The horsey tried to kill me!!

His name was Dillinger.

Okay so they called me at about 12:30 and told me if I drove up to the stables they would take me for a ride.

So I eagerly stopped what I was doing and dressed for the woods/riding and headed north on 87 to exit 21 and Bennett's Riding Stables. 

Great place, very hospitable people. They really went out of their way to get a ride in for me. I didn't get dinner, but that's okay.

Mount Crumpet (Beach Mountain)...I'm about to scale it on horseback!

My guides horse.

The last good photo.

Unfortunately, I'm not sure how people shot guns from on top of a horse, never the less pictures.

And it was maybe the most peaceful and beautiful 2 hours of my life. We climbed through mountain trails and across babbling brooks. Beautiful trees that I don't know the names of but have seen people try to capture in paintings. I was riding along peacefully thinking, I could have done Charro! with Elvis this is a piece of cake (or pi). A deer came darting across our path and was so close to us. I tried to take some pictures during the ride but the asshole, I mean horse, wasn't cooperative.

Blurry but you can kind of see the deer.

Babbling brook...the horse moved at the last second.

Fortunately when you get to the top of mount crumpet (Beach Mountain)...you dismount in an attempt to take some photos to prove you made it to the top.

It was breath taking, spectacular, scary to stand at the edge.

Man made lake...supposed to look like the United States.

Dillinger...looking at me like... "I'm not carrying your ass back down that mountain!!"

If you look at the clearing down there...that's how far we climbed.

It took two hours...we passed the deer again on the way down. Thank you Dillinger.

I hurt EVERYWHERE!!!!

The National Museum of Dance

Okay...my dinner ride has been canceled. I still am holding out hope for a trail ride at 2 pm. I should know by 1 pm if that is going to happen.

But first my morning visit to The National Museum of Dance.

The museum is housed in an old bath house. Interestingly your tour also includes a small section that has been restored into its old bath house glory days.

So first the historical photos.

Scale....which I didn't like.

Torture chamber.

In case poopy comes off its mat and gets stuck on the water slide.

Dance museum...

horses out front

Alvin Ally dress (daughter correction: Alvin Ailey)

TuTu from Don Quixote...it is so small.

My daughter will recall what this is from and help me out. (Daughter clarification...Alvin Ailey...Revelations...Wade in the Water)

Ben Vareen's shoes

Men's costume from Swan Lake....it was small too.

My daughter claims she has a peasant foot.

The bronze statues are beautiful and I wanted to run my fingers over them...but I didn't :)

There are pointe shoes everywhere...all signed.

The exhibit where they talk about how pointe shoes are made was very interesting.

My daughter would likely say..."toe pads are for pussys!"

Ooh...ooh...they called me to go horse back riding....now!!!!!!

Morning....Museums and Horseback Riding?

I survived the night and the rum.

Feeling very good this morning.

I am off to the museums today...after that I have a sunset dinner horseback ride scheduled.

I was supposed to buy myself a cowboy hat and ride to the top of the Adirondack Mountains today and have a yummy dinner. Like Elvis in Charro! But that may get canceled because of the darn thunderstorms.

It is supposed to be an adventure ride...I will bring a poncho? 

My mother is British, we went to the pool on rainy days. The British don't let a little rain stop them. That's why they make umbrellas and rain ponchos.

Oh well...I have a plan B if they do cancel.

First the museums.

Day 1 in Saratoga Springs

Not a bad drive really.

The only advice I have is, kids, don't eat hotdogs, they are not your friends.

I'm sitting in the bar at my hotel, gulping pink drinks with rum in them.

I am staying at The Inn at Saratoga if anyone wants to visit me. It's a nice old hotel on Broadway. I love  this bar. When I booked this hotel I imagined myself sitting in this bar downing drinks and writing. I imagined Elvis music playing, but someone likes the Beatles. 

Wow my food is here.

WE ALL LIVE IN A YELLOW SUBMARINE!!!

Okay picture of the hotel and the horse out front, because this town is all about horses and pointe shoes.

The thunderstorm finally caught up with me so that when I arrived it was raining. The pictures seem therefore a little hazy to me.

I spent a little time resting after my arrival.

Feeling my chakra all out of whack I looked up a yoga studio and decided to walk to the 6 o'clock class that was called " yoga for everybody".

The walk was really nice, Saratoga Springs is an old town, lots of really cool architecture. Lots of horse statues and pointe shoe statues.

So I went to the yoga class....

I learned that yoga is yoga, no matter where you do it.

They didn't give me a pose that I had not already experienced. 

