DammitNanet

I had lyme 2 summers ago. I had gotten a tic bite and completely forgot about it. 3 weeks later I thought I was dying and they tested me for everything under the sun, but lyme, because I failed to mention (or even remember) I had a recent tic bite. Well during the week of testing, a bullseye showed up on my shoulder blade and then I was treated. 2 rounds of tetracycline (ugh) - I think it was six weeks I was on this. The doctor said they don't generally test for lyme when they do bloodwork except when someone specifically says they were bit by a tic. Also, for those of you who do not know - I've seen tics around year round. The dog would come home from winter hikes on a cold day and we'd still find tics. They find the warmth under the fallen leaves and hang out for the winter.

So sorry to hear about Bailey.

I feel really icky after watching that.

This may be a silly question, but why would anyone want to actually spend the time to make up fake logs? Okay so I am skeptical too - it only took me 2 years to get 250 finds. 96 finds in a half month is a pretty good average. I just don't understand why someone would want to waste time making up fake logs - I wish I had that kind of time - maybe I'd actually have found more than 250 caches in 2 years.

I'm wondering if the bow hunters put them up to save a space for themselves. I've noticed they've been parked there every weekday morning since they're season opened when I'm going over skyline to work.

I still have the bagels from February that none of y'all ate. They are as hard as hokey pucks now.... Its quite alright but I think I'll grab a fresh bagel along the way.

I could do July 20th - the boy will be at camp in VA for the month of July so no kid commitments! Would prefer the longer ride (I love bagels and coffee on a Sunday morning too!).

The North and South County Trailways are great rides. They are paved paths for foot and bike traffic along the old Putnam railbed. The North County Trailway runs about 22 miles from Baldwin Place NY to Eastview NY and the South County Trailway is about 9.5 miles from Eastview to Yonkers. They are pretty flat with very gradual inclines. They can also be combined for a longer ride. We did the PVRT about 3 weeks ago. That's a decent trail too very fine gravel most of the way - single track at times. That trail you would need hybrid or mountain tires and it gets very rutted from horses - also a lot of horse poop and kind of smelly. I would definitely be game for any of these or even the Manhattan Waterfront Greenway Bike Path. We did this a few weeks ago too However, if you do this one, be prepared for alot of traffic on bikes, roller blades, and foot. It is soooo crowded.

2 - North Carolina/Outer Banks Lighthouse Benchmark geocoins = they are awesome

1. Participating- Yes, email sent 4/28/08 2. Received Name - Yes 5/3 3. Mission Complete - Yes - mailed package 5/29 - sorry was out of town for 2 weeks and was not able to get in the mail before today. 4. Mission Arrived - Yes - arrived 5/29. Love these coins. #1 - Coexist Peace Sign Coin #2 - flying v geocoin. Love them both. In addition, some goodies which will come in handy: handcream, sunscreen, after sun wipes, lip balm & little umbrellas for my margaritas! Thank you!!!

Check this out. I have one on my mountain bike and one on my road bike. I've used it on pretty rugged trails on the mountain bike and it clips right in and has never fallen off! Campmor

Way to go Brian!!! Congrats! Janet

1. Participating- Yes, email sent 4/28/08 2. Received Name 3. Mission Complete 4. Mission Arrived

I love these coins. Received them today and they are a true work of art!!!!!!

June 1st is good - I'd be in for some paddling.

I'm all for kayaking the meadowlands - Any idea of a date?

COUNT ME IN!!

