Old Rag Mountain Hike

Old Rag Mountain is possibly the hardest hike in Virginia with about 2000 ft of vertical rise and numerous locations that require traversing rocks, crevases, and caverns. Here's one of the narrow crevases that make the trail fun to climb:

Thanks to the above group of men who helped me to the summit and back!



As you can see, I'm very good at color coordination; a red, black and gray, primary wardrobe, a maroon cap, pink backpack, only missing is my bright blue rain shell that I put away because of the nice warm weather.

My full group of photos can be viewed at:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/14313405@N07/sets/72157604209771783/

Great Basketball Steal!

#10 Blue was determined to steal that basketball!

Ripstickin' Old Man

This took a little time to get the hang of, but once I'm balanced, it moves pretty well. I need a larger, custom ripstick that can push me uphill a little better than those small castors will do. Thank you to my daughter for sharing her ripstick with me.

March Madness!

We had front row seats for the Championship of Chester this afternoon! March madness was invoked, and we had a thriller. The game was tied at half, and up into the 4th quarter at 21 to 21. Our opponents, the Turtles, hit some near three-pointers, and pulled away to 28. We were on the verge of tears, when it was obvious there wasn't enough time to catch up. Congratulations to the team who played like a team. They came up short but carried away the runner up trophy. My daughter had one assist; she caught the ball, found the open player, passed it, shoot - 2 points! Thanks, Coach Dan, and Chester Presbyterian Church!!! We can't wait until next year.

Two Stringed Kite - Happy March

Self Portrait.

I've always enjoyed flying kites. I made box kites as a kid that would fly real high, and in the North Dakota wind, I'd use every foot of fishing string that my dad had in his tackle box.

This kite, however, is my favorite one so far - the two string. It's an incredibly windy day today, so we went out to relieve a little stress. The two strings allow the kite to fly back and forth, up and down, and to do loops. A little tug on the right string, and it turns to the right. A hard tug on the left and hold, with a strong wind and it loops to the left. The weather report says that current wind gusts are up to 37 mph!

I first used this one at the beach last summer. I had to get there early in the morning before lots of people arrived because of my lack of experience - as I didn't want to hit anyone. I did, however, like to have fun with the seagulls. The trick is to fly casually to the right, and let the seagulls gather within reach. After the gulls come in, and are feeling secure with it, quickly pull to the left and swoop down - and watch them jump! It's fun also to catch them by surprise in mid-air. One gull looked like he was putting both wings forward to break and get out of the way.

Just a word of caution, always watch out for where the power lines are. The two strings are short, and dont' allow the kite to fly very high.

March is here and springtime is coming, I'm glad to have my kite in my van. Oh, just last week, I was stopped by a Chesterfield police officer, as the light on my license plate was burned out. He was just doing a routine check, when he saw my kite bag, and asked 'what is that?' I had a smile on my face and quickly replied, 'my kite' as last Saturday was also a windy day.

Chester Cotillion - 50th Year

Thanks to Mr. and Mrs. Phillips for their dedication to our kids. We've been there for 5 of the 50 years! It's been a pleasure seeing my precious girls grow up and enjoy learning how to dance. Someday I'll learn a 2-step, 3-step or a hop to dance one formal dance without stepping on their toes.