Canandaigua Lake

This leg of the trip is much different than the rest of my trip because I’ll be staying in a well furnished house on a clean lake for five days.

Aug 14: I arrived at Sandy Beach Haven on Canandaigua Lake, NY around 3:30pm for the Nash family reunion. There are about 18 Nash / Ott family members participating. Most of the younger family members were in the water. After all the greetings, I hopped in as well. It was a sunny day, perfect for paddle boarding. I spent an hour on the board trying to stay on the board because of all the waves from boats. Definitely a good core workout.

Aug 15: Reunions are about being with family. I enjoy being with kids. So, it was nice to spend time with the nephews two three-year olds; a lot of energy. They have such amazing imaginations. I played a big hairy monster a few times. They loved looking for the monster, being chased, being tickled and laughing. I also got to spend time with my granddaughter (8 months). She’s not a fussy baby and is always laughing. She’s on a very precise sleeping schedule which seems to give her exactly the right amount of sleep so that when she’s awake she just wants to play, smile and be held.

Reunions are also about food and my daughter-in-law is a great cook. We had a Hawaiian theme and everyone dressed in Hawaiian shirts and leis. Molly made coconut rice, chicken skewers with pineapple, and a spicy mango salad. Big yum!!

Over the years, when the six cousins got together we’ve done a photo of them sitting together. We have 25 years, of these photos. It was fun to compare the oldest and latest photos.

The sunsets have been stunning every night. We build a fire and watch the sunset in the west as we drink beer, eat s’mores and play games around the fire.

Aug 16: Yes, more food!!! We visited the Three Brothers Wineries & Estates today. A nice drive into the country from Canandaigua Lake. I don’t do well when I have alcohol before 6pm, so I avoided that part of the tour. The winery actual had wine, cider and craft beer and most were served as flights. The wine seemed to be most people’s favorite. The staff are very friendly and spent time talking to us about the estate. There was a recent fire the burned down one section where the beer was brewed. In the main hall, there were original litho prints by famous artists. My favorite was by Salvador Dalí of a horse and a village in the distance (print 144 of 500).

I spent time learning how to use the ridewithgps.com site to map bike rides for my bike computer. So, I spent over an hour mapping out a route along Canandaigua Lake.

I said goodbye to my older son Jeremy, Molly and granddaughter Natalie as they were leaving at 4am the next. I will miss you guys!!!

Aug 17: After all the eating, I found it difficult to get out of bed.

I helped my younger son deflate a huge party float that we used on the lake and then we cleaned some type of fish eggs and algae off the bottom. Jason, hope to see you in New Hampshire in 5 weeks.

After a light breakfast, I got the bike ready for my ride. There were a few funky turns that I had added to the route, but it worked very well on the Garmin Edge 830. The best part is that everything seems to be free. The ride around the lake was uneventful. It was a 20+ mile ride with the the extra exploring I did. It was extremely hot on the West side of the lake as I rode through the country side. After my ride, someone mentioned the Bonnie Raitt and some of her band member did the entire 48 mile ride around the lake before one of her concerts at CMAC.

I was struck by all the huge homes on the hill with perfectly manicured lawns. Acres of perfectly plush green 4” high grass. Juxtaposition this to the struggling farms further up the hill. As I rode back along the lake, I became aware of signs from the town asking home owners to reduce chemicals on their lawns. Obviously, there must be some concern with the quality of water in the Lake.

This afternoon I tried a Sea Doo Sea Scooter on the lake with a Full-Face Snorkeling Mask (from Head). I only went out for 30 minutes but it was so much fun. It took me 5 minutes to stop kicking my feet and begin to relax. I found if I moved the scooter further back, I was more balanced and could more easily move through the water. The Full-Face Snorkel was at first difficult to get used to. I kept dropping my head back and the snorkel would block and prevented breathing. After a few times of ripping the snorkel off my head and gasping for air, I learned not to tip my head back. Once you stop fighting the device and learn to breath through the snorkel the fun begins.

The younger adults and friends walked 10 minuets to the Chris Stapleton show at CMAC right up the street. They all came back raving about the show. I'm not a big Chris Stapleton fan, but after hearing how good the show was I regret not having gone.

Another big night of eating and regretting all the wonderful food I stuffed in my mouth.

Aug 18: I had cereal for breakfast, a cup of coffee and then went to the pier to practice yoga for an hour. Yoga near the water is always so calming.

We went with my sister-in-laws to her house to see her new kitchen. She’s completely renovated her house now. The kitchen was done in whites, grays and soft wood tones. I appreciate all the work that goes into putting together a well designed and thought-out kitchen.

I went to Wegmans to get the food to start my trip. Wegmans is a food store chain that started near Rochester NY. Known for their quality, large selections, and delis. The chain has been expanding outside of the New York for years. So, I found it difficult to limit my purchases to my basic needs for the trip.

The afternoon was spent charging devices, finding everything that was scattered around the house and doing laundry. I did a rough set of all my boxes are prepared for tomorrows trip to Watkins glen.

It was sad knowing I wouldn’t see many of these people for quite a while. Thank you all for such a wonderful time together.