Simply Amazing. I live in Ringwood in a lake community. This year, we decided not to renew our lake membership because we spend more time at the state parks than we do there; we went to our lake 1x last year - we went to state parks every weekend. Access to the state park is 5 houses down. I can walk or ride my bike to Shepherd's Lake from my house. Not that I really care to swim in a lake, that's not for me, but one of the reasons we moved here was because we had "full access" to the parks. So many kids in my neighborhood are employed during the summer by the State Park - lifeguards, maintenance, greeters, etc. My son grew up having full access to these parks along with his friends. About 2 mos. ago he applied to the State Park for a job this summer - his first real job. He sent the application out 1 1/2 months ago and got a letter back 2 weeks ago saying they're not hiring for Ringwood but they are for Wawayanda. Well for a 16 year old kid who will have to bike it to work - that's not going to work!!!! How can they take this away from us. Now as to Lisa Jackson's half-witted comment that if something is closed people shouldn't be in it, how is the state going to police us being on the trails? They don't have the staffing or financial resources to police that. Sure they can lock the gates for the parking areas but if they are already in a financial mess they're certainly not going to be sending park personnel to patrol the trails. The NJ State Budget Citizen's guide shows how many people certain line items serve. State Parks, was in fact, the largest line item, serving 17,300,000 people! Holy cow where is everyone going to go?? We must do everything we can to save our parks, send emails to the state officials - give the links to your friends to do so as well (even if they don't use the park system). Corzine Lautenberg Garrett Menendez Find your local representative here click on a district # until you find your town- Local Representatives Let this be a start. HELP SAVE OUR PARKS!!!

email sent

Genesis Adventure Racing Series My sister s/b doing it like she does every year - I'll probably walk up to Shepherd to see her off. If I see you I'll say hi.

EMS is really good with boot fitting too

Once you've had lymes disease, the "dork" factor isn't really a consideration. Sweats followed by chills followed by sweats followed by chills, etc., etc, headaches, body aches all while running a temperture over 102 degrees for 3-4 days, makes wearing long pants and using a good repellant a minor inconvenience. P.S., once bitten you are not immune. Educate yourself, e.g. know the difference between dog and deer ticks (only deer ticks carry lymes), bullseyes only appear about 80% of the time and not always before you get sick (I can atest to this item). I've had it twice and had very different symptoms. My first case, I had severe acute symptoms (see above description) but the bullseye rash (about the size of a grapefruit) did not appear until my other symptoms were over. The second time I had no acute symptoms at all except the rash (a bit bigger than the first time). Either way, if not treated the chronic affects can be serious. As noted in other logs, there is a pretty good blood test available, which can aid in the decision whether or not to treat. Finally, if you have dogs make sure they are using a tick repellant also and get tested as part of their yearly examination at the vet. Lymes in dogs can shut down their kidneys if left undected/treated. While this all sounds scary, I still spend a lot of time in the woods, albeit with long pants (not tucked into my socks) and a good deet repellant applied beforehand. Being educated and taking some simple precautions can go a long way. I just had lyme last July and thought I was dying of god knows what until the bullseye finally appeared and then we put it together really fast. I'm not a tuck the pants into the socks kind of girl - I hike in shorts and a tank top in the summer - but you won't catch me out without using the repellant anymore. I use it year round on myself and the dog. I saw ticks the last weekend in December in ringwood state park and also at the Sopranos caching event at garret mountain the last weekend in January - they never seem to die - they just stay alive and warm under all of the leaves in the woods. Use the repellent and do a full body check after you're out. BTW, I know of 2 times for sure that I got bit by a deer tick last year. the 2nd time was 4 weeks before I got really really sick. I couldn't imagine why I had a 104 degree temp and the flu in the summer. I was sick for about 5 days before the bullseye rash appeared (on the opposite shoulder of where I had been bit). I had already had blood work done, but if they're not testing specifically for lyme they won't know. After I went back for the next round of bloodwork it showed up. I was put on 2 rounds of doxicycline (3 weeks each round) which wreaked havoc on my stomach all summer. I started feeling better after about week 4.

Saw fresh bear tracks in the snow at Wawayanda this past weekend on the Pumphouse Trail. Same vicinity my son and I saw a bear in last June (vicinity of "A Real Silver Mine" cache).

Cool - I'm doing the tour too with a bunch of friends. Will look for you John - I'm sure you won't be hard to find in a pack of 30,000!

They actually wait in the Ringwood school yards for the kids to come out; this way they have a better chance at getting more than one pbj. Ringwood has had delayed school closings because they had to get the bears out of the school yards before they let the kids out.