I woke up ready to go and find that #SwimmingHole Nate was speaking so highly of… I rushed through my morning #rituals eager to take a swim… I had to head up the road about a mile… Nate said I couldn’t miss it… Well, he doesn’t know me to well…

Here’s a little #ForestGump for you to get your day started… After walking what didn’t seem like a mile, I saw a path leading to some water…

This looked like something… It had a couple of #campfires and some #littering, so I knew it was a popular place…

And wallah… Or so I thought… I didn’t find it that impressive… It was quite deep but I was expecting this huge #SwimmingHole with #rocks to jump off of… I certainly was not risking jumping in this…

But I figured my #expectations were too high, once again… So I set up a little sitting area and started doing some reading in the #sun…

I’m now reading #WarAndPeace… I actually really like it… It is very detailed and usually I hate that 19th century aristocratic crap in Russia and France but the way #Tolstoy describes them is hilarious and so interesting… I can see why kid’s in school hated this book but I am appreciating it at this age… I have no idea where it goes and love that I have no idea… I can see Tolstoy is already setting me up for something big…

I was enjoying my #solitude until a couple came up and was exploring just like I was and another really tall gentleman came from the other direction… He asked me if this was #BlueHole… I told him I have no idea, that I didn’t even know what Blue Hole was… Sounded kind of perverted to me, actually… Then the couple chimed in and said it was another 1/4 of a mile up the road…

Now, of course I was extremely curious… I asked the couple what it was and they informed me it was this #CrystalClear swimming hole where everyone goes… They said it was beautiful… Obviously I was at the wrong place, #folks…

Now, I had already been at this spot for about an hour and a half… I had obviously picked the wrong swimming hole… Damn, there’s a lot of swimming holes in #PeekamooseValley,NY… I quickly gathered my things and headed for the #road…

As promised by Nate, there was this #path just up the road… I could hear the faint sound of music and people having fun in the distance… I would soon discover why everyone loved this swimming hole…

It was like something out of a #dream… Absolutely #BreathTaking… Words couldn’t describe this gorgeous natural #SwimmingPool…

Honestly, pictures do it no justice… It was this calm #pool of #water, surrounded by #boulders that kept the rough #rapids from interfering with its #peace… But when you passed the hole, there was this #flume of aggressive water channeling into it’s serene body…

I was tempted to slide down this flume and if I was younger, just may have been stupid enough to try it, it looked so inviting… I #DayDreamed about grabbing a #BoogieBoard and making the evil kanevil attempt… I was thinking a wet suit would keep me from getting all scraped up… I probably would get a couple of scratches and bruises but that’s a small price to pay to get such a thrill from #nature’s daring #waterslide…

I was a little concerned about the music as I headed down to the Blue Hole… The kids were in their late teens and were not playing the tunes I like to listen to, especially out in this #PeacefulEnviroment…

But my concerns were soon squashed when I sat down by the big rapids… They were so mighty, no portable sound system could ever compete with its #roar… I couldn’t hear shit except for the soothing sound of water battling with the boulders as it made its way into the pool of paradise below…

I then realized I had a solution to my problem with noise in my living situation… I just need to buy a place near a #river or large #stream… Even at the campsite I can barely hear anything except the river that runs right along where I am parked… What a perfect solution… I would even go as far as building a #waterfall in my own place if it would help with such matters… But I also understand you cannot mimic such #NaturalWonders… These rivers and streams took billions of years to form… No man is going to build anything that will compare… Not even your bombs are this mighty!

I just sat and read for about an hour… Another friend came and sat near me… He wasn’t afraid but how could you be in an environment like this? When I am on my death bed, I don’t want to be couped up in a room… I want to be out here amongst this beauty… I don’t see how you could fear anything out here… Everything makes sense out here… I could never put it into words, it’s a feeling… Where everyday troubles seem so trivial and useless…

This #butterfly doesn’t give a shit about hedge funds or the stock market… All he cares about is enjoying his short #existence on this wonderful #planet… I envy this butterfly… What good is a conscious when you just want to enjoy these simple things… Thinking is irrelevant out here… No one cares… All they care about is living off of what #nature provides for them and being engulfed in it all… Nature is so #romantic, even its cruelest side has a weird #peace to it…

Well, of course the big question arose… I know you are thinking it and I was thinking it also… Do I jump in?

