11:25pm – boarded my last red-eye flight ‘til August, when I travel to Kathmandu 🙂 Landed in Boston at 4:45am EDT, hour half later caught my connection to Washington-Dulles. Rental car pick-up, 30 minutes to Leesburg to see my Aunt Joyce – before the 2-hour trek south to Charlottesville, this weekend’s marathon destination.
IHOP breakfast, hot chocolate at Starbucks – think I talked out my dear Aunt. LOVE, LOVE time with family. 50 State Quest has been great for seeing family & friends in 2015 🙂
Late start to Charlottesville, compounded by heavy Good Friday traffic – lotta folks travelling home for Easter. Starting to feel sleep-deprived, channel surfed ‘til I locked on a local bluegrass station. Nothing spells Appalachia like bluegrass – FAAANNNTASTIC!
Bib pick-up in historic Court Square, 15 minutes further to today’s pre-race destination: Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello.
Thomas Jefferson has long been my favourite American President, expanding our shores from the Mississippi to the Pacific Ocean. Having always been enthralled with the American West, Jefferson best supports my present day life – commissioning the historic Lewis & Clark expedition, exploring modern day Colorado. Jefferson was a mega-mind, a thinker, an inventor, an agriculturist.
Entering iconic Monticello, one is immediately impressed with the dome architecture – first of its kind in Colonial America. Jefferson’s Grand Hall greeted visitors with exotic North American treasures – Native American art, buffalo hides, elk/bighorn/antelope/moose antlers, mastodon bones PLUS maps of all known continents (surveyed portions of Africa & the Americas).
Absolutely incredible all this existed in early America – before roads, before D.C. was built/created as our nation’s capitol. WOW!
Took the tour – Jefferson’s Book Room, his gardens, Parlor, Dining Room, bedchamber, wine cellar & Monticello Graveyard. What an amazing journey! Grounds closed at 7:30pm – yikes, time to go.
Quick shut eye, tomorrow will come soon enough. Marathon Day.
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- Look who I found in Virginia? My beautiful Aunt Joyce – LOVE time with family!
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- Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello, Charlottesville VA
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- horticulturist: Jefferson grew 330 varieties of some 99 species of vegetables & herbs
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- wine cellar & French-style kitchen under Monticello (where pics were allowed)
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- everyone remarks of Monticello’s flowers; my best shot in early Spring on a rainy, overcast day
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- penned USA Declaration of Independence & expanded our borders West
bluegrass road-trippin’
Too much run, run, run – not enough Colorado fun, fun, fun. Well folks…that ends today 🙂
This weekend – my bro & his family flew to Denver for their 2nd Colorado Spring Break ski-cation. Add Ash & Tom to the mix, now 6 of us would be traversing down the slopes Saturday morning. FAAANNNNTASTIC!
Travelled to A-Basin, just south of Loveland Pass on US-6. Ski & boot rental – a few runs down the Bunny Slope before graduating back to Green (yep, ski novices). It was everyone’s first ski of 2015; all re-found rhythm by lunch.
When not skiing, we were eating. Must have been all that mountain air & activity. LOL> Cell phone pics revealed breakfast in Georgetown, pasta lunch at Arapahoe Basin, dinner in Louisville – topped off with ice cream at Sweet Cow.
LOVE my family – nothing like it.
Next up on my 50 State Quest? Climbing Cape May lighthouse with my friend Stephen, touring Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello with Aunt Joyce, riding St. Louis’ iconic Arch with my Sis, then exploring Kentucky horse country with CT bestie Dawn.
Life, it’s one amazing ride.
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- Arapahoe Basin (11,000ft base elevation)
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- sunshine & snow – no jacket required
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- carb loading lunch – YUM!
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- Breckenridge 2014, A-Basin 2015 – where to in 2016?
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- ice cream ending to a super fun weekend
That time of year again when my housemates celebrate birthdays – Ash 25 & Tom, the big 3-0.
Ash unfortunately was sick during birthday week so home-feasted on rotisserie chicken & cheesecake. Tom however celebrated BIG – dinner at the Post, Shamrock Shake at McD’s & a South Dakota-themed birthday cake.
Happy Birthday young ‘uns – oh to be 30 again 🙂
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- shamrock shake – an annual birthday tradition
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- celebration at the Post
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- bucket of chicken, mashed potatoes, mac n cheese & collard greens – YUM!
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- South Dakota surprise – Ash gifted a weekend trip in May
