The Hall Family Photoblog - July 2012 - David, Joan, Svea, Brigitta & Annika Hall (& Bill and Harriette Wilsterman)

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Five Yak Rack

7-29-2012 ~ Blog #465

(David)

For the first time this summer we managed to get out on the lake. Annika paddled the Kiddiyak for real for the first time today. She paddled a mile across Mogadore Reservoir and then I towed her back. Anni got the hang of the rudder much faster than her sisters did and did a great job paddling. The Orange boat is newer; I realized we would need a fifth boat one of these years. Svea and Brigitta are too big to ride in the front and back holes of the triple blue boat and are getting a bit big for the Kiddiyak. They've never paddled a boat without a keel or rudder and the orange boat is a true smooth-round-bottomed white water kayak which means that it is very difficult to paddle straight. Brigitta paddled it a half a mile but was very frustrated with it so I towed her another half mile. At the mile-turn-around point Svea and Brigitta switched boats; Bri was much happier in the old white and green boat on the way back. Svea also had quite a bit of trouble with the orange boat, but she fought its always-wanting-to-spin attitude with aggressive hard paddling. She was literally grunting and churning up the water; it sounded like a karate match out there. I actually forgot to bring a camera (and my water shoes), but here's some shots of the boats loaded on the car:

Roof Rack

7-27-2012 ~ Blog #464

(David)

I finally got the Thule roof rack transferred to the Toyota; it seems like it's taken all summer. Thule sells parts all carte; I ordered a Toyota Camry "fit kit" from etrailer.com so that I could mount my rack from the old Volvo onto the Camry. They put my purchase on back-order without telling me; I finally called them two weeks after placing my order to find out what was going on. I canceled my order and bought another one online and in stock. I'm stating this online because I'm still ticked off at them and want to publicly slam them.

I found a way to adapt a fifth carrier on the rear load bar and rear car wing to mount the tandem. We went for a nice ride up to Brandywine Falls today; Svea rode the rear tandem seat and Annika pedaled her Tag-along. When we got home, before unloading, I loaded a couple more bikes to fully test the rack spacing. We can haul anything now!

Backyard Barbeque

7-22-2012 ~ Blog #463

(David)

Last night we had our annual backyard barbeque and fired up the bubble pool for the first time this summer.

Triple Tandem

I finally found a decent yet affordable tandem bike at a garage sale a couple weeks ago. It's a mountain bike, so the tires are knobby and slow and also have a bit of dry rot. I've ordered some street tires that should make it more efficient and reliable. Today I switched Annika's Tag-Along from my old mountain bike to the tandem; Joan Annika and I took it for a test ride around the neighborhood while Svea and Brigitta followed on their bikes. Afterward Svea tried out the middle seat.

Put-In-Bay: the Mos Eisley of Ohio

7-15-2012 ~ Blog #462

(David & Joan)

At 11:00 am we left for a one day excursion at Put In Bay. Really it is South Bass Island in Lake Erie, but everyone calls it Put In Bay because that is the largest town on it. We won free round trip tickets on the ferry that takes you across the three miles or so from Port Clinton to the island, so we decided to go. We took our bikes over instead of paying to take our car. Most people leave their cars on the mainland and rent golf carts or bikes on the island. We figured the reason they do this is either to save money on the ferry ride or so that when they drink too much, they only crash a 15 mile an hour vehicle. We were amazed at the sheer number of people partying in the middle of the day. There were hundreds of boats docked, sometimes three or four across and people were just drinking, sunning and playing music. One boat we walked by had "Sweet Caroline" by Neil Diamond on repeat so it played over and over as we walked by while the owners sang at the top of their lungs. But as we hopped on our bikes and rode around to the other areas of the island, we felt more at home. We went to Perry's Cave - a cave with dripping stalactites, discovered by Commodore Perry during the War of 1812 and Perry's Monument. We also went to the state park where the girls began wading in the water and ended up swimming in their clothes. All in all, the girls had a really great time. It was a fine family adventure and we got our of there and back on the mainland by 8:00pm for our two hour ride home. On the way home, we stopped to buy some locally grown produce to get gas on the Turnpike where we were treated to a fireworks show. Somewhere in Cleveland (maybe the Indians' game) was having a pretty good display. We got out of the car and watched it for a few minutes and then headed home, arriving exhausted at 11:00pm.

Perry's Cave

Put In Bay

Farewell Volvo: Toyota Camry Revival

I finally parted ways with my old checkered Volvo. It's been a faithful car for nearly nine years; not too bad considering I paid $1800 for it and sold it (still running) for $500. It hauled more stuff than a typical pick-up, including a 26 CF refrigerator, 5 bikes or 4 boats at a time, hundreds of pounds of lumber and even piles of brush. It just didn't make sense anymore to maintain and insure 4 cars with only 2 drivers now. The exhaust going out for the probably the 5th time was the final straw. Farewell you old glorious old Swede.

Toyota Camry Paint

That leaves us with the blue 2002 Honda Odyssey, the red 95 Ford Mustang convertible and the boring white 96 Toyota Camry. By default, the Toyota will now inherit the old Thule roof rack and the job of hauling bikes, boats and whatever I find at garage sales. We've had this car for five and a half years now, and although it has been solid and reliable I've always avoided driving it because it's just so Plain Jane boring. It was starting to show some rust spots and the paint was dull enough to promote mildew, so it just seemed like it was time to give it a bit of body work and a paint job.

Upstairs Shower

Papa is 92 and now uses a walker to get around. It's become difficult for him to get downstairs to the shower and he couldn't really step over the tub side to take a shower upstairs. So, on the second week of summer vacation Joan and I: busted up the worn out 1950's cast iron tub upstairs, installed a 32" X 60" shower base, subfloor, grab bars, sliding glass doors and lots of tile.

We couldn't find a towel bar that was five feet long and strong enough for Brigitta to swing from. Every project in our home, large or small, must be built with enough strength to support Brigitta's gymnastic whims. The towel bar below is a brushed 1.3 inch steel/nickel pipe supported by homemade oak holders which are anchored into studs.


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Signs of the Fourth of July

7-4-2012 ~ Blog #461

(David)

Today we celebrated the Fourth of July at the Smith's annual party. When we arrived I noticed that our friend, Dr. Richard Reikowski, was conversing in touch-sign with a friend of the Smith's he had just met. He joined us later and told us about Angela; she is: blind and deaf, writes a blog, is a counselor and is working on her Master's degree. She communicates primarily through tough finger-spell where she feels the hands of the person signing. She answers verbally.

Svea studies things, just because. She had taught herself sign language online, but had never conversed with anyone before. Rich introduced Svea to Angela and the two conversed for at least an hour. I love seeing my daughters do things or learn things that are beyond my experience. This just blew me away, however. I was amazed, impressed and proud. Here's a short video clip and Angela and Svea finger-spell conversing. Also, be sure to check out Angela's blog: Angela C. Orlando - Deaf-Blind and Determined