Merry Christmas

I hope that everyone had a very Merry Christmas and wish all a prosperous New Year.

Second Annual Woodcrest Halloween Parade

Yes I know almost a month ago but catching up. As some of you know Halloween is my favorite Holiday. When else can I dress up, act like an idiot and get away with it? Loaded question, easy now. We held our Second Annual Halloween Parade this year at our house and had big fun. We went as the Frankenfamily! We provided chili, hot dogs, adult "Ritas", and kids "Ritas". Everyone else brought side dishes, hot apple cider, hot chocolate, beer, wine, chips, dip, deserts (oh my) and three cases of wonderful noise makers. Think of a very irritating hoard of bees on steroids flying at Mach 3 around your head. That is the sound...over and over again...43 kids showed up in costume as parents lined the street (we were the only adults who dressed up). We paraded, some on scotters, in wagons, on tricycles, bicycles, and golf carts to the end of the street and back to our garage for diner where we ate and drank like Kings before heading out to trick or treat. Never before have I seen our "Rita" machines go empty in less than 30 minutes. Luckily several adult participants were hell bent on more margaritas and off to the liquor store they went. We of course had to oblige them.

Jackson had a great time on his first real trick or treating venture. We loaded he and Tootles in the wagon and off we went. He would smile as we went to the door and say "Teet" but he wanted to go inside and see their houses as well. After hitting about half a dozen houses with him we headed back to party central to find the adults maintaining security by the roadside impromptu bon fire. There we had about five families side by side all with our buffet line of candy for the kids to take. Afterwards the kids came inside for the candy exchange. Big fun was had by all.

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Chimney Rock

Took a family day trip to Chimney Rock Park in North Carolina several weeks ago and had a fantastic time. We were about a week too early for the foliage to change but there were hints of natures wonder beginning to bloom vibrant colors of orange, yellow, red, and burgundy. This park has roots deep in our Country's history. In early 1870 a man by the name of Jerome Freeman purchased Chimney Rock and 40o acres from speculators for a whopping $25.00 (yes twenty-five dollars) with ambitions of opening a trail and public facility to the top of the rock. But it was in 1902 when things really began to take shape. A Missourian by the name of Lucious B. Morse, a physician, and his brothers purchased 64 acres of land including the Chimney and Cliffs for $5000. The Park now encompasses over 1000 acres and until 2007 was owned and operated by the Morse family. The State of NC and other partners purchased the park late in 2007 for $24 million dollars to serve as the main stage of a new state park. Several movies have been made over the years in the park such as: The Last of the Mohican's, Firestarter, A Breed Apart, and Dirty Dancing.

The truly amazing feature is the "Chimney" which is solid granite and houses a 198 foot tunnel leading to a 258 elevator shaft. Construction of this project took 18 months to complete with the aid of 8 tons of dynamite and no fatalities. Pretty amazing for something that opened to the public in 1949. It was honestly a bit unnerving walking into the tunnel leading to the elevator. It would not have been so bad but we had to wait in line for about 20 minutes (under ground) to take a 12 second ride to the top. Upon exiting the elevator we were treated to unbelievable views that even the pictures don't do justice.

The kids were in Heaven, running around, peering over the edge of the railing, making me very, very nervous. I had Jackson on my back in a pack which was great expect for the fact that I really don't like heights and he was very intent on getting out and running around with Tanner and Charlee. Now to put this in perspective, the top of the Chimney is about the size of let's say an oversized two car driveway. Only it is a rock, not a flat rock bit more like a giant wierd shaped mushroom. Now put another 40 people with you on that little piece of real estate and you have yourself one of those moments that is very difficult to smile for the camera. Obviously I was the only one this seemed to bother. From the top we hiked down the trail through the diverse plants and land features to the water falls which was one the the most breathtaking sights I have seen. Beathtaking on two levels, one the sheer beauty of the park and two the fact that I had Jackson on my back, thank God we were going down hill. Being the geek that I am I counted all the steps, man made, we walked down to the bottom...748! What a work out, my legs were shaking the whole drive home, thankfully the cruise control worked.

After leaving the park we had a great Italian dinner complete with two ice cold beers a piece to relax the legs at a place that overlooked Lake Lure. We watched the sun set over the mountain and had the literally thousands of lady bugs fluttering throughout the rays of sun around the outdoor deck. Amazing.

The ride home was rather quiet and everyone slept like the proverbial "rock". If you are ever in the area put this trip on your planner.

More updates to come, thanks for reading, Y'all tune in again soon.

Veterans Day

Let us not forget those who fought for our freedom, and pray for those who are fighting for our freedom today.

