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Great Falls

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It has been months since my last hike and I was eagerly looking forward to getting outside in the peak of the Fall colors.  With the variety of parks in the area I wanted to hike a new place and explore the splendor of Fall in Virginia.  Last week I tried to get out, but got sick again so it couldn’t happen.  Then this past weekend I was determined more than ever to get out before all the leaves are gone and the cold winds blow down from Canada bringing with it freezing temperatures.  Saturday was a complete wash out with almost 16 hours of rain throughout the area, but Sunday was looking pretty good.  After a little searching on the web I decided on Great Falls for a Sunday afternoon hike.

We got a late start, but on a Sunday who wants to be up early?  We slept in, made breakfast, and watched CBS’s Sunday Morning.  Once we finally got out of the house it was only a thirty minute drive to the park entrance.  Actually, getting into the park seemed to take longer than getting there.  I knew the place would be packed with people.  It’s very close to DC and of course the Fall colors bring people out.  There is a single lane of traffic and only one person working the both makes for some slow going.

pond w/ algae

After walking around the park and experiencing the falls close up I understand what others have talked about and why the large line of cars getting in.  The heavy rain on Saturday pushed the water level up and emphasized the power of the falls.  The narrow gap and steep decent make the falls very impressive.  While walking up to one of the over looks there is a pole with various flood levels.  About 10′ above the ground is a mark for 1936, I couldn’t imagine that much water in the area.  While walking down path there was another sign with a picture during a flood state in the narrow gap of the river, at least 50′ above what it was today.  Just a tremendous amount of water in each case.

As Nancy and I walked along the bank of the river the cliffs offer many great views of the falls and river.  As long as you are not squeamish, exploring off the trail is very popular, almost encouraged.  Every time we could get off the beaten path we did, hoping to find a little solitude.  However every time we rounded the corner someone was already there.  Even as I looked over the cliff down toward the river bank, rock climbers were repelling down or climbing up.  The number of people just shocked me, but then it was a perfect day in Fall with the changing leaves.

Several times we saw kayakers braving the churning waters for a little fun.  Two managed to paddle all the way up to the falls to enjoy some of the ferocious rapids at the base of the falls.  Kayaking is not the only thrill seeking sport available at the park.  As I mentioned earlier there are giant cliffs that people love to climb.  We saw several professionals tackling some pretty hairy spots and large groups of new climbers out for the first time.  Seeing them all made me want to buy some climbing gear and join them.

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Once we got down to the end of the trail we decided to take a break and have a picnic.  This time we brought a bottle of wine to enjoy with our sandwiches.  The view across the water was great and made the whole trip worth taking.  We also rediscovered how addictive pistachios are, almost tore through the entire bag, yum.

On the way back to the car we took a different path through the woods instead of along the river bank.  Along the path are the ruins of the old town of Matildaville.  Not much is left of this town dedicated to the canal and locks.  Mostly just pills of rocks that once were house.  The visitor center has a great display of the old town in it’s heyday.  When we got back to the parking lot I wanted to check out two of the overlooks to the falls.  There are in fact three places with observation decks with views of the falls.  This is why everyone comes to the park.  Today the observations decks where packed with people taking pictures.  In the open fields near the observation decks people were enjoying picnics and the beautiful weather too.

climbers and their gear

By this time Nancy had had enough and headed back to the car.  I wanted to make a quick stop by the visitor center to check out the “new exhibits” signs around the park kept referring to.  Few people stopped by the visitor center which was odd to me.  The place was fantastic with the history of the are, not only of the human history but the geological history as well.  The even have a short video that plays on a regular rotation.  I couldn’t see it as my time here was short and I needed to get back to the car.

Late in the afternoon Nancy and I finally left this gem of a park in the shadows of DC.  When we left people were still streaming in and I am pretty sure the line was longer at 4pm than when we came in just before noon.  Everyone wanted a glimpse of what nature had to offer before all the leaves fall and things become nasty outside.

Well after the initial three show home coming in Hampton and the first part of summer tour, getting tickets to Phish was difficult to put it mildly. Years ago I always got my tickets via mail order. Back in the day you had to send money orders for each venue and I loved that method. Then they turned to the web and were one of the first to do so, I was always able to get tickets.   I never saved money by doing this, but it was a good feeling knowing I wouldn’t have to jump through hopes with Ticket Master to get tickets. So for the second half of the summer tour, and now the fall tour, I didn’t have any problems getting tickets via pre-order.

After looking at the schedule only one show was in my neighborhood, Jone Paul Jones Arena in Charlottesville. I was hoping to attend the second night in Albany, but I will be in Panama that weekend.

Nice thing about the Charlottesville show is again I will be seeing a tour closer. I have seen several of these over the years and they are usually pretty damn good. SPAC summer 2009, Tweeter Center summer 2004, and Greensboro Coliseum winter 2003 just to name a few.  They are always full of energy and something different and unusual is always thrown in for good measure.  I look forward to making a long weekend out of the trip and do a little hiking in south west Virginia on Sunday before heading home.

