Category Archives: Adventure

This place is not a figment of my imagination

December 10, 2009AdventureAdventurewarren

So, I have been wearing out the Las Vegas theme lately. I enjoyed the company and the business aspects of Las Vegas, but the city itself reminded me of a trailer park. It has to be the tackiest, most overinflated place on Earth. Seeing the extravagance in Las Vegas was, in my opinion, an attempt to surround folks who wouldn’t know classy if it came in framed with a certificate of authenticity, with symbols of gluttony and greed and every other class-less thing one could imagine. I don’t claim to be classy, but I am well aware of that fact and don’t try to pretend that I am.

Ok, sorry to anyone who lives there…so I took some more pics (and I promise that these will be the last) of some of the spectacle of Las Vegas…

This was on the main strip and seemed to go just perfectly together...

There are "Angels" all over Las Vegas...

A "green" solution to global climate change?

Ok, I am not being entirely fair…there is a lot of neat architecture in Las Vegas and I saw many cool cool things too…

The water show at Bellagio is excellent. Click the picture for a video

A large sculpture in a new shopping center

Have you ever been to Las Vegas? What did you think?

Me Warren…you Jane

September 28, 2009Adventure, Fun, Nature, WVAdventure, Nature, WVwarren

I returned a bit to my primal-ancestral ways this weekend. Besides the urge I had to dance ’round a fire with a spear, I had an opportunity to swing among the trees. In Fayetteville, WV, there is a fairly new canopy tour among the trees in some of the most beautiful forest I have seen in a long time.

(yup…raining)

Anyone in this area knows that it rained cats and dogs this Saturday. The tour company cancels for neither man, no beast…only lightning. I guess the Post Office still has one up on canopy tours. Anyhow, we arrived in the pouring rain and prepared for our tour. My preparation involved hitting the restroom one last time and slamming down some health food…a Snickers bar.

The tour is 2-3 hours in length and there are no tree-side rest areas along the way. I suppose, since it was raining so hard, we probably did have some options but no one wanted to really go there when it came to going there.

So, we tied into our male-sterilizers…I mean harnesses and started the course. It was breathtaking. We whisked, platform to platform between what appeared to be ancient trees. At first, we started at near ground level. As we progressed slowly down the mountain, we quickly ended up in the tops of enormous hemlock and magnolia trees. At the highest point, we were 85 feet off the ground in a tree…not the top of the tree, mind you. It was far taller than that.

Hemlock trees are being decimated by a beetle that destroys entire forests. A portion of our tour fees goes to treating the trees to prevent their destruction. After standing high up in the tree, I am pleased they are dedicated to preserving such beauty. We could see all around. There were “fields” or rhododendron and mountain laurel. There were wild, rushing streams and rock formations formed long ago. It was incredible and a bit spiritual for me. It just felt like how life is supposed to be. I mean, the ziplining was a blast, but I think I may have enjoyed just looking out through the forest and seeing nature. The only noise was the sound of raining falling through the leaves (and down my back) and the rush of the streams.

(I am flying by…the photographer’s timing was good!)

So, as I mentioned, it sort of rained some….I think Noah once said that too. Anyhow, my pictures aren’t great, but I don’t think they could begin to do this trip justice anyhow. The Rivermen do a fantastic job and I can’t recommend them enough. If you have an urge to get outdoors, to have a thrill, or just do something different, try ziplining in WV!

Brace Yourself

August 20, 2009Adventure, ThoughtsAdventure, Thoughtswarren

A few months ago, I went to the orthodontist to determine just how crooked my teeth are. Sure enough…crooked. I need braces if I intend to ever have straight teeth. I figure I need straight teeth in order to get on Survivor which will virtually guarantee me a place on Dancing with the Stars. When Katie Holmes watches with Tom, she’ll see me and call right away begging me to sing and dance with her on Broadway (Tom’s no good for you Katie!). Of course, Lady Gaga will be dazzled in her seat in the theater and will ask me backstage to sing with her on the next album. I know Brand and Angelina are hip so they certainly listen to Lady Gaga and we’ll do lunch, talk about the kids and our next new blockbuster together. After that, I am sure that I will be a shoe-in for the White House and maybe even global rule. You see, I have it all planned out if not for these dang crooked teeth.

