Lauren's Weekend in Syracuse

Actually we didn't spend much time in Syracuse at all (surprise, surprise). Lauren came to visit (as she does maybe twice a year) not only to spend sometime with me, but to take a look at some colleges and begin her search process, as she's going to be a High School junior this fall.


Lauren at SUNY Cortland:

We had a whirlwind of visits, checking 5 colleges in 4 days off the list: Syracuse (of course), LeMoyne, Ithaca, Cortland and Oswego. 5 very different places, and a great way to both really confuse yourself and jump start your search process.

We didn't spend all of our time taking college tours though. While in each place we did some pretty neat things.

Saturday we drove down to Ithaca and really took in the city and community; shopping in the Commons, and hiking through the gorges.

Lauren, taking photos at Tremen Falls:

Lucifer Falls- the biggest one at the park... i couldn't get a wide enough angle to capture the whole thing, but you get the picture:
Me and Lauren. It's a pretty breathtaking place, and we really enjoyed our walk around. There are a few other really great waterfalls/parks in Ithaca but this one's my favorite.

Sunday we drove north to Sterling for the Renaissance festival.. and what an experience that was. If you haven't had any exposure to it before it's a startling thing.. in fact I spent my first few hours watching mud-slinging and dunking and seeing all sorts of "Renaissance dress" with quite a look of disbelief:

Yes- there was ax throwing (Can you imagine the danger??-- they were really real axes!!):

And there was jousting... yes real jousting! I had the hardest time getting over these things. They wore chainmail, rode horses... the real deal. Here you see them dualing for the final championship (and hundreds of baffled visitors watching the whole thing):

We also watched a play where everyone gets dunked/drowned in this pond... very strange. But elements of hilarity. If you're interested/amused by this sort of stuff, you're just going to have to see it yourself.

After I got through the shock of the oddity in this place... we enjoyed some interesting treats. We had to get a turkey leg (EVERYONE had a turkey leg)... which isn't actually all that tasty or meaty, but looks pretty crazy so we each posed for a photo.

Julie:
Lauren:

Binh:

I think this is the strangest place I've visited and posted about... you can challenge me on that if you'd like, but seriously, I'm just not sure about these people that do this for a living. It was so odd. But also cool enough that I'm glad to have experienced it.. i guess. Can you imagine the people who purchase the $207 season pass?

All in all a great weekend, as I always really love spending time with Lauren. Here's to hoping she comes back for more exploring soon.

Boilermaker Challenge

I've said it every year friends, but this year, I figure if I put the proclamation out there on the blog... then maybe I'll actually do it.

Home in Utica for Boilermaker Sunday this year, I saw lots of friends running by... and every time I watch I think "I want to be a part of this" and/or "I could totally do this"... The truth of the matter is the Boilermaker is a 10 mile (more or less) road race through the city of Utica on what's somehow almost always the hottest Sunday morning of the summer. And next year I've promised to be a part of it.


Here are a few photos from this year's race.

Mom, Dad and I cheering people on:

A few of the approx. 13,000 runners:

The best part is the race ends with a huge post-party at the Saranac Brewery... this year about 30,000 people were there with me.

When next July comes around, wish me luck.