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Armchair Traveler- A bucket list railroad trip from Vancouver to Banff

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The invention of the railroad in 1804 brought forth innovation, human expansion, and a new method of travel. Train travel helped change the course of human history in ways we couldn’t have imagined. From the B&O Railroad which was the first American company to be granted a charter to transport both freight and passengers, to the NYC subway system which has the most stations in the world, our nation is deeply dependent on this method of travel.

When we think of taking a bucket list vacation, train travel doesn’t usually come to mind. However, a rail company in Vancouver, BC has been offering bucket list-worthy trips of a lifetime across the Canadian Rockies since 1990. The Rocky Mountaineer Rail Company offers trips with breathtaking views of the Canadian Rockies, a mountain range between British Columbia and Alberta, that is home to five National Parks that were declared a UNSECO World Heritage Site-  Banff, Jasper, Kootenay, and Yoho.

With full glass dome windows and gourmet meals worthy of world-class restaurants, this train trip will take your breath away. So sit back, relax, and enjoy this amazing trip from the comfort of your armchair!

Armchair Travels – The Netherlands

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From mid-March to mid-May, it’s Tulip Time in The Netherlands.  And the best place to see tulips is at Keukenhof Gardens.  The Keukenhof estate dates back to the 11th century.   The idea for using the English style gardens as a palette for spring-flowering bulbs was proposed flower merchants in 1949.  Keukenhof opened as a spring park the following year and attracted over 200,000 visitors. Now, each year millions of visitors from around the world tour Keukenhof.

In 2020, the 71st anniversary year, the Gardens are closed but the staff has prepared a series of videos so that all can still enjoy Keukenhof – A World of Colours.

 

Other links to sights in The Netherlands

Geithorne – The Venice of the North

 

Delft

 

Windmills of Zaanse Schans

 

Closer to Home   Holland Ridge Farms, Cream Ridge, NJ

Learning How to Ride a Bike

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Learning how to ride a bike is a rite of passage. Teaching someone to ride a bike is another.  The event is ingrained in our memory and in some cases documented on video or photo for prosperity.  If you are planning to teach your child how to ride a bike, here are tips to help make the milestone safe, memorable, and hopefully successful!

  1. Find a space to practice – The best place to teach a child to learn to ride a bike is a flat, paved surface with limited traffic and few obstructions. The child won’t be able to balance when moving at a snail’s pace, so encourage them to move speedily. A long driveway, empty parking lot, cul de sac, or street with limited traffic may work well.
  2. Equipment Check – Start by checking and adjusting your child’s equipment. Make sure bike helmets fit properly and inspect the bike.  Remove the training wheels AND  remove the pedals. (Pedals do not follow “righty-tighty/lefty-loosey.”) Adjust the saddle (bike seat) height so that it is level and low enough for the child to place his/her heels firmly on the ground with knees slightly bent.  It’s helpful if your child is wearing long pants and closed-toe shoes.
  3. Practice without Pedals – With these adjustments, the child can scoot and push him/herself around the space until they can glide for a distance without placing their feet on the ground. Make a game of it. Place cones or toys on the ground so your child knows where to turn. Once the child is confidently scooting and balancing through turns, they are ready to reattach the pedals.
  4. Practice with pedals – This will take many tries and athletic shoes are recommended. With pedals attached, children need assistance with the starting. Without over stabilizing the child, parents may have to hold the center of the handlebars, or underneath the rear of the saddle and walk or jog as the child begins to pedal. At the moment the child reaches the speed to balance on their own, let go!
  5. Power Position -When the child practices to start the bike, it’s a good idea to prepare them for real-world conditions. Imagine you’re going to cross an intersection, the child should be ready to pedal across when conditions are safe. Set the cranks for the power position with one pedal up and forward at a One-O’Clock position. From a stop, the child can push the pedal down and begin to pedal across the intersection. Children’s bikes are often equipped with with a coaster brake, so the rear wheel must roll forward or be lifted to reset the pedal position
  6. Braking – Before taking them on the sidewalk, road or path, play a few games to help them practice using their brakes. Begin with the child pedaling as you walk or jog next to them. Narrate a story, “Let’s imagine you’re riding in the park and a squirrel jumps into your path!” As they understand how their brakes work and feel, they also get an idea of when to use them. Another game/exercise is to place an object, toy or line with sidewalk chalk on the pavement and encourage them to stop with their front tire on the line.

