New Addition

October 15, 2010

Lindsay's sister had a precious little girl by C-section on Friday, October 15th.

We were thrilled to be in town during this momentous event and Lindsay looks forward to helping take care of her new niece as much as possible while we are here.

This new addition is named after our Granny, Cecelia, who has Alzheimer's Disease. Granny would be deeply touched to know of the name selection.

Cecelia's "big" brother, Ashton (3), is quite sweet with his little sister. He kisses her head often and likes to play with her tiny fingers and toes.

Where Three Mountain Ranges Come Together

October 13, 2010

Though Asheville boasts being the largest city (pop. ~77,000) in Western North Carolina, it is more famous for its breath-taking scenery than it is for its "largest" categorization. With the Appalachian, Great Smokey, and Blue Ridge mountain ranges gathering here, its no wonder Asheville was named one of the "Best Outside Towns'' by Outside Magazine in 2006.

Traveling to Asheville had been on our list of cities to visit since learning that Lindsay's Aunt Joyce and Uncle Bill moved there five years ago.

Their hospitality did not cease to amaze us. We had a full itinerary, which included hiking part of the Appalachian Trail (2175-mile long trail from Maine to Georgia) with their hiking group,

touring Asheville, and chatting with the wild turkeys that "grace" their mountain neighborhood (and their front yard at times!).

In addition, we enjoyed travel-friendly conversation, ate deliciously-prepared meals by Joyce who has trained with chefs across the country and we savored homemade truffles that greeted us on our pillows. It felt like a true retreat and we were sad to start the 8-hour trek back to Williamsburg.

While in Asheville, we did visit the largest privately-owned home in the United States: the Biltmore Estate. It is 135,000 square feet with 250 rooms. (I wouldn't want to sign up to clean a house like that!)

Each of William Henry Vanderbilt's eight children inherited money from their father. The youngest child, George Washington Vanderbilt, chose to build a summer estate in the beautiful mountains of Asheville, NC where he had visited with his mother for years. George considered the Vanderbilt Estate his "little mountain escape." To read more on the history, please see theBiltmore Estate website or the Wiki link.

North Carolina's Largest City

October 10, 2010

Charlotte, NC (pop. 750,000) is North Carolina's largest city and is located in southern North Carolina, about 30 miles north of South Carolina. (Boy is that a mouthful!)

Though Charlotte boasts loads of green space and entertainment options, the biggest attraction for us is Lindsay's brother and wife: Matthew and Denise, and their dog: Jackson.

Our weekend with Matthew and Denise was well-spent walking, cooking, playing cards, and routing for Virginia Tech's football team. A little Guitar Hero was thrown in for kicks as well. We see Matthew and Denise about once/year, so this extra visit was a special treat!

Indie

We spent last weekend visiting Austin friends, Daniel and Amy near Indianapolis, IN.  Daniel just finished his Ph. D., and so they've moved up there for his new job.  Those guys are expecting a healthy new child in a few weeks, so we got to see Amy getting excited to stop being pushed and kicked from the inside :).

We had a great time grilling out with those guys, playing cards, and going to church with them.  Their town of Zionsville has a lively downtown, and certainly seemed to be a fine place to live!

Badlands

Aug 12, 2010

And that's what they are, more or less: bad lands.

Although, Lindsay did like the hike in the Badlands better than most hikes Mark and Lindsay have done so far. The hike was directly on the earth formations.

The combination of a windy, stormy night of camping,

hot weather during the day, and few hike options, we decided to move on from the Badlands after an hour of hiking in the morning.

Stone Heads

Aug 11, 2010

From Cody, WY we headed East towards Sturgis, SD with hundreds of motorcyclists. Our plan was to visit Mount Rushmore and then camp in the Badlands National Park.

Mount Rushmore, a 60-ft carving of the Presidential heads of Washington, Jefferson, Roosevelt, and Lincoln, was pretty impressive. We would recommend the information on the NPS website if you have a chance.

