To the Place, Where We Belong

Hey Ya'll!  Another exciting week as our adventure has taken us south.

We started the week in West Virgina doing some rafting with New and Gualey River Adventures.  First, we did the Gauley, which is one of the top whitewater runs in the world.  A lot of huge drops and big waves, with five class Vs and many more class IV rapids.  Our guide, Brian was an excellent guide and very entertaining.  We had exciting and very clean runs through all the rapids, which isn't always the case on the Gauley.  If you want some entertainment, just google "Gauley Carnage" and you'll see all the ways not to runs the rapids.  Click on the links below to see some of our runs.

Lost Paddle Rapid Class V

Pillow Rock Rapid Class V

Shipwreck Rapid- Going through the overhang

Right before the first Class V Rapid: Insignificant on the Gauley River

The next two days we did an overnight trip on the New River.  It was just us and our guide, Jeremy, on day one.  The first day on the New was pretty mellow, but very scenic.  We also had an inflatable kayak with us that was fun to play around in and surf some small waves in the river. We camped riverside at a beautiful beach and then picked up a few more rafters in the morning to do the second day on the lower part of the New, which had some good rapids, but wasn't quite at the same level as the Gauley.

While we were hanging out on the New River we got to watch a standup paddleboard race that started off by going down a class IV rapid.  Great entertainment to sit on the side of the river with a beer and watch 30 paddleboards go down the rapid.  Check out the link for lots of carnage.

SUP Race on Fayette Station Rapid

We left West Virgina on Wednesday and headed to Ashville, NC for the night.  We'd heard a lot of good things about Ashville from people throughout our journey and it didn't disappoint.  The drive through Cherokee and Pisgah National Forests was beautiful and we had a great night in Ashville, getting beers at Green Man Brewing Company and eating BBQ at Luella's.  In the morning we stocked up on food and more Ashville beers (Ashville Brewing Company and Hi Wire) and headed out for Great Smokey Mountains National Park.

Driving through Pisgah National Forest at sunset

We spent Thursday, Friday and Saturday backpacking along the Appalachian Trail, which is the dividing line between Tennessee and North Carolina in the Smokey Mountains.  For us, being used to backpacking in California, it was a bit of a different experience.  The biggest difference is that you have to stay in designated shelters along the trail.  The shelters are three sided huts with two wooden platforms, one on top of the other, so that 12 people end up sleeping on the two tiered 15 foot wide platform.  It's like the world's worst sleep over.  The first night we were with a group of eight professional snoring champions from Kentucky.  Not the best night's sleep.  The second night there were just five of us and we met some really cool guys from Knoxville that introduced us to Jack Daniel's Tennessee Fire, which definitely helped with sleeping that night.

The other major difference was that we were in the trees for pretty much the entire hike.  It was beautiful, and we got to see some of the leaves changing color, but we didn't quite get the views that we're used to in the Sierras. We were also up on top of the ridge so we didn't get to camp near streams or lakes like we usually do in California.  Still a great trip, but just a little different than what were used to.

Straddling the border between Tennessee and North Carolina 

Slumber Party with eight Kentuckians 

Shelter on the AT

View from Clingman's Dome

Had to hike to the top of a cement tower at Clingman's Dome in order to get a view

The fog finally lifted

 The last day in the Smokies we did a day hike to Rocky Top and Thunderhead Mountain, which were the best views we'd seen in the park.  It was a pretty steep trail with about 3700 feet of elevation gain in the 7 miles up to the top, but the views were definitely worth it.  After the hike we left the Smokies and headed to Nashville, where we ate a tremendous amount of food at Papa Turney's Old Fashioned BBQ.  Ribs, pulled pork, brisket, catfish, baked beans, mac n' cheese, collared greens and pecan pie.  Staring to understand why Tennessee is the top five fattest state.

Hiking to Rocky Top above the fog layer

View from Rocky Top

So full after finishing a two meat combo plate at Papa Turney's
Still had room for dessert though

We had a relaxing night staying in a hotel for the first time on the trip thanks to a going away present gift card from EdTec.  Thanks, EdTec!  First shower in seven days, which as you would imagine after four strenuous days of hiking was much needed.  So we are now clean and refreshed and ready to continue our journey this week across Tennessee, Arkansas and Texas with stops to try to catch the Giants and A's win their wild card games.