(I have to chew on that green thing 2x a day to force the aligners over my teeth)

I also have an ulterior motive. Emily told me she always wanted to kiss a boy with braces when she was growing up. I got Invisalign aligners so it’s not like real braces, but I figure I may get some mileage. Invisalign aligners are a series of plastic molds shaped such that each transition between aligner sets moves my teeth toward their final destination. I stay in each set of aligners for 2 weeks or so and they slowly force my teeth into position from the tension the plastic exerts on the teeth.

(that cost how much?!)

I say the aligners work slowly but when I put my first set in yesterday, it sort of felt like my teeth snapped into their slightly adjusted place (and not in an exactly pleasant way). Even more scary was when I removed them to brush. My head clattered as they snapped back into their old positions!

(Most of those chips are from my brother!)

Really, it takes some getting used to I guess, but they aren’t too bad. I figure they can’t possibly be worse than metal/ceramic braces and these surely look a lot better. I have to wear the aligners for 22 hours a day, taking them out only to eat and brush. I can’t eat or drink with them in place so I suppose I will really cut back on my beloved Mt Dew since it isn’t worth jerking these things in and out of my head and brushing every time I want a sip.

So, I guess a year from now I will be healthier without all of the sugar and my teeth will be straighter and I’ll be even prettier (somehow…hard to imagine I know). Lady Gaga here I come!

EDIT: The end result!

They got high

August 17, 2009Adventure, FunAdventure, Funwarren

We went back to my hometown this weekend to visit my family, have a high school reunion and give my kids a chance to get high. Yup, you heard it…my kids got high with my Mom and my cousin!

(The flight crew)

My cousin Bob has been a private pilot for 30+ (?) years, flying both airplanes and helicopters. He and my Mom fly pretty often and it’s become a tradition for Isaac (and now Abigail starting this year) to fly with them in August.

(This is fun, right?)

(yup…must be fun!)

(Another thumbs up on the fun!)

Abigail has flown on commercial planes before but it was when she was much younger so she remembers none of it. In her mind, this was effectively her first time to ever fly. She’s a little timid lately about “stuff”. It is not always predictable what will upset her so we weren’t sure about flying. Although she tried to be scared, my Mom said they had an absolutely wonderful time. Abigail was amazed at all of the tiny little cars and houses and buildings. Without time to be afraid, she quickly got over her trepidations and had fun.

(The co-pilot)

Like last year, Isaac was the co-pilot and was able to steer the plane some, much to the dismay of his sister (did I mention she was a perceptive child?). Isaac is an old pro and wants to take lessons to fly just as soon as he is able. I have no doubt that he will love it (time to get a job kid)!

(Exhausted!)

After flying and seeing the sights, they did several touch-and-goes and then called it a night. Abigail was exhausted and fell asleep on the ride back to Grandma and Grandpa’s house. I am sure there will be more stories to hear about their adventure this morning!

A Member of the Club

August 11, 2009Adventure, Family, FunAdventure, Family, Funwarren

We harvested honey this weekend (more about that later this week) at Emily’s grandparents’ house. I keep 4 hives at their place and they have a perfect setup in their garage for our honey extraction. Emily and the kids and I were joined by Emily’s parents and her grandparents to make the extraction a family affair. We started around 9 in the morning and finished by 6 in the evening. So, we had an all day affair.

The kids were super well behaved in spite of the work and the heat (we finally had a hot day among all the rainy days) and the apparent boredom. Under Emily’s grandparents’ house is a crawlspace in which an adult can almost stand upright. The kids discovered that and found that it made a perfect hide-out. The best part is that their hide-out was naturally air-conditioned. The coolness was a great escape for them and they loved playing under there.

In time, they decided that their club needed to be a little more exclusive than it was when the started it (an hour earlier). Isaac and Abigail were, of course, members and they decided to invite their great-grandmother to be the first non-founding member. She happily obliged and helped them move in a table and chairs and met with them in their first members’ meeting…yes, Emily’s 82 year old grandmother crawled under the house and sat around a tiny table with the kids. She is definitely a member of the club!

Though her birth certificate says she is 82, she certainly doesn’t look or act like it. Both of Emily’s grandparents are built that way. It’s so much fun to hang out with them and watch as nothing slows them down! That’s a club I want to be in!

