Hello Chattanooga

Tuesday through Thursday we went to Chattanooga as Amy was giving a presentation on Wednesday during a Trauma Symposium. Tuesday night Amy was going to a related dinner and I went to an art exhibit and visited friends, and I have pics of that evening below. Wednesday night Amy and I got to see Martin, Janelle and the 3 cutiepies and then we met Paul and Anita at the Meeting place. Thursday after a quick run and a brief shopping stint we drove back to Winston.


Paul and Anita in front of a random cd cover project



I really liked this selection of dolls



This doll even had a tramp stamp on her butt



Sharon's Asian inspired geometric pottery was very beautiful



George, Paul and Anita (Rick and I) were reunited in Big River



Good friends like these are hard to come by

A weekend in Chattanooga

Last weekend I traveled to Chattanooga to close on the house on Missionary Ridge, but the buyer was missing some paperwork and the whole thing got delayed. I still went anyway as Amy was getting ready for her boards in Nashville and I was going to be home alone in Winston Salem either way. I got there Thursday night and stayed with Anita and Paul and their 4 "kids" Belle, Brodie, little girl and Pete. On Friday I got some work done and the time originally scheduled for the closing was now open and I went to see Jill's "adventures on a pony." I had not seen Martin, Janelle and their kids since mid July and it was amazing to see how much the girls have grown. Friday night Anita, Paul and I met up with Rick and Mary Loggins, Pat and Kleehammer, Mike Madzin, Susan Mietling and a few other folks at Big River Grille downtown and it was nice seeing everybody. Saturday Morning Paul, Anita, Belle and I ran the Big Daddy trail on the side of Lookout Mountain and Rick Loggins joined us for a bit early on, and George Hovanec ran the last section with us. That night we went to the black tie event at the Hunter Museum and with several hundred people gathered there, we had plenty of people to make fun off. Sunday after a nice breakfast at the Blue Plate and a short visit to Martin and Janelle I headed back to Winston Salem and managed to make it in 5:05. :-)


Mmmm ice cream. Life is good for Bex.




Jill is growing like a weed.




A visit to Chattanooga without a trip to Big River is hard to imagine




Anita is ready to run the infamous Big daddy trail run in Chattanooga




Rick ran with Paul and I for a while, but he is still nursing a back injury and couldn't join us for "all the fun."

35°85° party in Chattanooga

So we moved to Winston-Salem, NC and now there is a big party in Chattanooga that is promoted via guerrilla marketing. :-(

We can't be there, but you can. 35°85° Chattanooga is happening on Monday,August 18 at the Loose Cannon Studios on Rossville Boulevard.

Mountain bike racing on Raccoon Mountain

Well, I did not really go mountain bike racing. But Amy and I watched a few of our friends racing mountain bikes on the great trails of Raccoon Mountain here in Chattanooga and we we had a great time doing that. I also realized that I missed mountain biking a bit.
We took a few pics too, but only the static ones worked out.

Our good friends Paul and Anita



Mark McOmie and Peter Woodrow



Mike Skiles, Jim Farmer and Tom Knopp



Tab Tollett



Jeramie Hoff

Moving day

The movers are here and are packing up our stuff. It slowly feels like it is getting real. Bye Bye Chattanooga :-(

Winston-Salem here we come. :-)

Recycling is fun

Today I had to go to the Orange Grove recycling center at Warner Park because our garage was bursting with glass of various colors, aluminum cans, steel cans, cardboard and paper. But when I say "I had to go" I don't really mean that I dislike going. I actually really enjoy going to the recycling center and it makes me feel very good to drop in each item in the corresponding container. Ah, the simple pleasures in life.

The 2007 ARTpARTy

Friday night Amy and I hosted another ARTpARTy and the turnout was great again despite the fact that some good friends could not attend. We had some very unique pieces of art and at the end of the night everyone went home with someone else's creation.

Here are some of the artists and their work:

Tim and Berry made this metal wine rack



Michelle and Jordan decided to each do a piece of art



Betsy with her work of art



Sharon and Eric with a a nice piece of pottery



Rick and Mary created these sunflower paintings



John and Terry with cool photography from Europe



Janelle and Martin created an artsy Jack-o-Lantern



Emma showed that she has a passion for art and cycling



Peter and Erin created these artworks, but only Peter could come



Karen and David always surprise with a different genre of art



Monty brought this beautiful painting



This was my contribution to the ARTpARTy



Kelly and Justin made these very cool bookends, and Amy and I were lucky enough to get them at the end. :-)

Wine over water

Yesterday I went to the annual "Wine over Water" event in Chattanooga and the weather could not have been nicer. Although I don't drink, I enjoy going there every year as it is a very nice social event. It appeared to me that it is a better event since the ticket fees have gone up. More quality and less quantity. There was actually a very nice crowd there but it was not packed, nor did folks seem really wasted. Plus it seems that in previous years they ran out of wine by 6pm, and last night people were still sampling at 7:45pm when I left.

The Chattanooga Triathlon World championships

The weekend is almost upon us and with it the pressure of the Chattanooga World Triathlon championships, or better known as the BMW Waterfront Triathlon. The race is on Sunday morning and features a sold out field of 1200 racers. The 1 mile swim of this triathlon is in the river from the Patten Tennis Center to the Waterfront. The 26 mile bike section goes from the Waterfront via MLK to 27 and then out towards the 153 intersection before it turns back the same way back to the Waterfront. The 6.2 mile run is also an out and back past the art district and the Riverpath.

It should be hot, muggy and lots of fun. :-)

A fun game for spectators, every racer's age is written in fat magic marker on their calf.

Mountain Biking

I rode a mountain bike twice now within a 72 hour period and that might have happened for the first time in at least the last 6 years. Within the last 5 or 6 years I might have been riding on a mountain bike 5 or 6 times all together. That is pretty sad when considering that I used to live and breathe mountain bikes and actually did race as a pro mountain biker in the early to mid nineties. :-(

Thursday night I rode at Booker T state park and this morning I enjoyed the spectacular trails on Raccoon Mountain in Chattanooga and in each case that was a great experience even though my handling skills still leave quite a bit to desired.

New Saturday night concert series

The new Saturday night concert series in Chattanooga starts tonight and I will go to check it out. Maybe you all should do the same.

The crossing 4th Street dilemma

Every time when I have to cross 4th street either on Market or Broad Street in Chattanooga, I wonder what the person in charge was thinking. I am physically quite fit and walk at a good clip, but it is virtually impossible for me to even get across halfway (barely 2 lanes out of 4) when the pedestrian "walk" light turns to red again. That means the average overweight person will barely get across 1 out of the 4 lanes.

Who is in charge of those traffic lights? Or more importantly, has that person ever tried to cross the 4th Street Autobahn there?