The House on the Hill

We moved from West Jefferson to Boone and bought a log home on a hill.  The views are beautiful at 3,800 feet and we are enjoying settling in, but more the short commute to work.  In choosing a home, location to good riding roads is imperative. We're lucky to  have easy access to rural country roads and only a few miles from the parkway.

Spring 2013

Another year is half way over and I'm just catching up on the blog. We always travel to Clemson in the winter for a nice warm weather retreat, host Zoey's February birthday and snow ski, then we traveled to our cousin in St. Pete Florida for some R&R, and finally a quick trip to Indiana to visit family, specifically our new niece, Evie.Summer is almost here and we have some great travel plans to enjoy our break!

Holiday Break

It was a busy December with beautiful weather!  We hiked our favorite park with no one to be seen on a rare warm winter day in Boone.  We had to go North to get a Christmas gift of over a foot of snow during holiday break in Indiana, unfortunately though our sister-in-law didn't deliver our niece Evie until after we left. We may have an early visit planned this spring.  We had a great time visiting with family and relaxing away from work, training, and responsibilities. 2013 will prove to be a busy and exciting year!

Racing and other campsite thoughts...

We've had a busy fall preparing for some local mountain bike races and camping at Mulberry Gap in GA over Thanksgiving.  I was training for our local 37 mile point-to-point race with high hopes; however, I realized I put a few too many dirt miles in and wore myself out.  In hindsight I should have spent more time on my road bike.  Sean and I race two six hour races the weekends before the point-to-point and my body couldn't recover fast enough.  Although I'm happy with my finish, I was hoping to complete the race under 4 hours and missed my cut off by about 20 minutes.  A positive note was the purchase of my new 29inch full suspension Santa Cruz.  I don't like new bike, upgrades, etc. but fell in love with this ride the first time!

We rarely travel over Thanksgiving since family is too far away so this year we packed up our new camper and set off for a mountain bike getaway.  We had a great time in NW Georgia, enjoyed the trails, the camper, and the great food and service.  We wish it wasn't so far, but will be sure to return one day.  December will be busy with my annual girls trip to Kiawah Island, the end of the fall semester, and traveling to Indiana for the holidays. 

The Month of Birthdays...

Everyone in my immediate family has a September birthday, except me, which makes for a busy month!  I always miss home this time of year and the celebrations.  We have a new Indian restaurant in Boone where we celebrated Sean's 43rd year with friends.  They had to ask how to spell his name, which we thought was odd, but understood when we saw plate.  Although I will say it's the last month of summer and the grand harvest from my garden, we continue to get warm 70 degree days sprinkled in and have not had to turn on the heat.  I expect to receive an unimaginable amount of snow and cold this winter in return for the magnificent spring, summer, and fall.  Last weekend we had the pleasure of sharing another young couples wedding, Rachel and Flo, and had a great time with friends.  October will be a busy month of mountain bike racing with a few 6 hours races, 40 mile point-to-point race on our home turf, and the Boone Throwdown Halloween cross race, which always brings the crazy train.  Happy fall!

Labor Day

We spent Labor Day at the lakes with the Wood's in Clemson.  Growing up in Northern Indiana the official start to summer was Memorial Day and the close of the season, Labor Day.  I am fortunate to continue that tradition with our best friends on Lake Hartwell every year.  Friday evening I brought six cupcakes from our gourmet bakery in Boone, each a different flavor.  It's clear we don't have kids because I naively cut each cupcake into fours so everyone could have a taste and called the kids over to indulge.  In less than 60 seconds the two little people devoured two cupcakes and we realized the error of our ways.  Sugar really is the devils medicine, but it tasted so good!  Saturday in preparation for my crazy October of mountain bike racing, I rode 65 miles in the 90 degree heat with my Clemson peeps up to Bob's Place on HWY 178.  I was pleasantly surprised at how my nutrition was perfectly dialed in, the heat didn't get to me, and legs were happy until the last 10 miles.  After taking a few years off from structured training and simply enjoying the bike, I have chosen some long distance mountain bike races to train for.  Then we spent the next two days lounging at the pool, watching the Clemson game with friends, and mountain biking.  Sean raced the Labor Day races in Anderson and placed 7th, 15th in the Pro 1,2 field and 15th in the Omnium.  He turns 43 this month and I continue to be impressed how he can race with those young'ins in the crazy heat!  September brings a much needed break in travel to recoup at home, put in some long training days, and enjoy the cool mountain fall.