It has been a while since I updated this blog, mainly due to many events happening recently. Ben's mom passed away in the wee hours of Thanksgiving morning and we have been very busy since then with all that an event like that entails. It was a blessing for us that her life has ended as she would never have wanted to live the way she has been in the past three years and especially in the past year. We have received so many cards and notes, food, and donations to her favorite charities. We will continue to provide dinner at our house for Ben's dad, as we have been for these three years. I am now doing his grocery shopping for him as it is just too hard for him.
Most of the family came in for the visitation last Monday night, and went home the same day! The Nashville Cowans had a very long drive that day, coming up and driving back. Graham and Sherri came from Knoxville and Sherri got a bug that had been going around her family so she went back early with her cousin who kindly drove up for the visitation and her son stayed to drive back with Graham. Thanks, Michael. Then I went down to pick up Morgan on Tuesday morning from Sherri's parents so that Sherri did not have to deal with Morgan while being sick. Morgan already had the bug right after Thanksgiving!!
Morgan stayed all week and then Graham and Sherri came on Friday. Sherri and I had a ladies night out in Johnson City, with dinner and a trip to a craft show/sale being run by some friends of mine, and then the computerized light show in Bristol, which we loved. On Saturday, we had a great trip up to Whitetop to cut our Christmas trees, then back to decorate ours. We had a 2" snow and Morgan had a blast playing, throwing snowballs and making a snowman. Later in the day on the 5th, some of their friends and two daughters from Knoxville drove up for dinner and then went to Bristol Motor Speedway for the Fantasy in Lights show. It was four miles of Christmas lights. It was wonderful but the wait was really long for the three little girls. Once in, it was fun and the guys driving the two car loads loved speeding down the dragway and around the racetrack and up on the banked turns within the track! The friends left to drive back to Knoxville and we started home and then decided to go to the "other" light show here in Bristol which is all computerized to music. It was terrific (2nd time for Sherri and me!) and all the adults seemed to enjoy that one much better than the lights at the speedway.
It has been a busy and emotional two weeks and I am barely thinking of Christmas. But having Morgan for the week last week made me get out the decorations and she helped put them up!
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Sunday, November 22, 2009
Happy Birthday, Granddad Cowan
Two of Ben's siblings and their families, as well as Graham, Sherri, and Morgan, and several friends came to dinner last night (Thanksgiving dinner for us) to celebrate Granddad Cowan's 90th birthday. Since he was born close to midnight, he is not sure which day is really his birthday. His birth certificate says the 21st, and his mother told him it was after midnight, so the 22nd! It doesn't matter which day...we celebrated on both! It was a delightful day yesterday, with tons of food, and almost everyone staying here at the house. It was a zoo, as it always, is when all the family is together. The food intake by 6 teenagers is unfathomable! Most of them are coming back for New Years. Plus, Blair and Reid will be here, too.
Today we ate all the leftover Turkey and dressing, cranberries, etc. Yum. Lots of plans brewing on how to get the Nashville cousins to Bristol for the New Year, with both their parents working that weekend. We will work it out. It will be another crowd here!
Today we ate all the leftover Turkey and dressing, cranberries, etc. Yum. Lots of plans brewing on how to get the Nashville cousins to Bristol for the New Year, with both their parents working that weekend. We will work it out. It will be another crowd here!
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Warmshowers.com and 4000 miles
We have been long time members of two websites for hosting visitors to our area, with warmshowers.com being specifically for cyclists, and couchsurfing.com for other visitors. We have hosted several people from CS and know a couple from Bristol who also host. Last night, we had a young (25-ish) Polish couple, Ania and Kris, stay with us. They had ridden from Toronto, Canada, leaving there on September 1st. They contacted us a few days ago and needed a place to stay for one night. We read their profile and their story and welcomed them here yesterday afternoon. (We had just arrived home from a ride ourselves!)
