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Hungry Mother State Park
Today we start heading West, but the sunny weather tempts us to find another hike before leaving Virginia. Hungry Mother State Park supplies a really pleasant loop around a reservoir in the oak and maple forest we’re coming to expect in this part of the country, but there is another small budding tree in the…
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Rocky Knob Loop
The Blue Ridge Parkway is quite close to Randy’s house, so he knows just where to go when we ask for a small hike. We wind up to the ridge for a few tantalizing views, but the first half of the trail wends through the woods, where old cabins have a tendency to disappear and…
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A Morning at Weathertop Farm
We make our way to Ann’s brother Randy’s place in Floyd, Virginia. He’s working part time on a friend’s farm, and we offer to spend a morning “helping” so we get to gawk at all the stuff going on here. Our first job is to head down the hill and feed the hogs. Randy shows…
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Great Falls Park on the Potomac
We’ve continued south on highways flanked with still-colorful oak and maple forests to Rockville, Maryland, where Ann’s friend Jonathan lives with his wife Lisa. It’s mostly a working visit for me, but I can’t resist a hike in this small national park on the Potomac river. We begin along the old “tow canal” that for…
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Spruce Mountain
Just up the road from our host’s abode is a trail to the Spruce mountain fire lookout in L.R. Jones State Forest. The trail is rocky and wet – this country seems like it would be a giant swamp if the mountains weren’t here to keep the water flowing. The summit is windy, making the…
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East Hill Road Loop
Ann and I run some of the picturesque roads near Plainfield. East Hill Road
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Netherlands Green Taxis Tally Graph
I did a quick improvement to my little Tally Graph WordPress plugin for www.groenetaxi.nl, a site for “green taxis” in the Netherlands. Tally Graph is front and center with a graph of the number of trees saved per month by their green transportation initiative.
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Sheep and Code in Plainfield, Vermont
For a few years now I’ve been developing websites with my colleague Jason Lemieux of vernalcreative.com, but until now we had never met in person. I’ve always been intrigued by Jason because he balances his career developing websites with running a small sheep farm and raising a family. I always wanted to see how this…
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Visiting Burlington
My aunt and grandmother lavish food and music upon us while we stop in Burlington, Vermont to see them. I haven’t made it out here since my visit on my big bike tour eleven years ago. It’s rare and warm family time. Dinner The wild rain is predicted to continue, but breaks long enough for…
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Live Music: Heinavanker
I can’t remember the last time I heard a good Estonian vocal ensemble! My Aunt Julia provides a rare opportunity to experience six expert vocalists from Estonia create heart-stilling harmonies based on meditative, monastic-sounding early sacred music and Estonian folk hymns. The effect on me is simultaneously simple and complex, the apparent simplicity of voices…