Summer Roadtrip, Vol IV

West Virginia- they call it "Wild and Wonderful" -- and it was!

On Friday we drove from Raleigh to West Virginia with Lori and Dave. We followed Lori, who drove about 50 mph and nearly got us killed by all the truckers, who gave her dirty looks as they passed us. She was scared of the downhill grade.

We finally made it there in the late afternoon where we stayed at ACE Mountain Resort. This place is amazing. The company owns massive acres of land in West Virginia that edges up to the famous New River. They have campsites and common areas with a fun play lake, restaurants, and a ping pong table (Alex was toast) among other outdoor games. Then they have every kind of guided activity one might imagine like rafting, horseback riding, mountain climbing, zip lines, ATV tours, mountain biking, paintball just to name a few. The place is incredible and I would recommend it to anyone who wants to do any kind of outdoor activity all in one place. Anyway, we played on the lake for a few hours. They had tons of fun inflatable toys, a water slide, and a zip line, which Lori was cautious to try and then rode it 4 or 5 times over and over like a little kid even when the rest of us had our fill after twice. She was so cute!

Here is Alex getting popped off the blob

In the evening we went to our campsite to find that they had put us in the wrong place because we had a permanent tent with beds in it already set up. We were supposed to be in our own tents. We didn't complain.

Early Saturday morning we left for our two day rafting trip on the Upper New River. The first day we were in duckies. These are like kayaks except that they are inflatable similar to a one-man or two-man white water raft. They are fun because they are low to the water and so they make the mild class 3s feel a lot more exciting than they would in a raft. They also call them duckies because with about 20 of them all following our trip leader Kent in his big raft we looked like little ducklings. We would paddle for a bit and then swim for a while, or just float when the water was still. It was fun, but after lunch we hit a head wind the guides had just about never seen before and we had to constantly paddle just to get down river. It was a workout!

The Tyus' -- aren't they cute!

Our guides were amazing. They cooked meals which I can hardly describe. They packed coolers full of food and we had a snack buffet prior to the lunch cookout and dessert. It was good and the start of my trip weight gain. Up to that point we had been eating trail mix food and PBJ and riding bikes and hiking and I know I was down several pounds. Then we went rafting and we had 4 of the biggest back to back meals I can ever remember having. Think Thanksgiving for lunch, dinner, breakfast, and another lunch. We camped out at night on the riverside in tents and Alex made a very impressive bonfire. We made smores and bonded with a group of 10 guys there on a bachelor party who play frisbee so we threw for a while. Here is a picture of us beginning to pack on the pounds.

When we woke up on Sunday we headed out for the Lower New River. It was calm in the morning with just two warm up rapids and we spent the rest of the time floating and swimming and we all took a leap from "Jump Rock". We had another huge lunch and then after that we went through twenty-three class 4s and 5s. They were intense and back to back. It was awesome!

Here is my sis and I with our lucky river camoflauge coming out of our helmets, meant to appease the River gods. It worked~ we lived!

Our guides were really fun and did a few new things I've never done. One they call "surfing" where they take the raft back upstream after the rapid into a hydraulic, where the water is churning back upstream due to a rock feature of some sort, with the river around the hydraulic going down stream. So the guide directs the boat into a spot where the water is rushing all around you and you look like you are going to go in head first into a giant churning wave, but you just stay in one spot like you are surfing. The power in incredible and we did this a few times. Once when we were in there really good and an older man in the back of our boat went overboard, with his head and torso in the water with one foot hooked into the raft. So everyone went to grab him on his side of the boat which left Alex and I to be thrown out of the raft pretty violently. We came up shortly and my cute new pink water shoe slipped off and I went swimming after it. Everyone is yelling "Forget the shoe, get in the raft", but I rescued my shoe and all was well.

Yes, the nose of our raft in about to pop up over that wall of water!

The other fun thing is they do this one where you make a chain with the "stinky parts" together. Lori was in front floating with her feet downstream and Dave hooked his feet in her armpits and floated behind her, then I did the same behind Dave, and Alex was in the back. We floated kinda mellowly and then Lori hit this one spot where the train is zipped around. The force that pulled Alex and I in the back was crazy. He was screaming, "Don't let go" because it felt like I was being pulled so strongly by the current, and meanwhile I felt like I was going to twist his knees because it zips you from side to side very fast. The longer the train the better, but we had about all we could take with 4 people. It was awesome.

Rafting was incredible! the best I've ever done and we look forward to doing the nearby Gauley River next time. Lori and Dave left in the evening to head back to Raleigh and we were both overcome with emotion. I was so grateful for the opportunity to spend the weekend with Lori and Dave once more before they start their new life in NC. I know we didn't take for granted the time we had when we lived close. We said that with them being in NC now we'll have to make our get-togethers center around vacations, which will be a whole new type of family fun.

Summer Roadtrip, Vol III

Eastern Carolina- Raleigh and surrounding areas...

We were in Lori & Dave and George's new city for two days. We stayed with George who took us to "The Pit" for Carolina Style BBQ. We shared the triple meat platter- was good!

Alex and I went with Lori and mom to Jordan Lake for some mild hiking and lake swimming. We had a good time with them and then Lori took us on a drive through the UNC campus.

We like what we saw and so we went back the next day with our bikes. We spent about three hours riding around the campus. We saw the Football stadium and the basketball arena, and rode through the campus and downtown Chapel Hill. On Cheslea's suggestion we found the Cosmic Cantina and had amazing burritos. It reminded us a bit of Gainesville joint, with all the hippie flair and cheap food. After that we found a grassy quad and threw the frisbee (in barefeet with that soft grass we don't have in FL) where it all began. Then we relaxed on the grass. We decided the red brick and big trees reminded us of UF, but UNC was a lot prettier and more charming (our stadium kicks UNC's ass at least).