Most importantly, Smile and Breathe.  Consider that new learners will hold incredibly tightly to their handlebars, so their hands might even hurt after a few minutes. Children’s bike saddles often do not offer great support for sensitive areas. Limit your sessions to 2 hours max with short breaks off the bike to stretch and to gather themselves to begin again. It can take more than several attempts until they get it. Their minds need time to digest all of this in the background. With this, you’ll know when is a good time to stop for the day.

Oh and don’t forget to have someone grab a camera…

Armchair Travels – Botanical Gardens

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With the click of a button, you can experience travel, all from the comfort of your home.

KMM’s Armchair Travel is a weekly blog series that takes readers to all corners of the world with virtual tours and videos. For this week’s blog, we present Botanical Gardens – Orchid Show.

One of the oldest botanical gardens in North America, the United States Botanic Garden was established by Congress in 1820. We share with you a snip-it of their 2020 Orchid Show.

The New York Botanical Garden is a 250-acre oasis in the middle of the Big Apple. The historic, Victorian-style glasshouse provides a world tour of 11 distinct plant habitats, including tropical rain forest and desert environments of the Americas and Africa. We share with you a 25-minute video of the 2020 spring orchid exhibit.

Both gardens are expected to open to on May 1, 2020.

 

 

 

Outside in Open! Bicycle Helmet Safety Tips

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Outside is Open! With so many of us practicing #Socialdistancing to #FlattenTheCurve, many of us are looking for ways to stay active. If bike riding is one of them, we share with you two quick videos on how to fit your #bikehelmet. Be safe and have fun!

Whether you’re riding a bicycle, scooter, skateboard, if there are wheels under your feet, NJ requires a helmet on your head up to the age of 17. Biking to school and around town can be a safe activity, though if you happen to fall, it’s smart to protect your head. Here are a few tips on how to wear a bicycle helmet safely:

For Adults:

For Children:

My Town – 3rd Grade Bookmark Contest

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UPDATE: The deadline for submission is May 1, 2020.  You may also scan and email the bookmark to programs@kmm.org. We ask that you mail the original copy at a later date.

Open to all third graders in Middlesex County, KMM is tasking children to create a bookmark showing themselves walking or biking at a place that makes their town such an amazing place to grow up.

Bookmark Entry Rules:

  • The design must include original artwork in color.
  • The design must be submitted using this entry form.
  • One entry per student.
  • The winner will receive a $100 gift card from Provident Bank. The winning bookmark will be printed and distributed to schools in Middlesex County.
  • Entries become the property of Keep Middlesex Moving.
  • Entries must be submitted by April 15, 2020

3rd grade Bookmark Entry 2020

Armchair Travels – Museums

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With the click of a button, you can experience travel, all from the comfort of your home.

KMM’s Armchair Travel is a weekly blog series that takes readers to all corners of the world with virtual tours and videos.  This week, we bring you three tours of the most popular museums in the world.  So sit back and enjoy tours of  Versailles, The Louvre, and The Smithsonian.

 

 

 

Have you visited these museums in person?  Please share your photos and memories with us at programs@kmm.org.

Chalk Your Walk – Safety Tips

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If walks around your neighborhood have increased in the past week, perhaps you have seen inspirational messages drawn across the sidewalk and pavement.  This art is called #ChalkYourWalk and it’s springing up everywhere.

Given we are all practicing #socialdistancing to #flattenthecurve,  walking or biking in the neighborhood is one of the few things we can continue to participate in safely – while remembering to keep 6-feet between you and other pedestrians.   Here are a few safety tips for both the #ChalkYourWork artists and those walking and biking in the neighborhood.

