micro" in size - and I'm sure it's in those bushes somewhere - but we decided to call this one "not found."

So now that our initial geocaching experience was over - what do we do now on a beautiful afternoon? Why not attend the local Schaghticoke Fair! So we did!

The Schaghticoke Fair is a real - no kidding - farming community agricultural fair. The fair is complete with cows, chickens, pigs, goats, dunking booth, fried dough, and carnival rides. Peggy and I wandered around for a couple of hours checking out all the exhibits, doing some people watching, and generally having a fun afternoon.

I'll let you figure out this one for yourself!

Whew - Saturday was a busy day. So busy in fact that we took Sunday off and just hung around the rig except for a 1.76 mile walk around the campground. How did I know it was 1.76 miles? Why because we took the new GPS Gadget of course!

Cash for Cache - Schaghticoke, NY

It has been another pretty warm week here in upstate New York with temps in the 90s on a couple of days. I think a front is supposed to have moved through during the night and things should get back to the low 80s today. That is certainly OK by me!

We had a pretty normal week here in NY. Me trying to move my work project forward - and Peggy trying to stay cool, get her walking in, and then accomplish all the normal chores that need to be done back here at the Winne. The project took a four day weekend over this holiday so everybody will get a nice break.

Yesterday Peggy and I started our day with a late Cracker Barrel breakfast and then our weekly WalMart visit to stock up on groceries. After getting the booty home and put away we decided to take a drive - so we headed north on some County Roads winding through lots of farmland. You probably wouldn't think of this part of New York has having lots of farms - but it does! We ended up in Schylerville after awhile and then drove west into Saratoga Springs. This is the last week of the annual thoroughbred racing month at the beautiful old Saratoga Race track - so there was still lots of traffic in Saratoga. We stopped at the big shopping mall in Wilton to grab a bite to eat at the local Friendly's and then did a bit of "shopping" at Dicks Sporting Goods. Actually - we did some buying. We have been wanting to purchase a handheld GPS unit to try our hand at geocaching - and to just have on the few occasions when we do some hiking - so we did. Now Peggy has a new gadget to play with. She is out as I write this on her morning walk with her new gadget - trying it out.

So now that we have laid out the "Cash" for the new GPS Gadget - we may try to find a local "Cache" today - this aught to be interesting.

That's about it from here. The Maineiacs In Motion haven't had the Winne in motion much these last few months - but have managed to stay pretty busy. I think we may have to get into trip planning mode again soon - I'm starting to see signs of fall!!