Birthday Update

I'm a little behind on posting, so this may be a multi-installment post. For my birthday, my dad came out to visit and REALLY wanted to see Palisades Park. So we prepared for a bit of hiking and some scenic views in lovely NJ. We started with a visit to historic Fort Lee, famous for George Washington's ingenious retreat to save what remained of the revolutionary army (bearing in mind that history is written by the victors). After 30 minutes or so of dashing to every corner of the visitor center, Penny had seen about all she wanted. She then proceeded to enjoy her echo in the vacuous and deserted center. After the third or fourth comment from the very bored looking docent, I decided it was time to explore the outdoor portion of the park, leaving Dan and Dad to read everything and perhaps summarize the details when they finished. Outside there was this lovely cart just sitting around waiting for a Mommy to pull it somewhere. As we paused for photos, though, a loud clap of thunder drew my attention to the menacing clouds overhead.

Penny and I popped back into the visitor center to notify the guys that we were headed to the car before the impending storm. They seemed confused by our departure - perhaps hadn't seen the dirty looks or heard the slightly annoyed comments. We made it nice and dry and were exploring the dashboard when the giant wet blobs began appearing on the windshield. With the parking lot so far from the front of the visitor center, Dan was pretty wet when he made it in. Dad, undeterred by the approaching tempest, decided he'd hop among the dry shadows of the trees through the reconstructed portion of the fort. Now, they didn't have the whole fort reconstructed, just examples of some of the kinds of structures that would have been there during various periods, plus the wind was driving the rain into those tree shadows. So I headed out with an umbrella to convince Dad we'd be able to come back out when things dried off a bit. We were pretty soaked from the shoulders down by the time we returned to the car.

We headed off at a slow crawl along the cliffside road. It was a nice enough road, with a little masonry wall along the outer cliff. However, the 20 foot visibility due to torrential rain coupled with the insanity of local drivers still going 35mph around blind curves made it a bit more harrowing than it would have normally been. Dan cruised along at what would on any other day be considered a leisurely 20mph pace through the thrashing and lovely trees. There was one that had leaves as big as Penny! As we made our way through the canopy, there were occasional breaks, where we could almost make out the opposite shore of the Hudson River - perhaps that was a bit of Harlem there, some Bronx?

After what likely seemed to Dan a white-knuckled eternity, we made it to Closter Dock. We always take the Closter Dock Road to exit to my brother-in-law's place. Who knew there was an actual marina still there on the Hudson that you could visit?! We took the opportune break in the deluge to park and stroll around for a bit, noting the sign that said the parking lot flooded at high tide and the current level of the tide. Penny followed the sound of children's laughter to a very nice stone picnic shelter where an Indian family was enjoying the dryness and lack of competition on a rainy day. Penny soon found herself eating jalapeno potato chips, Chips Ahoy cookies and participating in a game of soccer. It was tough prying her away, but she was genuinely more hungry than a few cookies would cover, so we managed to lure her back to the car.

At a lovely cafe at the top of the cliff, we enjoyed burgers and a cliff-top view of the Hudson Valley. Across the way, the wooded Westchester County looked enticing. Birds of prey and vultures soared on the updrafts just outside the window as bicyclists and hikers slowly started to re-emerge in the extended dry and sunny spell. We enjoyed a little walk outside, spotted a skink and some other wildlife, then headed home for well-deserved naps.

My birthday itself (a Monday) was fairly low-key. Dad stayed for breakfast, then headed into the long drive back to Ohio. Penny and I did a little chalking on the front walk, some dancing (she really likes the timer for the Cranium game), and then we baked a black forest cake. Perhaps a bit boring for most, but Daddy even played hooky for the day (taking the USMLE step 2 on Saturday had left him feeling ill), so it was nice having everyone in the family together for two whole days straight. Not a bad birthday overall, to be sure.