For Parents and Artists:

  1. For neighborhoods without sidewalks, have an adult present that can watch for oncoming traffic while drawing in the driveway.
  2. If possible, wear brightly colored clothes as you create your art so that motorists and those walking or biking can see you.

For Pedestrians and Cyclists:

  1. Walk or bike focused.  If you are listening to music, make sure you can still hear the activity around you.
  2. If you are biking in the neighborhood, be especially attentive to neighborhoods without sidewalks.  Children may be drawing in their driveways.
  3. Heads up and Phones Down: Whether on bike or foot or even driving, there will be more children playing outside and many of them will be in groups of five or less and may not be as visible.

As we navigate these very unprecedented times and learn to adapt to the restrictions that are in place, we remind everyone that we are all in this together.  Stay safe and stay strong.

If your children have created #ChalkYourWalk art, please email us at programs@kmm.org so that we may share their happy messages with our followers.

Spring Ahead – Daylight Savings Time Safety Tips

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Hello, more sunshine and daylight!  This Sunday, we will move the clocks ahead one hour.  Along with the extra daylight and sunshine can also bring sleepy, tired folks.  Here are some tips to help you prepare and adjust to the change.

  1. Prepare – Beginning two or three days before daylight savings, head to bed 15 to 20 minutes earlier.  This will allow your body to ease into the change in time.
  2. Don’t hit snooze – Resist hitting the snooze button on your alarm in the first few days.  Staying on your regular schedule will help tremendously in getting through the week.
  3. Avoid Afternoon Caffeine – By Monday afternoon, chances are you will be feeling sluggish and tired.  Fight the urge to have that afternoon cup of coffee.  Instead, have a glass or two of water and if possible, walk outside and soak in the sunshine and fresh air.
  4. Take a late-day walk – Given we have more sunshine, consider taking a walk after dinner.  Not only will it help digest your meal, but it will also help you fall asleep later in the evening.
  5. Be Smart – Despite taking all of these precautions, you may still be tired.  If so, do not operate any machinery including a vehicle or bicycle.  It’s best to just bite the bullet and take a long nap.  Driving, biking – operating any type of machinery – while drowsy is not safe.

Coronavirus: Implementing a Telecommute Contingency Plan

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According to the CDC, Americans need to start preparing now for the possibility that more aggressive, disruptive measures might be needed to stop the spread of the new coronavirus in the U.S.; this includes the workforce.  It is recommended that companies put a contingency plan in place.  Here are some guidelines to help you create your contingency plan.

Responsibility – Sit with your staff and have them identify their day to day functions and what programs they use to perform these functions.  Understand the tools and software they use and determine whether there are any security risks associated with them working remotely.

Hours – Although a simple idea, it’s smart to establish the hours in which the employee will be working remotely.  It provides accountability and a sense of routine.

Technology – Establish the ways in which you and your team will accomplish their daily tasks. Do they have internet access, laptops and the correct software needed while working remotely?  Can their office phone calls be forwarded to the remote phone line?

Cost / Logistics – What are the costs involved in working remotely? Once you have determined what is needed to work from home, be sure to outline what costs – if any – you will reimburse your employees (i.e. internet, phone calls).

Communication – The key to a successful telecommute program is communication.  Establish a schedule of when your office team will meet remotely and establish the tools you will use.  Skype, GoToMyMeeting and FaceTime calls are all ways for everyone to meet remotely.  Programs such as Basecamp can be a helpful tool for those working on different components of a project.

Accountability- In instances where telecommute programs are in place as a benefit, reviews are often scheduled every three months to ensure deadlines have been met and the work-from-home program is working for both the employee and employer.  However, in an instance such as a temporary telecommute program due to a crisis, these telework situations may last a few weeks.  None the less, it would be prudent to set up calls between all levels of staff and support to assess everyone’s performance.