B and G

Exploring New Lands

Hey all!  Greetings from West Virginia! It took a little while between when we wrote this blog to when we were able to post it, as Appalachia isn't exactly a technological hub, so this entry covers from Friday, August 12th to Friday, August 19th.

After having some delicious french toast prepared by Uncle Richard we set off towards New York with a couple of stops on the way. First, at the Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield.  It has a lot of cool, old memorabilia and history about basketball.  The best part was on the bottom level they have a hall of fame court where you can shoot around on all of the basketball hoop iterations that have existed over the years, starting all the way back with the old school peach basket.  It was a lot of fun even though I tweaked my ankle trying to dunk dunking on a nine foot hoop.  Our next stop was in Farmington, Connecticut to see cousin Elle and little cousins Eliza and Scarlet.  Eliza and Scarlet even took us on a walk and gave us a tour of their school.  From there we drove on to Clarence Fahnstock  State Park in New York.

Proof that Gina could have made the NBA

Picked the right shirt to wear that day

I think Gina doesn't like Patrick Ewing

Textbook jumper

Having been camping mostly in fairly remote national parks we weren’t quite prepared for the experience of camping just an hour away from the largest city in the US during the weekend.  It definitely attracts a bit of a different (and louder) crowd than we are used to.  It was kind of like combining camping and clubbing with the loud music and bright lights.  The most entertaining part was the people who camped next to us who I think had probably never been outside, let alone camping.  They had a 20 minute shouting argument over whose fault it was that one of the dogs they brought shit on someone’s pillow and who should clean it up.  They showed their knowledge and preparedness for life in the outdoors by spraying themselves with Raid to keep the bugs away (that can’t be good, right?).  Then they spent most of Saturday sitting in their cars before deciding to leave early and likely never setting foot in nature again.

Camping was still really fun as we met up with Parker and Sarah (and Joey!) and Jake and Alicia.  We did some nice hikes along the Appalachian Trail and had a great time hanging out and catching up with friends who brought an awesome selection of East Coast beers.  After everyone left we spent Sunday afternoon reading and relaxing in the sun and then went into town to watch the Niners on Sunday Night Football.  We left at halftime with the Niners winning 17-7 and woke up the next morning to find out they had lost 28-20 (what happened!?).

Hiking in NY - hard to get Joey to pose for pictures

On Monday we drove from New York to DC.  We stayed with cousin Ned and Tori and little cousins Quinn, Skyler and Owen in Bethesda.  We had a great time playing soccer and break dance battling with Owen, helping Skyler with her homework (all Gina) and meeting Quinn’s lizard.  We also enjoyed some delicious BBQ burgers and a great meal prepared by Ned and Tori.  On Tuesday we took the Metro into DC and spent the day walking around and visiting all the attractions in DC.  We saw the White House, the Lincoln Memorial, Washington Monument, Capitol Building and the World War II and Vietnam War Memorials.  We met up with Gasper and Jenny at their apartment, had drinks on the roof of their apartment building and they took us to dinner at an excellent Ramen place.  

Where Barry O lives

Washington Monument

Reflection Pond

Sakuramen with Gasper and Jenny

On Wednesday we hung out drinking coffee and chatting with Gasper before walking down to see the American History and Natural History Museums.  We both really loved the American History Museum.  It has excellent exhibits on America’s political history and also had really cool exhibits on things like the history of American food, wine, money, transportation and inventions.  We had lunch at Jimmy John’s (a new fav) and went back to Gasper’s for a little bit before taking the Metro back to Bethesda.  Ned and Tori took us to an amazing Lebanese restaurant in downtown Bethesda and we probably ate enough food to keep us going for the next week.  We had both probably lost about five pounds in the first three weeks of our trip, but the last couple weeks of eating with family and friends have given us that extra layer of insulation that we need as fall approaches.