See you all on tour!

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bright purple berries

With the summer officially over the beach house is not being rented any more so this past weekend we took the opportunity to head there for a long weekend.  The Columbus Day holiday allowed for a long three day weekend and the first opportunity to see the beach house after the long summer rental.  We were hoping to go during the Labor Day weekend, but surprisingly people rented the week before and after.  Getting a late start on Friday was not much of an issue.  So late after summer the usual exodus to the beaches over the weekend didn’t happen.  The only trouble we had was around Annapolis and that was general rush hour traffic.

When we arrived the house was in great shape.  Actually most of the summer rentals are repeat customers, some have been coming for over 10 years to the house.  So they treat the house almost as if it was there own.  The yard was of course in pretty bad shape.  During the summer someone does come out and mow it, but that is the extent of the yard care.  Weeds had flourished in most of the flower beds and the bushes were gangly.  On the inside we removed all the baseboard heating radiators.  They must have been original ones because of how corroded they where, with the new heat pump they are no longer needed.

view across Lake Comegys

Other than that the weekend was pretty open and relaxing.  Sunday’s big thing was the Redskins game at 1 against Carolina.  It was a crappy game in my opinion.  The Skins suck and lost the game by three points.  They couldn’t block, couldn’t score, couldn’t tackle.  They even had a safety scored on them when Clinton Portis couldn’t get out of the end zone.  On top of that the Cowboys won against Kansas City in over time and Wisconsin lost a heart breaker of a game, one they easily should have won.  Ohio scored two defensive touch downs and ran one kickoff for a touchdown.  Definately not a good weekend for sports.

But on Sunday Nancy and I did get out for a long walk Sunday afternoon.  We walked down to Silver Lake, down along the beach and headed back home up Rehoboth Avenue.  I was surprised by the number of people that made it to the beach over the weekend.  While walking we ran into a lot of other people biking, walking and just enjoying the pleasant weather.  Even the beach was packed, no one was in the water, but many still went down to the water for a lovely afternoon.  Down Rehoboth Avenue we did a little window shopping in the stores that were still open, after the Columbus Day weekend many more will close for the winter months as the crowds get thinner.

Monday we took the opportunity to do a little shopping before making our way home.  Not that we can’t get stuff back here in Virginia, but not paying taxes is a nice little benefit, every dollar helps these days.  We even had time to stop off at this ice cream shop just outside of town.  It is actually a dairy farm and they make their own ice cream, highly recommend it if you are in the mood.

I wish I could have gotten into the water, but it was a nice weekend regardless.  We always manage to get a little work done and have a lot of fun while up there.  We ate well and drank like sailors.  Most nights we would sit outside talking and finish the bottle of wine we opened for dinner that night.

Daniel Tosh - kicking comedies ass!

Had a great evening in the city this past Saturday night.  Months ago I got tickets for Nancy, Jeremy and I to the Daniel Tosh show at the Warner Theatre in DC.  I have seen several show there and they are always good, definitely wont be my last.  With the show starting at 8pm we had plenty of time to find trouble before it started.

Nancy and I decided to drive up real early and head to Shelly’s Back Room for some drinks, food, and fine cigars.  It is one of the last places in the city you can smoke indoors.  I forget what the exact loop hole is that allows them to continue to smoke indoors.  Honestly I don’t care what it is, I just care there is a place where you still can still smoke.  Luckily the restaurant is only one block from the theatre entrance.  It is the perfect place to go before or after a show at the Warner or National Theatre.

When we left around a quarter to 8 I had a good buzz going, but being so close to the venue it didn’t much matter.  There was a huge line outside the theatre, I was surprised it was so long, but it moved quickly and in no time we were inside and sitting in our seats.  We were seated on the orchestra on the right side, pretty good seats if you ask me.  My only complaint is the size of the seats.  I am not a fat guy, but even I find the seats to be very narrow.  God help you if you are over weight, you will never fit into the seats.

The show started a little late, some people don’t understand that 8pm show time is the start of the show.  People were still filling into the theatre up till 8:30pm, that I just don’t get it.  There was an opening act, some guy also from Los Angeles whose name escapes me.  He was really funny and talked for about 15 minutes.  You could say it was ethnic comedy, he kept talking about poor black people.  It sounds really bad, but it was very funny.  We all were surprised by how good he was for an opening act.

When he walked off the stage, without delay or much fan fair, they introduced Daniel Tosh.  This giant of a man proceeds to swagger onto the stage.  He was really funny.  I would say his humor is sorta insult, but not all the time.  And even when he does insult people it’s not that bad, I have definitely heard worse from other comics.  For one of his jokes, I don’t even remember how it went, he ends it by saying “hot pocket.”  Nancy leaned over to me and ask “Did he just say ‘hot pocket?’”  He then talks about how he got advice from Jim Gaffigan on that joke and Jim recommended he just end it with “hot pocket”.  It totally worked.  By the end of the night my face hurt I was laughing so much.  What a fun evening.