Montreal, Canada

Jan 19th - 23rd. A visit to Montreal in the dead of winter is an interesting and cold experience. After visiting Jackson Hole last week, I thought I was prepared for the cold, but I was poorly prepared. Snow, wind and ice in a big city combine to produce a frozen experience. Cold aside, Montreal is a wonderful city.

The beginning of the trip did not start well. Driving in a new city covered with snow, most road lanes missing and most road signs in French is difficult. Added to that, I was given the incorrect address to my customer, and then my GPS unit did not have the new address. A couple of hours late, with the aid of hand scribbled maps I finally reached the customer site. Later that day, my room key broke at the hotel, locking me out of my room for a while. I was finally able to go to bed after they had replaced the door electronics. Usually, the travel aggravation on the first day sets the tone for the business week, but so far my fears have been for nought as my customer has been a gracious host.

On Tuesday night I went out into the city with my customer Daniel. We drove up and around Mount Royal (Mont Royal) when I had a great view of the city at night - finally it wasn't snowing and the skies were clear. Back in the city we had dinner at a great little and warm bar call Baton Rouge (The Red Bat). While we were there I could see that the Atlanta Thrashers were beating Montreal in Ice Hockey being played back in Atlanta (3 - 2 when I left). After ribs and chicken, we drove to Old Port Montreal. Sand stone buildings line the streets and port, transporting you to any European city across the pond. Reminded me of the Rocks in Sydney, or Salamanca in Hobart.

Leaving the snow pack cobblestone streets, I returned to my hotel, where once again, my keys didn't work.

Jackson Hole, Wyoming

Jan 12th - 16th. I visited Jackson Hole and surrounding area for the first time during the winter season while working for Jackson Hole Airport. I had last been to Jackson Hole during late fall where I experienced some stunning weather allowing me to tour the area and take advantage of day light savings time and drive up to Yellowstone National Part after work.


A totally different vista now with the winter landscape. Everywhere was covered by at least 2 feet of snow which apparently was a low year. I was fortunate to be working with a great bunch of people that took me cross country skiing one lunch and night time skiing at Snow king another time. Cross country skiing was difficult. Instinct had me trying to 'run' over the snow rather than the gliding action that was required. The different snow types encountered also changed the experience, from ice impacted snow to soft powder - each requiring a different action to cross over with the long narrow skis. While the rest of the group made it look easy, sweat was pouring off me. I was happy with my first attempt at six miles.

Snow King is one of Americas oldest ski resorts, with base in Jackson Hole city. With free ski lift tickets and rental equipment I got to enjoy a night of skiing. A very different experience at night with limited viewing of the obstacles ahead, though my lack of down hill speed did not cause a problem. After a few slow and bad runs, I finally got the hang of it and was able to get down the slop without falling and with more confidence.

Driving around the area I saw thousands of Elk and Moose as they huddled around rivers taking advantage of the soft snow to dig for grass. Also prowling around the Elk, I got to see a pack of wolves.


The dining experience at Jackson Hole is always enjoyable with a Wild West feel. I ate a couple of nights at the Silver Dollar Bar and Grill. Old west bar made famous for the 2500 Silver Dollar coins that comprise the bar. Enjoyed a Elk Gyro. Delicious meat. One of my favourite day places would be Dobins which is north of the airport towards Yellowstone but still within the Teton National Park. Excellent fresh food, pizza and salads with plenty of local brews to wash it down with. In the warmer months there is a rooftop seating area with an amazing view.

The Swinging Bridge - Blue Ridge, GA

One day during our Christmas vacation we decided to venture out for a hike. We decided to find the swinging Bridge that we had read so much about. The swinging bridge is a part of the Benton McCaye Trail and was originally built for logging purposes.


Rod will elaborate here.

Our Cabin in Blue Ridge

In 2008 we purchased a cabin in North Georgia. Our cabin is nestled along side a creek that is about 7 miles north of Blue Ridge, Georgia and about 3 miles from the Tennessee state line.