Playing some street hockey before the school bus came

We left DC on Thursday morning (but not before playing street hockey with Quinn and Ned) and headed to Shenandoah where we’ve mostly been hiking around the park.  We did a couple of waterfall hikes on Thursday and did the Old Rag hike Friday.  It’s a really cool hike that involves a lot of rock scrambling to reach the top of the mountain.  At the top there are great views of the Shenandoah Valley.  On the way back down Gina got stung by a bee.  She was hopping up and down and shouting obscenities when a small black bear (probably a two year old) ran right across the trail in front of us.  I know they say that bears are more afraid of us than we are of them and that was definitely true in this case as the poor bear was probably terrified and very confused about why so many curse words were coming its direction.  Near the end of the trail, which was on a fire road, we saw another (and much larger) black bear eating berries on the side of the trail.  We watched it for a few minutes and took some pictures, which was great until we realized that it had absolutely no intentions of leaving the trailside.  We tried all of the normal bear scaring tactics (clapping and yelling in a deep voice), but this bear did not care one bit.  We even rolled some rocks down the trail toward it and it just looked at us and laughed.  We were only a quarter mile from the end of a nine mile loop and walking back the other 8.75 miles wasn’t a particularly attractive option.  Luckily a ranger came by in a truck and put her siren on and the bear begrudgingly retreated into the forest. 

We think this was Dark Hollow Falls

Happy hour at the top of Bearfence Mountain

Hiking up Old Rag

Wait, I'm supposed to go where?

Gina, lookout for that boulder!

A blurry bar, we saw three in Shenandoah

We'll spend tomorrow in Shenandoah and then head down to West Virgina to do some rafting.  Hope all is well with everyone.  Go Giants, go Niners!

B and G

East Coast Family Time

Greetings from the East Coast!

It has been a great past week hanging out with family and exploring around New England.  After completing our cross country trip with two very long drives it was great to spend a day relaxing and recharging at Uncle Ralph's house.  We went for a little run around Cape Elizabeth and then sat by the pool for most of the afternoon and had a nice family dinner with Uncle Ralph, Auntie Barb, Amanda, Fred, Nino and Zoe.

The next day we drove up the Maine coastline to Acadia National Park.  After seeing signs every hundred feet or so we eventually stopped to get a lobster roll that was as big as a football.  It claims to be the largest lobster roll in Maine with two full lobsters per roll.  It was delicious.  We arrived in Acadia and did the Precipice Trail, which is part hike, part climb up the side of a mountain.  The hike is only a mile, but about half the hike is climbing up ladders and iron rungs.  Probably one of our favorite hikes so far since we both love climbing. After the Precipice Trail we did a quick hike along the coast on the Great Head Trail (yes, that's really what it is called) and then went to the campground to set up camp for the night.

Acadia coastline

Gina on the Precipice trail

View from the top of the Precipice

Gina "hiking"

In the morning we hiked up Cadillac Mountain, which is the tallest mountain in Acadia.  It was a beautiful hike with great views of the park and of the Maine coastline.  We were almost at the top of the mountain when, whoooooossh, a huge tour bus passed right by us.  The east coast has decided that all major mountains should have roads that lead to the top, which takes away a little bit from the feeling of solitude and tranquility that one enjoys when hiking up a mountain.  I guess it is nice though that people who wouldn't otherwise get to enjoy the beautiful view are able to get up there.  So while we saw only a couple of people on the hike there were hundreds at the top of the mountain.  Another thing we've noticed lately is a change in the demographics of people in the National Parks.  With summer vacations over and school back in session it is now us and a lot of old people.  Now for you people reading this that might consider yourself "old" we want to clarify, not old like you, you all are much younger than the centenarians that are currently inhabiting the national parks.

After hiking back down Cadillac Mountain, we left Acadia and headed to the Atlantic Brewing Company for some free beer tasting.  Delicious!  We got back to Portland in time to walk around the city a little bit and have dinner with Nino and Zoe.  On Saturday we got to go out in the boat, which was exciting with some pretty big swells out on the ocean.  We cruised around the Portland area and went out to lunch on Peaks Island.   We had a couple more great family dinners at Uncle Ralph's on Saturday and Sunday, went for a great run down to the lighthouse, walked on the beach, relaxed by the pool, and watched the Niners beat the Cowboys to cap off the weekend.

On the boat in Portland

On Monday we drove across Maine and into New Hampshire to spend the day in White Mountain National Forrest.  It was really pretty with the Swift River running along the road and some great hiking trails to viewpoints and waterfalls.  If you are ever looking for a scenic drive, the Kancamagus Highway, which goes through the White Mountains is tough to beat (and fun to say).  On the way we also drove past where my Grandfather, Papa, used to live in Naples, Maine.  Hadn't been there in close to twenty years and it brought back a lot of great memories of hanging out with Papa and the family on Long Lake. 

