More pictures from the summer

Here's some images from our summer trip. I hope there's no repeats; my apologies if there are. I'll upload some more once my patience with blogger is renewed.


A deer. Yellowstone.













Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone. Why the Yellowstone? Is it like the Ohio State University? Honestly, no one's going to get this Yellowstone confused with any other Yellowstone--no need for specifiying that this is THE Yellowstone, as opposed to any other ol' Yellowstone you might find lying around the house.













Katie paddling in Jenny Lake (or is it Jackson Lake?). We rented kayaks in Grand Teton NP; I would recommend this to anyone as an essential part of a trip to the park. Even to those without much energy or strength, you don't have to paddle very far to see some spectacular views.












Baby bison. We saw our first few bison and were amazed. Then, we realized that bison came by the dozens, even hundreds. Such amazing animals, but they almost became a nuisance to us. Yellowstone NP.














Just two of the THOUSANDS of people that watch Old Faithful erupt roughly every 70 minutes. Talk about the commodification of nature. Yellowstone NP.












Badlands, SD. Seth on the bottom right.













Profile of Mt. Rushmore. Black Hills, SD.














FIRE! (Tom Hanks, Castaway-style) Canyon Campground, Yellowstone NP

















When referring to just one particular cliff/rock in the Badlands, do you call it "a badland"? Badlands, SD












Sears Tower, Chicago



















Those are multicolored corncobs (corn still attached) that make up the intricate murals. Mitchell, SD.

Summer trip update #2!

Sorry for the long delay, folks. Blogger has been slow/non-functioning in most places we've been lately. Most of these photos are not in chronological order, but they should give some idea of what we've seen. Hope you enjoy. We're in Jersey now, back in Athens soon!

The Needle's Eye. Custer State Park, South Dakota.



















A tunnel through some rock. Needles Highway, Custer State Park, South Dakota.













Our campsite, Badlands.













Poor focus, but nice colors. Badlands.













Badlands National Park, SD













The dark grave marker slightly to the bottom-left of center is where Custer fell. Little Bighorn National Monument, Montana.













SNOW. Absaroska Range, Shoshone National Park, Montana.













Geography, ladies and gentlemen! South Dakota.













Four of my history professors on my shirt, four former presidents on the mountain. South Dakota.



















The continuing work on the Crazy Horse Memorial. Black Hills, South Dakota.













And you thought hitting a deer might make for a bad day. Yellowstone.

Grizzly Bear, Yellowstone.

Snow in June, Yellowstone.

Bison--the same as buffalo, fyi. Yellowstone.

Katie with some snow, eh? Other drifts were double this height. Absaroska Range, Shoshone National Forest, Montana.

The Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone.

More pictures are on the way once we have more reliable computer and internet access.

Summer Trip 08 (Part 1)- Driving out West, St. Louis, & CO

As most of you know, we're on a giant camping/road trip this summer. Here's some of our photos so you can keep track of us on our journey from Athens back to Athens over six weeks and a few thousand miles of American landscape.

Cooking at our first stop on the west side of St. Louis, MissouriSt. Louis' famous archA view of Busch Stadium and other downtown landmarks from inside the top of the arch

The mighty (and muddy) Mississippi as seen from aboveHanging on to one another inside the arch. You can feel it sway when you're inside...not for the faint of heart.This high water came before all of the flooding in the midwest. I'm sure this guy is now completely submerged in the MississippiKatie enjoying her Brewski in St. Louis. Get it? Brewski?

Kansas gets a bad rap for being a terrible state through which to drive. Western Kansas is a little rough, but eastern Kansas is a beautiful place. This picture may not be indicative of the beauty, but we sure did see alot of these dotting the landscape.Mom, Tom and me at the USA/Brazil Women's Olympic Exhibition Volleyball match at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado SpringsA chairlift ride over the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo Katie, looking very Cliffhanger
Me, looking dopey on a climbing wall
Mom, Tom, and Katie on a jungle gym. We're hitting the finest of sites on our trip, really.
Mom, Tom, and Katie at the Garden of the Gods in Colorado SpringsThough we are in Colorado, that little white speck is no snowflake. (It's actually a man trying to climb that giant rock.)

