Leins Literati Box

Haven’t posted in a while, having spent my limited time more on Facebook and a little on Twitter among other timewasters.  Been pretty busy on week-ends and at work too, so posting is the activity that takes the hit.  We are in the middle of a three week-end break from travel and company and it has been nice to recover a little of our mojo.  We are planning more trips this summer though and hope to see as much of our family and friends as possible.  Sylvia has the yard looking fantastic and the weather has been cooperative so far.  No complaints!

We have been putting a lot of thought about where we will eventually end up, and vacillate between Nashville and the mountains.  Can’t make a decision yet anyway, but it is fun to think about.

We are actually staying home this week-end.  For the past 5 weeks, Sylvia and I have been gone or had company every week-end.  It was fanatastic in some ways (Sedona and the Grand Canyon, my Mom’s visit) and not so great in others (Sylvia’s Dad in the hospital).  Next week, we are headed to Saratoga Springs for our Grandson’s birthday and then the next week-end, down to visit Sylvia’s Dad, probably with a hike thrown in.  Toss work in the mix and we haven’t had a lot of time to be pensive or do many blog posts lately…

We had quite a good time in Sedona.  Pictures from our trip are below!

Haven’t posted in a while due to work and vacation.  Will be posting pictures from our vacation including some from Sedona and some from our big Grand Canyon hike.

Another rainy week-end.  Sylvia and I are catching up on some shopping and maintenance tasks around the house.  We have a few trips coming up in the near future and are getting geared up to make the most of them.  Our yard is in full bloom mode at present, even with the poor weather.   We are missing Candyce, Andy and Ellen from their recent visit and starting to make plans for a visit with Mandy, Ben and Jack.

Well, I turned 56 today, but did it in style.  Candyce, Andy and little Ellen were here Friday, Saturday and Sunday and we had a great time.  Ellen was a little trooper as we went to Old Town Alexandria, the Mall in DC and the Smithsonian along with eating out several times.   I will post pictures later, but at this point we are winding down from a fun week-end.  In the next few weeks we will be finalizing our trip to the Grand Canyon, hitting the exercise routines hard and taking one more shake-down hike to get prepared.  We will also be having a visit from my Mom and Bryce.  Busy times but great ones!

Just checked the temperature outside today and it is 91 degrees!  Two weeks ago, we were in the 40s and now it is summer with the next two days calling for 92 and 94 degree weather.  We have been cheated out of spring by a winter that lasted too long and a summer that has arrived too early.

This past week-end Sylvia and I flew down to Knoxville and then drove to Gatlinburg.  After spending the night in a Mark Tumblin’s cabin (Thanks Mark!) we hiked 14.0 miles up and down Mt. LeConte on Saturday.  We climbed to the top via the Boulevard trail and descended on the Alum Cave trail with side trips to Myrtle Point and the Clifftops.  The weather was beautiful and our hiking friends, Ronette and Jim Jones, Erin and Steve Bullington and Brooke made the hike great and were tons of fun afterwards.  We laughed hard the whole week-end.  This was a major training hike for our assault on the Grand Canyon in May and we hit the mountain on a perfect weather day.  Thanks to Jim and Ronette for all they did to get this trip organized.  We loved the mountains and couldn’t have hoped for a better hike.

In our ongoing preparation for our Grand Canyon hike later this year, Sylvia and I did the Three Falls hike starting at Big Meadows in Shenandoah National Park this past week-end.  It was around 9 miles total, all up and down, about 2500′ of climbing according to my trusty GPS.  It was about 55 degrees, crystal clear and windy, although not so bad down in the hollows.  Lots of water in the rivers from recent rains and great views on both the east and west sides of the park’s central ridge.

The three falls are Rose Falls, Dark Hollow Falls and Lewis Falls from the top, couldn’t get a good picture from the bottom or side – too steep.

Finally!  The sun just came out after two days of mostly gray drizzle.  It isn’t cold, but has been pretty miserable outside.  No hikes this weekend…

We have trips planned for a hike at Rocky Mount and then in a couple of weeks, are headed to climb Mount Le Conte (we hope) in the Smokies on the Rainbow Falls trail and then return the same day via the Bullhead Trail.    We never think about getting rained out, but it is always a possibility.  I think we may do the Le Conte climb rain or shine.  Should be beautiful about the time we hit it though for flowers and general views.  The weather is pretty changeable there though, so we need to be prepared for anything. These are great training hikes for the Grand Canyon hike later this year.

UPDATE: The sun came out and it went to 74 degrees today!  Syl sat outside in shorts and a tank top.  Hallelujah!