The viewpoint on the Boulder Loop Trail

Rocky Gorge, Swift River

Sabbaday Falls

We've been in the Boston area for the last three days.  We spent one day in the city where we walked the Freedom Trail, ate pizza and a cannoli in the North End, saw a really cool exhibit on old maps at the Boston Library, had drinks at the Top of the Hub, which is on the 52nd floor of the Prudential building and went to Fenway to watch the Sox play.  Overall, a very busy and excellent day in Boston.

View from the top of Bunker Hill

Lunch at Regina's Pizzeria

Fenway

We spent the last two days in Scituate with the family.  More relaxing at Uncle Richard and Aunt Joan's beach house and more great family dinners with the Uncles (Richard and Phil), the Aunts (Joan and Mary) and cousins (Kate, Jeff, Ricky and Allison).  We also took a trip to Plimouth Plantation, which felt like an appropriately patriotic thing to do on 9/11 and appropriate that we visit the birthplace of the United States on our tour of the United States.

Spending time with the family made us wish we were closer to the east coast and could see everyone more.  We've even talked about moving to the east coast if you all can do something about your winters.  
 

Plimouth Plantation

Their houses were pretty spacious compared to the Suburban

The Mayflower

Uncle Richard, the best tour guide and storyteller in New England

Today we're headed to Conneticut and New York and then down to DC next week.  Hope you all are well!

B and G

Midwest Best

Hey all,

We’ve had an excellent past few days in the Midwest.  After driving across the rest of  South Dakota and Minnesota, which weren’t that exciting (perhaps we should have visited the Corn Palace), we stayed on the Mississippi River, just on the border of Minnesota and Wisconsin.  We did a quick hike in the morning along the Mississippi and then set off to Milwaukee for the day.   

Above the Mississippi looking from Minnesota across to Wisconsin

Milwaukee was a really fun place to spend the afternoon.  We walked along Lake Michigan and then did a tour of the Lakefront Brewery, which was one of the best deals we've found so far.  A tour of the brewery, a souvenir pint glass and three beers for $7.  Would have been perfect had I not dropped one of my beers on myself during the tour, but I guess walking around the rest of the day smelling like beer helped me fit in during our day in Milwaukee.  We continued our Milwaukee experience by eating dinner at the Brat House.  We each ordered a Brat and got the appetizer sampler.  Apparently in Milwaukee appetizer means one of everything on the menu so we ended up eating six Brats between us.  After dinner we waddled back to our car and drove down to Chicago.

Lakefront Brewery, which is actually on the river

Milwaukee

So many Brats!

Our weekend stay in Chicago was perfect.  Andrew and Susan were excellent hosts and their place downtown was great for going out and exploring the city.  We even slept somewhere other than in the Suburban for the first time in two weeks.  We made two trips to Wrigley Field.  One on Saturday to do the tour of the ballpark and one on Monday to watch them play the Brewers.   A Buster Posey jersey was worn for both trips.  It was especially funny to see the Brewer fans reactions after the Giants had just finsihed crushing the Brewers for three games and then some random Giants fan shows up at Wrigley to heckle Ryan Braun.

 

Cubs - Brewers game at Wrigley

On the field during the Wrigley tour

We spent a lot of time walking around Lake Michigan and made a couple trips to the jazz festival in Millennium Park.  We  had several excellent meals including sandwiches at Lucky’s Sandwich Shop (from an episode of Man vs. Food), a rooftop BBQ at Andrew and Susan’s and Chicago Dogs at Wrigley.  Overall a really great experience for both of our first trips to Chicago.

We left Chicago around 4PM on Labor day and spent 20 of the next 30 hours driving to Cape Elizabeth, Maine.  We spent Monday night in a KOA near Lake Erie.  I believe the official name was the I Hope No One Accidentally Shoots Us KOA.   There were probably around 20 other campers staying there, I think they were all named Cleatus and we had more teeth than all of the Cleatuses combined.  The next day we made a quick stop at Niagara Falls, which was pretty impressive, and arrived in Maine around midnight.

 

OK, we didn't actually take this picture, but this is what Niagara Falls looks like.

We’re in Maine now relaxing, hanging out with family and checking out Acadia National Park, which we’ll write about more in our next post.  Hope all of you are doing well.  We love hearing from all of you !

B and G