Beach Trip.........

OK, as I have mentioned my wife had wanted a camper for a long time and all I ever said was we won't use it. Well I have to admit defeat, she might have been right on this one. We had a blast, the kids had fun we had fun and we are going back.

This was our set up for 3 days. We got down there Friday night about 11:00pm and got set-up, Saturday we rented a golf cart and had the camp ground for our play ground. We stayed at Apache Family Campground I stayed there when I was 10 years old. That was kinda neat to be back there after all these years, with my kids. They have the longest pier on the east coast and a restaurant game room a store and cable TV. Yea I bought a pop-up and we took the TV with us and had cable. That's what I call roughing it!

The place was packed and it still didn't seem crowded. Chase said everybody is so nice there he wants to go back. So do I, I think we are going to go in 2 more weeks. I learned a lot about this type of camping this weekend. For one it ain't the same as camping in the woods with nothing for entertainment. They had a live band Saturday night on the pier and karaoke on Sunday.

Speaking of the pier, check it out as I said it is the longest on the east coast at 1200 plus ft. Where you see that structure  toward the back of the picture is just the halfway point, I should have taken a better shot from the side but I didn't. Maybe next time. Tomorrow we will talk about the golf carts and permanent houses that people have in the camp ground.

Friday Blast-off..Bike Rebuild....

Friday, the end of the week! My favorite day, especially when we have a 3 day weekend. We have everything packed and ready to go. The beach is the destination, first camper trip with the new camper. I should have plenty to talk about Tuesday with some pictures. We got all the beds made and everything ready, it should be nice. The first trip sucks, it takes a lot of work to get ready. The next trip should be easier since we are leaving all the stuff in the camper.

Next we have a bike rebuild, Cody and I have been working on this for a while. He finally finished it off last night and was riding it around the yard.

Turned out pretty nice for our first attempt at rebuilding a bicycle. I am kinda proud of him, he took his own sweet time but at least it is finished. We had the bike given to us so all we have is time invested in this one. Maybe one day we can make money doing this, but right now we are learning what we are doing. This one basically was taken apart from top to bottom and just really cleaned up, new grease and put back together. The next one has some rust so it will need a new paint job with new stickers. Should be interesting, we have no clue on where to get new stickers made, so stay tuned.....

Racin And A Deer.......

Yep I said deer, four legged deer. I might have talked about this before and if I have so be it. I am going to show you again and you can see it is bigger. Here at work which is in downtown Matthews we have a deer that lives right here on our property. Now when I say we are in downtown I am not lying. You can't even tell where Charlotte stops and Matthews begins! We just happen to be in a little valley with woods in the area. Right here in the middle of suburbia we have an Albino deer living here.

The thing has been living here for about 3 years now. It is about tame, you can walk up to it with in 15-16ft and she will just stand there and look at you. If you try to get any closer she will walk away but it is still neat to see it. I was at the back of our warehouse when she came out of the woods .

Now on to racing, checkout our new uniforms for this season! Pretty sharp aren't they, we got them last week, this was the first race in them.

You realize how hard it is to get 2 kids to stand still long enough for pictures. It ain't easy, they act like they might get sick if they stand to close together for any length of time.

chase with shades

Cody

So to the race they both started out good Chase went into the woods leading and wearing his shades and Cody went in 2nd. Chase got sick and chunked his lunch about halfway through, he recovered and finished 2nd for another medal! He had about 10 kids in his class and is doing really well this year. For a long time all he did was go to the races and watch his brother race. Now he is big enough to race by himself and he loves it. I wasn't to fond of letting my 6 year old ride around 8 miles deep in the woods without me! Now he is 10 almost 11 and he knows whats up and what to do.

Now we get to Cody, he had a bad race this week . It started good and he was kicking right along and then he lost his chain. He had to stop and fix it, then get back on and go again. Only problem was he it a tree and crashed, by the time he got a good pace going he was all the back in 15th place. Well his races are only 8 miles so he didn't have a lot of time to get back to the front and found himself in 8th at the end of the race. To add salt to his wounds one of the bikes in front of him kicked up a rock and hit him in the eye. Now he has a black eye!

So that wraps up the race report for this week, we had a good turnout both sides of the road where covered in cars. We get probably 100 to 150 riders on a Wednesday night race! Not to bad.......

Wednesday.....

Been busy here at work today and haven't had a chance to get on here and I forgot my cord to hook up my camera. So don't have much to put up today but I promise to hit the computer hard tomorrow with full race report and a surprise! Stay tuned..........

Wal-Mart.............

Love em or hate em!!! But they got it all, as I have mentioned we are going to the beach this weekend to try out the new camper. So if you buy a new camper, you have to buy a pile of junk to stock your camper. Dishes (plates silverware cups forks spoons and knifes) cleaning supplies pillows sheets a cable to hook up your TV. You have all kinda stuff to get and of course you have to get redneck golf!