I think what makes it difficult is not knowing how long this new teacher is going to ask you to hold a pose. I found myself being asked to move through poses that I was used to holding and holding poses that I was used to moving through.

I found myself really wanting to do my teachers at JPY proud. I think Tina does a fantastic job of explaining what to do with your hips in triangle pose. I found myself very proud of my JPY training when the teacher looked at my triangle and said, Wow!!!

I kept trying to think of what my teachers have taught me and do my own practice. However, no one does Savasana like Paul and no one explains things like Darlene. I also would have cared for more breath instruction and work.

But over all it was really nice.

I'm on drink number 3 so I will end with goodnight :)

yesterday....love was such an easy game to play...now I need a place to hide away......

Traveling

I'm stopping for lunch and I made a poor food choice.

I am however on a turnpike like road and I don't have a lot of choices.

It has been a smooth trip so far. My first mistake has been forgetting to pack a third pair of glasses. If these get pitched in the water during my white water rafting adventure I am not going to find my way home.

Have about two hours left of driving. Better finish my lunch and get back to the road.

Yoga

Alexpedition! is not just about traveling. It's about figuring out who Alex is and what Alex wants. It is is also about exploring new things. One thing I am sure of is that Alex is an introvert.

Given that I am an introvert, yoga should have been a given, but it has really become quite a surprise.

I have tried yoga a couple of times in the past but it never caught on as strongly as it has at this moment in my life.

I started practicing yoga about 10 months ago. The idea and commitment was someone else's originally. I was at an inservice activity at the start of the school year and the coordinator put us in a small circle. The coordinator asked us to go around the circle and make a commitment to something that was either professional or personal for the next year. We were given the option of taking a pass. A friend and fellow teacher said he wanted to start practicing yoga. My mind started to swirl with thoughts when he made his commitment, like..."darn...that's a good one!!" But, when my turn came I took a pass. Mostly because for once I had absolutely nothing I wanted to make a commitment to.

The thought of going to yoga kept swirling around in my mind, and I knew exactly the studio to go to so I decided to start with one class a week.

My objective at the time was exercise.

Let me take a moment to say that I don't know ANYTHING about yoga.

I just practice it.

Exercise was achieved and I found myself feeling stronger and more confident. But I also found myself giddy and at ease after each practice. 

I eventually added another class and started looking for a new yoga mat. If you are going to do an activity you MUST get the gear to go with it and a yoga mat is essentially THE gear for yoga. I did a great deal of research and took my time and bent a great many ears looking for the perfect yoga mat. You don't want it to smell and you don't want to slip on it when you sweat.

My recommendation to anyone interested in starting a yoga practice is a JADE yoga mat. It is in my opinion the perfect yoga mat because I have now stopped obsessing about finding the perfect yoga mat.

I went from two basic Hatha classes a week, to trying out the next level of Hatha on the weekends. it was really a challenge but I eventually conquered the crescent lunge, which is much harder than it looks.

Physically yoga has ELIMINATED the pain I used to get in my hips from running. My hips feel very strong and stable. I don't have the best posture in the world but my posture has certainly improved from yoga. My back is BANGING. 

I also learned that I am extremely flexible. I thought my daughter got her flexibility in dance from the dance flexibility fairy, but apparently she gets it from me.

I have recently started adding Vinyasa classes to my practice. I feel more comfortable with Hatha classes than Vinyasa, but I will hopefully get better as I practice.

I love the variety of teachers at the yoga studio I attend. They all bring something different and new.

I think the one thing that has really surprised me about yoga has been the way it can change my mood. I really enjoy the breath work and trying to relax my very active mind and my body at the same time. I ALWAYS leave yoga feeling better. I find myself being more patient, not feeling so rushed, wanting to smile more and enjoy the giddy feeling it gives me.

I have tried yoga-nidra, which is yogic sleep twice. I have also welcomed spring by doing 108 or so sun salutations in one event. It's sort of like a yoga marathon. 

I saw a news program about a 80+ year old woman doing yoga and they asked her how much longer she would be able to do yoga and she said, "I will always do yoga." 

Her statement sums up my plan regarding yoga.

Namaste!

I'm Back!!

With a long and crazy school year finally behind me I am finally rested enough to start traveling again so Alexpedition! 2 is about to begin.

However, before we begin Alexpedition! 2 I would like to share with you some of the smaller Alexpeditions that occurred during the school year.

I have discovered that Alexpeditioning is not so much about traveling as it is about exploring and discovering new things.

Stay Tuned.