We made our annual trek to Jabe Pond in the Adirondacks followed by The Ledges in Vermont. We had to forgo, the usual trip to Rock River in Vermont because this year we didn't have as much time as usual due to Dave's work schedule.

The weather was fabulous. It was between 80-90 the whole time with no rain. In fact the only wetness we encountered that was not in the form of a swimming hole, was the dew this morning on the field we camped in Vermont on our way home.



The first part of the week we stayed at our usual get away at Jabe Pond. According to some nudist book that Dave has from the 80s, it is a nudist place. We hardly ever see anyone there besides the odd fisherman and I have never seen a nudist there but since there is no one else there...

Here we are launching our canoes in order to canoe out the the campsite which is on an island.



The campsite is great. It is really isolated and yet big enough of an island to make a great campout.



We canoed and swam a lot. It was the perfect weather for both and thanks to SPF 45 sun screen no one got burned this year.

We ate heathy things like watermelong


and tasty things like organic peppered bacon. I freakin' love bacon.


We swam and canoed a lot. I think this is the only time I really full on swam this whole summer which is sad. Every other time we tried to go, the beach here on Lake Erie was closed for pollution.



We swam so much that (e:terry) got goggle burn at one point.


We all had this ridiculous euro trunks , which were believe it or not, the only swimming-like gear we found left at Walmart. I guess it is the end of the season and Walmart was all that was around at the time of purchase. I mean they look like we ordered them out of a gay fashion swimsuit catalog. Apparently, they are popular I searched on Men's Underwear and Swimwear Guide and found this thread with some other pics of people wearing at USG



We sat around a lot and relaxed.


At night time we sat around some more. Our friend Dave is obsessed with having fires. Even though it was like 80-90 degrees the whole time I think if we had gone along with it, he would have had a campfire 24/7. I am one of those people that like to only have a campfire when I am cooking or freezing. Sometime at night for a bit. But honestly, I hate all the smoke that comes with drunk people making fires. Eventually, he or someone else throws in leaves or bark or something stupid liek pine needles and we all almost die of smoke inhalation for five minutes. Same with wet wood.

Someone else before us started a mini forest fire. That scares the hell out of me. I can only imagine drunk people not payig attention to their fire as it spreads across the dry pine needle floor. The picture really doesn't do the burn hole justice. It was about 8 feet across and about 2 feet deep.



We collected far too much firewood. We honestly only used a tiny portion of this but we collected it all first. I guess after the bad weather last year we were just cautious.



At night I discovered that my camera took pictures in High ISO mode which allow sit to virtually see daylight at nightitime.
Here is a picture before using high ISO mode.


I am not sure what high iso mode is as it normally can be dialed up to ISO 1600 but then there is high ISO after that. Why not have a number associated with it. Is it 3200 ISO? It is a bit grainy but wow, this is the same picture, same lighting in high ISO mode.


Here is the campfire in high ISO.


Here is a cool pic (e:matthew) took using my camera. He used the light from a torch to make the glow behind (e:terry).


Apparently, it made him very happy.


The next day we swam and canoed so much more. I actually got tired from swimming but it was hard to stop knowing it probably would be one of the last times I got to swim this summer.


We were on our way to go to the swam where we saw a snapping turtle last year, when (e:matthew)'s camera broke.


It just stopped taking pictures like normal. It kind of reminded me when my Nokia 7710 camera's died (e:paul,32341) Here he looks sad.


See, (e:terry) doesn't just hide behind curtains in the living room.


Beer booty.

The last day of our trip we headed over to The Ledges in Vermont. Here is a whole site about the place.

The Ledges, named for its large stone outcroppings, is a small section of the undeveloped 28-mile public recreational shoreline of Harriman Reservoir near Wilmington, Vermont. Many forms of "The Creator's" most beautiful work can be found here in distant mountain views, clean water, wildlife, sunsets, and the unclothed human body. On any hot summer day as many as 300-400 people can be found quietly relaxing and socializing in various states of dress. This quote is taken from Friends of the Ledges

Here are some pics other people took

It is one of the largest free public nudist swimming holes in the USA. The water was really low and you could see why the place was called the ledges. The other times we were there the water was too high (e:paul,32076) The water was so low I couldn't jump off the swinging rope because you could see the rocks in the water below. I wasn't going to break my legs to swing off the rope.

(e:matthew) fed this duck popcorn for about an hour.

Thanks to the miracle of SPF 45 we still did not get burned even in the glaring sun.



Dave got our picture at there (see below) to compliment this one (e:paul,32022) from back in 2005


This year we got one from the other side too, lol.



There are hundreds of naked people at the ledges, so it wasn't weird at all. That is till some really tan weirdo asked Dave if he was our Dad. When he said no, he asked if he was our uncle, then our grandfather. What a freako. I wish you guys could have seen his creepiness.

Once again we were the only people under 35 accept for one other guy who was 24 and really quite a nervous fellow. There were evn many people in what appeared to be their 70s-90s. I find it amazing that people have the courage to walk on treacherous rock trails naked with a cane.