Now, I like to take pride in myself and call myself quite the #adventurer… I did uproot my life and go #travel the #country didn’t I? Not many would have the #courage to do the same and even I find it hard at times, not really having a purpose except for seeing this wonderful country…

Well, I’m not making any excuses but the kids had reign over the swimming hole and I didn’t want to interrupt their fun… I realize I am the enemy of fun now, being older… No matter how friendly the kids were and they were very friendly, I still saw them looking at me cautiously as they took a hit from a joint they just lit… They looked like kids stealing a puff outside of school in between classes and I was the clueless teacher, ready to catch them… Little did they know that I have some of the best shit in town and would have joined them, if they were of age of course…

So, I decided to leave after about three hours of reading, meditating and just soaking in the #atmosphere… I promised myself I would come back early tomorrow and jump in…

Well, fate is a funny thing folks and as I was headed towards the #road, I saw three kids that weren’t at the Blue Hole and they were dripping wet… I asked them where they were #swimming… One of the boys told me there was another swimming hole just down the road… It was 11 feet deep and a smaller version of the Blue Hole… Obviously they didn’t want to compete with these kids for the Blue Hole so they went to this other #JumpSite…

Well, of course #TheTravelingMac now found himself in quite a pickle… I had found an excuse not to jump in the freezing cold water but now that excuse was useless… #MotherNature was not letting me off so easy… I thank those kids and whatever #force put them there at the exact moment I left Blue Hole… It was #destiny…

So, I headed over to the other swimming hole… It wasn’t as #magnificent as Blue Hole but still was another perfect #hole for swimming… Damn this area has a ton of swimming holes… I highly recommend making your way up here… It’s truly a #PhenomenalPlace… How lucky were these kids to have such places at their disposal…

So, I quickly found a telephone booth and changed into my superman outfit… Oh, it was on now! There was no turning back… I didn’t even test the water with my foot… I knew it was freezing cold from the reactions of all these kids… Everytime they jumped in, they would exhale air and a whine, as they quickly swam for a #rock that would help hoist them into the #warm #air once again…

Since this was such a special moment, I decided to try and capture it with a photo… I found that the #iPhone has a timing device on it’s #camera… I set it to 10 seconds and pointed it in the direction of my jumping area… I practiced the countdown a few times, obviously procrastinating the inevitable, making sure I would jump at the right moment…

Here is the jump I was about to make and here I am leaping into a careless #dive… Oh yes folks… I dove in… It was 11 feet deep and the risk was worth it…

Holly crap, was that #water #freezing cold! I mean, my skin hurt after I got out, stinging as it quickly tried to absorb the warm air around me… I am not exaggerating… It had to be just above freezing, it was so cold…

I of course jumped in a few times… Once you have made the first attempt, all attempts after were not so scary… I thought I would get used to it after a short while and maybe enjoy a nice short swim… But the water was unbearably cold every time… I would quickly surface, gasp and eagerly swim for #land… Each time my skin was stinging with pain but it was a good pain… An #exhilarating pain… After about 20 minutes of this, I felt #reborn…

As I was headed back, I was craving something creamy and cheesy… Then I remembered that I had that left over cheese from my #GlutenFree #Mac&Cheese… I just used the noodles but kept the cheese…

Well, the little grocery market where I last got my fruits and vegetables was run by Asians and they had #RiceNoodles, which I love…

So, I decided to make a cheesy #CarbonaraSauce of sorts… If there are any Italian #Chefs reading this, they are pissed right now… A real Carbonara sauce only consists of  an egg yolk, pancetta and spices… The runny creamy crap we get out here is of no caparison to the authentic dish…

So, I #boiled the rice noodles, set them aside and then #sautéed some chopped #bacon in the same #saucer… When the bacon was slightly brown I added about a half a cup of cream and the powdered cheese and let it #simmer until it had a somewhat consistency…

Then I added the noodles and wallah… A nice hearty meal chased with some #ReedsGingerBeer…

I ate, did some more reading and went to bed… Today was another good day… It didn’t compare to yesterday but I don’t expect many #days to ever compare to how I felt then… This trip is really starting to do it’s #magic… Goodnight…