Then Alex decided he needed more biking so we went to Umstead State Park and rode some pretty cool mountain biking trails for a couple hours. These trails were different from the ones earlier in the week. We had to work pretty hard, but like the last ones, the downhill reward was awesome!

Next stop- West Virginia, baby!

P.s. Lori got a job today- she'll be teaching 4th grade!!!! We're celebrating tonight... Lori has a job, Alex passed his test. Her summer is over next week :(

Summer Roadtrip, Vol II

Western Carolinas and the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains...

Alex and I spent one day in DuPont State Forest in Western NC southwest of Asheville. We had so much fun. We did several pretty rugged hikes, all of which had a huge reward at the end... Massive waterfalls that we had so much fun playing in. We went to Hooker Falls, Triple Falls, and High Falls.Then we got out our mountain bikes and did several trails. We thought we'd stick to the moderate trails since we are from FL and used to little elevations. But we ended up lost and on an extremely rugged trail. It was so fun and we had to work really hard, but the downhill reward was awesome, and we look forward to doing more biking on this trip.

Then we camped at Cascade Lake and had the cutest little campsite right on the lake's edge. The air cooled down and we had a very peaceful sleep. We woke up to a flat tire, which Alex had to switch out and we later spent some time having it patched at Sears since it was under warranty.


The next morning we went to Chimney Rock State Park, southeast of Asheville. We did some more hiking, and played in the 400ft waterfall, which was the film site from Last of the Mohicans. We avoided the snakes that were sunning and swimming at the base of the falls. Also we got buzzed by a C130 doing flight trials in the mountains. We were at the top of Chimney Rock and it flew at eye level. Very cool.

My smart husband

Alex joined me in Atlanta Saturday evening after taking his national certification for EMT in the morning. He called at 7:30 in the morning to tell me that he was lost and couldn't find the testing center and could I get online and give him directions (no computer access). Well he finally found it, and was in and out in 40 minutes. This test is weird because it is computer-based and ends itself either when you prove you can pass or prove you can't. Nobody seems to know exactly the formula and their isn't s set number. Alex felt confident despite my begging him to study, and last night he found out he passed! Now, after more than a year he has satisfied all the requirements to be hired as a fire fighter. Now he has to interview, so keep him in your prayers for this last phase in the process. Yeah for Alex, the EMT valedictorian!

Here is a picture of us gangstas happy to be reunited after a few days apart.

ECHO Hockey

We got the Flying Camels together again. The core team of myself, Devon, Rachel, and Sarah have added a few new friends to the old team. We have fun playing together after all these years. We won some tournaments last year, but unfortunately we didn't win this one. We did win a few games and had some fun in the process while getting a lot of exercise and little sleep. We lost in the final so we came in second place. Check out our cool trophies. As nearly 30 year old adults we'd rather get t-shirts or even hockey tape, but whatever.

Summer Roadtrip 2009, Vol I

Yesterday I began the first leg of my summer roadtrip. I had a great drive to Atlanta where I will be for a few days. Today was the birthday party for Jen and Milo's boy Zachary, who turned 4 at the beginning of June. We had a pirate themed party, complete with a big bouncy house and a very elaborate pirate cake. Milo cooked out as always and the house was full of happy children and their parents. It amazes me how big my Joshua is getting, and Zachary as always has the sweetest heart.

I had a great time today seeing Jaime and her kids too. Her boy Ben is about 10 months and this was the second time I've really met him. The last time was when he slept in my arms for about 4 hours. Today he was engaging and happy, with big smiles and baby cooes. I'm so impressed with Jaime and her strength and sweet heart as a mom for her two kids. I had so much fun watching Ben for a few hours while Jaime ran some errands. I just love the smell of little babies, especially after baths when they have soft skin and that damp baby hair and love to be held. Jaime and Jen left with the kids and Grandma Roz to Michigan in the afternoon and will be there for a week.

I will spend the rest of the week with the hottest women in all of hockey. Our "Flying Camels" are back again, and look to do some nastiness in the ECHO tournament later this weekend. More on our successes later.

All for now... the house is quiet and peaceful. Milo and I are off to work out his boys' team for a little pre-tournament practice.

A fond farewell

With Lori moving to Raleigh this week we decided to have a nice girls Slumber Party it Longboat Key. The roster included my Aunt Anne, my mom, Lori, and me... until my cousin Debbie went into Labor with her first baby and Aunt Anne had to leave (happy to report mom and baby boy are doing well). So my mom, Lori and I went to lunch on the beach at the Sandbar restaurant, then went to the house to relax. Mom brought old home videos and we watched ourselves, reminiscing on old times and also feeling a little sad to see Lori go. Then we went to the beach for sunset and threw the frisbee for a few hours. My mom was pretty good, too! It was a beautiful night. Later we played Scrabble. Lori won for probably the first time ever, and I lost in a similar fashion. We stayed the night. It was fun and I have come to really enjoy my times in Bradenton with Lori and Dave; going to outdoor cafes for lunch, playing frisbee, and spending our days off at the quiet beaches. I will miss all that fun, but I'll miss my sister even more. We will spend about a week together next week in NC and WV hiking, camping, and white water rafting. We are really looking forward to it. In fact, I think it is our first vacation together with our husbands.


It was also my 29th birthday. And Lori got me a pickle birthday card. It said "I bet you didn't think you were going to get a pickle for your birthday."... No I did not. After initially throwing it as soon as I pulled it out of the envelope I tried my best to hold it.