I have spent most of the caride readin wikipedia. I never have tine to just read it and o to all the links. A six hour carride makes that possible.

I never had any idea what the 'evil eye' was really about. Did anyone else know it was cause by the envy of other people and that it caused drying action.

I also had no idea the little red horn charms my father has was to protect from it or that vaginas can protect from it because of their wetness. Or that fish were immune to it.

Check it out if you hae time.

There were these tiny ants on the porch. They are so freakin tiny, like little dots. They really like yogurt.



I took a picture after putting my arm down in the torotise cave that Basra dug. It is really poop filled but he seems to like that. Their poop is kind of like horse poop. It is very fibrous and haylike, and actually doesn't really smell much when it is dry but its still gross to make a nest of your own poop.



On Thursday night (e:terry) and I hit Allen Street. Here is my brother (e:mike) striking a pose, lol.


(e:terry) and I then headed over to the new creole place across from Allen Street hardware. It is only open from 6PM-2am but it is freakin; delicious. I love it.



I got an oyster poboy for $8 which was excellent. It was actually better than the clam counterpart one I had on Cape Cod (e:paul,31070)



And (e:Terry) got the muffelletta which was also really excellent.


Friday lunch I ate with (e:enknot), (e:mrdeadlier) and (e:jim) at Kibirashi. I really like their lunch special but it's honestly not as good as Kunis.



I think everyone hates it when we pay with 4 cards but it's the way of life with Direct Deposit.


On Friday evening we went to see VR divas, a show in the Buffalo Infringement Festival. It was at Hall Walls. They used some masks I made for another project to represent the characters. It was weird to see the masks out of context.



Followed by a tasty Chicken lavash wrap at Sahara Grill on Elmwood;



Then on Saturday we went to the garden walk before our party. To bad just about everyone missed the party.


The best garden on North Pearl in my option has this nice Lotus pond. Now (e:Terry) and (e:matthew) are obsessed with getting a pond. We found solar powered pumps online.


Check out this allergy coma inducing pollen ball called a blue globe thistle.


Purple is the new pink? Why did they paint the pink with that ghetto purple paintjob. The mural was much better.




After the garden walk all of our friends came of for the get together that all of our not-so-good friends missed. We ate giant clams. You can't tell how big they are in this picture but they are about the size of an adult man's fist. You can really tell on (e:jim,40289) next to (e:enknot)'s giant hand.


Why does Salmon come on cedar now? It seems like such a waste of wood.


On sunday we went to buy camping supplies for our annual nudist trip in the adirondacks (e:paul,32730) It is really my favorite week of the year mostly - so long as the weather hold up. While at the mall we ate at a place called Johnny Rockets. The prices were pretty reasonable for burgers but you have to consider that oth bacon and fries were extra.

(e:enknot), (e:jim) and I were standing on the corner of Main Street and Virginia next to the Scientologist building in Buffalo New York when some blond leggy scientology chick comes screaming at us - saying that she needs to talk with us about a stress test.

All of a sudden (e:enknot) busts out with "GET THE FUCK AWAY FROM YOU YOUR CRAZY PSYCHO, YOU ARE A FREAK, YOU ARE A FREAK!!"

I love it when people get in the face of religious weirdos getting in their face. She started screaming back about how he was crazy or something. I am so sick of the way those Scientology freaks on Main Street in Buffalo, New York rule the sidewalks there. Anytime I have to walk down main street I have to cross the street to avoid being harassed by them in their big yellow tent. There is a picture of it at the Bush Protest from 2004 on the news journal from the protest (e:news,29822)

I think it should be illegal for them to set up on the street the way they do. Eventually, it is going to cause an accident when someone gets hit by a car trying to avoid them by crossing or walking in the street.

He is some info about their presence in Buffalo

What is the deal with all their crosses. At first I kind of assumed they were christians of some sort but then I read this

So what is the deal with the crosses? This is their official site with pictures of their building on Main Street in Buffalo New York

Apparently, they even harass children

All I can say is that like any religious group that is secretive and close knit - they scare the fuck out me like children of the corn

I think this letter is the best all just seems so whack

UPDATE - I found this later I is pretty interesting

On the way there we saw serenity shack. Ironically, it is right next to the war store.


Then we arrived at canal fest. I wish I had something good to say about canalfest.


The canal is so full of shit.


The zebra muscles love it, look how they cling to the shopping cart.


I missed the republican clams, lol.


I drank the lemonade and so did (e:mike) Afterwards I looked at the lemon in my drink, it was sick.






The ferris wheel looked cool at night.


Don't they look canaltastic.


(e:mike) wants to be the spokesperson for cookinggreasepickup.com

I made fish and clam soup for enegy. I am obsessed with clam based soups but (e:terry) hates how they smell.


We fixed the gutters. Well, we excised the bad part and started to replace it. The part that was rusted was so full of crap.






This hat made me feel like a raver again.


Repointing is time consuming and hard but it was nice to seal the bees outs of our walls.

