We looked at Art! We’re Classy!

Picture Albums for July and August

So last Saturday, the weather was (*gasp*) nice in Boone. So, we started off the day with a trip to the Farmer’s Market… got some nice, fresh tomatoes… and our amazing bread… and a few other items, but those other items are inconsequential compared to the bread. That’s why we wake up early in the morning.

After getting the required items from the Farmer’s Market, we went over to campus to take a look at the new art that’s been scattered around. This year’s winner was rather outstanding. I’m a big fan.

Here’s Virginia standing in front of this massive metal mer-woman. Its tail section is made out of old parking lot light poles. The front is a network of steel tubing and steel covering. Let’s take a look at the detail up front.

Really, the thing is amazing. Future visitors to Boone, you’ll have to come on to campus and take a look. The art walk consisted of about 12 different pieces… all within walking distance around campus. My other favorite was this one.

This big man was made out of many smaller pieces of wood, that were all screwed together.

You can see some of the detail above. In August’s picture album, you can see the rest of the art pieces, with the exception of the 2 up on King Street… I’ll get around to those sooner or later.

It’s starting to get closer and closer to wedding time, so plans are still getting nailed down. As you saw in the last update, VA had a wedding shower the last time we were home, and last Friday, there was a wedding shower here in Boone hosted by Virginia’s work friends. It was a rather lovely affair, and I was actually invited to this one! Good times were had by all, I made wings, we had good times and good food while hanging out with some great people.

As another note, you’ll notice a new little feature in our blog. We’ve now started using Zannel. Zannel is like Twitter I suppose… but it lets me upload new pictures to the blog directly from my phone. In the Zannel feed now, you’ll find pictures of me making my glorious hot wing sauce, of a lovely garden just up the hill from us, and a few pictures from out motorcycle ride that we took on Sunday. The real time to watch the Zannel feed will be during the events of the wedding (if you’re not able to be there in person) and when we go on our honeymoon I’ll be shooting photos with my camera and the phone along the way. Pictures from the phone, you’ll be able to see as I upload them from various parts of the trip, and you’ll be able to see where we are on a map on Zannel. (Providing that I can get that figured out.) So, you can look at the Zannel slideshow in the upper right, or check out our Zannel page at http://www.zannel.com/trovatoam .

Stay tuned. Pictures of the new apartment will be coming soon.

Bridal Shower in Lexington

No motorcycles this week. Sorry. Instead Aaron and I headed home to Lexington. We got our marriage license (!), met with the florist, met with the pianist for the church service, and I got to go to an awesome bridal shower that my sister hosted for me.

The theme of the shower was a "dress-up" tea party. We requested that the guests come wearing something from the back of their closet that they thought they might never wear again. Old bridesmaid dresses, or fabulous shoes that you bought, but then never had a place to wear, etc.

It was fun to see what people came up with. Everyone was very creative and stylish too, I might add.
A special shout-out to our prize winners: Jennifer Wells for her studded leather pants, LuAnn Balfrey for her see-through blouse and fringed leather vest, and Betty Goad for her vintage trousseau dress. The Trovato family also got into the spirit of the day.


And of course, a very big thank-you to my Mom and my sister for hosting such a wonderful party. A great time was had by all! Note my nifty sash. Martha made that! I think I might wear it to the rehearsal dinner, because it is so awesome.


Also, thanks to Claudia Schwab for taking pictures!

Today was a sad day

Well, Kind of.

Today, we finished off our move by cleaning to old apartment. The cleaning process wasn’t at all bad… it actually went really quick. But… man… we’re going to miss the old apartment. We got our cat in that apartment. We got engaged in that apartment. We made our first friends in Boone in that apartment. We entertained, we relaxed, we cuddled on the cold nights, and opened the door to the back porch on hot nights to let the breeze come in through the screen door. I learned how to make perfect steaks in that tiny kitchen. So many good things happened there.

