Still in Virginia – but not for long!

After determining the location of Hawksbill Church (which was named after a small river rather than the mountain peak) I headed back into Shenandoah National Park on November 3rd. Two days later (and as many very cold nights) I was at the southern terminus of Skyline Drive. The weather had been rather dreary and the color was gone from the few leaves remaining on the trees. But it was still a very pleasant drive. I didn't hike as much as I would have liked though because it was just too windy and too cold.

I wanted to get out of the mountains and back to the coast. But there were a few stops along the way and Mother Nature would have some say in the matter.

Two main stops were at the Walton's Mountain Museum in Schuyler, Virginia – hometown of Earl Hamner, Jr. and Appomattox Court House. Both sites were interesting in their own way. I was a fan of “The Waltons” from the time it first aired. The exhibits were informative and they had a lot of pictures. At Appomattox, I sat in on a chat with one of the volunteer Rangers and was reminded of bits that I had forgotten and learned a few new things as well. It was the highlight of my visit there.

For the next few days I stayed at two Virginia State Parks – Holliday Lake (near Appomattox) and Staunton River (near South Boston and about 25 miles from the North Carolina Border). On Monday (November 6th), I checked into a motel and learned that Tropical Storm Ida was due to go ashore near Mobile Bay. The wind and rain would be into the Carolinas the next day with the possiblity of 4-6” of rain. I had waited a bit too long before heading south, so I decided to go back north towards Richmond, partially to meet up with my friend TJ (who also happens to be a distant cousin) and then visit Williamsburg and Jamestown, eventually going down the coast of the Carolinas, specifically Cape Hatteras National Seashore.

But Ida changed directions and stalled out and, in the last two days, has dumped 6 inches of rain, more in some places, in southeastern Virginia! Currently (the morning of Friday the 13th) it is still windy in Richmond but the rain has pretty much stopped. Now is probably not the time to take the route I had initially planned so I'll be going back west, towards the mountains and then south, avoiding the flooded areas along the coast.

The Night of Lies?

"The riff raff from the Rockies getting together... drinking and telling stories and lies"

Night of Lies started off modestly but has since evolved into an event of national proportions.



http://nightoflies.com/

https://www.facebook.com/#!/NightOfLies/info



It gets dark early in Canmore, late Nov. Might as well have a beer and a laugh while youhave the chance!



"Night of Lies is an decade old (more?) evening of celebration of adventure and the age old art of story telling. A social gathering that supports local causes by providing an entertaining evening of slide shows, videos, open dialog, prizes and lots of beer drinking."



When:Saturday, November 23,

Where:The Cornerstone Theatre, Canmore, Alberta

Watching over the nest

A pair of Eagles watches over their nest as they take turns incubating the eggs. Butterwort Cliffs Scientific Natural Area - Near Cascade River State Park, MN.

Pashley and a Burning Bush

The Co-Habitant's Pashley Roadster Sovereign has not made an appearance here in some time, but today he demanded to be featured by posing handsomely next to this beautiful "burning bush." The Co-Habitant loves this bicycle. He has been commuting to work on it since May, and says that it only gets more comfortable with time and that he is even happier with it now than on the day he got it. That is a pretty glowing review! Lately, he even seems to prefer the Pashley for longer rides, like the 25 mile trip we made today.

He is also extremely pleased with the B33 saddle, which is super-sprung to support the weight of a large man in an upright sitting position (the Co-Habitant is around 6ft and 200lb).

Tall, dark, handsome and brooding. Perfect.

You can't really tell in this photo, but the bicycle is enormous for someone with my body-frame. The saddle reaches past my waist, the handlebars to my armpits, and I can't clear the top tube. Still, I like to pose with it and pretend that I can ride it. It is a beautiful bicycle and a great partner to my Eustacia.

Rutland Round 1 - Braunston-in-Rutland to Uppingham

With Marta. 8.5 miles. Dry, warm - cloudy. Muddy in the woods. Quite hilly.




