Epic Hike - Only I wasn't there??!?!

My dad and his girlfriend Sherry went out to California a few weeks ago and they sent me these photos. This hike started at 2:30AM and concluded at 7PM that night! That is what I call epic!!!

I really like the above photo.

Spy Rock.

So I was getting ready to post some photos of Spy Rock off of Route 56 and I see that Carrie has beat me to it. Now not only has she hijacked the look of this site but she is also beating me to the punch. I will still post.

We went up to Spy Rock on Saturday which was a really rainy day early on but turned out to be a nice day. Up on top of the mountain it was really windy and pretty cold. There was some sun but not really enough to keep you warm. The hike is 1.3 miles. Roughly .8 of it is an access road with the final .5 on the Appalachian Trail or the AT. It was an easy hike. This spot gets a lot of traffic in the Summer and Spring... however, there were only 2 other people up there while we were there. It was a great 360 degree view as you can see from the hijackers video which I shot and the hijacker used. If you get a chance you should check this out.

Carrie is always able to make friends with the locals.

Spy Rock

We went hiking this weekend with my family up to Spy Rock in Nelson County. I have to say this is the most breath taking view I've seen. My mom almost missed it, but we convinced her it was worth the treacherous climb up the crack of the rock. Way to go Mom!



Jesse and I at the top.

It's even more beautiful in person!

A 360* view from the top

Blog hijacking.

Carrie hijacked the look of this blog. She has taken over.

Cliff Butternut, Adventure Extraordinaire

Jump Rope

I'm going to start jumping rope today. Yesterday, I bought my rope for $9.99 at Dick's Sporting Good's. Jesse has already been jumping for the past couple weeks. He's got it down pretty good. He can already jump for 20 minutes. (He's amazing and I love him). I hope I won't get discouraged quickly because I know it's something that takes time and perserverence....

Wish me luck!

Ouch

I was lying on the couch after work, relaxing after a long day. Sweet little Madi was lying next to me. It was raining outside, we were cozy and warm. It was nice. Then Jesse came home from work and everything changed.
As he opened the door, Madi jumped up to greet him. In her excitement, she used my face as her jumping post. You can see the results below. Ouch.

Dinner... left overs compiled.

Last night Carrie and I had a hodge podge of left overs. They were in the refrigerator and we got to have them all at once. It was certainly a motley looking dinner. Carrie was visibly angry... see photos below.
Spaghetti, corn & peas, salad, and ovaltine.




Dinner was good.

Hiking/Camping at St. Mary's Wilderness

This past Saturday and Sunday Branden, Josh, and I went camping and hiking at St. Mary's Wilderness. None of us really knew how difficult the hike would be. I would estimate that over two days we hiked 16 or 17 miles. It was a great time and the weather was perfect. I did get a little cold at night as my sleeping bags loft is not what it used to be. Overall, this was an excellent trip. I look forward to doing it again.

Yours truly. That is a waterfall behind me.

Water running about 3 feet under the rock wall. It must have been running for a very long time.

Branden telling his famous ghost stories...

The Priest wilderness where I went hiking and camping a couple months back with my dad, uncle and two cousins.

Crawfish for dinner. We searched for these in the stream that ran about 10 feet from our campsite. I will be honest and say Josh caught all but about 3 of them. He is a hunter!

Amazing.

This picture was taken at our church picnic. I saw this picture and thought I am the luckiest man alive. She is absolutely beautiful! I see photos of Carrie sometimes and they take my breath away. That is not our baby. :)

Pickles!

It worked! We have pickles!

Extremely sour pickles!

I think I put a little too much vinegar. Next time I try it, I'll half it with water.

Pickles?

I'm attempting to make dill pickles from our last few cucumbers. I went the refrigerator route because it is much easier. I just added all the spices, cucumbers, and white vinegar to a jar. Stuck it in the fridge. Now we wait. We will know in 6 days whether or not it worked.

Green Eggs and Ham

This past Sunday afternoon I surprised Jesse with Green Eggs and Ham for lunch.


His reaction:

He was surprised.

Went hiking with part of our small group.

Last night we took off from Lynchburg at about 6:30 to go camping at McCafe Knob off of 311 in far away. We camped out and hiked to the top this morning. It was a great time and the view was amazing! We saw a black bear just down the trail from us. It is the first time I have seen a bear in Virginia. I look forward to another trip with the small group. The weather is perfect for hiking and camping now.Carrie is so good at making really cute faces!




That is one crazy cliff. Even sitting on the edge was crazy!
They thought it would be fun to have a knife fight.
A group shot minus Joe and Jess and boy. Sorry you couldn't come.

My sister graduated from University of Michigan.

We had a great dinner.
Photoed Above: Dad (Greg), Step-dad (Larry), Mom (Sandra), and me (Jesse). It was a nice time and the celebration of the culmination of years of hard work and diligence for Amie. I am proud of you Amie. You have inspired me to finish school quicker than I planned. My goal was to be done by 75.

Car rides and the things that I learned to love...

My parents were divorced when I was 8 years old. I can remember vividly the day and space in which the news broke. Thats another story for another time. One of the byproducts of my parents divorce was spending time with my dad on weekends. My dads parenting style was different than my moms. It wasn't better or worse, just different. For example, when we (my sisters) would go over my dads on the weekend I could rent a good war movie. Something like Full Metal Jacket or Platoon... I was between 10 and 12. Those are great movies and for a younger guy like I was they were great! Another staple of weekends with my dad is an appreciation of different music than most kids would be into. We were listening to Nirvana, The Smithereens, and many others. I find myself listening to some of the music we would listen to while we were on our way to be dropped off at my moms house. I have a very vivid memory of sitting in the parking lot of Murrays Auto on Van Born listening to Polly by Nirvana. I think my dad was inside and my sister and I were listening to the music. These are great memories. Sometimes I wish I could go back and be a kid again. One of the things that stuck with me to this day is listening to NPR. My dad listened to NPR and NewsTalk 950 all of the time. You can bet that if I am in the car NPR is on the radio. I know... some people think it is to liberal... frankly, I don't care. Some of the stuff I take with a grain of salt. Other points are relevant and necessary to have a complete picture of our political and economic climate. I love NPR! I love and cherish the memories of riding with my dad and my sister Amie. We were certianly a motley crew.

Can you tell what time it is?

Bright lume!

Morning coffee.

I was making my coffee this morning and it looked like I was mixing Kahlua. I felt like the Dude.

Carrie is sick... i.e. she does not feel well.

So this morning Carrie got up and felt awful. We have class tonight for nearly 4 hours so I suggested she stay home from work and get rest. She agreed.

My Mom and I.

So, my sister graduated from the University of Michigan. Therefore, my family went out for dinner at Ocean Prime (http://www.ocean-prime.com/). It was a good restaurant. I had jumbo lump crab cakes, Latkes with sour cream and apple sauce, and candied yams and marshmallows. Carrie had Chilean Seabass and shared my side dishes. It was a good time.

My Mom and I.

Michigan Grand Prix on Belle Isle

I went to Detroit this weekend to visit family and go to the Detroit Grand Prix. It was a really nice time seeing family, friends, and exotic race cars. It is really crazy how fast these cars can go. The race is on Detroit's Belle Isle. When I was 13 to 15 or 16 I would go with my Dad to the Detroit Grand Prix free day. It was the Friday before the race. My Mom would let me skip school and my dad and I would hit the race. On the free day you could sit anywhere you wanted. Anyways, enjoy the videos.