An evening…shot

August 6, 2009Adventure, Family, FunAdventure, Family, Funwarren

The kids have been involved in an archery instruction program at their grandparents’ church all summer. Last night was the final night of the program for the summer (but it restarts in September). The church uses the Centershot curriculum which is pretty neat. The kids love to shoot and have improved imensely.

Isaac has advanced into using heavier bows and shooting the full length of the range. He hits mostly in the colored part of the target and really, most are very near the center. Abigail, who is smaller of course, shoots at a softer and closer target and has improved in her ability to stick the arrows. They love shooting and will definitely continue in the fall. I think that we also plan to buy them bows so we can shoot during the off-season (whenever that is)

Since last night was the end for this round, we went to see how everything works and the instructors let us shoot as well. I shot first and did ok. It’s been a long time since I shot a bow (25 years?) so I was pretty pleased. Emily shot next (her first time ever) and shot ok. We went again and Emily shot much better than me the second round. In fact, she shot the only bullseye of the evening at the range. That’s pretty typical of us which is pretty funny. I am a pretty good shot with a rifle and pistol but she is even better. But hey, I am thrilled. If the times ever get tough, I am sending her out to hunt and gather!

Anyhow, I think we have found a new family hobby as all of us enjoy shooting and there are plenty of opportunities to practice. A few weeks ago, Abigail said she wanted to hunt with me. Last night, she recognized what hunting was…”Dad, why can’t we just leave the animals alone?” It was a good opportunity to talk about the source of our food. Still, I think we’ll be a target shooting family more than a hunting family initially…

A little corny

July 30, 2009AdventureAdventurewarren

Wow! I have been out of it lately. I have had (and still have) a really ugly cold (ugly because it’s a summer cold…all summer colds are ugly) and very busy at work so I just get home and collapse. Anyhow, I had to go to Des Moines, IA last Sunday night for a Monday meeting. I had never been to Iowa so it was a fun opportunity to see a new place. I know they grow corn in Iowa, but I don’t think I really understood what that meant. As I flew from Detroit to Des Moines, we quickly flow over Chicago and onward until we were over what looked to be the most lush green land I’ve ever seen. The green was only broken by the straight roads which divided the fields into perfect little squares. Also spaced evenly were farmhouses which punctuated the fields in a repeating pattern. I suppose that most of the green I saw was corn…certainly food of some sort. It was really pleasant and peaceful to see all that food!

Anyhow, I left Charleston around 4:30 Sunday afternoon and got to Des Moines with enough time to walk around the city a little and enjoy a Shakespearean play in the park. Des Moines has a population of around 200,000 in the city and a metro population of a half million. Although I prefer sparse population, as cities go, Des Moines was a pretty nearly the perfect size. What I saw of the city seemed to be super clean and modern (but not too modern) and just overall pleasant.

(I saw these balloons around 7 in the morning. The statue wa along the river)

After the meeting, I flew back through Atlanta…a place wholly unlike Des Moines. No offense to folks in Atlanta, but it’s just a bigger, more hectic place and the Atlanta airport is big and busy…plus I was pretty ready to get home from my whirlwind tour of the midwest. We left Atlanta and flew through the roughest turbulence I’ve ever flown through. I was pretty thankful Emily was not with me as she’d never get on a plane again. I was able to keep my tomato juice and peanuts down though and made it safely home at 11 pm Monday.

(The county courthouse and the state capitol…at opposite ends of the same street..both very cool!)

I’d like to go back to Des Moines sometime soon though. I am sure there is a lot more to see if I’d had more time!

Anyone ever been to Des Moines or Iowa in general? What all did I miss?

Blackberries!

July 10, 2009Adventure, Food, WVAdventure, Food, WVwarren

We have a secret spot where we go to pick blackberries. Of course, blackberries have thorns so our screams probably make our location a little less secret than it otherwise would have been. Still, we go blackberry picking every 2-3 days while they are in season. Last night was our first venture to the patch.

Emily and I are coming up on our 15th wedding anniversary and we’ve known each other almost 20 years. I have known her parents about the same length of time. Last night was the first time we have taken them along with us. It was hard to decide whether I knew them well enough to trust them with my secret location. Finally I broke down and we all went picking.

Last year we went so much that we were overrun with berries. Don’t tell Emily but I am hoping for the exact same problem this year. With the first batch, Emily made a blackberry pie last night. I have breakfast lined up for the next few days for sure!