What a delightful pair! We, of course, had a lot in common as cycle tourists ourselves, and were happy to see their bikes and gear. After a huge meal, we talked late into the evening. This morning, after much discussion, they determined their route was going to be 11W all the way to Knoxville. (they are headed from there to Nashville, Memphis, New Orleans, and then back to Florida, the Caribbean, and South America. They will do the Western half of the USA on their next trip. I decided to ride out with them, through the downtown Bristol sign and then out State St. to 11W. I rode about 15 miles west towards Kingsport with them before turning around. Their bikes were really loaded but they are prepared for all weather.
On the way back to Bristol from riding with them, I realized that I would pass my goal for the year, 4000 miles. Wow! I was not sure a week ago if I could do it but five straight days of gorgeous weather and 175 miles and my goal was met! I am really pleased with that total. I love to ride and don't know when my next trip will be. It has been hard watching Ben planning for his Southern Tier ride, knowing that I probably will not go. I will have to ride alot of miles to catch him next year! The year I did the ST, my total was over 6000 miles!
What a delightful pair! We, of course, had a lot in common as cycle tourists ourselves, and were happy to see their bikes and gear. After a huge meal, we talked late into the evening. This morning, after much discussion, they determined their route was going to be 11W all the way to Knoxville. (they are headed from there to Nashville, Memphis, New Orleans, and then back to Florida, the Caribbean, and South America. They will do the Western half of the USA on their next trip. I decided to ride out with them, through the downtown Bristol sign and then out State St. to 11W. I rode about 15 miles west towards Kingsport with them before turning around. Their bikes were really loaded but they are prepared for all weather.
On the way back to Bristol from riding with them, I realized that I would pass my goal for the year, 4000 miles. Wow! I was not sure a week ago if I could do it but five straight days of gorgeous weather and 175 miles and my goal was met! I am really pleased with that total. I love to ride and don't know when my next trip will be. It has been hard watching Ben planning for his Southern Tier ride, knowing that I probably will not go. I will have to ride alot of miles to catch him next year! The year I did the ST, my total was over 6000 miles!
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Trip Journals
My three major trip journals are now easily located with the links on the right sidebar. Just click on the trip you would like to read about and it will take you to that journal. You can also look at this year's trip journal on this website by clicking on the blog archives for August. Thank you for your interest in reading my journals.
Donations to Hospice are also easily accessed by the links on the sidebar.
Donations to Hospice are also easily accessed by the links on the sidebar.
Sunday, November 8, 2009
A gorgeous weekend!
With Ben being gone since the 31st, it has taken some motivation to ride by myself. However my friends came out in force this weekend and I racked up 90 miles in two days! I rode from my house yesterday and found that the extra 14 miles to the ride start were very nice. It makes me crazy to DRIVE 7 miles to the start of our ride! The route is nice, a good warm-up, and not a bad return home after the ride, provided it is light enough.
Today, two of my friends had 25 and 35 miles each to get to 3000 miles for the year! It was fun to see them make that goal. This has given me lots of motivation to ride the last 200 miles to make it to 4000 miles for me this year. While adding the extra miles to finish, Randy and I rode up the Holston River 6 extra miles and I broke a shifter cable at the far end! Fortunately, the road back to the car had only moderate rollers. I did have to stand on every hill, though, as the chain was stuck in the little ring in the rear! A trip to Boyd's Bicycle in the morning will have me back on the road by tomorrow afternoon when I plan to ride again. Then the prediction is for rain for two days. I volunteer at the hospital on Tuesdays anyway, so wouldn't be riding!
Last night, I went to the Kingsport Bicycle Association pot luck supper as I am now a member. It was a nice evening and Bob and Ellen did a great job on the photo presentation of their bicycle trip in Montana and up to Banff, Lake Louise, and Jasper. The pictures of Glacier were awesome and really brought back memories of the fantastic trip Ben and I made out there in 2005. We hope to cycle there in the near future as our last trip was a hiking adventure!
