Woke up Saturday morning, left the house about 7am heading east. Originally, I planned on going to Deal’s Gap, then I changed my mind and decided on the Blue Ridge Parkway. Somewhere east of Charleston, I changed my mind again and ended up at New River Gorge. Beautiful area.

Couple of pictures (I know, they suck, I took it with my camera phone, get over it)
Bridge at the ‘bottom’ of the gorge

Uhh… a butterfly. 😀 There were tons of them around.

Somewhere on 41 – a state park. I wrote down the name and forgot it. Nice view though.

“The Bridge” – not that impressed. I’d probably jump it though.

Somewhere on 16 – Gauley Bridge? Maybe? I dunno.

Same place, other direction.

Should have taken a real camera, oh well. Pictures don’t really do it justice anyway. So 16 hours and 630 miles later, I was back home. Tired. Slept for 12 hours, then made 4 nice jumps on Sunday. Good times. Did a 7-8 mile cross-country, ate a snickers and drank a gatorade under canopy. Good times (see ya up there next time Pete)

Erk is still trying to get me to hit the nylon crack. My dad always told me to ‘Just Say No’

Ok, it’s been 2 weeks and I don’t think the John Mayer CD has left the player in my car. Well, except to be switched with the other one. It’s a drug… c’mon, do some with me. And just when I thought I had worn these two out – oh yes, he has a live album. I heard “Covered in Rain” and that pretty much sold me on it. It’s only $12, and it’s two CDs! All my friends are doing it (ok, so like none of them are. I’ve only managed to hook one person so far… I’m dealing and dipping into my own stash) I’m ashamed to admit it, but the Counting Crows CD I bought at the same time has yet to make a full play around here.
Now I’m looking for tickets – he’s on tour, and will be around here at the end of July. Help me, please.

There’s a theme running through my life right now. No, actually is has nothing to do with music. Ever have one of those times? Numerous, completely separate events all move along the same path. I know, I’m being vague. Let’s say you go to the store and buy a dozen eggs, then get home and find you only got 11. The next day your comb is missing a tooth. Then you go to Burger King and only get 57 fries in your large order. Ya start to wonder if the Universe is trying to tell you something. So it’s like that, except with more impact than a missing fry. I know, missing fries can be devastating – but this is more ‘big picture’

Bad news is on the horizon. If any one of the four of you that actually read this are the praying type, please do some of that.

I probably should get some sleep – that’s going to be difficult though with everything on my mind, the storms outside, and the entire pot of coffee I just drank.

Have I mentioned how much having a wireless keyboard and mouse kicks ass? Good stuff. Allows me to surf and ramble incoherently in total comfort. It also rocks that I can park my car in the garage now, with my bike. It does not rock that I have to pay the rent by myself though. Ok, I’ll stop with the stream-blogging. I can at least blame the coffee tonight…

I’m good, thanks. Weather sucks though.

I actually bought some CDs the other day – first time in forever. Now I seriously can’t get this song out of my head: John Mayer – “Come Back to Bed”. It’s so bad, I actually brought the CD into work and it’s playing on my computer here. I wish I had some type of talent to sing or play guitar or something. “Come Back to Bed” is on his latest CD Heavier Things I picked that up as well as his earlier CD Room for Square I’ve never been a huge fan or anything. I liked the I heard on the radio, just not enough to go buy a CD or listen to more/other stuff. Then I saw him on CMT’s Crossroads and was impressed with what I heard.

I picked up Counting Crows Films About Ghosts too. Partly because I wanted it, partly because I got free shipping for buying another. It’s nice because there’s some previously unreleased stuff on there, as well as a ton of other good songs. And it’s not a “Greatest Hits” at all, it’s subtitled “The best of” which is pretty accurate. Their best stuff didn’t necessarily make the radio. It won’t replace my copies of August and Everything After (which I’ve bought twice – I hardly buy CDs, to buy the same one twice means I really like it. I think I’ve done that maybe 2 or 3 times in my life) or This Desert Life any time soon, but I don’t regret buying it. I hate buying a CD because there’s a good song or two from the person, then you find out the rest of the CD sucks. That’s where MP3s come in handy. If half the CD is ok, I’m happy. I’m thrilled when I find one that is just completely good. That’s rare. The ones I can think of that I can put the CD in, listen start to finish and be happy: August and Everything After, This Desert Life, American Standard, Fizzy Fuzzy Big & Buzzy, Sixteen Stone, Flood… there’s probably one or two more, but that’s off the top of my head.

Ok, that’s enough for today – go buy stuff if you want.

“Sometimes the world seems like a big hole. You spend all your life shouting down it and all you hear are echos of some idiot yelling nonsense down a hole” – A.D.

I liked that… wanted to share.

Well, I’m back at work. Ick.

Had a great time in the sunshine. Missed most of the storms around here from what I hear.

My tips for the USVI:
(Some of these I did, others I wish I would have)
– If possible, make back ups of digital pictures or take a second memory card
– Take more t-shirts than you think you’ll need, and less shoes/socks
– Don’t worry about renting a car on St Thomas. The taxis can get you where you need to go for about the same price if not less. And you don’t have to worry about driving. St Johns is probably a different story.
– Buy your own, good quality snorkel gear to take with you
– Do a day sail. I highly recommend New Horizons
– Unless you really want someone else to do everything for you, pass on the Tropic Tours tours. They’re educational, but you’ll probably have a better time doing it on your own at your own pace.
– Visit St Johns
– Do another day sail.
– Make sure your sandles are comfortable to wear and walk in. You’ll be wearing those or barefoot most of the time.
– If you’re staying there and planning on shopping ‘downtown’ – make sure there’s a cruise ship in town. A lot of the stores don’t bother to open if there aren’t.
– Hit the beaches early in the morning when possible. Once the cruise ships come in, the beaches get crowded

That’s all I can think of for now… I hope to make it back there one of these days