But, we’re in the new place now. We’ll be married in a few months while living here. We got new furniture here. Furniture together. Before all of the furniture we had came from either Virginia or from me. For the first time, we went and got furniture together. Grace is adjusting to the new place rather well, she spent the first day creeping around, trying to figure things out… But now, she’s gotten somewhat used to this place… We’re adjusting to our bigger kitchen, to having an extra room, to having a new couch, futon, a set of tables and a nice new book-shelf.

So, Come visit. Pictures will be coming reasonably soon… but I’m in no hurry. we’d love to have some visitors almost any time. Right now, we’re still getting ready for the wedding, so that means all sorts of planning and decisions, but visitors are a welcome break. As long as we’ll be here instead of in Lexington nailing down plans.

On another note, Virginia’s old phone gave up the ghost while she was at the beach. So. If she had your number before… odds are, she doesn’t have it now. So, give her a call, she’d love to hear from you; and save your phone number.

July 1 Was my Birthday!

Picture album: Linky!

Well, another year has snuck up on me. I’m now… 28? So… that’s… neat. I dunno. I guess after a while, birthdays don’t mean too much anymore. I’ve been able to drive for 12 years, been able to vote for 10, legally drinking for 7 years and the 26th birthday resulted in slightly lower insurance rates. So… what do I have to look forward to now as far as birthdays? Social Security? That won’t exist by the time I’m old enough… Retirement? That’s a long way off. Oh well. It was still a good day.

For a while, I’ve wanted to go around and take pictures of some of the Church signs around here… Something about being in this area of the US means that churches normally have some really GREAT fire and brimstone messages on their signs. One of my favorites that I’ve seen recently is “Stop, Drop, and Roll doesn’t work in Hell.” So After Virginia made me a lovely pancake and bacon breakfast in the morning, we laid around for a bit, watched the latest episode of True Blood, and hopped in the car to go take some pictures. For the most part, the church signs were disappointing. As a reminder for next year, I shouldn’t wait until my birthday to do something like this. As we get closer to Independence Day, the church signs become less fire and brimstone, and more patriotic. The below church signs are about the best we saw.

Hmm… Jesus wants to spend the night? Did his mother say it was ok? As long as it’s ok with his parents, it’s fine with me. Will he be coming for dinner? Should I set out an extra plate?

Here’s my little sinner. She’s definitely adding up to be big trouble…

Since Church signs were a bust, we stopped off outside of Damascus and spent a little time on the Virginia Creeper trail… or, the Creepy Virginia trail… It is a rather nice trail, but to take full advantage of it, some bicycles will be necessary… so, an upcoming goal is for Virginia to learn how to ride a bicycle.

After taking pictures and driving around, we cam back to the apartment, where Virginia made me a lovely birthday dinner of pasta and shrimp, and then topped it off with my favorite… A plain pound cake. No icing, no craziness. Just plain. Man do I love a pound cake. One of these days though, I might have to try making the Paula Deen pound cake… I think it requires a bucket of butter, a pile of Crisco, and maybe some bacon grease. It was a good birthday though, nice and laid back, relaxing, just how I like it.

We’re heading to VA for Independence Day and Virginia’s Birthday. I should have some good pictures and stories to post from that.

As an added bonus… here’s a picture of a bird taunting Gracie… the bird must have been around the block a few times… Gracie would attack the glass, and the bird wouldn’t even flinch… This went on for a good 15 minutes.

Nicole’s Wedding Weekend!

Full Photo Album: Linky!

June 5th, we headed up to Snowshoe West Virginia (State Motto: Wild and Wonderful ) for Virginia’s Friend Nicole’s Wedding. It was a wonderful weekend to be in the mountains. Weather was mostly nice, there was a bit of rain Friday night, and a bit of fog Saturday morning, but by the time for the wedding rolled around, the day had gotten gorgeous and sunny!

There were a bunch of deer all over the mountain, and since it was “off season” we almost had the whole mountain to ourselves. Friday night was the rehearsal and the rehearsal dinner, and that all wet very well! The food at the rehearsal was outstanding, service was great, and we all had a good time.

The above isn’t the most flattering picture, but from left to right we have: Leah(In Blue), Ramey(The Groom in the pink-ish shirt), Nicole(The Bride in the white and pastel dress), and with the back of her head to the camera, we have Virginia. So, now you know the Bride, Groom, and 2 Maids of Honor.

