Approaching Fall and its Fun

August finished in a frenzy. Besides gearing up for the travel season in September, we were trying to finish our podcasts so that they could start the review process before we would be gone for weeks on end. In all of the goings on, I was very excited to go camping for my birthday over Labor Day weekend. Mark and I were heading towards the Mt. Rogers area in southwest Virginia (where we’d hiked in the spring), one of my favorite parts of the state. After a hectic drive to the campsite, we pitched my new tent amidst a see of campers and pop-up trailers. The next day we went exploring the area, including Damascus (the only town the Appalachian trail runs through); Shady Valley, TN and the House of the Snake; Boone, NC; Bristol; and ending back at The Tavern in Abingdon, VA for my birthday dinner. Though we didn’t hike much on Saturday, we tried to find a trail on Sunday, though couldn’t so much find the proper trailhead. There were other fun trails nearby, though the hiking was interrupted by rain and we instead drove into Damascus to find dinner before attending a bluegrass concert at the park that night. Monday, it was back to Williamsburg as we fought the traffic back across the state. Overall, the weekend was a much-needed break and a great place and way to spend my birthday weekend.

(photos: Touchdown Yosef at Appalachian State University in Boone; an add for he coming musical "Batboy," apparently based on the Weekly World News' tabloid Batboy; a nice red barn near Mt. Rogers; a rocky stream in Grayson Highlands State Park; and Mark at the Listening Rock Overlook with the mountains of southern Virginia and Tennessee.)






Upon returning to Williamsburg, it was back to work and preparing for the involved travel. On the weekends, I tried to balance the necessary errands and chores with taking it easy around town, including going to Hallowscream at Busch Gardens and trying to find ways to stomach the Michigan Football season (though there indeed have been some amazing moments, just a lot of the opposite as well). I did have a trip to the emergency room when I sliced my finger on a stationary can lid while washing dishes (it was nothing serious, I just got to get the clear glue stuff on my slice and was able to watch my finger close!). Also this September, there’s been a bit of tropical weather, including my first tropical storm. We had to storm-proof the office, like covering our computers in trash bags in case of water damage and moving vehicles away from possible falling tree limbs. Some friends and I had a hurricane party even, but the storm ended up being pretty tame. We did have a beer-brewing and ice cream-making gathering one evening that was more delicious, at least. Not much else has been happening around home, but I have been keeping busy doing something as I feel like my list of intended accomplishments never gets much shorter. More about work to come…