Yep, down here in the south we call this redneck golf, everywhere else they call it ladder golf. A perfect beer drinking time killer, and it is fun to boot! We played this Saturday while we were in the mountains, Cody got pretty good at it. Last night when we got home from Wal-Mart This was the first thing Cody went for. He put it together and had Chase out there with him playing while Karen and I put the stuff in the camper. I imagine this will get some use this weekend.

Our next purchase for campground beer drinking time killing southern redneck games will be corn hole! Yep I said corn hole! What a classic redneck name for a game, a pointless game no less! You must be relaxing and wasting time with friends if you are going to stand around and play these games.

As you can see it is pretty simple spread them out about 25ft and throw the bean bag at the board. In the hole 3 points, on the board 1 point. The first one to 21 wins! Then you get another beer and brag about how good you are. That's got to make you laugh, I am training my kids to be high class rednecks! We shop at Wal-Mart and buy our camping stuff and our redneck games there.

I believe this post has come full circle. Time to wrap it up.......................As I said Wal-Mart has it all!!!!!!

Incredible...........

I have been riding my bicycles for the better part of all my life. Raced BMX as a kid and then took a break for a little while, my early 20's hit and I started riding and racing mtn bikes. Then got married had kids and went trucking. That was the status quo for about 9 years. Then Cody got old enough he wanted to mtn bike so I started riding with him. That was 2008, and I have been back on the bikes for 3 years now.

I-26 about 10 miles away

All this time and I have never been to the mountains! Until now, last week I made mention we were going up to Pisgah with the guys to go riding, we did and it was a blast. I am so sore it ain't even funny!! My arms even hurt, the first time that has ever happened. That was because the downhills are so long and steep your arms hurt. That was the first time I ever wanted to take a break coming downhill! Then your legs hurt from all the climbing!

our home for the night

beach and lake area

We stayed in the Lake Powhatan campground on the south side of Asheville. Very nice place with a lake and beach for your use, quiet at night and really clean. The bath houses were well kept and they are nice people. We will stay there again. Cause we are going back that's a fact!

from the top at 5-points

I took this shot from the top of a mountain we had just climbed, for like an hour. Yea no joke there are climbs that take an hour to get to the top. I can't wait to get back up there.

These are just a few trail shots I took here and there while we where riding. Give you an ideal what the trails look like..............

Friday-Chickens-Campers

That's right it's Friday and we still have chickens and we are buying a camper. Hows that for a combination of subjects for a Friday morning. Let's start with the chickens, my son has a new best chicken friend. Out of the 6 chickens we now have he has one that will come to him and sit on his shoulder. Checkout the pictures.

Don't that beat all, I have never been around to many chickens but that just makes me laugh! Only my son would have a chicken that would be his best buddy. To quote my little nephew Wriston "stupid chicken". The bird will sit right on his shoulder for as long as Cody will let him.

Next we have a camper! We had so much fun at the beach the other weekend we decided to get a pop up camper. My wife has wanted one for a long time and I never really thought much about it, after last weekend  we went looking.

Check it out, not bad for our first one. It's got AC a fridge, heater, heated mattresses a stove all the bells and whistles. Yep I said AC, that will make a big difference in the amount of use it gets during the summer months. Nothing is worse than trying to sleep when you are hot and sweaty. We aren't gonna let it sit long I already made reservations for next weekend (memorial day weekend). We are heading to Apache Campground in Myrtle Beach. It will be Chase's birthday and we gonna be at the beach!

So that wraps up my Friday post. Chickens and campers. I will leave you with this sunrise I took this while we were at the beach not bad......

Rainy Tuesday.........

Damn I thought winter was over! Here in NC we get wet winters and a little bit of snow, so this is like winter around these parts. I don't like it!!! Went home yesterday and it started raining, now it is has rained all day and gonna rain tomorrow. When is it gonna stop, I can't take it..

OK, enough whining, I got better things to do. I just ain't sure what those things are. I hate to clean the garage and don't like house work. But cleaning the garage rates higher than the house. Now I have a plan, tonight I will clean the garage and make space available. I always wait till all you can do is walk through the middle then I break down and clean it up. The time has come; no space left to move and the bikes are in the way.

We are supposed to race again tomorrow night but it ain't looking to good right now. All this rain will make the third week in row it has been cancelled. At this rate it will be September before we finish the summer series. Then the fall series will start right after that. Gonna be a busy fall.

Count Down...........

Count down has arrived, we are already excited about the coming weekend. Pisgah here we come! We have already started packing our stuff and getting it all ready for the trip. I have been on the net trying to find a few trail maps. This being the first time we have ever been up to Pisgah I would like to have a little heads up to what I am getting into. They have a few hundred miles of trails up in that area and I don't really want to get lost. Camping is fine but I don't want to stay out in the woods with no tent.

tent time

The crowd we are going with are great guys, at least I think so. I only know the guy who invited us and he is a great guy, so I assume he has great friends also. We are a little stronger than they are as far leg strength goes. They know their way around up there and we don't, we will also ride a little more than they will so I want to know where we are going.

