greenies lick their wounds...

Yesterday was a beautiful fall day.  Mat and I headed out for a bike ride and as we started the climb it was nice and cool with a lovely mist.  We kept on climbing for about an hour or so (those w/ stronger thigh muscles have been known to do it in about 30 minutes) and we got to the trailhead for Greens Lick.  It had the most signs ever at the trailhead warning people about the difficulty of the trail.

As we started going down I felt like it was awesome!  Out in this area, the trails are so smooth and this did not disappoint.  It was so smooth and it had woop-di-dos and berms and it was really easy to get alot of speed.  I was enjoying myself so much that I went over some woop-di-dos and was getting a wee bit of air and kind of liking it.  So I let myself get more on each one and then realized I had ALOT of air and braked and landed.  I think I tried to ride it out because I recall thinking "oh, it's gonna be okay, just straighten your tire" and wobbling and then going over the handlebars and rolling.  After sitting still a moment and realizing nothing was broken, I got up and looked down and saw I was bleeding.  I'm a wimp so really I just wanted to sit down and cry, but that wouldn't help me.  So, I got my shaky self on the bike and rode down to where Mat was riding.  He asked if everything was okay since I was smiling brightly with tears in my eyes.  So I told him about my crash which amazingly enough didn't crush the sunglasses in my pocket!

I regrouped for a minute and then we finished the trail. Which was awesome.  We got out and it seemed like such a short ride that we decided to ride back up to 5 points, which we had passed by earlier on the way to the Greens Lick trailhead.  We rode our bikes back up for another 45 minutes or an hour and then rode down another sweet trail.  It is so smooth out there.  I love it.  Maddy was pretty exhausted by the end of the day.  She was getting to the point where she was even letting me go in front of her!  Mat had a good time, too!

Debate One Down

Friday was Mat's last day of work.  So we went over and made pizza and watched the debate w/ Mat's boss, Chris and co-worker, Sara and their spouses.  The pizza was delicious and I was glad to watch the debate.  I was glad to see that Senator McCain was willing to come participate in the debate after the uncertainty of whether he would actually come or not.  It was great to hear both speak and answer the questions put forth to them.  I came away feeling that either one would definitely be an improvement on the speaking capabilities of the current president.  I didn't come away feeling that Senator McCain should be the president.  He repeatedly ignored the moderator, Jim Lehrer's request that they speak to each other or even look at each other.  I find that disconcerting.  Maybe he did that on purpose, to show that he doesn't respect Senator Obama.  Personally, I find that to be an unfavorable quality in a person.  Everyday as president, there's a good possibility that you are going to run into people who don't agree with you or your policies, but you still need to be able to show each other respect.

Senator McCain also didn't endear us when he lambasted the grizzly bear project up in Montana...obviously, we don't feel the same as he does about wildlife research.

It will be interesting to see how the rest of the debates go.  I can't wait to actually get to see Governor Palin interact during a debate, since at this point we have only gotten the opportunity to hear her give speeches and 2 interviews.  No coming up with answers on the fly.  Next Thursday I'll be watching Debate # 2.

gas shortage cramping my style...

We are still experiencing a gas shortage out here in the southeast.  Hopefully, it will be over soon.  Mat and I had been talking about going on a backpack this upcoming weekend.  But right now, it's not looking too good.  The weekend might look a little more like us sitting in lines trying to get gas and having the gas station run out before we make it to the pump. At the moment, I think I have enough gas to make it to work for the next couple of days.  I guess I should have been hitting up the pumps EVERY time I saw a line, so that I could do my part to top off my tank.

Gas shortage in the south

We drove around for about 45 minutes the other night looking for gas to fill up our car.  We gave up and I called around in the morning to find a gas station that had gas.  The Asheville area, along with alot of other southern towns, have been experiencing a shortage for close to two weeks now!

http://citizen-times.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=200880923070

To be present...

I have really gotten into my yoga class.  I go for an hour and half each week and I love that for the full class all I do is think in the present moment.  Each time I get out of class, I resolve that I will live each moment in the present. That lasts for about 5 minutes until I get on the freeway back home and I start thinking about what I need to do either that evening or the next morning.  And then I forget about it until I'm back in yoga class.  I find that I enjoy challenging myself by doing the poses and really thinking about each minute muscle and action that goes into the pose.  When I do yoga on my own, I find that I don't push myself as much as I do in class.  Partly because I am afraid that if I do it wrong I will hurt myself and in class my teacher will let me know when I am doing a pose wrong!  It has been a full day and I'm still thinking about how I enjoyed being present in the class but now I'm thinking of the past. So, I will try to put myself in the present again.

Trip to Seattle

We flew to Seattle, Washington to go to our friend's Matt and Malia's wedding on the eastern side of the Cascades. They were married in a very beautiful spot.  It made us miss big mountains.  :)  Here they are getting married with their dog, Luna, in the front.

Mat was able to catch up with friend's that he has not seen in about 6 years...from one of his first wildlife jobs out in the Sierra Nevadas in California.

On the way over the mountains, we stopped and took a walk through the woods. It was great to get out to stretch our legs and enjoy the beauty!

After we ate some fish and chips, we walked around the port of Everett where we saw some seals swimming around. We watched them for 15 or so minutes.

Badlands National Park

Click below to find out about the park...a little different than western North Carolina!

http://www.nps.gov/badl/

floating the toe

Last weekend, we floated the Toe River.  It was a blast.  We hiked up the railroad tracks for a bit and got all hot, then floated down the river.  It was a much quicker float than last year because of the rain we got the week before.  Many, many thanks to Chris, Mat's boss, and his family and most especially their aunt whose place we got to hang out and eat a bunch of food at!