I plan to make some blackberry cobbler and some blackberry wine as well. My dandelion wine is looking great so I am going to try my hand at blackberry too. It’s funny to be making wine since neither of us drinks, but it’s the adventure that I enjoy!

Anyhow, blackberries are in season in WV and I have the stained and scratched up hands and arms to prove it! Are you getting berries where you are?

Swarm in Kanawha City

July 9, 2009Adventure, Bees, Nature, WVBeekeeping, Bees, Honeybeeswarren

The kids headed off with Momaw and Granddad last night so Emily and I planned to grab a bite to eat and then go pick blackberries. Literally, as we were walking out the door, the metro emergency center called and said there was a swarm of bees up in a tree in Kanawha City, a section of Charleston near where I work. I looked at Emily and she rolled her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest. “Fine, go get your bees.” Obviously, she wasn’t thrilled but she agreed to ride along. She’s never been on a swarm call with me before so this was sure to be fun!

We drove to Kanawha City and found the home owner out in her yard looking up in a tree. I knew we had the right spot right away. We chatted for a bit about how her Dad had bees. It’s interesting but it seems like almost everyone over the age of 60 once had a family member who had bees. It’s such a shame that there are so very few beekeepers left and even fewer under the age of 65. Anyhow, there was indeed a small swarm of bees about 8 feet up in the oak tree in her front yard.

I brought a ladder and I always carry pruners on these calls. I donned my suit for proper protection (note the crocs on my feet!) and headed up the tree. Swarms that are close to the ground often can be brushed into a hive box with a gentle hand (or shook into the box with a rough hand). Swarms in trees are a little different. When possible, I like to trim the branch on which they hang and bring them down to a manageable height, i.e. the ground. I clipped the branch with the bees and gently laid the small branch into the hive (I removed 4 frames to make room) once back on the ground. Sometimes I shake them into the hive so I don’t need to add the branch but this one seemed to fit without shaking.

I just stop up the entry to the hive and put a strap around the hive to travel. As I mentioned, Emily was with me and not too keen on riding in the van with bees. I don’t officially recommend this to anyone, but I have found that riding with bees in the car is actually a little easier than riding with kids. The kids fight and yell and can’t do anything but stare at each other making menacing faces. Bees, on the other hand, don’t care a lick about me but prefer to hang around the back windows hoping to find an escape. I have never been stung while carrying bees in the van. But, don’t try it at home…

The swarm was pretty small and will not likely be worth much alone. I have a few hives that are very full of bees so I will add a few frames of bees from those hives to the new swarm to make a good, strong colony. With any luck, they will grow into a stronger colony, ready for the honey flow next spring!

Other swarms

The necessities

July 1, 2009AdventureAdventurewarren

Ok…I am almost done with the beach posts…just a little more. We always rent a house when we go to the beach and we spend most of the time right on the beach. I like to bake in the sun. Well, actually, I like to bake in the heat, but not so much the sun. I spent a lot of time in the sun when I was younger and I am beginning to reap some of that as I get older.

This year, I lathered up with sunscreen the first day but I forgot how hot the sun is at the beach. After swimming in the ocean and baking in the heat, the sunscreen doesn’t last too long. I got a lovely burn on my shoulders and knew right away I had to do something to keep from getting burned again.

We bought one of those cool party tents that people typically use when tailgating. It sets up super quickly. We anchor it in the sand and it provides a great place to escape the sun. I can’t really swim under it though so its protection only goes so far.

I wear a hat that covers my bald head. The kids wear hats to protect their scalps and that protects our delicate noggins but we needed more body protection. Emily had read about Rash Guard shirts before heading to the beach so we went shopping at the end of day 2.

Rash Guard shirts don’t allow sunlight through like a regular shirt does (I got burned through a regular shirt this time too). It provides spf 50 protection over whatever it covers. The ones we found at the beach were all skin tight so not everyone might feel comfortable with that but there are many styles to accommodate anyone.

The kids and I got shirts and wore them the rest of the week. We were well protected and didn’t have to worry about missing spots on our backs or remembering to reapply sunscreen every hour. We were very well protected between our hats, our shirts and the tent. We now count those three items as beach necessities…

What are beach (or vacation in general) necessities for your family?

My Home Among The Hills

Life in WV!