Currently: April

Wait, we’re already a few days into May?? I believe I’m fashionably late with my April Currently post! Currently living/working: Home has been where the toothbrush is! After staying put in Alaska for the past 14 months, we’ve been on the move most of April, and it’s been hectic! From AK to NJ (me) to…

Currently: November

Currently living/working in: We spent the first part of the month holed up in our cabin in Healy, Alaska, juggling writing deadlines. Then we flew to the East Coast for 3 Leave No Trace cleanup events (Jacksonville 11/17, Philadelphia 11/23 and NYC—specifically Queens—11/29) as part of the REI Opt Outside / Opt to Act campaign.…

SOLD!

We completed the sale of our house in Virginia! Our friend Van was so nice and gave us a bottle of champagne to celebrate … doesn’t matter that he found the champagne at the dump (which is why we didn’t drink it and just sprayed it around). When we sat down with the city officials…

Currently: June

Currently spending time with/where: We are down to the wire with our time in Danville. We close on the house today in less than 3 hours!!! Current plan: Wouldn’t you like to know??? Better yet, wouldn’t we like to know? Current mood: Bittersweet about saying goodbye to our house and our friends in Danville one more time.…

Mountain Biking – CHECK

J & I engage in plenty of outdoor sports–hiking, paddling, biking, rock climbing, XC skiing, etc. Our participation in them depends on the area where we live and how much time we have. Mountain biking has never really been in our rotation of activities. J has done it a few times, but is definitely a…

Scenes From Danville

I promised I’d balance out my Debbie Downer posts, so here are some happy scenes from Danville! As I said, we have some really awesome friends here and have been squeezing every droplet out of our free time for some fun, despite the surrounding drama. There’s been lots of outdoor recreation, weekly 1/2 priced Sushi…

Post-Trail Blues

So it’s pretty suffice to say that since we returned from New Zealand, we’ve had a black cloud following us around, or maybe it is just reality overcompensating for our 6-month escape.  Someone said this line to us the other day and it just about sums it up: “Wish in one hand, shit in the…

Our Danville Story

We’ve been in Danville, VA, since May 6. Danville, for those who don’t know, is one of our many home bases. Danville is a small town of roughly 40,000 people on the border of North Carolina. Manufacturing, tobacco and textiles were its main industries for much of the 20th century, with a key business being…

Currently: March

We’ve been on the road since Feb. 24, but we will be completing the final leg today to settle in Oregon for the next 7 months!  Before we do, I figured I’d squeeze in a last-minute March edition of “Currently.” I enjoyed sharing “Currently” last month and maybe I will make it a regular part…

In Search of Some Spring

Voting is still open through the end of March for the Montana contest … come on people, don’t you want to see us get to Montana??? We are nowhere close to winning and need your votes!!  http://mtcontest.backpacker.com/hopefuls/patrice-justin Well, we have finished our East Coast stint.  J & I had decided before heading to these parts…

We are landlords

So hell kinda froze over guys and gals. Remember that house in Danville we own? The one we’ve been paying a mortgage, homeowners insurance and utilities on for the past 3 years? It’s official. We have a renter in it. He’s been living there for almost a month and so far so good.I didn’t want…

Decade in Review

I just realized that not only did 2009 hand off the torch to 2010, but that also means another decade is gone! I decided to be silly and do a review of the last decade, complete with pictures. And then it practically took me the whole new decade to gather the pictures and upload and…

Ho Ho Who?

December is a busy month for recreation. Tonight, J is judging houses for the Holiday Lights Contest and tomorrow, he is holding his Santa Calling program. Santa Calling is a program Danville did and it was so great, J introduced it here. Parents fill out forms about their kids—ages, what they want (and are getting)…

Bye bye Marlboro

OMG. This piece of news floored me. I was convinced we might be getting around in Jetson-style vehicles before this happened. Danville restaurants go smoke-free under new law I grew up in a smoky home. In the days when the warnings on smoking were less OBVIOUS, ShortonCoffee would smoke in the car with us. My…

PR

I’ve had this particular post planned in my mind for some time because I’m just so proud. It’s about how J and I reached a PR. No, not a running personal record. But we’ve-lived-under-the-same-roof-for-more-than-two-years PR. We have lived here in the same NH barn/house for 2 years and 2 weeks. As in we haven’t had…