More on Brazil in future entries but for now, this tidbit from the Wired Magazine I read on the way back concerning global warming and the environment:

The fact is, urban living is kinder to the planet, and Manhattan is perhaps the greenest place in the US. A Manhattanite’s carbon footprint is 30 percent smaller than the average American’s. The rate of car ownership is among the lowest in the country; 65 percent of the population walks, bikes, or rides mass transit to work.

I used to be a bit skeptical of city life but it has grown on me . . . as long as I can get away for vacations every once in a while =)

The next 12 miles are quiet country roads that are a far cry from the streets and avenues of the Big Apple . . .

Taconic State Park has lots of cabins . . .

And a swimming hole that resulted from an old iron ore quarry. I fished for the first time since I cannot remember when and caught a small trout. Ariel came up blank but we had a great time just chillin’. Nothing like reading a big city fashion magazine while trying to hook one . . .

We went with our good friends Blue and Anna. Blue documented the trip on the Crazy Guy on a Bike Web site.

There is this cool waterfall, Bash Bish, that is just over the border from New York in Massachusetts.

Most of the time we sat around, drank beer, and took in nature. The dude in the middle is Dave, who runs the Deli in the park and hooked us up with almost all of our meals.

And Dave has this cat who is the spitting image of our old cat Goma, just a slightly different color.

Good times. If you have a bike, take it out and let it breath in a bit of nature this summer!

We piled in the car to reduce our carbon footprint . . .

Mini-golf was a kick in the pants, even though I got beat by a 10 year old . . .

What is a trip to Philly without visiting the Rocky statue?

Only one picture of Atlantic City, and not even a good one. The Boardwalk is really the only thing close to a highlight. The town is pretty depressing if you ask me. It’s shame actually because it seems to have a lot of potential being on the beach and all. I think I would only visit again if all expenses were paid, a free massage was included, and there was a bicycle convention of some sort.

Here is Blue’s email . . .

Though he claims to have been at his desk, my guess is that he was sitting on his thrown and it was the smell created that caused the falling crane to avoid his apartment by about 10 feet. You can see (below) the man himself on his deck sporting a lovely bathrobe.

Just F’in relieved we’ve got a crazy story to talk about instead of funeral to attend!

If you are interested in possibly checking out some of the films you can peruse their web site. Our favorite film by far was called Night Life. It was a mockumentary about vampire hunters. The hunters are a bunch of Dungeons and Dragons geeks who go on a quest of find vampires, and the vampires are not glamorous, they just lead ordinary lives like the rest of us. It was super funny and very entertaining. The movie came about when a bunch of friends drinking beers talked about the concept and then brought it to fruition over a number of years. The trailer does not really do it justice but here you go.

3487?pg=embed&sec=813487″>Nightlife Trailer from Tim Sanderson on Vimeo.

Gen Art operates all over the U.S. so check them out. Another cool thing was that they had sponsors, such as Stella Artois, and you could drink all the beer you wanted. I just had to be careful not to indulge too much because I did not want to keep running to the bathroom.

I was also happy that we did not sit directly behind this couple . . . but I just had to take a picture.