After the rehearsal dinner, we got back to our room at the Soaring Eagle Lodge and sat around with Leah and Brian and enjoyed some card games and a few drinks. We then wandered downstairs to visit the Lodge’s Bar which was having a Guitar Hero competition. Can’t beat that, dinner and a show. While Guitar Hero may be fun to play, it is quite possibly more fun to watch. Next Up, the Wedding Day!

Nicole’s Wedding Day!

So, after the events of Friday night, we slept in a bit on Saturday, and then wandered down the mountain for some breakfast. We found a pizza place that was actually open for breakfast, and enjoyed some oatmeal, and some breakfast type egg and meat filled pastries. From there, it was time for the girls to start getting ready for the Ceremony.

Here, Virginia and Leah are ready to head down to help Nicole get ready, after they got their Bridesmaid’s dresses on. Meanwhile, I kicked back turned on the flat screen TV and watched some Aladdin.

This is the Chapel on Snowshoe Mountain where the wedding took place. It was all “done up” with flowers, and was decorated really well. The inside of the chapel was all wood timber-frame construction, so it really fit in with the surrounding mountains and forest areas.

Here are the happy Bride and Groom. The ceremony was lovely, instead of a unity candle, they did something similar with different colors of sand. I thought that was neat, as you can blow out a unity candle, but good luck separating two different colors of sand. Yeah, that’s a small detail, but those of you that know me, know how much I get hung up on the small details.

Here are Leah and Virginia in the chapel. Next Up – Reception!

Nicole’s Reception!

The Reception was held at the Soaring Eagle Lodge, where we were all staying (Awesomely convenient! Forget your extra camera memory card in the room? No big deal! Go get it, and come back down!)

Here’s the view off of the back of the reception area. What you don’t see : out of the picture to the left are 3 hot tubs… awesome. To the right, a few houses, and some awesome trails to take a Dune Buggy tour on.

Here’s the topper on the wedding cake, the cake was gorgeous.

Soon, the wedding party arrived and dinner started. Dinner was amazing. There were three choices for dinner: salmon, chicken, or steak. You really couldn’t go wrong with any of the choices. They were all outstanding.

During dinner service, we decided to take the time to get a few pictures, above is Leah and her boyfriend Brian. They were a good time. While the girls were having pictures taken down at the church, Brian and I got some good time to talk, and drink a few long-necks. That was a good time, and I really wish that Leah and Brian lived closer to us in Boone.

Virginia and I were also in fine form, so we had to get a picture of ourselves as well. Soon after dinner ended, the reception came into full swing. The father/daughter and mother/son dances started things off, then followed by the Bride and Groom’s first dance.

Ain’t they so cute? After these obligatory dances were done, the dancing really went into full swing. Nicole and Ramey cut loose, and kept people on the dance floor, while somehow managing to make the rounds and talk to everyone there… that’s a skill that I guess Virginia and I will have to learn how to master pretty soon.

The wedding was a great time, and it served as a nice little vacation for Virginia and I as well. As it gets closer to our wedding, it’s nice to see how everything comes together on the wedding day, and everything runs smoothly.

Congratulations to Nicole and Ramey! We wish you many happy years in the future! Can’t wait to see you guys again in September!

1st Annual “East Coast Gather” May 15-17

Picture Album: Linky!! There are 235 Pictures in this album, so pack a lunch and enjoy.

So. Last year, we went to the Deal’s Gap Rally. ( Here, here, here, here, and here.) and, it was a decent time… but, as the “new people” there, we were kind of on our own. There were no group rides that we knew about, so we ended up riding by ourselves. (Well, there were thousands of other bikes around, mainly Harleys,  but we weren’t riding with them.) So, I decided to host my own Rally. Hence, the birth of the East Coast Gather. My main goal for the Gather was organization. I wanted to keep everyone riding together as a group, and for the most part, we did very well with that. We had a GREAT group for the first year.

Most of us are in the above shot, a few are just outside the frame, still putting their gear on ad getting ready for the ride.

