My big sis (Janice/Quick Question) turned 40 last weekend! To celebrate, we ventured to sunny and hot Florida–Captiva Island to be exact–with 4 of her girlfriends. The agenda included a whole lot of nothing. Five out of six of us have kids, a job and a very busy lifestyle. I don’t have nearly as many…
What I love about BD is that no two days/nights are the same. Thursday night, we had 3 very quiet hikers who hibernated in the hostel. So we carved pumpkins while “working”!!!!!!! I believe Deal was an artist in his former life. He is so meticulous and creative. He carved a hiker in one pumpkin,…
This weekend was eventful, very eventful. We left the confines of the hostel (I am going to call it BD from now on, so remember that) with a few tasks. We took another step in our 7-year love-hate relationship with our house in Danville. Love-hate because we were so lucky to have the same awesome…
I love my new life. It’s funny how things never turn out as planned. I should know this by now, yet I am still surprised by it. The thing is, Deal took a huge pay cut in this position as caretaker, which is why it was so important for me to find a full-time job.…
We have been getting out and doing more and more hiking these days. Novel concept, you know, since we live ON THE APPALACHIAN TRAIL. We are trying to re-hike the miles north and south of here so we are experts in our field. We get very specific questions about the trail in the area and…
Jess Hi, my name is Jess and I spent just over 3 months living with Steadee and Deal. They were awesome foster parents. They provided me bugs, mice and much more as my toys and snacks. My favorite spot was a basket they had in their bathroom. But then I had to go away. At…
We’ve created this dangerous tradition with Deal’s friend TheHoss/Jason and his girlfriend Accessory/Adrienne … going to the Jimmy Buffet Concert!!!!!! Our third round happened this past weekend! This is actually my 4th Buffet concert and Deal’s 10th, or 20th. I don’t party often, especially now that age keeps creeping up on me. But for some…
The other day Deal stepped outside our front door and something caught his eye. Deal is deathly afraid of snakes. While we were on the trail, our little trio (us and Fire Marshall) took a poll. Which creature of the night often found in the shelter is your least favorite? Mine was the spiders (in…
I am happy to announce that Hallmark4Ever/Sara & GoodEgg/Rob (our friends from NJ) asked us to be godparents to their second child!!! We are thrilled!! I am godmother to Big Ears, my sister’s son and Deal is Godfather Part I (not the movie) to Curly Locks, my sister’s daughter. Many people downplay the title of…
Almost immediately after my sister’s family left, Deal’s family arrived! First, his preggo sister (our third niece or nephew to arrive in November!!) SILMeow/Julie and her hubby Napolean Dynamite/Russ. They were only at our place for one night before we ventured to Virginia Beach (all the way on the other side of VA) for a…
Quitting my job was timed perfectly for our oodles of back-to-back family visitors. First up, my sister and her family spent 5.5 days with us. I can’t even imagine working while they were here, because we all know you need a lot of energy to keep up with those kids!!! On a side note, we…
Hi everyone, how are you? I quit my job. If you do not want to join my pity party, stop reading now. I am warning you, this will be a long, hopefully funny, sometimes incoherent, sometimes angry, sometimes thankful rant. The fact of the matter is, I need to get my feelings out about the…
We had more visitors roll through in July and now in August and they will continue through the end of the month (4 more arriving manana)! As much as I know you want me to recount every detail, I only have time to highlight our most recent visitors … of course, I probably have no…
A few weeks ago, my Nana (my mom’s mom) turned 86 and we got the WHOLE family together to celebrate. The majority of my extended family lives in New Jersey, but there are a few exceptions like myself and my sister. I also have an aunt, uncle and cousin who live in Alaska, cousin in…
Okay, not really, but a local TV station did a piece on the lodge/hostel for their Backyard Adventures Series. A 2-minute segment on the news is enough fame for me! Here’s the link to watch the video (it’s only active for the next 2 weeks): http://www.tv3winchester.com/home/headlines/Backyard_Adventure__Bears_Den_Trail_Center_161436975.html
There’s so much I want to write about, but so little time! For now, I wanted to share some pictures of all our wonderful visitors. We have pretty much had visitors every week in June and I expect this to continue through July and August!! In fact, we have more visitors coming from New Hampshire…
Dear Mr. McKinley, Your birthday was yesterday (Summer Solstice). You turned 8, which is 50 in cat years (old man, you are). We didn’t forget your birthday, I promise. I just didn’t have a chance to blog. Even if we forgot your birthday, you shouldn’t be surprised. This is in line with our behavior this…
This time last year, we set off on our greatest adventure of our lives (so far).
Aren’t you lucky? 2 posts in one weekend!!! My sister (QuickQuestion) traveled 376 miles by train, bus and car to surprise me for Memorial Day Weekend!!! She, Deal, and my parents were in cahoots to work out the incredibly complex logistics planning. My sister is about as directionally challenged as Deal is. In fact, I’m…
The weekend of May 18-20 (yes, I realize that was 2 weeks ago), Deal & I traveled down to Damascus, VA for Trail Days, an annual celebration of long-distance hiking. This could not have happened without 3 things: 1) Scott/Redwing & Marie/Hopeful, the former caretakers, coming in for the weekend to cover the incredibly busy…