More pictures are on the way. From Colorado Springs, we'll be going to Grand Teton National Park; Yellowstone National Park; Billings, MT; Badlands National Park; some state parks in Minnesota and Wisconsin; Minneapolis, MN; and Madison, WI before stopping in Chicago and then staying in Detroit for a bit. Then, off to a wedding in Pennsylvania, a week in Jersey, and then on to Virginia, North Carolina and then back to Athens. Stay tuned...

Athens Twilight Criterium 2008

Last Saturday, Katie and I attended the 29th annual Athens Twilight Criterium here in downtown Athens. We knew what a criterium was (bicycle race), but we had no idea that such an event could be 1) so cool and 2) so well attended (especially here in the South, where physical fitness isn't exactly a regional pastime).

There is a significant difference between a road race and a criterium, as we found out from a woman who stood next to us during the event and was likely Lance Armstrong's mom (except that she was from Webster, NY). A road race is a long event, usually never passing the same place, often going from town-to-town. A criterium, on the other hand, is done on some kind of short course, usually on city streets, while riders loop past the same point repeatedly. Think of an urban version of NASCAR but on really nice bicycles--minus the RV's, chewing tobacco, cheap beer, cheap liquor, and hillbillies, but plus spandex. Lots of spandex. Keep the southern accents, though, at least for the Athens Criterium.

Anyhow, though these pictures are not our own (they're actually from last year's criterium), I think they'll give you a feel for what an exhilarating environment the Athens Twilight Criterium is. An estimated 30,000+ people packed the 1-km rectangular course set up around some city blocks in downtown to watch children, women, and men complete lap after lap of the course. As the name suggests, the races start at twilight, meaning the men's race isn't done until well past 10:00 pm. The marquee event of the evening is the men's professional race, where most of the riders are on professional teams that sometimes compete in the world's biggest races, like the Tour de France. While the Tour de France is certainly the most famous bicycle road race, the Athens Criterium is one of the world's best criteriums. Before Lance Armstrong became LANCE ARMSTRONG, he raced at the Athens Twilight Criterium.

Katie and I, along with some friends, watched the end of the women's race and the entire men's race--all 100 laps of it. It was a very exciting race and we learned a lot from Lance's Mom. If you live in a decently sized city, we've heard that your city likely has a criterium in the spring/summer/fall. Be sure to check it out, because it's a blast.


Racing past the Georgia Theatre. Athens is a big music town, so plenty of great acts come to the Theatre.


Making the first turn. Looks like the guy cheering had a wipeout from watching.


Ouch. Last year, there was a 75-biker accident around one of the corners. This looks like the beginning of the crash.

We love us some secret visitors

That's what true southerners would say if they had our weekend last weekend. Instead of aping southern folk, we'll just tell you the story. Last weekend, we had some secret visitors from Pittsburgh. Julie and I had conspired to surprise Katie with a visit since last fall and this weekend it finally came to fruition. We had a great time here in Athens and are so thankful that Julie and Melissa made the trip. Here's some pictures from our visit:


This is Weaver D's, the restaurant which inspired the title of REM's album "Automatic for the People"



The four of us went to the driving range. I'm no Tiger Woods, so let's just say Julie may have had problems hitting the ball straight.


Who knew our family was in the driving range golf ball collector business?


This is at Stegeman Coliseum, home of the inconsistent Georgia men's basketball team. They played their best game of the season, but Tennessee still came out with the victory. Seems Julie and Melissa are upset with the performance this afternoon.



Also at Stegeman. We graduates of small Division III schools have to make up for the lack of a Division I athletics experience, so we sat in the heart of the student section.