This was Friday’s Route… for the most part. We kind of reversed it though. We went from “C” to “F” on the way out… and got caught in the rain for a pretty good part of it. But, once we got to 181, the rain tapered off, and we had a pretty dang awesome ride down to Morganton. We got down to Morganton, and the guys were hungry, so we stopped at SubWay for them to get something to eat. As they were in SubWay (which apparently was staffed by a group of cheerleaders) it started to rain just a bit… but we weren’t too worried about it. We got back on the road, and started back towards the Rider’s Roost. As soon as we got back to the fun curves on 181, the rain started again. After a few turns, things tapered off, so I picked up the speed. Well, 2 turns later, it was wet again. Apparently, there was also a spot of paint or oil or something in the middle of my lane. So, I’m coming around the corner, already going too fast, and I hit this mystery substance. The front end completely washes out. It’s gone. The bars smack back and forth, lock to lock, about 3-4 times. It then straightens out, but it’s still sliding. So, for some reason, the only thing I could thing of was to get the rear of the bike to meet the front. So, as the front was sliding, I stomped the rear brake and slid the rear of the bike back into line with the front. after this, the tires gripped back up, and I kept going at a slightly slower pace.

Here we are back at the Roost. You can see the clothes and gear hanging from the rafters trying to dry out. The Roost was actually a great place to stay. At the end of a day of riding, the beds were comfy. The blankets were warm. The place was dry. Since we got caught in the rain on Friday, we barely made it back in time to get to the store before they closed at 8pm. So, we ran into the store, grabbed some bread, peanut butter and jelly, and beer and headed back to the cabins with bags and 12 packs balanced on our seats, gas tanks, and handlebars. Good thing the store is about 1/8th mile down the road, and a straight shot from the Roost.

After we were well rested and full from our heavy PB&J sandwiches, the above picture was Saturday’s Route. Kind-of. We chopped off the western part of the ride, and ran it backwards. With the weather being a bit “iffy” and police presence showing up later in the day, we wanted to get up to Shady Valley as early as we could. We got on the road about 6:30 that morning, and didn’t stop until… well, Boone. We were hungry, so we got breakfast at McDonalds. You wouldn’t believe the looks people give you at 7AM in a small country town when you’re in full leathers.

After breakfast, we were off. We headed directly up 421 to Mountain City for gas, then on to Shady Valley. After a few times back and forth over the mountain, we stopped at the store to meet up with “TheRepairMan” and “zackandjake” who were waiting for us.

It was a little cloudy up there, but no rain. Things were looking good as far as the weather was concerned, so we decided to have a bit of fun and run back and forth over the mountain a few more times. After about 11AM, we were heading back over the South Side, and Tennessee Highway Patrol showed up. Luckily, we met the THP as we were heading into a 15mph switchback, so we were all travelling well within the speed limit. After that little run-in, it was time to head back to the store to have lunch.

We came outside, rocked “The Pose” for a quick picture, and got geared back up and back on the road. From here, we headed down 130 to Damascus, where they were celebrating Trail Days. The town was packed. So, after another fill-up right quick, we continued down 58 towards Independence, VA. It was about 2PM, and at this point, we’d been in 3 states. 58 was not too much fun. There was a lot of gravel and other things washed out into the road… but that makes sense, because it rained the day before, and for 2 weeks straight before that. So, 58 wasn’t an amazing amount of fun, but oh well. In Independence, we picked up 221, and headed down the home stretch back through VA towards Boone. Of course, as soon as we got within 20 miles of Boone, it started raining. No big deal. A little drizzle never hurt anyone. But then, the closer we got to Boone, the harder it started coming down. Pretty soon, it was raining so hard that the seal in my helmet couldn’t hold it back any longer. The rain was coming in all around my shield, and once the water came in, the shield became as foggy as a bathroom mirror after a nice hot shower. So, I stared at the tail lights of the truck in front of me, and followed it the mile or so back toward civilization. We pulled over at a gas station for a bit, but the rain was showing no signs of stopping. So, once again, with our soggy leathers on, we headed down the road.

