Merry Christmas One and All

Santa's in the Sandwich Islands as I write, making his way to our eager home. May your morning be filled with tidings and good cheer, presents and treats, happiness and surprise, and may your sweaters always match.

Merry Christmas 2010!

Day on the Slopes

Beaver Creek, Avon, Colorado, December 16, 2010: Snowshoe Adventures at 10,000+ feet.

We even got to take the lift

Ben thanks our fathers for supplementing his wardrobe: shirt and neck warmer courtesy of Don and ski pants thanks to J. ;-) It pays to know outdoorsmen in your size, huh?

Warming yurt -- a welcome place to kick the snow out of your shoes.

Today, we reluctantly descend and leave our beloved Westin Beaver Creek, which was lovely, overpriced, and wonderfully comfortable. The good news: we may see some prairie dogs at lower elevations!

This side of the Continental Divide

We've just finished Western Family Nacho Night, after a long soak in the saline infinity hot tub out in the snow. And wow, it sure feels like vacation!

I owe all of you an apology, because it's difficult to describe how pleasant and wonderful our time has been without sounding like I'm a braggart or like I'm insensitive to those who don't have the privilege that we are blessed to find ourselves with now. That said, THIS PLACE IS AWESOME!

Tomorrow: braving the elements for a snowshoe venture, which will involve three chair lift exchanges and trail mix. Don't be too jealous (Matt, that mostly means you. Luke would LOVE wearing a Northface dog-jacket in Beaver Creek).

Destination: Vacation

It's lightly snowing in Beaver Creek, Colorado this morning, and your daring adventurers are off for some alpine trekking. Photos and details to come. Vacation: it's the best!

Gobble Gobble

Happy Thanksgiving from all your friends at PaidinSunshine!

Hope your holiday was merry and bright! We had ourselves a feast and a half -- but we're saving our turkey for dessert. ;-)

Another Year, Another Day at the Races

Yesterday, an elite crew with a special in-field pass set off for an artisan sandwich picnic and some annual Montpelier Hunt Race fun.

In between the races, we scoped the tweeds, riding boots, and braided manes. (Hat shopping involved mixed results, and ultimately no new acquisitions.)

There was steeple-chasing galore. Even when jumping the box hedges--or losing their jockeys (read: not underpants)--, the equine specimens maintained their composure in the slightly elevated altitude.

...And the day ended with a pink nose after cheerful hours in the sun.
Take that, potential Vitamin D deficiency!

Exciting Times in the ATL

Highlights of our visit to Atlanta last weekend: Amazing FroYo, swank downtown hotel, first snow of the season, Confederate bas relief monuments, the many flavors of CocaCola, time with our favorite seminarian, puppetry, biscuits and grits.

Stone Mountain: where we learned about the importance of proper footwear, quartz monzonite outcroppings, "heroes" Stonewall Jackson, Robert E. Lee, and Jefferson Davis, and a carver named Lukeman.

Snow machine! Stone Mountain was preparing for winter festivities as we sweat our way down the mountain.


Serendipity. Our rental was silver Corolla, which we took to the Ponce Whole Foods.

A stolen image at the Center for Puppetry Arts prior to an unexpectedly good performance, The Ghastly Dreadfuls. Unpictured: creepy, creepy puppets.

Can one man try all 66 flavors at the World of CocaCola?

Only after a 4-D experience featuring water and wind (note the droplets on Ben's shirt!).

Perfection! Thanks for a lovely trip, Jenna! It was a wonderful crash course in Atlantia.

Blue Ridge Wanderings

There are Northerners are among us this weekend. Some photos:

Yankee Horse Ridge trails after a picnic lunch

Morning moonset over Avemore

How much is that Luke-man in the forest? (The one with the waggly tail?)

Base of Crabtree Falls at the Tye River at sunset

Acorn foraging

More to come, hopefully documenting a required visit to Aunt Sarah's Pancake House and horse farms.

Weekend Roundup

Foggy Saturday morning in the Shenandoah, following days of epic flooding.

A new hiking trail, replete with mountain scapes, critters, and backyard viewing potential. We even scoped out some bittersweet and went back today to "liberate" a few twigs.

And, finally, evening fun at the tot lot. Intersperse the weekend with some choice noming, a handful of migraining, Jersey Shore season one, online pillow shopping, and stacks 'o work, and you have a sense of the fascinating times of Began, October 2010.

Sorry!

Too busy sitting on our new couch and/or parking in our new garage to blog!

North Carolina's Just Fine by Me

Operation 36-Hour OBX or Bust: Moderate Success

*only one tire was busted on this mission. Blame the Bodie Light House... Upshot of busted tire: we met friendly surfers from Montreal and a talkative Republican who relocated to the area at the top of the housing bubble.

In all, it was a lovely two days featuring great blue cheese, my first taste of the infamous Wahoo fish, listening to the waves crash by our deck, hiking the sand dunes with Mennonites, thinking about A Kingdom Strange, feeding leftover salad to a mess of turtles, and listening to a slew of podcasts (and the new Brandon Flowers' album on repeat).

The biggest drawback of the trip wasn't the drive or the AAA rescue; it was the damn bugs, which ate me alive. Why me, bugs? Do I taste like Ina's cheesecake to you? Don't you know how many calories I contain? Show some moderation!

Life Outdoors Pts. 1 & 2

In slimy news, Ben, underwater ally, has attracted a new porch pet.

For a few days now, we've been captivated by the amphibious doings of this fella, who I think of as Lester.

Japanese beetles beware!

Late last night, we even spotted him on one of our deck chairs, peering toward us through the blinds. Creepy!

In other out of doors news, we've succumbed to the nerdiest of Saturday evening activities. We watched LOTR vol. 3 with about 40,000 of our closest DC-area companions. Outside. While an orchestra played along. It was pretty awesome, even if I still don't fully understand the appeal of the precious ring. We had a Wegman's-based picnic, chatted with friends, clapped at the good parts. I got to wear my North Face for the first time this season, and Ben swapped Belgian brews with a like minded connoisseur. Place this in the category of Things I Wouldn't Have Sought Myself That Paid Off. Thanks for inviting us, Gillian!

Happy Labor Day

After a long week of work and a weekend filled with more work, we took off for some mountain air and off-site family nacho night activities.

Hope everyone had a relaxing day. Let's raise our glasses to more Mondays off! ;-)