We were able to get our cabin all ready for the family so we could enjoy it together for Christmas 2008.

We look forward to many future trips to our cabin with family and friends in 2009.

Cloudland Canyon Camping - November 2008

Our final camping trip of 2008 was at Cloudland Canyon just south of Chattanooga Tennessee. We arrived at dusk which made locating our walk in campsites extremely difficult. After hiking around for about 40 minutes, we realized that most of the sites here had quite a hike and it would make hauling all our gear in difficult. We are comfort campers... air mattresses, coolers and gas stoves are all requirements. We found a nice large site that was a reasonable distance from the parking lot. Instead of the 3 sites we paid for, we all stayed at one spot. (We were not able to determine the location of many of the other sites, much less find 3 close together)

All the sites at cloudland canyon offer privacy, so its not the ideal location for group camping if you want multiple sites together, however since the sites are so large, it is possible for a group to stay on one site and still enjoy privacy.

The best part of this campground was the hiking. On Saturday our group enjoyed a 3 hour hike around the canyon and were able to enjoy some amazing views.

Smokemont Campground in North Carolina

In October we went camping with our friends Jason, Brooke, Phil and Misty. This year we went farther than we have in the past... we drove all the way to the Smokey Mountains and set up camp at Smokemont Campground. We stayed at one of the non RV spots. At smokemont they do not allow you to stay at the nice creekview spots unless you actually have an RV. We were in a tent so we stayed in our designated area, which happened to be close to the bathroom facilities.

We went up to the top of the mountain one day to enjoy the view.

There are many hiking trails near the campground.

Phil and Misty outside the tent.

Brooke and I were having a silly time around the fire.

The girls took the guys animal hats to pose for the picture.

Camping - Doll Mt Campground - Ellijay

We just got home from our first camping trip of 2008.  Six of us stayed at Doll Mt Campground in Ellijay. I have given myself a challenge to document each campsite we visit so it will help me decide which campground to stay at in the future.

When we arrived at the campground, we first took a tour to pick just the right spot.  We decided with great excitement to stay at the walk in camp sites at the very end of the campground. (sites 55-57) This area was perfect. It was secluded, shaded, surrounded by water, and had our three sites fairly close together with a group fire ring in the middle which allowed us to have a central location.  The only downside is this end of the campground only had Vault toilets. The modern facilities with hot showers were almost a mile away.  This ended up working out perfectly, as ended up having the entire area pretty much all to ourselves.  When we go back, we will stay at the same sites again.

Here are some photos:

Forcing the air mattress into the tent.

Having our first drink and relaxing after the unpacking and setting up.

Ooops

Exploring around the lake.

Biking around the park. We didn't get too far, very hilly and hot!

Time to cool off.

We had an old air mattress with a hole in it that we used one last time as a party boat.

Site 57

Group fire ring between site 57 and 56

View toward site 56 and 55
(you can see the tent on site 56, site 55 already packed up the tent,
but it would be on the left side of this picture past the hammock.)

Over 55 Active Adult Community in Blue Ridge | The Oaks at Blue Ridge

I launched a new site this week: www.theoaksblueridge.com. The Oaks at Blue Ridge is a 55 and over low-maintenance gated community. The Oaks is located five minutes from downtown and is walking distance to Tammen Park and the Toccoa River.

The developer has already began the community and quickly found that interested people were asking if he had a website, so he called me. We quickly got the site built and launched, and we will continue to update the site at the community is developed.

Paint Ball

For Philips birthday we decided to get a group together and try Paintball. Of our group of 12, about half of us had done it before and the other half had not. It was a good combination of trying to pelt each other in the head with paintballs. I think everyone left with half dollar size bruises somewhere on their body. Mine was on my leg!

Barenaked Ladies

Anyone who knows me knows I am a huge BNL fan. I attend every concert possible. Rod and I went to the BLAM concert and got fantastic 9th row seats this year, which of course was a great view and a wonderful opportunity for some photos.