On the James
last update: 08/16 @ 10:14

Sarah, Simon and David on the James River in Richmond.

It’s like this…

We got the Pirouette Super Sport for Sarah a long ways back. It’s a much better fit for her than the historically significant Mirage I got as a high school graduation present.

But she’s moved on to her SUP and the inflatable ducky.

(And we’re thinking packrafts are in our future; see about halfway down the notes from our Seattle trip.)

So when Sarah heard from Simon’s dad, Steve (who was part of Sarah’s Clark University crowd), that Simon had gotten interested in whitewater boating over the summer, she saw an opportunity.

The boat has not been on water in years and it may work well for Simon.

So we met at Pony Pasture and gave Simon a chance to try it out.

Admittedly, it is a tight fit. But not so tight that he turned down the offer.

So our basement is one boat lighter. That boat is more likely to see future use. And Simon has a boat of his own now.

Win, win, win.

(Oh… and we accidentally snagged Simon’s water bottle — another win for us but, sadly, at Simon’s expense.)

(Short) Road Trip
last update: 10/13 @ 19:54

The weather (beautiful 80 degrees) and water level (4.75) aligned today for trip on the upper James.

It’s been decades since we’ve been on the James.

And we don’t get to Richmond as often as we used to.

Today was truly a perfect day for the trip.

We had a lot of fun.

Easy rapids (except for that one dam — I know there is a better spot to run) and perfect weather made for a very fun day.

We saw ducks, geese, at least one cormorant and, oddly, a rowed raft.

Richmond has become quite the boater haven; there were lots of folks putting on at Reedy Creek as we set shuttle. The lower James through Richmond as more significant rapids.

The Pony Pasture to Reedy Creek run is just pretty and fun rock gardens (less the one dam).

Classic Bridge
last update: 10/13 @ 19:46

Part of Richmond’s urban boating on the James.

Passing of a friend
last update: 11/25 @ 21:00

We drove down to Richmond last weekend for Martha Mabey’s memorial service. She was a family friend of decades and I’m sorry that she’s gone now.

But it was not unexpected to her or her family and friends.

She did all she could to make the arrangements ahead of time to make it easy on her family, and to exert her sense of style on the service.

Because her life (and her husband’s) was so intertwined with my parents lives, Loren, Susan, Steve and Helen also traveled to Richmond for the service.

That gave us time to play Catan, enjoy several nice meals, and tour the James River rapids Steve and I grew up on (and Loren had some occasion to enjoy).

It also gave us time to remember Martha and Gordon and all the shared memories with our parents.

Jessica, her daughter, seems to be handling it well and has lots of support in Richmond.

One thing Martha did was pen a book of Contacts about her friends and what they meant to her. That included a a page about my mom, which I’ve added to related information about her.

And if you’d like to know a little more about Martha Mabey, she wrote THE LAST DOCTOR IN AMERICA about coming to terms with a life threatening medical issue. Something which clearly helped to motivate her to plan for her end of life.

I like to think she would have enjoyed the serendipity of running into a parade in Ashland on our way home. And of the flexibility of the organizers to deal with a parade route cut in two by train tracks.

As she and Gordon lived in Ashland for a while, they may have enjoyed the parade (and the trains) years ago.

Richmond Treating Us Well
last update: 10/23 @ 21:30

All-in-all, a very nice trip.

Great weather (that should be clear from the picture).

Fun to walk around.

And a very nice chat with Martha.

James River Rapids
last update: 10/23 @ 21:28

This guy had a good line in Hollywood Cemetary rapid.

There seemed to be some sort of organized trip going on.

We saw a couple folks set up for safety and a couple Stand Up Paddle boards go by in addition to the kayaks.

It’s always surprising to me how urban the James is.

We just walked across the pedestrian bridge now suspended below the 195, I think that’s the big bridge there.

Belle Island now has lots of signage about its role as a prison during the Civil War.

And signs about the rapids and quary. It was very popular on such a nice, late October day.

We even found the path to Pipeline and I saw a couple boaters there as well.

Quick trip to Richmond
last update: 10/23 @ 21:19

We made a weekend out of lunch with Martha in Richmond.

The visit with her was great; it’s always fun to catch up. And good to have someone to commiserate with about the current state of affairs.

Then we went by the Tredegar Iron Works Museum.

And from there it was just across the road to check out the James River and the cool paths of the new river walk.

While we were watching the boaters come through, Robert took this great shot of Sarah and I.

And there were plenty of cool channels in the rocks as the river was a bit low.

But Robert said too cold to wade in.

Add new entry (owner only)