happy Thanksgiving: Bah humbug!

I admit that this had not been a good thanksgiving.I had planned on flying back to Missouri from California, But I'm sitting sleepless here in Upstate new York.
The other issue is that my mother is getting to where she cannot handle her current living. we've spent the most of this month addressing the issues both present and underlying, and found a solution. Well not the best , as she is going to have to move back to Memphis, Tn. Along the way, I've found which relatives and friends I can trust and which I can't. This probably means it's going to be a while before I wind up back in Saint Louis or Cape Girardeau. And Since I hold Power of Attorney for my Mother,I signed that lease for her at he Parkview.
Right now , we are planning on moving her over New Years. I'm experiencing the "joy" of long distance estate sales (One of her friends in Missouri also has power of attorney, so that has been a help) I was planning on being back for Christmas on "Unicon" It was a ticket Continental, but I was to connect in O'hare, which really meant it united , but that flight has gone by the wayside in favor of a trip to Memphis to get her settled. I would up using my AAdvanatage miles and Flying out of Bradley airport in Connecticut, as American does serve Albany. Hopefully, I'll be able to rebook it. I had been saving my miles for such an occasion. Looks like I'll have to start over with United(tied with Southwest for #1 at alb, no Blue 737's in the land of purple planes (Memphis being FedEx's Headquarters) or Delta.
I did make it to all saint for Thanksgiving mass.

Though about riding my bike there, but need to work out parking. The Dean's, David Collum, sermon was on the topic of that a lot of folk don't have much to be thankful about this, particularity here with Hurricane Irene and Lee . He used the life of Martin Rinkart, who despite all he went through , managed to write a Thanksgiving standard:

And I did get out for a brief ride. My dad was a Pharmacist:

not much action here versus next door at target:
.
Is Albany a Dead end?

And I stopped by the cemetery:

so not a lot of fun, did take a brief break before heading in to work tomorrow. Hope you had a better one. This sonf has been running in my mind all day. I even have my blue suede shoes on

getting broke

Ok, I stimulated the economy:

I went up the Mohawk Hudson path No leafs this time of year:

:(

in Waterford:

The real reason I got the bike: Cinder Trails:

which leads to the Hazardous waste site:

back on the canal:


and the modern day version:

The wind was really roaring:

and I finally got a pick of mill creek falls:

apple cider the new enegry drink

Yesterday, I went down to Hyde Park, The home of Franklin and Elanor Roosevelt:

From 11-11-2011

Franklin, or FDR, was America's president during WWII.

From 11-11-2011

FDR would attemmpt to walk down the lane to the road every day after he had polio, he never made it:

From 11-11-2011

I thought about going back up to Saratoga, but the weather did not look promising. It was a good day.
Today looked better, so I took off for the Mohawk Hudson. Since I did not have energy drink, I used some (non-hard) Apple cider. The Mohawk has not frozen yet:

I made it all the way to Schenectady today:

GE started out here , and is still a major employer:
\
old depot in Crescent:

Pretty soon, I'm going to have put away my bike:

Maybe I'll sign up for a snowshoeing class at ll bean:

And the cider worked amazingly well!

double time

I decided to ride to my ride, I took little longer on the Mohawk Hudson. My thermometer said 32 degrees, so it was time to ride
It was just a little colder:

after 10 minutes , I thought about turning around> My Hands had frozen, and so do the water in My Camelbak tube,
It did get better. Here is the Niskayuna depot:

and lock 7 on the Mohawk:


I turned around at the Knolls Lab and headed back. I though I could get a good pic of this ghost sign, but no luck:


Then, I test rode a bike - a Trek 7300 - almost bought it, I need an all round bike since my Giro is for sale in California
Today, I went down to Castelton and back. I needed to get some quarters to do my laundry. There was a Laundry there, So I didn't see a need to make a special trip.
Well, it was closed. Like this building:

A nice mural:

I'll close with this old truck:

I can remember when these were new. Show I 'm getting old. The other reminder of that is that I'm dealing with my mother, who is starting to develop Alzheimer's. Trying to convince to give some independence when you're a thousand miles can be frustrating, At least I knew it was coming.

shaking it through

With the snow apocalypse this week, I opted to stay off the bike.
I've been thinking about getting a winter. I went by the LL Bean store at Colonie Center. to get some clothes, I did look at their bikes (dudes: pump those tires!)
I then decided to go to the airport, mainly to make sure I knew where it was . Alb is unique in that it is on the ground of what was the Main Shaker Colony

There were having a craft sale. Nothing appealed to me, so I test rode a specialized ariel(much better) before heading home:

and yes, The Shakers wrote "Simple Gifts", not Aaron Copland. He just cribbed it:

as well as some others:

I've always felt drawn to Mother Ann and her work. something to ponder for next week

The return of the exploding tires

The day started out ok. These folks were shooting a video;

From 10-22-2011

I used the zoom here:

From 10-22-2011

some leftovers from Irene:

I finally made it to the Mohawk Hudson Bike Hike trail. This is in Cohoes:

I turned around when I got to the Thaddeus Kosciusko Bridges:

Old Mile Marker:

The Miss Albany diner. My sidewall gave out here:

I double back to the bike shop , and got another tube. Probably need a new tire, but it's almost the end of cycling season here
Less Color this week:

I did a little trip after. I was going to the Bennington Battle field, but it was closed, Here is Sodom, VT (Gomorrah is in Massachusetts)

I wrapped the day by Going by Grandma Moses house:

Her Grandson is also an artist and runs a gallery here. I did some Christmas shopping.
I thought going over to Massachusetts, but decided against it.
Today, I was going to ride this afternoon, but it was 2:00 by the time I ate lunch (church committee meeting), so I went to a gift shop and picked some Vermont marble coaster to replace the day old newspaper I had been using
Until Next week

Along The Hudson river line

so I went ahead and dug the Billy Joel out
Here we are across the Hudson in Albany:

The trail was mud and leaves, so I kept my speed down
End of the trail in Watervilet:


at the Locks in Troy:


A good day on the bike. I was going to go to a Hudson Valley Writer's Guild, but it was an awards ceremony.
Today, I went up to Fort Ticonderoga:
Lake George:

the fort:


and looking north:

From 1929, which explains the great "Men"

enjoyable weekend, Maybe I'll do a bit longer ride next weekend