About Me

So here goes. ....

I turned 60 years old (... ouch!!, still can’t believe that!) in January 2009. Matter of fact, the picture above is me celebrating my 60th birthday with an old Adirondack friend of mine.

I’ve been married for over 30 years to Anita, my better half. We have 3 children; Melissa, Jeff, and Ryan.

Up until about 10 years ago my passion was running and staying physically fit. I’ve been a runner since I was 12 years old.! I’ve competed in hundreds of races throughout high school, college, and post college road races up until the age of 51.

Although I competed a lot, over the years I really came to just enjoy going out for a 6 mile run to keep fit, take in the scenery, and release the pressures/stresses that we all have to deal with. I estimate that I’ve logged well over 100,000 miles! I guess you could say “running was what made me tick”!

.... "Run Forrest Run"!

Well … that all started to come to a progressively rapid end in 2000 when a disk ruptured in my back and I was left with a numb foot (... that is after the pain subsided!).

I had back surgery in 2000. After surgery my toes were a little numb. However, since then my foot has gotten progressively worse each year, to the point where I had to quit running and most physical activity in general.

Ok … Ok, enough about that! – What about the Adirondacks??? … I’ll get into how the running (or lack thereof) ties into the Adirondacks and the idea for a web site in a minute.

As a kid I had been to the Adirondack Mountains many times, mostly camping in the Lake George area with my parents. I really began to appreciate the beauty of the Adirondack Park, lakes and forest during that time. The picture below is me when I was 5 years old.

...Just kidding!

After a long absence in my teens I returned a few times to hike/climb (i.e. Mount Marcy, etc.), and to run in several Adirondack running races. I got to appreciate, yet again, the beauty and wonder of this magnificent region.

Although I loved the Adirondacks, it wasn’t until the early 1980’s that I returned for my first vacation here since I was 12 years old.

My wife and I (and 2 children at that time) spent a week renting a cabin on Schroon Lake. … And that’s when I became hooked for life!

We returned for our summer vacation almost every year after that. Each time I would make sure I’d take time to review the real estate listings and dream of owning a vacation home on one of these gorgeous lakes (… which was indeed a dream because the prices were out of our league!).

We even started to check out some of these properties by visiting them while on vacation!

Then in 1986 we did it! We bought a piece of vacant land with lake, beach, and dock rights at Loon Lake. Then in 1989 we built this vacation Adirondack chalet.

The price tag was a little over our heads. However, we rented it for 2 or 3 weeks each year which enabled us to make ends meet and hang onto it through the financial difficult years of raising a family (... i.e. ballet, college, etc, etc,).

Since then we have spent most of our vacations and many long weekends here. Many times we drive up just to spend the night.

Since 1989 we have been exploring all the area has to offer. We have been swimming, hiking, biking, mountain climbing, fishing, birding, boating, whitewater rafting, skiing, kayaking, at craft fairs, events, attractions, shops, restaurants, and much much more!

Don’t get me wrong. There is much that we haven’t experienced yet… But life is short and we are excited about the adventures that await us.

Even though we have a lot yet to experience, we can absolutely recommend activities and adventures for you to consider while you’re on vacation… or even if you are thinking of owning a home here.

We love the Adirondacks! We want to share with you our favorite things to see and do.

OK … That explains how I came to love the Adirondack Park. But, how does that relate to my passion for running and the decision to create a web site?

The answer is in a combination of my desire/need to replace my passion (... running, since I can’t do it anymore) with something that I truly enjoy, and to find something to make me as driven and productive as possible in my retirement years.

In the fall of 2007 I knew that retirement and my 9-5 job would probably end in a year or so. Since I was no longer able to continue with running and physical fitness, I needed to find something to replace it (… I’m sure you people who were addicted to your passion and in which you are no longer able to do it can relate to).

So, I decided to devote 1 day each week to concentrate on discovering my new passion. Not only to find something to keep me active in retirement, but also something that would interest me, motivate me, and excite me. … Something fun!

I spent the first week just brainstorming what would interest me in retirement. After a few hours my list was long and ranged from one extreme (being a management consultant for a major corporation), to the other extreme (buying a van, becoming a hippie (... again!) and traveling the US and Canada), and everything in between (traveling, volunteering for the Red Cross, home projects, golf, exercising, etc., etc.).

After the first day a couple of things became very clear to me. 1) In retirement I did not want to work 9-5 for a major corporation as a management consultant (although I would enjoy a consulting project from time to time), and 2) there were many other things on my list that I wanted to do and I didn’t want to be tied down to any one thing or tied down to being in any one location doing it.

That’s when it became very clear to me that doing something on the Internet that I was passionate about was the way to go.

So … That’s how one of my past interests “the Adirondack Mountains” became my present and future passion. I knew that I would be spending a lot of time at our Adirondack chalet in retirement (… retirement has now become a reality by the way!). So now I can really spend a lot of time there.

I thought it would be fun to create a web site on the Adirondacks and also provide valuable information to others who wanted to vacation here or who were thinking of owning a home here.

Another great thing about the idea was that in order to write about things to see and do, it would get us to experience many things in the Adirondacks that we probably won’t have done otherwise.

And when I’m not physically in the Adirondacks I will still have lots to write about and update on my web site. I can literally be anywhere in the world and still do this (… and I plan to do exactly that!).

… So whether I’m traveling across the US in that van I spoke of earlier (... I’m starting to grow my hair long now!), or working with the Red Cross helping with disaster relief, or vacationing in Australia, or on that management consulting project, or doing anything else that interests me, I don’t have to be tied down to one location.

There is so much to experience in the Adirondacks. I can’t possibly cover it all. So for now I will concentrate on things to see and do in close proximity of our chalet at Loon Lake.

For the most part this will encompass the Loon Lake, Schroon Lake, Friends Lake, Brant Lake, Chestertown, North Creek, Warrensburg and Lake George area.

However, I will also throw in some of our favorite day trips within an hour or so from our chalet.

My web site will take some time to develop so I ask two things: First, please visit my site often to see my latest updates/additions.

Second, please help me to make the site as valuable as possible to others too. You can do this by contacting me to provide information on your favorite things to see and do in the area also. This way you can contribute to an awesome resource for others visiting the area.

... Actually, there are three things. The third is, if you'd like to make a donation to help keep this site going and improving, I'd appreciate it very much (... after all it does time and money to maintain the web site!). If you would like to make a donation just click on the "Donate" button below!

Thanks for visiting my web site … “LoonyAboutAdirondacks.com” !!!!!

Jeff