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.