The CPRE's book on the Rutland Round is easy to follow, though we made sure we had a map as well.












We started from Braunston church, with its large clock and sheela-na-gig.



We walked along Wood Lane opposite the church and followed the road out of the village. At a left hand bend in the road, our path carried on into a lane. Just past the farm buildings the footpath turns to the left crossing straight over the field and down to the hedge. It crosses a small stream, then goes across another field to the corner of Prior's Coppice. It follows the western edge of the coppice, going south. As we reached the road at the south western end of the wood, we looked back to a stretch of water.

Looking back from the end of Prior's Coppice

We crossed the track and went south along the left of the hedge. At the field boundary there are a few trees, then the path goes diagonally downhill towards Leigh Lodge.

Marta. The way marks point to the way we have come.

We walked past the magnificent Leigh Lodge, keeping it on our right, as we followed the tarmac track downhill to the right.

An orchard of fruit trees in training - look at the wall at the back

The track climbs uphill for about a mile until it meets a stony track by some farm buildings. Here we turned left, and in about 50 yards turned right down a rough bridleway. This was quite uneven and muddy, but eventually turned into a tarmac road leading into Belton-in-Rutland. We had to climb a short section before arriving in the village.

The bridleway

Belton church.

We came out of Belton, past the village green with its lime tree, and took the footpath soon afterwards. This goes to the left, through a gate, then right through another one immediately after it. it crosses the field to the far right hand corner, where there is a stile.

Then you walk along by the hedge on your left, and cross the stream by a small bridge. Walk parallel to the hedge on the right to the next stile. Keep the hedge on your right when you cross the bridleway. There is a short step downhill section, and a bridge, then the path goes up to a stile. Through the hedge you join the old A47, the Leicester Road. Turn left then right to walk to the present road. Cross with care - there is a traffic island in the middle of the road opposite the bus stop. Across the A47 is the road into Wardley, a small village with a tiny church and a few houses.

Wardley church

At the bend in the road near the church we turned right along a track which goes behind a big house, then south through the hedge, turns left (west for a short distance before heading south east towards Wardley Wood. The path turns right, left, right left (marked and clear) before entering the wood at its south western point. From there the path goes uphill through the wood - very muddy at the moment, but it would be a great place to walk on a hot sunny day, with plenty of shade. We carried on in this direction, following way marks through the main wood and between two smaller sections of trees until the path crosses a couple of fields and a stream. The way marks are not always obvious, but the path climbs up hill to the old Leicester Road, slightly southof its junction with the A47. From here it's about a mile along this road into Uppingham. We had a jacket potato lunch at the Crown pub.














Rutland Round posts will also appear here

Beka Burbery - Kiwi Girl

I went to a big-deal seminar years ago. A certain big-name, brick-jawed American success coach. It was huge.

A 14 hour mega motivation marathon, the first 10 minute piss break was at the 6 hour mark.

Content covering; dedication, commitment, success strategy.

It's easy to be cynical, but to be honest, I learned a lot.

Climbers, you already know the message:

How bad do you want success? How badly do you want to do, what you want to do?

Would you limit your budget to a dollar for dinner, less for breakfast, forego a comfy hotel and live in a single, crappy unheated room, weave your bicycle through the dusty Chinese traffic?































Well, probably yes.

I met Rebekah Burbery in Yangshuo, doing just that, she was turning a week of budget into months.

I can't help but examine my own balance of commitments across work, home, climbing. Comforts.







The thing that struck me about Beka is that she practices high-level frugality and keeps the beautiful air of friendliness and full-scale positivity. Generous of spirit. Such a joy.














The route: Yangshuo Hotel 7b White Mountain - China.





















Back in her homeland of New Zealand she couch surfs and sleeps in her car to extend her climbing life between bursts of Outdoor Education work.













I decide I'm happy with my choices. I work hard. I enjoy a beautiful home. I have short trips to amazing places and meet inspiring people. I blog about it.









