WARNING: locker room humor follows…

• Rock Hudson – a putt that looked straight, but wasn’t.
• Saddam Hussein – from one bunker into another.
• Yasser Arafat – butt-ugly and in the sand.
• John Kennedy Jr. – didn’t quite make it over the water.
• Rodney King – over-clubbed.
• O.J. – got away with one.
• Princess Grace – should have used a driver.
• Princess Di – shouldn’t have used a driver.
• Condom – safe, but didn’t feel very good.
• Brazilian – shaved the hole.
• Rush Limbaugh – way to the right and out of bounds.
• Keith Olbermann – see above, but for lefties.
• James Joyce – a putt that’s impossible to read.
• Ted Kennedy – goes in the water and jumps out.
• Pee Wee Herman – too much wrist.
• Sonny Bono – straight into the trees.
• Paris Hilton – a very expensive hole.
• Tiger Woods – wrong hole.
• Dubya – wrong course.

Meals were served at the main lodge; they provided a rather nice breakfast and a four-course dinner each day, as well as a sack lunch for you to take on your day’s adventure.

(You can click any image for a larger version.)

The Main Lodge

The lodge also has several (kind of small) rooms where you can stay if you don’t want to spring for a cabin.

We rented one of the several cabins available. Since there were only three of us we went for one of the smaller ones, that they call “Big Tom.” Here’s how it looks standing with your back to the lake:

Big Tom Cabin

The view from the front porch is simply spectacular:

Lake View from the Cabin

Being among the High Peaks meant the sun peeked late over the mountain tops, and if you were up to see it the first light would illuminate a morning mist that soon burned off:

Morning Mist

Sunset also came early, as the sun dipped back behind the western peaks:

Sunset on the Lake

The lake and its surroundings are, of course, home to an abundance of wildlife, including several loons (our favorite):

Loon on the Lake

They were often difficult to approach but, if you were especially quiet, you could sometimes drift fairly close before they would dive under and vanish.

From a vantage point in one of the many Adirondack chairs near the dock area, again if you were quiet, one of the numerous local chipmunks or red squirrels might come up close to see what’s what.

The Ubiquitous Adirondack Chair

Curious Squirrel

A short walk along the lake shore is certain to turn up other local denizens, like this rather large bullfrog who could always be found somewhere in the reeds not far from the dock area:

Fly's Bane

The private preserve around Elk Lake plays host to many miles of trails, from the easy to the somewhat challenging (I’ll post up a scan of the trail map when I’ve had time to get it ready). On our first half-day there we took a 2.5 mile warm-up down to an area called (for reasons that I’m sure are obvious) Duck Hole, and then back. For our first full day we took on an eight mile jaunt down to a smaller body of water named Clear Pond, then climbed to the summit of Clear Pond Mountain (not terribly steep), and then around the pond before returning.

My brother-in-law & I at the summit of Clear Pond Mountain. I'm wearing green.

Clear Pond, as seen from the summit. That's Elk lake in the background.

On our last full day we decided to try the hike completely around Elk Lake. By adding in side trips to each of the four landings marked around the lake’s perimeter we tallied up ten miles–not bad considering until this trip we’d not hiked all year! With a stop for lunch and several rest breaks (including at the landings) the hike lasted just over seven hours, and was a blast!

Elk Lake is private, completely surrounded by land owned by the interests that also run the lodge. One of the greatest effects of that privacy is a ban on motorized boats; we place a huge premium on peace & quiet, which that ban provides in abundance. Guests are invited to use any of the several canoes and rowboats provided, and we made a point to avail ourselves of a canoe as the mood took us.

Returning to the Landing

All in all it was a wonderful vacation! Again, thanks go out to my brother-in-law for doing such a great job capturing things on “film.”

So, to give credit where it’s due I followed the link at the bottom of the image, did a little searching, and found the original posting here.

While you’re at it, check out more of the Shoebox Blog, it’s pretty damned funny!

Spinny'd up in Blue

I just know that on Pandora they’d have good taste in beer–don’t you?

My friends, I’m here to make your next foray into geek giftdom an experience you can actually look forward to! It’s obvious that you, unschooled in the ways of geekdom, don’t read the right web comics, so I’m presenting the User Friendly flowchart that will make you a geek’s hero (click image for a larger version):

Now that you are suitably grateful to have this onerous task lifted from your shoulders, feel free to visit the font of geek wisdom at its source:

User Friendly, The Comic

By Its Size I Could Not Guess,
The Awesome Strength It Does Possess.
But Since I Fell Beneath Its Spell,
I’ve Wandered Through The Fires Of Hell.

My Life Has Not Been Quite The Same,
Since I Chose To Play This Stupid Game.
It Rules My Mind For Hours On End,
A Fortune It Has Made Me Spend.

It Has Made Me Yell, Curse And Cry,
I Hate Myself And Want To Die.
It Promises A Thing Called Par,
If I Can Hit It Straight And Far.

To Master Such A Tiny Ball,
Should Not Be Very Hard At All.
But My Desires The Ball Refuses,
And Does Exactly As It Chooses.

It Hooks And Slices, Dribbles And Dies,
And Even Disappears Before My Eyes.
Often It Will Have A Whim,
To Hit A Tree Or Take A Swim.

With Miles Of Grass On Which To Land,
It Finds A Tiny Patch Of Sand.
Then Has Me Offering Up My Soul,
If Only It Would Find The Hole.

It’s Made Me Whimper Like A Pup,
And Swear That I Will Give It Up.
And Take To Drink To Ease My Sorrow,
But The Ball Knows … I’ll Be Back Tomorrow.

– author unknown