It is especially hard to mix the color into the concrete.

Wow, I was so curious what emo after youtube insisted that I am interested in it based on watching this cartoon about a man with no skin, that was a link from (e:lilho)'s David the Gnome video.



So it looks like emo is the new gay? Buyt I totally thought some poeple I know who are defiantely not gay, were into emo - and now I am totally confused.

So I decided to search a bit and this is what I got from youtube.

"emo stands for emotional and refers to the clique of kids that are emotional and often wear eyeliner and black clothes."

"Someone who is whiny, sensitive, can't play the guitar, buys their clothing from thrift stores, and spends the vast majority of their life on Myspace. If you want a more politically correct definition, look it up on wikipedia."

"emo mean's "Emotion" for people who have emotion's and like the dark spirit.they also often cut themselve's for pain-relif.otherwise...i have no clue."

and then my favorite comment on this one

"@ first i wuz descusted whn i saw guys kissin each othr but thn i saw someone cal dem faggots.... dnt cal peeps faggots its nt very nice! the word is gay wht if someone called u a faggot? anyway sum animals sumtimes mate wit th same sex humans just happen 2 b one of thm!"


So what is it? I realize it meant emo music (WIKIPEDIA - Emo music)
but now does it mean gay?

On friday night (e:tinypliny) stopped by and we made indian food. It was quite delicious.

First we made the indian spice power. It was some powerful and pleasantly tasty stuff.




I didn't realize this pic of (e:tinypliny) in the kitchen came out so crappy. I guess we will need to take a better one next time.


Wow Chippewa is covered in gum stains. I never really noticed before. I guess people really just spit there gum out waitin gin line to go to Level and McMonkies.



I am so fascinated with this house on franklin. What happend to it? I mean what did it used to be. I wrote about it before but no one seems to have said anythign about its past. Like what are the chess tables from.









My other favorite house on Summer. They have faux slate asphalt roof.





I feel bad for the owner of this porch on Summer. It looks like it needs some serious help.



(e:matthew) and (e:terry) tried to fit through this alley on Franklin. It hate things you can't turn around in.



Neo is closing on Franklin. What the heck is gonna go there. I hope it becomes something and doesn't end up empty or yet another crappy antique shop. It would be terrible for Cafe 59 but if a Spot Coffee moved in there I think they would make a killing. Check out that car outside.


This is how (e:matthew) generally looks on the weekend.


I wanted to go to the beach today but they were closed for contamination, blah. It makes me sad that the beaches are always closed when I want to go. Then again it is better they are closed than if I got sick.

I was content with going to Zoar Valley but that was nixed too. We ended up going to Salsaritas. Ya exactly, it might as well have been lunch on monday. I really wanted to do something exercise filled and away from the city.

I hate weekends. If you think is hard to make up your mind what to do when you are single, or even in a two person relationship - just imagine how difficult it is with three people that all like completely different things. We usually just end up really mad at each other, go nowhere and don't have sex because we are angry about not deciding what to do.

Instead I thinking I am going to go to Home Depot and buy supplies so that I have something to do. I am thinking that filling the mortar gaps in the back might be fun!

I left work early today because I stayed so late the other days this week. I have been stressing about my job - and not bad way. I just can't stop thinking about certain projects - which is making everyone around me insane I think.



I went to Panaro's on Delaware for lunch with (e:enknot) and (e:terry). It was delicious, I don't know how I never saw it before. Plus the blond waitress we had was awesome. I would recommend that place anyday - the prices were very reasonable. I think it may be one of my new favorite places. I wish I took pictures but I forgot that I had my camera back. It is weird to have it back after it been broken and then gone for so long.

We cleanup up the yard at the rental property today. I can't believe how tall the weeds got in such a short amount of time.

There were so many daisies and other weeds.


The prickery weeds had wood like roots.




I found this weird witches broom in the backyard of the property. I wonder if my tenants made it?



It looked nice when we were done.


It looks like Medina Deli over on North and Main is almost ready. I am so excited to see something be on that corner. It has come such a long was see we did public transphere a couple years back. At that time it looked like the bombed out shell of a building.



Now the question is what will happen with the yellow mansion at 23 North. It is the last thing waiting to be redone. There has been a big sign out front that said apartments were coming soon since last season but it has remained boarded up and they haven't done any work over the entire summer which is not a good sign. I remember when (e:matthew) wanted to buy it and we took a tour with the realtor (e:paul,32592) . Man that place was disgusting.

Ridiculous Rant You Can Just Ignore
Okay, this is ridiculous - I am really not poor - but I am sad I am not going to Hutches tonight because I am "too poor". I wanted to go to Hutches with (e:imk2) and her boyfriend and (e:terry) said we are too poor because he spent all our money on pharmacy school. I know, I know - money that will turn into more money - but not right now while I want to go to Hutches. It is like the one restaurant I have never been to and everyone raves about it. After writing that I feel like someone should kill me but - damn it - I really wanted to go to Hutches. Okay, enough of that drama.