Category: Photos
Fiddlers ’07
Sweet foot stomping, banjo twangin’ bluegrass. On our a way to our yearly dose of ear nectar the omens started early as we ran across a couple of dead Armadillos, or as my Cousin says, “Opossums in the half shell,” on the way there. The thing about fiddlers is I don’t like to know who is coming ahead of time. I like the anticipation of not knowing, but unfortunately more often than not I’m disappointed by a few notable no shows. This year was the worst in history. Only one Chandler made it — usually there is an entire clan. Joey Long was absent, though Joe and I did play Like a Hurricane in his honor. And to boot, Joe informed us that he got engaged (Congratulations Joe!) and for some inexplicable reason … Read More »
Annual Bama Pilgrimage
October is here and that can mean only one thing — time to travel to Alabama for the Fiddlers Convention. The past few years Ali and I have combined this trip with a weeks stay in Anniston. This seems to be about the only time we are getting down there, and it sure would be a shame to travel all that way and not get to visit with family and friends.
Ali planned a pseudo-surprise party for me on Sunday. I say pseudo because she told me we were doing something, but didn’t say what it was. It was at Jen’s house and she had cake and ice cream waiting. It was a lot of fun, most of the family was there, and a few friends showed up too.
Overall, we had a typical week — each morning Ali … Read More »
Southern Catskills
Another year, another fall, and as September was passing us by I was beginning to think our fourth annual hiking trip wasn’t going to happen. Eventually David was able to tear himself away from the ‘computer to plate’ implementation at the paper. After driving all day he rolled into my driveway at 10pm on 9/19.
On Thursday we drove to Middletown to get provisions and to go to Alto Music. We ate at Johnny Rocket’s in the mall, and then headed over to Gander Mountain. It’s not the best place to get hiking gear, but they do have freeze-dried food and some other essentials.
Next stop, Alto Music — this is a very cool music store. It is very big; they have a lot of good brands; and in general there is a lot to look at. … Read More »
Camping Bike Tour
Ah Maine, I don’t know what it is, but I really like this state. I’ve been a few times now; My first time we went to Camden for a Wind Jammer cruise back in 1998, and it was hands down the best vacation I have ever had in my life.
Our most recent adventure in Maine was through L.L. Bean’s Outdoor Discovery School where we did their Camping Bike Tour, or as I was calling it the Yuppie Bike Tour. The reason for yuppie is because of the camping part — they provided tents, cots, Adirondack chairs, running water (showers and toilets), etc. I’m used to rugged camping and this felt like cheating. Of course, Ali was thrilled with the amenities, and probably wouldn’t have even suggested the trip otherwise.
The program was just an overnight with two days biking around the … Read More »
OMG Ponies!
The real title of this entry should be Grayson Highlands. Since there were actually wild ponies where we were hiking the other title just felt more fitting.
Grayson Highlands is the site of the trek David and I undertook in early June. We had the privilege of hiking with Brant, a friend of David’s who lives in Abingdon, VA.
Brant is quite an experienced hiker. He understands about ultra-light hiking, and I feel like he advanced our knowledge by many, many years.
David and I have talked about how to get our packs lighter, much lighter off and on. Every time we take a look at it we seemed to walk away with the feeling that it just can’t be done. Brant let us borrow a book Beyond Backpacking which has a lot of good information about how … Read More »