We got back to the Roost, and it was still raining a bit… Not too bad, but still a bit dreary. Then, all of the sudden, we got a break in the weather, and decided that we weren’t going to eat PB&J Sandwiches again. We sent Jon down to the store to get charcoal, some hotdogs, cheese, chips, and bread. He got back, and we tried to start the fire.

Things didn’t exactly work out too well. The boxes are trying to cover the charcoal long enough to get them to light. But, that didn’t work. We tried paper. We tried gas. We tried an entire bottle of lighter fluid. Nothing worked. So, we were about prepared to eat either cold hotdogs or PB&J again. But then, we had an idea.

Turns out, you wrap 6 hotdogs in Aluminum Foil and put them on the bike’s header for 15 minutes at 1800RPM, it works like a champ. They even had grill marks on them when they were done. Nice and hot, inside and out.

So, in a nutshell, that was the 1st Annual East Coast Gather. We had a dang good time. Even with all of the rain. Sunday morning, people hopped on their bikes, and headed out. Everyone with a smile on their faces, even though they were heading out in the rain.

Virginia’s Philly Trip

Picture Album from Philly Trip: Linky!

On Thursday I got to visit my sister, Martha, who lives in Manayunk, outside of Philadelphia. She moved there in October, but this was the first time I got to visit.

Martha picked me up at the airport around 9pm, having braved the big city traffic and roadwork. Then, we went back to her awesome apartment and watched The Office, which she was kind enough to DVR for me. Did I mention that M has a sweet cable set-up as well?

Then, we got up on Friday and went into the city. Martha was kind enough to take the day off from her job so we had lots of time to explore. First, we went to see Philadelphia’s Magic Garden, which was basically a building and surrounding lot COVERED with mosaics. You can read more about it at   http://www.philadelphiasmagicgardens.org/

 

The mosaics were made from art collected from Peru and Bolivia as well as tiles, bike wheels, beer bottles, and mirrors.

I really liked the outside ones. The artist, Isaiah Zagar, landscaped the outside to multiple levels. He also painted all kinds of pictures and sayings all over the tiles like, “Art is the Center of the Real World.” It was very hippie cool.

Some went up three floors.

Then, we walked around South Street, where there tons of interesting people and cool things to see like a building with ants crawling on it and a tour boat.

And a dude making pretzels

 

Then we went to downtown Manayunk and bought some nice crepes and I helped Martha pick out barstools that she’s going to have delivered tomorrow. But, sadly, I don’t have pictures of that part.

Then we met the lovely Rachel for dinner at the Manayunk Brewery. And I also don’t have pictures of that, but we had a very nice time in the scenic spot overlooking the river.

Then on Saturday we slept in a bit before running errands and taking the train to the Redding Station Market – basically an excursion based entirely on food. My favorite!

This market has everything from fresh veggies, to meat, to prepared foods, Indian, Thai, bakeries, of course Philly staples like Italian, cheese steak, crab fries…

Also, the best cupcakes IN THE WORLD. Eat at Flying Monkey Bakery… so delicious!

Did I mention the jam inside the cupcake?!?

 

On Saturday night, it just so happened that the artsy movie theater M goes to in Bryn Maur was showing a documentary about Isaiah Zagar (the mural guy!) so that was super cool. Martha and are now hippie mosaic experts.

We got even more culture on Sunday morning at the Philadelphia museum of art.

  Also, I visited the Rocky statue.

And, just to make Aaron extra jealous, we then went to the Italian festival and ate more great food!

So, all in all, GREAT trip to Philadelphia. We are definitely going to have to visit again soon.

Intermediate Post…. Again.

Well, things have been quiet lately…. since the trip to Jonesboro…. it’s been raining… and raining… and raining… and… you get the point.

But, last weekend, I had my FZ1 “Gather” down here in NC, while Virginia was up visiting her sister Martha in Philadelphia.

So, I’ll be trying to get Virginia to do an update soon, and then I will follow with a report of how the Rally went down here. I am still waiting to collect pictures from a couple of folks, and then I’ll make the update. As it sits right now, I’ve got over 150 pictures from the Gather, but there should be quite a few more coming.

Until then, take it easy.