Dadcation
November was rough…October’s travels meant lots of long days at the office in November, but I did get to see my first Formula One race (a few practice laps until a manhole cover took out a Ferrari) before my bride met me for a weekend in L.A. for the Darker Waves music festival, which we loved. We met my friend Jody and his daughters on our land in Alabama for a camping weekend, and I got Covid in Vegas (right before Thanksgiving), so everyone who was coming bailed,…
Just over 2 hours from Atlanta is a state park in Alabama a few minutes from where my parents live, and since we had a Screaming Eagle Aerial Adventures rain check (more accurately, a “torrential, lightning-filled, and utterly destructive storm” check) left from Fathers Day weekend, we used it in late October to see what ziplining is all about. The weather provided panoramic views of the Sunday sunrise from atop a tree canopy overlooking a beautiful lake. See the lake? It’s to our left. The perched 20-something guides…
My Eagle scout friend Jody (whose ceremony I attended nearly 30 years ago) planned a family camping trip to Cloudland Canyon State Park in northwest GA for his birthday weekend, so being a good friend, I invited myself (plus my 3 children, wife, and dog) to join. We enjoyed it so much that a couple weekends later, we did it again, this time at DeSoto State Park by Fort Payne, Alabama (just east of Rome, GA), but this time, we didn’t bring dogs (but added our friend Jim…
When you can’t fly across an ocean, you seek recreation in more pedestrian pursuits, so this Spring and Summer, we’ve gone camping more than we did in the prior 10 years combined. A friend from undergrad named Charles invited my family to join his at Stone Mountain’s campgrounds, so we did; it was the first time we’ve spent more than a single night in a tent at a campground. He had lots of camping stuff–a camp stove, camp chairs, and camp coffee maker burner things. We had a…