Tega Cay Christmas

The twins got 2 Kindles and Aubrey inherited Jenny's old iPad. Seth's home network is at it's max capacity.

Caroline studies for her particle physics exam

Monster swing

We bought the lot next door. There is a gigantic oak tree in that lot that was screaming for a swing.

Thanksgiving at Pat's House

This is the mob. Larson flew into Charlotte to visit with his Great Granddaughters  (among others) and Seth drove him to my sister Pat's House near Tryon NC.

Habersham Fall Festival

6 adults, 5 grandkids, 2 dogs. I didn't take too many pics. The girls had their faces painted.

Caroline in pink

Caroline has established a bad habit of falling on her face. It's benefit is that it aids the grandparents in telling the twins apart.

Austie takes the big slide

Saturday in Tega Cay

The dirt?/concrete on the hill behind Seth's house required a lot of work to make a terrace for a garden. Every full swing of the grubbing hoe yielded 1/4 inch of progress. The twins needed new bike helmets. That's what these are supposed to be.

Out of the woods

I did the last remaining trail that I hadn't seen and then after breaking camp I returned to civilization. Jenny is still in New Mexico with her dad and brothers. Seth & I have to finish building a terrace on the hill behind his house so that he can grow stuff.

2 trails

Nothing but bike riding today. There are 4 trails, all of them about 10 miles long. Horseback riders and bikers trade trails everyother day. I rode the 2 trails available to bikers today. I'm tired and I'm also out of ice. I desperately need some to give a chill to my bourbon and coke. It's maybe 10 minutes to the nearest ice facility. Later!

Tsali day 3

I found out today that Tsali was a Cherokee Indian who didn't like the idea of going to Oklahoma and participating in The Trail Of Tears. He was killed but not before taking a few soldiers with him. Anyway, I spent most of the day in my kayak. No bike riding. I drove into Bryson City and picked up a few things and it's now after 5. Time to listen to "All things considered" while drinking bourbon.

Day 2

I pumped up my paddleboard this morning and went for a cruise on Fontana Lake. The lake meanders all over the place so navigation was confusing however, I did have one of my GPS's up and running so I didn't get lost. After that I drove to the Nanahala outdoor center to get some ice. I did another bike trail after that. Somehow none of my spices got packed. I've got no hot sauce and no lemon pepper. I might have to go into Bryson City to alleviate that problem.

Jenny has left me

She is in New Mexico with her dad and brothers. They are in Cloud Croft. They are threre to avoid the San Antonio summer heat and to revisit a location that Larson has enjoyed in the past. I am in western North Carolina, primarily riding my bike. I do have my kayak and my paddle board that I can use on Fontana Lake. I'm tent camping. I did a trail today on my bike and got this view of the lake.

Boys will be boys

The boys spotted a cute blonde in a T-Bird convertible.

We're Back

All is well at the house. We are going to have to adjust to the semi tropical coastal summer.  We missed it last year. Davejennyjournal will take a hiatus for awhile. This pic was taken during our homecoming, sunset, bike ride.

Home tomorrow

Seth & Courtney have made great strides in the process of moving in. Of course, they had the benefit of years of moving experience that Jenny and I gave. My 2 jobs were occupying the girls and hauling trash to the green boxes. Tomorrow will be nearly 10 weeks away from home. We will have some weeds to pull.

Day 2 festivities

Made it to Tega Cay

I've been given the unenviable task of entertaining the girls while the adults unload boxes.

Deer Run RV Resort, Crossville TN

What is an RV Resort? People own parking spots. There is a swimming pool. This one is over 200 acres and has a lake. Some people obviously live here. There are children being raised here. It's a place to live but I consider myself lucky not to. It's a nice campground though. We are a little west of Knoxville. Tennessee is a wide state. Tomorrow we will be in Tega Cay. Seth & Courtney closed on their new house today and they are going to spend night # 1 in it tonight. We are going to spend several days in a KOA near them and maybe be of some help. We saw this moth yesterday.

T.O. Fuller State Park Tennessee

We are just west of Memphis. This park has an unusual history. It was the first state park east of the Mississippi open to African Americans. The park was constructed by an all black unit of the CCC In 1938. During the construction of the park, specifically, the swimming pool, evidence was found that the site was an ancient Indian village. There is a large mound of earth and evidence that the area was inhabited for many millenia. Sadly, we need to move on. We will be gone tomorrow.

2nd day at the lake

Today was a bike ride on a good trail, a 2 1/2 hour hike followed by lunch. Since the  athletic activity we have been trying to stay relativity comfortable. It ain't easy. It is hot and humid. I'm not complaining but let me say I prefer dry heat. I can't post pics using the visitors center WiFi so I'll try and do it tomorrow. We should be near Memphis tomorrow.

Lake Ft Smith State Park Arkansas

We are now in the south for sure. I was soaked in sweat while making camp and there is a bumper sticker on a pickup next to us that reads "Obama and Democrats don't like America". We have our satellite set up so I was thinking of inviting him over to watch MSNBC tonight. We have limited cell in the campground so I'm using the WiFi in the visitors center. They close in 10 minutes. Let's see if this works.

Oklahoma is OK

One of the reasons we stopped here is that their Web site mentioned 17 miles of trails. I got on one of them yesterday and was soon riding through waist deep weeds. I had to stop a couple of times to clear the foliage that had become wrapped around my hubs. I thought that maybe I had picked a unused trail or something so today we drove around to some other trailheads. They were all overgrown. Rain can really screw things up. There is a disk golf course here. We shared it with the local fauna. After golfing we walked to the marina for a cool one. This is Oklahoma marina humor.

