Long Project Complete

For the past 18 months I have been working on a remediation project in Waukegan, Illinois. It has been long hours and a lot of time away from home, but it is now complete! I am looking forward to taking some time off and spending a lot more time with Diana and Cassie!

The site before construction. Pretty desolate, but it was below ground in the soil where there was the worst contamination.

Overview of the site along Lake Michigan.

Another view of the site. Lots of equipment working together to get the job done.

Some of the early mornings had nice sun rises.

There were also many late nights.

Over 5,500 overlapping soil-mixed columns were constructed to solidify the contaminated soil in place.

Hundreds of samples were collected to ensure the construction was properly completed. That's me in the bottom corner.

We also had to work through the third coldest and snowiest winter on record. 

In the end, everything was successfully completed and the 300,000 cubic yards of soil on 9 acres of land is now cleaned.

The crew from all over the country that got the work done. Some interesting characters.

Summer/Fall 2014

Adirondack Canoe Classic

In the beginning of September we flew  back to NY so I could participate in the Adirondack Canoe Classic, a 90-mile canoe race from Old Forge to Saranac Lake. I have done the race a few times before, but this year we arranged to have all four Millspaugh siblings paddle together: Me, Philip, Robert, and Emma. We all converged in Old Forge from Montana, Wisconsin, Buffalo, and Rochester, and were ready to go. The race is split over three days and we camped overnight in between the stages.

Diana helped out with Mom and Dad as the pit crew, following us throughout the race and relaxing with us at the campsites.

Pre-race Picture!

Day one started out with us getting used to paddling together... and within 5 minutes of practicing we flipped the canoe. At least it was a very hot day. Once upright again, we were off covering the 35 miles from Old Forge to Blue Mountain Lake. It was a hot and tough day with long portages, but we were in second place in the mixed C4 event at the end of the day.

Off for Day 1

Coming through Brown's Tract

Over the Beaver Dam

Coming into the Finish at Blue Mountain Lake

Coral, the other member of the "pit" crew

Day 2 was cooler with rain. The stretch down long lake was increasingly windy with rolling waves. As soon as we got off the lake onto the river, the rain started and lasted most of the rest of the day. We finished the day one spot back into third place in our class. Fortunately, the rain let up after the racing and we were able to enjoy a nice dinner and fire at the campsite.

Line of Canoes on Long Lake

Day 3 started off with a fog delay, but  turned into a beautiful day. Boat 98 was ready for a battle, and our mascot the flamingo was ready to go. The top three boats in our class were neck and neck the whole stage. We tried our best to put time into the competition to finish in a higher spot. All three boats crossed the finish line just feet apart and we ended in 3rd place, less than 10 minutes off of first place.

Everyone knew the flamingo boat

Team Millspaugh Ready for Day 3

Off to the Start

Running through the Portage

Beautiful Scenery of the Adirondacks

Sprinting into the Finish

The whole crew at the finish line

Team Millspaugh, paddling together for 20 Years

North Face Trail Run

The week after the 90-Miler, we drove down to the Kettle Moraine State Park for the North Face Endurance Challenge 10k trail run. It was a beautiful cool day for running and was a well organized event. I finished 9th overall and 2nd in my age group.

Me and Cassie!

Cassie and Diana! Great support!

Coming into the finish

Post-race Cassie picture!

Miscellaneous

This summer we did some landscaping in our backyard. One addition was a "Butterfly Bush" that really did attract a lot of butterflies. Diana was able to get a good picture of a Monarch enjoying the flowers.

Butterfly Bush

At the end of August, Cassie celebrated her 4th birthday and we got her a nice vanilla ice cream cone. She loved it.

Happy Birthday Cassie!

Here are a few more Cassie pictures.

Cassie likes to check in on us in the morning to see when we are getting out of bed.

Last week we had friends visiting who have a great dane/bullmastiff mix, which is a huge dog. Cassie was a little cautious at first, but they became good friends.

Cassie and her new friend

Diana also made some more wall paintings for one of her coworkers. The theme of this set was butterflies.

Creative Diana!

Diana also put together a nice fall centerpiece for our dining table using some flowers from the local farmer's market.

Fall Centerpiece

Farmer's Market Flowers

NY Vacation!

One month late I am getting around to writing about our vacation back to NY at the end of June. We tried making the drive a little differently this time by packing the car after work on Friday, going to sleep around 7 PM, waking up at midnight, and leaving at 12:30 AM. This allowed us to get some rest in our own bed after a busy day and avoiding rush hour/weekend traffic going through Chicago. This actually worked quite well and we had a very uneventful drive with a nice pit stop in Rochester to visit Dr. Phil at the veterinary hospital.

Road tripping from WI to NY! Everyone is excited!

We started our vacation by attending the wedding of our good friend from high school, Jeremy, and his now wife Kara. It was a great ceremony with lots of unique and fun aspects. We also had a good time visiting we other high school friends at the wedding that we haven't seen in a long time. It was a good 10 year high school reunion.

Jeremy and Kara's first dance

Reunited with High School Friends

Picture with the Bride and Groom

Meanwhile, Cassie was entertaining herself swimming in the pool. She had a blast jumping in and swimming around. Hopefully we didn't leave a mess of dog hair in the pool.

Jump!

On Tuesday of the week vacation, Diana and I went up to do a hike at Lake George. I did a quick search of shorter hikes and found Buck Mountain, which was listed as a moderate six mile hike with some challenging spots that is one of the top 50 hikes in the Adirondacks. Well it started out nice for about half a mile and was then very steep for 2.5 miles. I would rate it a little more than moderate. But at the top we had a great view of the south end of Lake George.

Lake George from Buck Mountain

Relaxing at the top of the mountain

The next day we said goodbye to Niskayuna and drove west to spend the rest of the week at Oquaga Lake. We had great weather and visited with lots of family while celebrating the fourth of July. The stay was filled with activity and on the second day there Diana convinced me to swim around the lake with her. It was a long swim (for me. it seemed easy for the swimmer Diana) but it was a satisfying accomplishment. The days at the lake were spent relaxing, swimming, canoeing, sailing, boating, Rock on the Dock, Scott's ice cream, and pirate ships. As usual the vacation ended too quick and it was back to WI and working. Enjoy the pictures!

Sunrise at Oquaga Lake

Celebrating the Fourth of July!

Mom and Dad showing off their "night sailing" with Christmas lights

Phil Rocking the Dock

Flying the Air Chair

The Pirate ship for the first annual Boat Parade.

Three generations of Millspaughs in a canoe taking Grandpa for a birthday ride around the lake.

All of the dogs welcoming us back. I think there were 7 dogs at the lake.

More jumping and swimming!

Tired and ready to go home. Great vacation!