The Family Tree art show is now up at the Tomato Head in Maryville, TN. These are photos from the opening evening.

It snowed this morning.

Family Tree - Tomato Head Knoxville - November 2009

Heat wave for fall break

We pulled the Scamp to the Florida panhandle.  It was hot and humid but it was fun to get away.

USPro Championships

We traveled to Greenville, SC for the USPro Cycling Championships.  Photos here of David Zabriskie (Garmin) and Tom Zirbel (Bissell) in the TT.  DZ won easily, covering the 20.7 mile course in 39'37".  George Hincapie (Columbia-HTC) won the next day's road race.  Photos here of DZ and Zirbel at the TT.  Also of DZ, who rode solo for the first half of the road race, building a 3 minute+ gap and of Hincapie and Bajadali (Kelly Benefits) at the crucial 300 meter mark before the finish.

90 years of Earl!

Earl's 90th birthday bash at the Rockville Presbyterian Church, Rockville, SC, August 23, 2009. 

Mount Rogers Trip, July 2009

Just got back from Mount Rogers, VA, including Grayson Highlands State Park.  First trip for the Scamp!  Here are a few photos.

to western states, part VIII, Flagstaff

We stayed with Aunt Bonnie and Uncle James for a couple of nights.  We ate great food, talked a lot, walked the edges of Mt. Elden in the mornings, and listened to the trains all night.

to western states, part VII, to Arizona

Orville woke up to the Colorado once again, on the day we would leave for Flagstaff.  We took a quick trip through nearby Arches National Park (in the photo, the Double Arch), passed by Monument Valley, and drove on to Flagstaff during the late afternoon.

to western states, part VI, more Canyonlands

We knew so little about this park before we got there, but after three days of hiking in, through, over, and in some cases, under it, it is easily a favorite.  The terrain is rugged, with trails marked by cairns, that lead you through washes, across numerous slickrock ledges, up and down through rocky draws, through deep cracks in the rock, and in some cases, over high, barren, windy stretches of steep slickrock when moving from one canyon to another.

We hiked about 30 miles or so in three days, through what's called the Needles section, named for the spires created as millions of years of sediment were eroded away.

to western states, part V, Canyonlands

Aiming for a prime camping spot, we spent a "staging" night at nearby Windwhistle so we could enter Canyonlands early the next morning.  The first photo is from Windwhistle, the next from our campsite in the park itself.

to western states, part IV, Moab

Next stop, Moab, Utah, for a campground on the Colorado River, some great hiking, great rocks, and (next time) slickrock mountain biking.

We explored a nearby canyon, found a good pizza place, and prepared for several days in Canyonlands National Park.

to western states, 2009, part III, Pinky

This was Pinky's first western road trip.  He got to see the farmland of the Kansas plains and the high peaks of the Rockies.  He was treated as royalty at a Hampton Inn in Denver, graced a KOA in Lawrence, KS, and rode in style on his bed of sleeping bags in the Element.

to western states, 2009, part II

A couple of more photos from Denver...

to western states, 2009, part I

Karin, Pinky, and I drove west in June 2009.  Allison in Denver, Canyonlands/Moab, and Aunt Bonnie and Uncle James in Flagstaff were the reasons.

We had a quick visit to Denver, seeing Allison, Lyla, and Allison's friend Andy.  If you're in Denver, go to Steuben's Restaurant on 17th.  We did, and it was excellent.

Allison showed us around her school, Rocky Mountain College of Art and Design.  It's an attractive campus, formerly a vast home for patients with tuberculosis, and then a cancer research center.

We needed a couple of more days to really see everything.  The school was closed when we were there, and Denver, of course... there's a lot to see.