Atop Old Rag Mountain and floating down the lazzy James River

Labor Day weekend for us was all about the great out doors. We wanted to make the most of our weekend together so we decided on a couple of things to do. On Saturday we hiked Old Rag Mountain and on Monday prefering a shorter drive to scottsville than to Virginia Beach decided to go tubing down the James river.

Last Year Dara and I and mom and Kara tried hiking Old Rag Mountain but the weather took a turn for the worse and the rain and the cold made for icy conditions at the summit and so we sadly turned around. On Saturday Dara and I drove to Old Rag Mountain and met up with my mom. Together the three of us hiked and seriously climbed about 3 miles up to the summit (3,291 ft). It was one of the highlights of our summer. We all had a good time going through rock crevises and climbing over bolders. Climbing a mountain no matter the height or level of difficulty is a fullfilling journey. When we got to the top we felt like we had challenged ourselves and found the strength and determination to meet those challenges head on.

The beautiful vista at the summit overlooking the countryside and the Shenandoah National Park was spectacular. We felt like we were sitting on the top of the world, well at least from our vantage point at the top Virginia. We sat at the top for a while and just took it all in as we snacked on some food that we packed and made phone calls to family. The hike over all was amazing It was an enjoyable trip up the mountain and going down. Dara remarked as she was in a tough spot on the acsent that inorder to climb up and over a rock you have have to wrap your leg around it like you're pole dancing. Getting back down was far easier and we walked gracefully back down a few more miles. We came, we saw, we conquered. Another day lived and one mountained conquered.









So on Monday we had planned on going to the beach but we were feeling lazy in the morning and did not want to wake up and drive 3 hours or more to Virginia Beach. Instead we decided to go to Scottsville, VA where we outfitted ourselves with innertubes. One for each of us and one for our cooler full of food. I have to admit that it was a little risky going when we did becasue the river was low in several spots exposing pleanty of rocks to get in our way. For the most part we enjoyed floating along the river where we could enjoy just being in the water and out in the sun. I forgot how peaceful a river can be and it was nice to share in this tranquil experience with the woman I love.

At home in Charlottesville

Its almost been a month since we have moved and our house feels more and more like home each day. We've enjoyed having family come and visit and Dara is really good about inviting people over for dinner either from church or from the neigborhood. We live about a 15 minute walk to central UVA grounds which will be nice when I start school and Dara doesn't have a long commute to her job at Martha Jefferson Hospital at the Hope Cancer Center. Our place has two floors, two bedrooms and 1 1/2 bathrooms and it has a nice living room and kitchen/dining area. Before Dara started her job we both did a lot of reading now that we're wired to the internet we waste pleanty of time keeping up on TV shows, the blogging world, and facebook.


We have started up our training program again in preparation for our half marathon in October. We run just about every day of the week and we enjoy it a lot. Dara is having a great time at her new job and I just started working part time a Jimmy Johns, a fast and fun sub/sandwich shop.

On Friday Dara and I walked from our house to Charlottesville's downtown mall. Its an out door mall of shops, and resterants, a movie theater, ice skating rink, and a concert pavilion. We arrived and got dinner a little place called the Nook. We had a nice run in with my old Boss from Varsity Graphics Jack Raymond. We happened to be sitting right next to them and had a good time talking with them over good food. As the evening progressed we walked around more and listened to a live beatles tribute band. Around 8:00 the UVA marching band strolled through the town heading up their anual paint the town orange, pep rally raising excitment and support for the Football team's first game of the season. It sure was a lot of fun.