August Camping Trips

Well, we have a lot of fun camping in August, finally getting some time to put some pictures up. Our first trip was to Trout Pond in West Virginia, a small, family friendly campground in the rolling hills and hardwood forests of WV. Kieran had a fantastic time and was shaking with excitement as we unloaded the gear and setup the tent. This trip he got his FIRST SLEEPING BAG and was absolutely thrilled! It was a wonderful time with dear friends, although the three days went by far to quickly for me (as it always does).

Here are our best shots (our second camping trip is after these photos).

click on any image for larger image

The beach at the small lake, love the richness of the colors in this shot (hat tip to Maranda). Kieran is in the center.



Kieran straining to carry his load of water, his friend Mike in the background joining the cause.



More water carrying with his friend Keenan.



What used to be a sandcastle!



A boy pile, Kieran and the three Doan boys. Kieran's head is the bottom right. Looks like baby C.J. needed a snuggle!



Cute shot, kudo's again to Maranda.



Kieran and Keenan playing together.



Kieran and Ethan playing together in matching outfits!



Canoe time! From left to right, Sam, Keenan, Kieran, and Ethan.


Our second camping trip was to the Lake Erie shoreline in Marblehead, Ohio. We had a great time with friends Maggie, Schuyler, and their son Levi. Although Levi and Kieran had not seen each other for over 8 months, they instantly bonded over their mutual love of monster trucks! Levi even brough the ICE CRUSHER, which was a new one for Kieran and had him enraptured immediately. We were also able to attend our friends Joel and Kate's wedding which was a beautiful and meaningful affair.

Here are some of our best shots:



A happy boy watching the CARS movie on Daddy's iPod.









Oops, boy had a time out discussion with Daddy...



At the wedding reception.






Levi and Kieran just floatin' around.



Levi and Kieran attacking Ken.

Rainy Days per Year

So you often hear folks talk of the average rainfall for a given area as an indicator of the how wet the climate is, but a more important metric (in my opinion), is how many rainy days you experience a year. For example, Mobile Alabama has the distinction as being the wettest place in the lower 48 states, with over five feet of rain a year, yet they only have 122 rain days a year, far less then many other "dryer" areas. Indeed, drizzle is far more depressing than a sudden downpour.

So if you are interested in how your current city fares, take a look at some charts that I created based on 30-50 years of rain data for each city.

To see a chart that is sorted by the cities with the MOST rainy days at the top, click HERE. If you would like to see a chart with states in ALPHABETIC order, click HERE.

Long Beach Island NJ - Pics

Here are a few pics from our time on Long Beach Island. Also shown in some of the pictures are our friends Nidhi and Shreya (just turned two).

New Jersey Shoreline

Maranda, Kieran, and I just returned from a relaxing long weekend on the NJ coastline. We were on Long Beach on the ocean side. Our neighbors had rented a beachfront townhouse and were kind enough to invite us along! It was a nice time of R&R, with very little on our agenda. I did manage to get a little fishing in, but only managed to catch sand sharks, a small rock bass, and a skate. I am interested in heading back up to check out the Striper Bass fishing later this fall.

For our drive home we took the scenic route along Highway 40, which cuts across most of southern New Jersey. It is quite rural, as we quickly discovered when we started watching for a resturaunt to stop and eat. We finally found a place called "Good Vittles" that was still open at the late hour of 7:30pm. It became very clear that everyone in the resturaunt knew each other, reminding both of us of our rural roots.

It was a fun trip, I realized that it was my first vacation on the East Coast since our move (Maranda enjoyed a trip to Virginia Beach earlier in the year)!