Weekend with the Dunlaps

With John still on the injured list and very restless due to inactivity, we packed up and drove to Huntsville, AL this weekend to visit John's family and see his mother's new house. It was a quick trip but we had a great time and really enjoyed spending time with the family. Below are some pictures from our visit. There are more pictures here in "Family and Friends" http://smithposts.smugmug.com/

John and son Lee, in John's mother's (Bebe) garage. They have been tasked with folding packing paper and breaking down boxes.

Also helping with the task are John's brother, David, his wife Beth and their daughter Caitlin. Actually Caitlin is jumping up and down on the boxes, a combination of play and work!

John, Lee, David and Caitlin...a fine looking family!

Crawford, David and Beth's 3 year old....a very active little boy!

Big sister and little brother taking a break amongst the wrapping paper

In the kitchen preparing lunch, Bebe, Caitlin, John and David. Lunch? Homemade chicken salad and pimento cheese

Crawford on his John Deere in David's backyard

Bebe and Beth in the kitchen

After lunch we drove to McMullen Cove to look at Huntsville 2007 Showcase of Homes. McMullen Cove is a high-end development built on what was once two family farms. One of the farms, the area currently being developed, belonged to John's family.

The property is spectacular and includes mountains, creeks, waterfalls and a lovely valley. The development plan includes not only homes but wooded areas with hiking trails and some 20+ miles of greenways around and through the development. Also included is a clubhouse, chapel, swimming pool and more.

If you get a chance, click here to see the development http://mcmullencove.net/

This is the main street in the neighborhood. Probably 15 or so homes have been built with the development process expected to take about 10 years.

David, Bebe, Lee and John are sitting on the patio in the showcase home. Beautifully decorated by Huntsville designers, this home boasts two fireplaces outside (including the wood burning fireplace to John's left and a gas log fireplace on the second story balcony off the game room), several fireplaces inside, several outdoor fountains, a wine cellar off the dining room, four patio or balcony areas, and numerous inside amenities. Last weekend the home sold for 1.3-million cash.

Elegant swimming for the development ....the lions on each side are fountains with Greek looking statutes across the back of the pool.

One of the weekend tasks was to hang pictures for Bebe. Above is a picture of two scientists trying agree on the best method to figure "the center". Do you measure from top to bottom or bottom to top....and is that left to right divided by two and added to....well, you get the picture. Anyway, David seems to be saying "this is it, centerpoint.

John, Lee and David hanging a mirror in the dining room

A Gastronomic Evening in the Backcountry

The Gourmet Backpack has come and gone. Once again we had a fine time in the backcountry. The weather was too warm during the day but just perfect in the evening, which encouraged everyone to stay around the campfire until just after 11:00 pm.

The location of the 2007 Gourmet Backpack was the North Fork of Citico Creek in the Cherokee National Forest (near Tellico Plains). It is a near perfect location, about 3-miles in, mostly flat hiking and a large campsite a cross the trail from the creek.

John is still recovering from collar bone surgery so I hiked in with BJ and Bob and Robin and Dave. Above, Dave heads across one of several creek crossing, while while Robin prepares to follow.

Dave, again, rock hopping the creek. As you can see, the leaves are falling but I think it is related more to the dry weather than the fall temperatures...we just haven't had much of a cold snap yet.

Ron, pondering the meaning of life in the middle of the North Fork. Well, not really, he is preparing to take photos and get water for the evening meal.

BJ and Bob toasting with margaritas

BJ and Bob won the contest for "Most Creative Meal" based on their meal of rice, black beans, Quesadillas, margaritas AND fried ice cream (brought in still frozen with the aid of dry ice). They, of course, helped to influence the outcome by offering the judges (all of the participants in the backpack) samples of their drink and food. I must say, the fried ice cream was incredible!

Marti and Pat toasting with Canyon Sunrise cocktails. Not sure the booze content but I would say near 100%

Very cute! Robin and Dave feeding each other anti-pasta before a main meal of Ratatouille

Marti and Pat won the "Most Creative Presentation" award based on their use of tablecloth, dishes, drinks with star ice, straws and glow in the dark jewelry. Their meal? Salmon with spinach!

My meal...gourmet pizza (I know I did the same last year) and a nice Italian salad

Ron prepared a fine meal of salmon with mango sauce. By all rights, an award winning meal but he was too late completing his preparation, the voting was over.

