I decided late on Saturday night of Memorial Day weekend to take a little holiday to western Virginia with my bike. There's a trail that runs from Abingdon to just past Whitetop, through Damascus, called the Virginia Creeper Trail. It's about 34 miles long and follows the old railroad bed of the Virginia Carolina Railroad. It's a great shared-use National Recreation Trail that goes through the Mount Rogers National Recreation Area in the Jefferson National Forest. I got up Sunday and took the scenic route to Damascus where I started my ride to Whitetop and back. I fully enjoyed it...even with an 18 mile uphill climb the first day--1646 vertical feet. ***If you decide to go, most people rent a bike from one of the many bike shops in Damascus, take a shuttle to Whitetop, and ... read more

Well, it's been 14 months since I closed on my house and 13 since I moved in. It's been a busy year but figured it was time to send some pictures of the most recent changes (and also what it started out looking like) for those of you who haven't been here to see it. There are still lots of things on my mental list to work on, but for the most part, the first level is done. Upstairs needs more furniture and some finishing touches--and I'm already planning to repaint my room. I continue to work at the same school as a District Itinerant Speech Language Pathologist but I have put my name in the pot to be considered for the full-time position so keep your fingers crossed for me! This year for Christmas, my ... read more

The Golden Gate Bridge covered in fog. We spent the night in Petaluma, about an hour north of San Francisco, and were lucky enough to find a great Indian restaurant within walking distance of our hotel. We also made friends with the guy working the front desk so that we could get some info about how long we should actually allow to get into SF with traffic and everything. GoogleMaps are great, but don't always account for traffic. He said it would take at least an hour and would probably take more like an hour and a half since we were planning to leave at about 8am--but it could take longer. Turns out we made it with no real problems in just under an hour. I drove across the bridge and couldn't see a thing. Fog ... read more

-- Check out the video Amy took! There is also a second page of pics so don't miss those! We left our hotel just outside Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Park early Monday morning so that we could get to Yosemite National Park in time to do some sightseeing before darkness fell. We knew we had two days to fit in all that Yosemite had to offer and we had to get a move on! Our drive to Yosemite was uneventful...I believe there was quite a bit of napping going on for the backseat passengers, but then again, just about anytime we had music on Amy was out like a light! :-) Our first stop was the BEAUTIFUL Glacier Point for, quite literally, a bird's eye view of the Valley, Half Dome, and a few of ... read more

We woke up early and showered by about 8am. During breakfast, Lauren and Allyn wanted coffee so Amy went next door and borrowed the neighbors' coffee machine. While she was gone, Allyn and Lauren went out onto the patio. A very loud alarm sounded! They weren't sure what was going on so we all traipsed upstairs and asked Amy what was going on. "Ok, they're testing the fire alarms this morning at 8am. Sorry, I forgot." Throughout breakfast, numerous apartment alarms went off through the building. But Peanut Butter Puffins and coffee made everyone happy to start the day. We set off for Redondo Beach and got out and took pics of surfers and the pier. Even got to take pictures with a VW van that had been "chopped" to fit a surf board. Back in ... read more