They are planning on riding a 10-15 mile ride Saturday and 20 Sunday. I want to ride at least 20 each day, there is a lot of climbing so you have to take that into consideration. From what I understand there are a lot of climbs that you will end up walking up rather than riding up. As you can see by this map I found we have a lot of options. Ought to be fun!!!!!! 

Friday............

The week is over again, I am always glad when we get to Friday. This week has been tough, I am still catching up on my rest from the vacation. Even though it has been a short week it feels like it has been a long one. We have a few plans this weekend but nothing big. Chase has a buddy coming over tonight and we are gonna take them out for pizza, Cody and I will ride tomorrow and Sunday but that is about it. Next weekend I think Cody and I are gonna head up to Pisgah National Forest.

It is about a 2 hour ride from here and we are gonna camp. They have over 2 hundred miles of trails up there and we have never been. I found this shot of the camp ground where we are staying, very fitting it has a bike already in the pic. I am excited about this ride it will be fun. I have a friend who is going up Friday with his camper he has about 4 buddies coming with him. This ought to be a good time.

I will definitely take my handheld GPS! I don't want to get lost up in the mountains. My wife might get a little mad if I got my boy lost all night in the woods. Yes we are gonna be camping again. Cheapest way to go my friend. I have no problem with a tent and sleeping bag.

Have a good weekend and see ya later...............

Chickens!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yep, we are now the proud owners of 6 chickens! My son (Cody) decided he wanted a pet turkey, he has a friend who raises them and said he could have one when they were ready. So Cody built a chicken pen and started getting ready for him. He did a great job on the pen by the way. All by himself I didn't do anything except bring home the wood.

chicken---turkey pen

Well he got the pen ready and the turkey wasn't ready, so what do you do? If you are my kid you get anxious and get your grandma to take you to Tractor Supply. He was ready so he bought chickens. Yes we still have a turkey coming he just hasn't made it yet. 

Now we have chickens in the back bedroom in a tub with a flood light to keep them warm. They will be big enough to put outside in a few more days but right now they are hanging out in the house! What the hell is wrong with that picture.....................Damn kids.........

Wow!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ok, I am back! Believe it or not I had no problem being outta touch for the last several days. Matter of fact I could go off the grid for the rest of my life and never feel like I missed out on anything. The beach was incredible! We went with the the mindset that "ok here we go" lets see how this turns out. We had no ideal what we were doing. We have camping gear and have been camping before so we figured what the hell. The worse that can happen is we come home early.

home for 4-nights

HOME RUN....Yep we hit a home run with this one, it could'nt have turned out any bettter! We had so much fun we ended up staying an extra day. We had ferry reservations for sunday 8am and saturday we decided to stay. I called the ferry company and changed our departure for 8am monday!! As you can see from the picture above we camped right on the ocean with nobody around for miles. Really nobody around for miles. No TV or Internet, we went to bed every night with the sound of the ocean.

view other direction

At night we had the tent heater on low and slepted snug as the preverbel bug in a rug. You would need your sweat shirt and pants in the morning and by 10 or 11 you would be down to the swim trunks. Although the water was way to cold for swimming.

Wake up to the sun rise in the morning with coffee and bagels and have beer for the afternoon. We would lay down every night about 8 and read a book till you fell asleep. It was really the best trip we have had forever. Next we will take the kids, Cody will love this and Chase will have a ball.

racoon tracks

We had a racoon who visted us every night. He got lucky the first night and ate all my honey roasted peanuts! After that I was wise to his game and I made sure I put every thing up at night.

The fishermen came by everyday on thier way to the south end of the island. Some had some really neat setups checkout this guy. The tent was mounted on plywood and had a hinge right above the windshield. When they got to the beach they just flipped open the tent! Worked pretty good...........

Time has come!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ok time to sign off, disappear, go under the radar, incognito! All of the above, yep we are going to ruff it. Today we have a race at North Meck park then I head to my mother-in-law's drop of the kids and head home. It will be about 9pm at that point and I still have to pack the truck.

Yep, it is the anniversary weekend! Time for the beach trip, mom is gonna watch the house and kids and we are headed to the coast. I have reservations for the ferry at 8am in the morning and a 6 hour ride to get there. So after the race and getting home, then loading the truck it will probably be around 10:30 before we hit the road. Time to drive all night, then lay on the beach and do nothing.

As I have mentioned before we are going to the Core Banks. The island is 26 miles long and has 4 bath houses spread out over the length of the island, it has a small store with ice and snacks at the ferry landing but that is it.

We are camping right on the beach with the waves to put us to bed. No Internet no phones no TV, nothing. Just a few magazines and a good book. Oh a cooler full of beer will be brought along just in case I get thirsty!  The photo above is pretty accurate to the view I will have from my spot in the sand.

I will be sure to take plenty of pictures for your viewing pleasure next week but I will not be back on here until next Tuesday. I hope you can make it without me for a few days but I have faith in ya. Again no TV no Internet no phone. I like it, you don't need all that crap all the time............Have a nice weekend and see ya next week............................................