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Quick Pics

My Blackberry World phone took a dive in the old crapper. Thankfully I purchased insurance and now have a new Blackberry Curve. Much better phone, I really don't know why the salesman talked me into the other one. How often do I need a phone that works anywhere in the world? The Curve has all the same features as well as a camera and video recorder. However, I did notice that this little bundle of technology will be available shortly. Don't get me wrong you Mac users, I love my iPod touch but the service for the iPhone here in Cola is spotty and this new phone looks cool. These are a couple of shots from the new phone.

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Life as it comes...

Life moves at you pretty fast, and if you are not quite prepared it can smack you in the face.

Jackson and I had our first trip to the ER room...our kitchen bench, weighing about 20 pounds, fell over on his toe...ugly...in the ER for over 5 hours in the waiting room and Xrays...met with the ER Doc for...get this less than 10 minutes and he tells me at 12:45a.m...sorry for the wait...nothing we can do...$850 dollars later...our boy is good. Dad very tired, Doc even asked if I needed a note for my employer to relieve me for being late the next morning...I declined...But thanks!

Keep in mind the simple things in Life make all other stresses just go away...Enjoy the smiles from friends and family that come your way. Small or large...just enjoy!

Oh and by the way I put on my big boy bibs and took off with the Wednesday night ride and got my ass dropped. Damn, nothing like getting back in the saddle! At least Summit Cycles provided nice cold Sierra Nevada Pale Ale and Becks for post ride refreshments. Looking forward to the Friday night Beer ride.

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Storm Classification

Alright two part post:

First off I have come up with a new Hurricane Classification System. (The JC System)

1. Category One: (JC 1) Jim Cantore shows up in your town
2. Category Two: (JC 2) JC shows up in your town wearing his rain coat
3. Category Three:(JC3 ) JC shows up in your town wearing his raincoat leaning into the wind
4. Category Four: (JC4) JC shows up in your town wearing his raincoat leaning into the wind trying desperately to speak into the mic sporting his Speedo swim goggles
5. Category Five: (JC5) JC is nowhere to be found....

Second Part....Panic in the streets fueled by the Media...

Left work today to find Two Notch Road completely packed with traffic. Thought it was a big wreck, not too uncommon. But soon found the gas stations packed with vehicles lined up waiting for fuel. One BP Station had approximately 30 cars waiting on fuel, the next had about 18...Word on the street is that fuel lines are shut down, prices will increase one dollar overnight, and rationing will come into effect. The photo is from a station in Sumter SC about 30 miles from us.

We resisted the hysteria of loading up our vehicles and heading to the stations to top off our tanks with the majority of Columbia. However, I did make a stop off on the way home at our local grocery for two gallons of milk, a six pack of pale ale, and a bottle of Merlot. I figured that would, get us through the next couple of days. And hell worst case scenario I can work from my home office or even ride my BIKE to work. What a concept. Those in the Gulf, take care and buckle down Ike is a big mother scratcher.

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Support Staff

Springfield's finest showing Brad some love at the T.O.M. (Photo credit from Action Images via the Jelly Belly website).

Hope Cale was wearing sunscreen...

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Greenville County Road Trip

Took a road trip today to Greenville to see the US National Road Racing Championships. Beautiful weather, great city for all things outdoors, fantastic crowds, and incredibly talented pro cyclists. Eclectic shops, fine dining, great burgers, the river walk, and cold beer brought out all types of fans and those who just wanted to get out and see what all this racing hype is all about. The crowds were not disappointed. Brad Huff was off the front all day making a great show for himself. First off in a two man break on lap two and remained in the main break which at one point had almost 3:30 seconds on the peleton. He remained in the break fighting hard for the better part of four hours until the final trip up over Paris Mountain. If you don't know Brad, you should. Great guy, funny, smart, determined, and fast as hell, big things will come for Brad, he has only just begun. Oh yeah, and he has a very interesting pre-race warm up. How about stretching and some jumping jacks. Seems to work for him!

Big George, the home town favorite was riding well with one team mate in Craig Lewis and was in the hunt until final laps. (Thanks go out to Hincapie Sports and the Team Bus with the big flat screen with the live race feed for us fans without the $100 hospitality passes.) I had the small, vocal, beer drinking crowd all cheering for Brad at the bus. But the day belonged to Rock Racing. Mike Creed in the break with Brad all day and finally Tyler Hamilton had what is takes to earn the stars and bars next year. Tyler edged out Blake Caldwell from Garmin-Chipolte by 2 one-hundredths of a second at the line. The guys at Rock not only look good, but like it or not appear to be the real deal. They now have two US Championship jerseys to sport next year.

I also watched some future racers, saw some interesting art, creative hair styles, sweet bikes from Litespeed, Storck, and Cervelo. If you get the chance to come to Carolina, put Greenville on your itinerary, this is truly a town that has it all.

Thanks for reading, Y'all tune in again soon.