Earth Is Cool ~ Bristlecone Pines @ Great Basin NP 30Jun18

Near the end of our 1st day's 9 hour drive to Ely, NV we stopped at the Great Basin Natl Pk. The Great Basin is a huge endorehic basin (capturing water and. and streams which will not flow to the ocean) covering basically all of Nevada. Entering the park we drove from 5Kft elevation to 10.2Kft - the area is like a sky island; we passed through many different zones on the 16 mile drive to our trailhead. We hiked up toward Wheeler Pk a couple of miles to about 11Kft elevation. We sought to see and experience a bristlecone pine grove there. Bristlecones are the oldest living things on earth and can be as old as 5000 years. The grove we experienced included trees ~4000 yrs old! It was awesome. Scientists use the ring structure, DNA and size of dead trees as well as core samples of live ones to help assess the history of climate & weather in this area. The trees are gnarly but gorgeous. Kala and I had a blast.

Big Fish Day On The PT With Heat 27Jun18

I've marked many of my heavier (4, 5 & 6 wt) rods with measured markings @ 16", 18", 20" and 22" and I fortunately needed all of that today! I stole out to the PT this morning despite 600+cfs flows and dirty water. I was trapped for 30 min in accident traffic on the way down too so only hit the water at ~9am, after a decent BWO hatch had finished - though I did see the mating balls and did experience the spinner fall (but not much surface feeding on them really). I fished a black & tan and a blue wire caddis larva through a nice #18 caddis hatch (though didn't see any rising to them) in the morning and caught some on them but the black vinyl midge caught several big ones.  I missed a really big 20"er or so after a good fight all the way to the net (see pic) and was disappointed - till I landed an even bigger 22" 7# brute. I caught about a dozen fish, with 3 very nice ones, over the course of 9-11:30am, but the rest were ~12" like the one pictured. It did get to 111° so I bailed and hit Brues Alehouse for lunch - I had the Heat Flying Piglets (pork shanks toss with honey, dynamite green chiles and apples) and Leadhead IPA... both yummy.

Raleigh Brewhouses 25Jun18

Before departing the Research Triangle on our evening flight we hit several Raleigh breweries to taste their wares. We were a bit limited due to our needing to fly at 6pm, and many spots not opening till 4pm or later. Nonetheless we tasted good IPAs from two and poor stuff from one. It started ominously as the Oak & Dagger which was none too good - I had to taste many and chose a poor guest tap brew and nobody was thrilled. Things looked up brightly though as we hit the Raleigh Brewing Company and ended very well at Compass Rose. Back to the Rockies.

Deadpool 2 @ Alamo Drafthouse Cinema 24Jun18

On a low key, inside day in Raleigh we took in Deadpool 2 at Alamo Drafthouse. Alamo is a concept theater where you can order beer from among ~40 taps and also have a decent meal right at your seat - ordering from your seat. Tix were only $10 each and food was not outrageously priced - we have a couple of these in the Denver area and I call them worth it. Deadpool 2 was probably better than the first (which we'd watched in the morning to bring the whole team up to speed) and a real hoot. We capped it with a visit and dinner to K2's friend's house @ Sandy's & Joseph's for dinner with them and Marsha & Joey. A nice day.

Karla's 60th Celebration 23Jun18

We celebrated Kala's sister Karla's birthday at Saints & Scholars...

Back To Raleigh 22Jun18

When headed back to Raleigh we again passed through Shenandoah NP; we intended to hike and drive Skyline but couldn't see in the fog and rain so we kept going - still I got a pic when again at the base. The drive day was wet but when we got back to Raleigh I suggested and implemented a better theater remote control system for K2 - reducing their mess from 5 to 1 and speeding it up in the process. I really like the Logitech Harmony Companion remotes with a hub - they are cheap, simple to program and operate, and are fast with very long battery life - the only downside is that they are not backlighted. Too, I found an old pic of Matt & Kyle where their Mom's were clearly playing a bit of dress up.

Charlottesville & UVA 21Jun18

We headed to Charlottesville today to visit UVA and hit some wineries - Brothers and King Family. The wineries were decent and featured some Italian and French varietals. The cabs were a bit flabby from all the moisture but the Octagon blend was tasty; the Petit Verdot was good. Brothers supplied the wine for Obama's inauguration.

The University of Virginia is one of the very top public universities in the country and Jefferson's architecture and layout was notable and cool - as is the current campus. That's me with Lafayette - a French general in the family tree.

King Family Vineyards was not as good as Brother's but had awesome grounds. They feature weekly polo matches on Saturdays - where they serve a ton of rose. They did serve us an unusual 18% "wine" called Seven which is a Pertit Verdot finished in bourbon barrels - decent for desert perhaps. All these are in the Monticello AVA.

Massanutten Ridge - Each Way & Harrisonburg Breweries 19Jun18-20Jun18

We hiked Massanutten Ridge both ways - once above the ski lifts (yep, in Virginia)  and once to Kaylor's Knob. The mountain is a strange box canyon formation with white tail deer and bear all over it and hawks circling within it - very cool - but not cool as it's almost summer in Virginia at 93° and 85% humidity. Unfortunately Karla face-planted but is beauteous again with makeup.

After ridge hiking we enjoyed four Harrisonburg breweries and a good dinner at Clementine. We hit Brothers Brewery, Pale Fire, Three Notched, and the Friendly Fermenter. I enjoyed Arrant at Pale Fire most and event bought some merch.

After hiking on day 2 we hit the on-site attractions like mini-golf and go-karts and then hit the spectacular Luray Caverns and again enjoyed brews and fine dinner at Food-Bar-Food in Harrisonburg.

Finally an update on the kids... summited Missouri!