In 1924, historian, Doane Robinson, presented the idea of creating Mount Rushmore for the purpose of increasing tourism in South Dakota's Black Hills. Robinson convinced sculptor, Gutzon Borglum, to take on the project. Borglum was a well-known sculptor who had been commissioned to carve Stone Mountain in Georgia; however, he ended up leaving the Stone Mountain job unfinished because of disagreements over design and money.

Though Borglum was behind the design, the project involved the efforts of nearly 400 men and women using dynamite to carve 90% of the mountain:

"The workers had to endure conditions that varied from blazing hot to bitter cold and windy. Each day they climbed 700 stairs to the top of the mountain to punch-in on the time clock. Then 3/8 inch thick steel cables lowered them over the front of the 500 foot face of the mountain in a "bosun chair". Some of the workers admitted being uneasy with heights, but during the Depression, any job was a good job."

The Memorial's construction lasted from 1927 to 1941, during which time, not one fatality occurred.

Catch Up Day #2

Aug 10, 2010

After so much activity, we definitely needed another catch-up/rest day. We camped in Cody, WY (about 60 miles East of Yellowstone) along a peaceful river outside the town center.

Staying in one place for two nights is certainly a gift!

Tomorrow, we head EAST(!) to South Dakota to join the over 6000 Harley riders at the annual Sturgis Biker Rally.

Well, we do expect to see many bikers, but our focus will be more on the National Monuments/Parks: Devil's Tower (WY), Mt. Rushmore (SD), and the Badlands (SD). Look for pictures soon!

Old Faithful

Aug 8, 2010

Yes, the famous geyser that spews steaming water up to 100 feet in the air every 45 minutes to 1.5 hours and attracts 25,000 tourists DAILY!

We drove the 2 hours to nearby Yellowstone and were met by the sulfur aroma of the mud volcanoes, geyser pools, and hot springs (Mammoth springs shown below).

Of course, Yellowstone did not fail to impress with it's wide variety of wildlife and panoramic views.

We stayed in the nearly 100-year old Historic Madison Inn in West Yellowstone and slept well!

Grand Tetons

Aug 5, 2010

We had another magnificent 9-hr drive from Glacier National Park (Northern Montana) to Grand Teton National Park (Wyoming).

We stayed one night at "The Hostel" right in Teton Village,

and woke up to hot air balloons out our window.

Heading into the park, the towering Tetons appeared before us,

challenging us to hike. We did hike, but failed to take pictures because, like Glacier, the rain presented itself every afternoon.

Glacier provided us with time to check in with the folks

4 relaxing days camping

(with a mule deer nearby)

on Lake Jackson.

Glacier National Park

Aug 2, 2010

It hails a lot in Glacier, or it did while we where there. We tried a couple hikes and were thunder-stormed and hailed out of each.

It took us until the third day to finish an entire day hike.

The landscape and the climate are both harsh and fantastically beautiful. Pictures enclosed below.

We spent time with Jeremy, a Californian Israeli, and Pat, an Australian undergraduate. Jeremy has a long resume, and recently traded in a big corporate life for an academic life. Pat is traveling the US by Amtrak, on his way to study at Cornell. The four of us made up some lively conversation in the hail.

Yep, there was still snow on the ground!

Big Skies Montana

July 31, 2010

We had a beautiful 9-hour drive today through Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and Montana.

We finally reached our home (Brownies Hostel)

in Glacier National Park at 10 pm.

We are looking forward to waking up to daylight and to exploring this beautiful land in the Northern US.

Catch Up Day

July 30, 2010

We were blessed to have a day to visit with friends in Portland who we had previously missed, and to have some time to catch up on email/blogging. We had met Jen and Alex on the farm in Wimberley, TX.

From the Southwest, each couple had gone separate ways, so it was wonderful to catch up on the last month of travel adventures in person. They welcomed us into their artsy Portland apartment

and we spent hours playing games and in discussion around the dinner table.

We said "hasta luego" (until later). Heading EAST(!), Lindsay's smile grew...