Will and Kim were also on this trip, but as you can see, I don't have any pictures of them. While I have my camera back from a successful repair stint at Olympus (see Colorado post), I neglected to bring backup batteries and the ones in the camera went dead before the evening festivities were in full swing. Oh well, next year's Gourmet Backpack is only 12 months away. On my "must bring" list, John and a second set of batteries.

First Friday on the Square

John and I attended our first "1st Friday" in downtown Knoxville earlier this evening. 1st Fridays are held...well...on the first Friday of each month. The intent, I believe, is to draw people downtown to discover new and old concerns around the city including restaurants and art galleries. Tonight was the 4th anniversary of this city sponsored event and in celebration, the Knoxville Chamber Orchestra gave a free concert on Market Square.

We arrived downtown just in time to grab the last outdoor table at Trio's where we enjoyed dinner and the concert. After the concert, we walked up and down Gay Street stopping in several galleries and shops. We were surprised at the number of people milling around, drinking wine in the galleries and eating free snacks (guess we shouldn't be surprised, free attracts a lot of people including us for the concert).

The Artist Coop building was our favorite where the "Third Floor Up" was packed with UT artists and students in chic clothing, sipping wine. The lower floor showcased the studios of some very talented local artists who worked in clay, acrylic, fabric and other medium. Very artsy, very fun.

Below is a picture from the symphony concert on Market Square. I just got my camera back from Olympus and haven't had a chance to work with it. So far, after just a couple a photos, it seems to be okay.

Trail Scouting for the Gourmet Backpack

This morning, Barbara and I headed south to the Cherokee National Forest to scout the trail for next weekend's Gourmet Backpack. The weather was perfect, blue skies, sunshine and a slight chill the in air, especially in the shade. Hard to believe that fall is just around the corner!

We had several water crossing and this water baby was glad to see low creek levels. Some leaves had begun to turn, most likely due to summer's very dry conditions. All in all, this very fine Sunday hike will be a pleasant October backpack.

Along the North Fork of Citico Creek

A fall leaf floating in the current

Neither Barbara or I remember seeing this pulley car (used for river crossings) in previous hikes along this trail. The car path is now blocked with trees and limbs so it hangs only as a reminder of past times.

Barbara standing on the remnants of an old dam across the creek.

Celebrating the Fall Equinox

Guess who we've been dining with....

Celebrateding the Fall Equinox

The Great Bicycle Wreck (s)

Friday evening, September 7th, exactly 10 weeks to the day that I fell and broke my arm, John was in not one, but two bicycle wrecks. The first accident was a result of road rage...a guy in a pickup truck passed John (who was on his bicycle) and yelled at him to get off the road. The guy proceeded to pull in front of John, slam on his brakes (yes, we do have a lot of Tennessee rednecks here), jump out of his truck and storm back toward John.

Meanwhile, John could not stop his bike fast enough. His front tire wedged under the rear bumper, his arms hit the tailgate and he flipped into the truckbed. Behind John, a lady in a van witnessed the entire incident. She jumped out of her van, yelled at the GOB (good ole' boy) to stay away from John and called 911. By this time, John had climbed out of the truckbed and pulled his bike out from under the bumper. The GOB jumped in his truck and drove off.

Somewhere in the mix, after the GOB fled the scene, Knoxville's finest showed up as did John's son, who heard about the wreck from a friend of his who happened to drive by. John and the witness provided the police with the license plate number but Knoxville's finest claimed the number was incomplete so they could not trace the plate and would not file a report.

We think John was quite shaken at this point because he decided to ride his bicycle home to check for damage. So, about 30 minutes after the original incident, John's bicycle blew out and he wrecked again....this time he landed on the pavement, hitting his head, left shoulder and hip. This wreck was a direct result of hidden fractures in the frame and damage to the front tire that occurred in the first wreck.

We spent the evening in the ER. Aside from a mild concussion (thank heavens for helmets) and lots of scrapes and road rash, x-rays indicated that his collar bone was broken in 2 places and twisted at odd angles. Lucky for John, he has a high tolerance to pain so, although very crooked looking and walking, he is doing okay. He will go under the knife tomorrow to have a plate inserted to straighten the bone and allow it to heal. What had been planned as a very active fall will now turn into a social fall...oh well, that's not half bad!

Opening Night - Movies on Market Square

Last night, John and I went to Market Square for the 1st in the series of Movies on Market Square. We had a great time noshing on Tomato Head pizza pre-film then settling into our lawn chairs for my first viewing of the movie "Men in Black."

