Millstone, meet Raritan

 D&R Canal Towpath near Griggstown

30 December 2016

Yesterday's rain froze then thawed, coating me, Tom, and our bikes with red, Brunswick shale mud.

It was worth the mess, though, because we got up close to the confluence of the Millstone and Raritan Rivers, and I get to write "Zarephath," because that's where we were when we climbed down to the riverbank between Manville and Zarephath.

We turned around here, about 11 miles north of Griggstown. I know this because my GPS worked. It also told us that we'd climbed all of 75 feet during our round trip.

It was one of those days where the bike gets hosed off and every piece of external clothing, from Camelbak to booties, goes straight into the washing machine.

Longwood Gardens Without a Tripod

30 December 2016

After last year's trip to see the holiday lights at Kew Gardens, I was keen on seeing what Longwood Gardens had to offer.

Our timed tickets were for a 5:00 p.m. entrance. Twilight wreaked havoc on my camera's light balancing. Once the sun was well and truly down, things got better, but then my hands got cold and the camera wasn't playing well with the temperature either. Hampered by not having a tripod, and LEDs being what they are, I took a lot of blurry pictures. Excuses, excuses. Here are the ones that made the cut:

You know it's bad when the tree's reflection is more in focus than the tree itself:

It was all neat and tidy, well done but monotonous. There was no set path, and the wandering crowd was loud (well, to me it was, what with my new cyborg ears and all).

Inside the Conservatory were carefully overloaded Christmas trees:

There were a few of these chandeliers hanging about:

The Icicles of Damocles?

A succulent Christmas tree:

Orchids:

Bonsai crape myrtle:

A flock of birds of paradise:

Given a choice, I'd go to Kew again and skip Longwood. Jack agreed.

I did, however, come home with a creative interpretation of a beetle in glass ornament form:

Best part of the night.