News and Updates

Martin Sexton

Another fine show at the The Birchemere!

We’ve been enjoying Martin Sexton since he opened for Emmylou Harris years ago.

It was another very fun evening with some new and some familiar songs.

It seems to always be a fine time to go to the Birchmere.

Habitat for Humanity

No, this is not a Habitat for Humanity house.

We toured this plantation site while we were in Charleston visiting with family and working a very different house for Habitat for Humanity. There are more photos in the vacations section.

Mon Rovia

Last night we drove (Metro was having issues with the Yellow Line) up to Silver Spring to see Mon Rovia at the Fillmore.

It was a great show and a lot of fun.

Sarah has a great ability to run across new and interesting artists and this was a perfect case in point.

He was born in Liberia, adopted about age seven and moved around a lot before settling into Appalachia in Tennessee. Wikipedia has a bit more.

We enjoyed the show, including opening Sydney Rose — whose music is very different.

And dinner before the show at La Malinche was tasty. They were not really staffed for that busy a Monday night and worked hard to keep all the tables happy.

The evening proved that it’s OK to stray from the Birchmere now and again :)

Hands off our Art!!!

Yesterday we headed in to DC and the Kennedy Center. Sadly, it still looks like this after the courts ruled Trump’s name had to come down. That tarp (and the scaffolding behind it) has been there ever since he name came off; maybe to spare him the indignity of seeing it stripped off.

But now the strong rumors are he has plans to knock the building down since he can’t put his name on it.

That’s really frustrating.

And, clearly, frustrating for a lot of people.

Some of my favorite memories are from the “Box City” event we went to with Robert in 2009.

It is heartening to know there are so many folks willing to stand up and try to keep this building standing.

We really hope it’s there after Trump is forgotten (well… consigned to history as an exemplar of what can happen if the country goes complacent).

More blue skies

Another glorious day!

The Potomac is getting low, this is about 2.7.

But blue skies and 83 degrees is all-in-all pretty nice.

There was one nice kayaker at the Maryland Chute who asked if I was OK after I immediately flipped in the hole :) — it was a nice day to take a quick swim.

I was fine and thanked him for checking in before I paddled back up and surfed across as I’d intended to the first time. With the water being a little low, the hole is getting a little more sticky.

Then I portaged a bit in the Center Chute and paddled up the gorge on a very pretty day.

I portaged a bit at Wet Bottom and got up to Rocky Island and then I was getting hungry for lunch and headed back down.

On my way back, I ran into a middle-school? class on SUPs at the Maryland Chute — they, too, seemed to be having a fine day.

Packrafty Day

A beautiful September day to be on the river.

2.8 on gauge; 82 degrees with blue skies.

After the long weekend we had most of the parking lot to ourselves.

We did see a couple other kayakers (one who expressed interest in my old Mirage….)

A SUP boaterer.

And a raft trip.

But really, very quiet on the river.

And lovely to be out in the packrafts.

We took turns with the camera today; all of these are at the Maryland chute. They are a bit backlit, but the ferry across to the Maryland side is the most fun (if, perhaps, not most photogenic today).

We did get over to the Virginia side as well but not a much fun to play in.

I love this new question: which boat to bring?

Today was a lot of fun, but I’m thinking maybe canoe next time…

Napping Panzer

I’ve been going back in the blog and adding topic tags to older entries. It’s been a fun project that I’m a bit over halfway through. But I realized in the process that it’s been a while since Panzer has graced the screen here.

And so, Panzer in his curled up napping pose.

Another picture perfect day!

Blue skies!

80 degrees!

3.23 on the Little Falls gauage!

We took advantage and headed to Angler’s for a very nice midday treat. We did see a couple other folks and glimpsed a couple groups, but generally, we had the river to ourselves.

I think we watched bald eagle circling a bit as we headed upstream. And I did try more on my offside after the clinic over the weekend.

Sarah returned the favor from our last time out, getting this great shot of me coming across the Virginia Chute wave.

If only my hand was a little lower, you could see the smile on my face.

Another fun day!

First time in a long time that I’ve been to Little Falls (perfect today with high 70s, low 80s and 3.1 on the gauge).

Today the CCA arranged for Jordan Taylor to teach a single person Open Canoe (OC1) clinic.

Jordan was great with lots of new (certainly to me) ideas; good suggestions and great attitude. And it was great to meet and paddle with Gary, Ginny and Owen — in addition to Jordan. (Left to right that’s Owen, Jordan, Gary and Ginny.)

We started with some exercises on the flat part of the feeder canal, moved up to the faster current section for some more exercises, then on to Little Falls.

Really an excellent day; Jordan gets major recommendations from me and I’m hoping to get into his next OC1 clinic. And it would be great to cross river trails with Owen, Ginny or Chris again.

Thank you CCA!

Not what you see everyday…

Part of the promotion for the crazy Indy Car race in DC was bringing this car in on Metro — “Because Metro is the best way to get to the race!”

It didn’t stop for us, but it was cool to see it roll down the tracks.