Youngstown, Ohio

During my car trip to Goshen, Indiana to see the folks I made several long stops, 30 or so minutes, to stretch out the back and leg muscles. The first was at the Delaware Water Gap (New Jersey side) at daybreak after the first three hours of driving. I made two more stops in Pennsylvania. When I crossed the Ohio state line I knew either I needed a long break or I should stop for the night. Getting off the interstate near Youngstown I could see steel mills in the distance and thought I'd take a closer look around. I've found a strange beauty in industrial landscapes that goes back to my Jersey City days and I wanted to capture some more images of industry, current and defunct. The hard part was getting over the fence and barbed wire without tearing my relatively "new" jeans (sure glad there were no dogs!).

I don't know what purpose many of the objects here had, but their dark shapes silhouetted against against a gray sky fascinated me. I reccognized the track spacing car and the huge slag mountain in the distance, if indeed, that is what they are. The rest is anybody's guess.

The Gap

Here the Delaware Water Gap is around ten miles distant and at the bottom of the cleft in the mountains ahead.

Sunrise on contrails.

Chez Kreider Sunderland

Bill and I are successfully moved in to our new home at 4114 Dayton Ave N, Seattle, WA 98103! We were fortunate to find something that was so close to both of our apartments, so "carload after carload" was the moving company we used. Kara had just arrived the day after we got the keys, so she got to help with the beginning of the move. She likened our sidewalk leading up to the house to a "3 story walk-up" in NYC... and Bill and I are already plotting to get a clinometer (used for trail layout) so that we can adequately determine the elevation gain from the "trail head" up to our front door. And, of course, trail head signage will be necessary. Other interesting details - it has (supposedly) an 150 year-old apricot tree out back from (supposedly) one of Seattle's first orchards. It also has a koi pond, which as far as Bill and I can tell, consists of one giant koi that lurks at the bottom and a bunch of little goldfish that a great blue heron was seen feasting on the other day (but, since the great blue is Bill's spiritual guide, it was a good sign!). It was built in 1922, and although it has seen major upgrades, it doesn't appear that anyone particularly handy has ever lived in the house, which means Bill will have plenty of little projects/upgrades to keep him busy, since he is quite handy.

From the dining room, looking to the front of the house:
The kitchen has french doors that opens to the back yard.
Bill bringing home some groceries up the sorta steep sidewalk:
Back of the house, with friend Heidi. We were enjoying some sun!
And, a little game of Settlers with friends. This is looking from the living room to the back of the house. Dining room is through the large opening, and Bill's office is through that back door. The floor in his office slopes 4 inches, due to settling when they added on many years ago. He is detemined to get that fixed:
We certainly hope that you will come visit - we even have room for multiple guests at one time!

Wind on Water, Peconic Bay