Hiking, biking and horses in 2003

Throughout 2003 we took several hikes (some with the pups and some without the pups), did a LOT of biking, and the kids
went horseback riding several times (they had several lessons at a nearby stable in Piscataway, NJ).

One of the nicest hikes we did was when we had a chance to hike along the Minnewaska trial.  Sudha, Rhea, Kari, Tom, and Kerry
had planned to head up to the Gunks for a day of climbing.  However, the weather was very misty in the morning and the rocks
were too damp to actually climb.  Hence, we decided to take a long hike instead.  We hiked the Minnewaska Trial, which runs on top
of the Near Trapps.  Below are five pictures from that hike.  The first one shows Rhea, Kari and Sudha attacking one of the many
blueberry patches along the trail.  The second and third pictures show us stopping near the end of the climb - Rhea is fast asleep, yet Kari and Sudha found
still more blueberries.  It had warmed up considerable by then, as evidenced by Toms short sleeves.  There is also a picture from
early in the morning that shows some of the clouds and mist coming up from the valley.


   

           
 

 


The bulk of the below pictures were taken from a couple of hikes we did at Holmdel Park, with the pups: Missy Mutt and Bo Dog,
The last picture in this set was taken near the Municipal complex/pond (in Edison) and shows Bo walking Tom across an old railroad
tie bridge near the train tracks.

           
 
   

Of course there were several biking adventures in 2003.  We took many local rides (often through Piscataway, through
Rutgers Livingston campus, and into Johnson Park (on the Raritan River).  The first photo just shows the three bikes parked at
a nearby park in Piscataway (the infamous "Captain Hook's Bridge Park" as we took a break during one of the rides.
One of the more exciting biking adventures took place on the Duke Estates.  Sudha and family had invited us over for the
day, and we took the opportunity to explore the estate on bike.  You can see Tom and Kari squinting into the sun during
that ride.

 


  We were able to find the Pet Cemetery (Doris Duke was famous for her many pets) on the Duke Estates while biking.
Below we also have a shot of Tom talking to Princess, Doris' pet camel).

           

As mentioned earlier the kids did go horseback riding several times toward the end of the summer.  Below are a couple
shots of them.  Several times we would bike to the stables, as shown in the lower left photo.

         


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