Foss lake state park Oklahoma

Not much to report today. There was a lot of standing water where there shouldn't have been any. That was evidence of the tremendous amount of rain that has been dumped in this area in the last 3 weeks. I think Jenny read that this park has the official state Bison herd. This one was wading in a muddy pond at the visitors center.

Tucumcari NM

After driving into town to buy groceries we have determined that Tucumcari has but one claim to fame. The old "Route 66" is its main street. The businesses appear to in a 60s time warp. K-mart is the big department store. Nuff said. We are in a KOA. Jenny called her dad.

Malpais day 2

Since this was going to be our only full day here, we hit the ground running. The big hike today was an 8 miler on a sandstone ridge 500 feet above the edge of the lava field. This was an out and back that turned around at an overlook that gave us a view of New Mexico's largest arch. Tomorrow we continue the march eastward.

El Malpais national Conservation Area

Jenny tells me that Malpais means "bad country or bad land". We are in New Mexico near Grants off of I 40. There is a huge lava bed near here and we are sure that is why this area is El Malpais. We are in a free BLM campground. If you use your imagination you will probably guess what amenities there are in a free BLM campground. A place to park, a pit toilet, and a picnic table. Luckily it's fairly cool otherwise this probably wouldn't work. There are some things to see and some hikes to take so we will stay here 2 nights. I climbed up above our camp and took this pic.

Day 2 in Durango

I found a bike trail not far from this campground that was rated  intermediate. It was a 9 mile loop. Jenny drove me to the trailhead and off I went. Of the 9 miles, 4 1/2 was up hill. Since there is very little oxygen up here and I have sea level lungs I thought that my heart might explode. It was a thigh burning climb but it was one hell of an exciting descent back to the trailhead. We went into town and ate lunch and then rode our bikes along a trail that parallels the Animas river. The trail is very well done. Outdoor recreation, in all its forms, is a big part of Life in Durango. We're outta here tomorrow. We'll end up probably in New Mexico.

Durango Colorado

We did today's drive disconnected. There were a couple of pretty high passes we had to climb over and I just didn't want to stress the MP. Pat, we have made the turn. We should be home in about 2 weeks. We will go through Charlotte and see Seth's new house on the way. We will be here for probably 2 nights. Durango is the terminus of the Silverton - Durango narrow gage RR. The city is a pretty big tourist destination and we walked around some today absorbing it's ambience. Here are some pics I took on the drive. 

Black Canyon day 3

I did my inner-canyon hike? Scramble? Climb? This morning. I rode my bike to the visitors center and got my permit at 8:15. They only allow 15 people/day to be in the canyon. I was the first to show up so I was solo for all of the descent and most of the climb out. The route (can't call it a trail) followed an avalanche chute or a rock slide most of the way down. There was one section the NPS provided a chain to hold onto because there was no way to stay upright without it. I finally made it to the river in 1 1/2 hours and was awestruck by the beauty of the river and the inner gorge. I explored for about an hour and then headed back up. Jenny was right to pass up this one. There were 3 young couples descending as I climbed up and I sensed no joy emanating from the females. Live and learn.

Black Canyon day 2

We are at the end of the road at the top of the mountain. It's the only place in the park where there is any cell. We have decided to stay one more day because I want to hike down to the river. Jenny is using something she calls "good judgment" and has decided not to accompany me. Here are some of the pics from today's hike.

Black Canyon of the Gunnison

Today's drive pretty much followed the Gunnison river. We are camped on the edge of a 2000 foot deep canyon that the Gunnison river has gouged out over the Last few years  (+ or - a few hundred million) we are on the south rim in a site with electricity only. The scenery is breathtaking. We will be here 2 nights. Our WiFi is weak here and I can't post any pics. I'll try tomorrow.

Crested Butte

We drove with Hal uphill for about 30 minutes to the town of Crested Butte. He lived here for several years and owned some properties here. We played 9 holes of disk golf, ate lunch with one of his old friends and then drove down the mountain and visited with another of his friends who lives on the Gunnison river. The mountain above the city is Crested Butte, the cities namesake. We leave tomorrow and plan on visiting  The Black Canyon of the Gunnison NP.

Gunnison tour

Hal took us up to visit his property in the mountains this morning. We were at 9200 feet and there were a few patches of snow. We returned to Gunnison and attempted to positively affect it's economy. Tomorrow we will drive to Crested Butte and I can only assume it's economy will be equally effected.

Gunnison Colorado

Today's drive took us over the continental divide. We chose Monarch Pass  (11,312 feet) we disconnected the MP from the Forester before the climb because we weren't sure how hard it was going to be. It was snowing at the summit but both vehicles performed admirably. We linked up with our MacArthur HS friend (Hal Vagtborg) and had a good visit. We will spend the day with him tomorrow.  He has some property near Crested Butte that we are going to visit.

Rainy day

We had enough rain last night and this morning that we were unable to get to the trailhead for our mountain climbing hike. I did put on my rain suit and rode my bike but Jenny has only briefly stepped outside. Tomorrow we go to Gunnison  Colorado to visit with a high school friend who lives there. We are beginning to think about our turnaround. These pics were taken from the MP window and from behind our camp.

Another day in alpine paradise

We hiked down the last rim to river trail this morning. We have now hiked all 5 of them, plus the entire river side trail plus several others on the rim. If the weather holds we will climb a mountain tomorrow and then we will have pretty much done this park. Today, near the river, we found another area with petroglyphs, we visited a very robust spring and we were awed by the class 5 whitewater. My very active day ended with a bike ride.