Vignette:

My mind is on something else.

As I stare through the crappy, blistering window-tint of the van, outside it's dark and dusty.

The road back from White Mountain to Yangshuo is in ruins. The van winds around searching for a workable course through the potholes, dodging buses. We make it into town, there's trucks, and diesel, and danger. It's very cold, and I'm sort of sleepy and aching, thinking about getting back to my hotel, dinner, bed.

Somewhere out there Beka is on her bicycle.

I generalise to myself; Kiwi girls are hardy.












Thanks Beka. jj

Lake Itasca :: Day's End

Wednesday, August 10th - - It had been a perfect day! In hopes of catching a nice sunset, I strolled along the beach area. There were no clouds in the sky but the haze turned the sky into a stunningly brilliant orange.







Disclaimer: The image above has been cropped and digitally enhanced! The contrast has been adjusted and a little saturation added, although not all that much.







As the sun dropped below the horizon, the orange color deepened to almost red.



This little duck was all by itself. The kids had gotten out of the lake and it was zig-zagging all around the beach area. I love the patterns it made in the water...

Lafayette Gourmet and a late Lunch

The Lafayette Gourmet is a foodie paradise! I just love the plethora of scrumptious FOOD from all over the world available here. Food for sale even in small portions and 100 kilograms. Heaven. I remember the last time I was in here years back. I bought my lunch here and picnicked at the park. Hands down, this is a must stop.

Although the French aren’t the best in the cured sausage department (the Italians are in my opinion), I bought here a couple of dried French saucissons.

Here is a TIP for would-be cured sausage/meat buyers: Pick the hardest, they taste better and steer clear away from ones with spices, nuts, cheese and what nots. Keep it naturel. Trust me, I am a self-declared dried sausage connoisseur. This is the only type of meat that I hoard!

Anywho, we continued our shopping spree outside Galeries Lafayette and Printemps. We hit the streets of Paris until our toes were begging and crying. Girls in high heel boots tramping down the streets of Paris for hours. Ridiculous, haha.

Here I am resting my weary feet before we hit the streets for more shopping. I did not shop a lot though. I only want to buy stuff that I really want.

The beautiful Opera Garnier (back part) on Boulevard Haussmann.

We decided to park our exhausted feet and take our very late lunch at a cafe nearby. The cafe restaurant was full with people but we were served quickly. I like fast service.

We both had a green salad. Mine was with jamon, eggs and a local French cheese (not sure what it was, maybe Comte) and of course a glass of red. Blondine had a different type of cheese on her salad. It was a nice very late light lunch.

The salad was not bad, 3.8 stars out of 5.

I was glad to end the shopping day with a few nice finds for winter. I think I may have to come back to Paris again soon. Or maybe Milan. We shall see...

A fisheye view of the ice

Check out this photo of me taken at sunset yesterday by Bryan Hansel. He used his fisheye lens to make this shot. I think it's super-cool! I took a break from photos today and didn't even pick up my camera once... so yes, if anyone is wondering, I do have "camera-free" days :-) What I did do was go cross-country skiing for the 2nd time in almost 20 years. Skied about 12 to 13 kilometers and it felt GREAT! The temp was pretty warm but the track was good and it was an awesome ski with friends!

Bloomin' Festival

I made one too many jokes about being at the right hand of Jesus.



We got moved to a new space. Under a nice magnolia, but not where I'd told everyone we'd be. I thought it was a punishment, but it turned out that lots of other people were in new spaces too.

The weather was perfect. The monks didn't look like they were sweltering as much as usual.



There was a lot of cool stuff, but I managed to not spend more than we made.







It was a show that allowed dogs.







The people selling dog hats were happy about that.





We sold out of several scents, so now I've got to make soap like crazy.

Nice place for a craft show.





I took several pictures of the statue of Jesus. It was a little disconcerting to answer "yes" to the computer's "Are you sure you want to send 'Jesus' to the recycle bin?"