I think I have mentioned in previous blogs that The Movies on Market Square series is sponsored by the Knox County Library and Friends of said library. In the past, the movie has been a great Friday night wind down. Unfortunately, this year FoL moved film night from Friday to Thursday. There are several obvious issues with the move, the biggest of which is the 10:00 ish pm ending on a school and work night.

A FoL volunteer told us the change was in response to Friday night football. In a follow up statement, the volunteer said the change is actually part of an agreement with the new downtown Riviera Cinema. Personally I think there is room for both films on Friday night. I hope the arrival of the Riviera does not threaten the survival of the Market Square series.

Eleven Days in Colorado

We are back from 11 days in Colorado, including an 8 day hike around Maroon Bells and 3 days of play. We are now struggling to get through 4 days of work to get to the weekend and recover. This is one of the perils of returning on a Monday holiday, the Tuesday workday comes around too fast. For me, it was 17 hours at home then off to Mt. A for the week.

The trip went well, just not exactly as planned. We started out on the right "foot" so to speak, arriving in Denver on August 24th and spending the night in Glenwood Springs. Our hike began on Saturday (25th) at West Maroon Trailhead (near Aspen) and ended at Snowmass Trailhead on September 1. Luck was not with us on this trip, at least some of us. I had been sniffling for a few days before the trip and after the 1st night, I developed congestion, mostly in my chest. About the same time, Bill developed nausea due to over exertion and dehydration.

So on Day 2 of the backpack, while 5 in our group (Will, Kim, Barbara, John F and Ron) donned backpacks and headed down the trail, John and I grabbed only daypacks and followed our group as far as Maroon Pass (12,500'). Meanwhile, back at the ranch (camp), Bill was feeling pretty bad. He spent the day sleeping while Silke read and relaxed. The 4 of us spent night 2 at the same campsite.

Day 3 arrived and we headed back the way we came in, stopping at Crater Lake to dayhike Buckskin Pass (12,000') and spend the night. The beautiful views we were looking for from Buckskin were invisible to us because it was raining. As a matter of fact, it rained all day and that night we crawled in our tents to eat dinner.

On Day 4, we hiked to the cars. Our initial destination was a hotel in Carbondale but we took a right turn at a small sign announcing the town of Bsalt and never looked back. A couple of days later, when we met up with our friends, we worked hard to keep our heads down and look sad as they spun their stories of survival, storms and incredible adventure. Quite honestly, we had a darn good time in Bsalt including one of the finest meals John and I can remember eating. The restaurant, Tempranillo, was a Spanish-Italian affair with white table cloth dining on the inside and fabulous, relaxed dining outside. We sat on the veranda enjoying great company (Bill and Silke) and fresh salad, hot and cold tapas, gnocci con prosciutto, asparagus, chicken and truffle oil and a bowl of penne genovese, while listening to live music provided by a Spanish guitarist. We watched the sun go down and enjoyed the early fall weather. It was a very good evening.

Next day we grabbed our backpacks and went back into the wilderness. We spent one day scouting trails and campsites for the final layover hike to Pierre Lakes. The next day we hiked down the trail to meet our group coming from Snowmass Lake. I won't bore you with the details of our final high altitude off trail hike to Pierre Lakes. It should suffice to say we were hanging by rocks, trees and bushes to get up and down parts of the trail, navigating some long boulder fields and a hail storm with lightening, thunder and rain. We had a priceless moment on this off trail hike, an incredible double rainbow. It was hanging over the canyon with colors so vivid that everyone just stopped for a few moments to soak it in. We felt sure the origin of the rainbow, the proverbial pot of gold, was our campsite.

We spent John's birthday in the wilderness with the group. Seems like John is always spending his birthday in the wilderness or some other far flung place. This year Barbara, ever the thoughtful one, remembered his big day and pulled out a mini candy bar with a flaming match inserted in the top! We sang "Happy Birthday" acappella, otherwise known as off key and wished him a happy day. I think John had his best wilderness birthday yet!

We were sad and happy to leave the wilderness on September 1. The group immediately drove back to Bsalt to eat at Tempranillo, this time as a group of 9. We arrived unbathed, unshaven, hair uncombed, dirty hiking clothes and muddy bodies but the staff smiled and treated us like royalty (and we returned the favor by tipping accordingly).

An overnight in Leadville, a stop in Georgetown-a mining town, a final overnight in Denver and we returned to Knoxville on Monday, September 3rd. In 11 days, we had our 10th hiker return home (from Glenwood Springs) to work a hurricane, 2 cases of exertion induced nausea (Bill and Ron), an altitude induced headache (Kim), a broken camera (mine-on Day 1 of the hike), congestion (me), sore muscles, exhaustion, numerous cuts and bruises (all) and a lot of grand stories to tell. I wouldn't have missed this trip for anything.

