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.

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.

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.

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