As mentioned above, my camera broke. I did buy a couple of disposable cameras in Bsalt but the photos are not great. Below are a few from the trip:

Part of our group at Maroon Lake, Maroon Bells are in the background

John noshing at Crater Lake

Me doing the same

Resting at Crater Lake, from left Ron, Barbara, in the back Bill and Silke

Day 1 campsite and our new REI tent

Barbara at our 1st campsite

View from Day 1 campsite

Ron with his new water filter from REI (we had a fun shopping day at the Denver REI)

John F at the first campsite with his tent (not new :-)

Snowmass Trail

Aspen

Snowmass Trail...this is about the spot we met Barbara and group coming from the opposite direction

Beaver dam and hut on Snowmass Trail

On the way to Pierre Lakes...the last off trail dayhike

Me at the base of Pierre Lakes (12,100')

John at the base of Pierre Lakes

Will and Kim enjoying the view

Barbara, Bill and Silke

A Walk on The Foothills Parkway

This week I returned to the gym in earnest to continue what I had started before the fractured arm, getting in shape for our upcoming backpack. My arm is healing though not at 100% yet. Some days are okay with reach and stretch, some days are just plain painful. We are still discussing a backup plan in the event that I do not have the strength to utilize my trekking poles efficiently. The backup plan centers mostly around car camping and day hiking some of the over 14,000' peaks...though John keeps bringing up the concept of a hotel stay somewhere in the middle of the trip. With his brithday on the calendar, a shower and comfortable bed appear to be on his gift wish list!

My focus at the gym is mostly treadmill work at a 15% incline and some time on the stair master. Later in the week I hope to do some leg weights but tonight John and I decided to go for an actual uphill hike with the condition that the hike takes place on a road of sorts since I am not ready to navigate the roots and rocks that come with backcountry trails...around here anyway.The longest stretch of hilly road we could think of was the unfinished section of the Foothills Parkway in Blount County.

While never open for motorized traffic, the 18-mile out and back paved section of the Parkway has been well used over the years by bicyclists and hikers. On July 11, 2005, the road was closed to the public when the long and expensive task of completing it resumed. And yeah, yeah, I read the sign..."closed to hikers, bicycles and motorized traffic"(John claims not to have seen it), but hey, it is one of the longest paved hills around. Besides we were only going to the top of the first hill, 3 miles at an 8% grade.

Compared to my last hike here, the road was a little worse for the wear due to the movement of heavy construction equipment. Someone, probably the Park Service, is keeping the roadside weeds at a manageable level. I had forgotten just how great this road is, so quiet and peaceful with some incredible views. We hiked to the top and down in an hour and fifty minutes. Not too back after being sidelined for a few weeks.

The Rinehart-Mello Reception

Saturday evening arrived and it was finally time for the wedding. While I didn't take pictures during the ceremony, I can assure you it was a beautiful and elegant affair. Catherine and Jake were married in Westminster Presbyterian Church, which is the church they attended while at UVA and the church her parents were married in some ah...well, years ago (also while attending UVA).

The wedding reception was a sit down dinner for 165 guests at the Veritas Vineyard and Winery in Afton, VA. My cousin Vicky and her husband Steve really know how to throw a party! We were awe struck by the views of mountains and vineyards from the veranda and equally impressed by the dinner spread, which was a blend of traditional American and Greek delights (thanks, in part, to the bride's Yia-Yia, aka my dear Aunt Itsa). With the help of a great band, the Smith sisters spent hours with our family, dancing (at least Carol was dancing), laughing and telling stories. It was indeed a celebration of love and happiness and there was no place I would have rather been.

Pictures from the reception:

Mike and Leslie on the veranda

Ah, the view!

Sisters or movie stars??!

Uncle Joe and Shirley

Thomas and his father, my cousin Eric (the next generation Whitesells are lookin' fine!)

These two are still newly weds, 1.5 years for Leslie and Mike

The father and mother of the bride (aka cousins Steve and Vicky) and sister, Carol

Seating for 165!

Thomas and Aunt Itsa showing off some very fancy footwork

Cousin Lynn and her husband Jerry

Dancing Whitesells...from left, Alex (Lynn's son), Lynn and Eric (lawyer by day, dancer at night) and Thomas.

Finally, the beautiful bride, Catherine and her handsome Prince Charming, Jake, who only had eyes for each other. Congratulations and hope you had a great time in St. Martins!