Today, two of my friends had 25 and 35 miles each to get to 3000 miles for the year! It was fun to see them make that goal. This has given me lots of motivation to ride the last 200 miles to make it to 4000 miles for me this year. While adding the extra miles to finish, Randy and I rode up the Holston River 6 extra miles and I broke a shifter cable at the far end! Fortunately, the road back to the car had only moderate rollers. I did have to stand on every hill, though, as the chain was stuck in the little ring in the rear! A trip to Boyd's Bicycle in the morning will have me back on the road by tomorrow afternoon when I plan to ride again. Then the prediction is for rain for two days. I volunteer at the hospital on Tuesdays anyway, so wouldn't be riding!
Last night, I went to the Kingsport Bicycle Association pot luck supper as I am now a member. It was a nice evening and Bob and Ellen did a great job on the photo presentation of their bicycle trip in Montana and up to Banff, Lake Louise, and Jasper. The pictures of Glacier were awesome and really brought back memories of the fantastic trip Ben and I made out there in 2005. We hope to cycle there in the near future as our last trip was a hiking adventure!
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
New Total for this year...
My new total for this ride is now $20,505!!! Many thanks to everyone for their support.
- Posted very slowly using BlogPress from my iTouch.
Monday, October 26, 2009
Totals
I have an updated total for the three ride, three year, 7700 mile bicycle rides for the Wellmont Hospice House....over $88,300!! Wow.
Thank you so much to everyone who has contributed, supported, and otherwise given me encouragement during these rides.
Have a great day!
Oh, and Morgan came to visit for a few days and what fun we had!!!
Thank you so much to everyone who has contributed, supported, and otherwise given me encouragement during these rides.
Have a great day!
Oh, and Morgan came to visit for a few days and what fun we had!!!
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Joining the 21st Century
I bought an iTouch and am now learning how to use it for lots of things, like blogging! Right now it is pretty laborious to type but that will come, I am sure. Never having sent text messages before makes this alot harder!
My favorite part is having music to listen to in the car. Once I get playlists figured out I will be doing well.
- Posted laboriously using BlogPress from my iTouch.
My favorite part is having music to listen to in the car. Once I get playlists figured out I will be doing well.
- Posted laboriously using BlogPress from my iTouch.
Sunday, October 11, 2009
I did it!
Well, I made it over $20,000! Donations are still arriving and I am up to $20,350 and change!!! Thanks so much to everyone who has contributed. The thank yous are done and I am back riding on a regular basis now, having recovered fully from my fall a month ago. It is a nice feeling to be back on the bike.
Ben is going to be fully retired on December 15th. He has had enough of the 24/7 on call schedule and has taken off some time lately...ridden 5 days in South Carolina from State Park to State Park, ridden Cycle North Carolina, all this in between traveling to various locations to judge beer competitions. He took the judges certification exam in May (after his 1000 mile self supported ride) and STILL has not gotten the results. However, he is still allowed to judge and had a great time this weekend doing the judging thing!
Big news is that he is planning to ride the Southern Tier next March. He has had an ad on the ACA and Crazyguy websites and has gotten a nice group of men and women (total of 9) to ride. He is so incredibly excited! I know now first hand how he must have felt as I prepared for my Southern Tier ride. Maps, gear lists, plans, training, and the start is less than five months away! The emails are flying back and forth among the group and the excitement is palpable. This will be an entirely self supported ride, so there are many questions from the group about gear, camping plans, etc. I will plan to train alongside but will not be going as I am going to be the designated home person! Life is like that! Someday we will be able to ride together on the same trip and the Northern Tier is at the top of our list!
While Ben has been beer tasting and visiting with Graham, Sherri, and Morgan, I have been playing with my new toy, an iTouch. After my OLD Palm Zire refused to hold a charge for any usable period of time and all my data was lost (I did have it backed up on the computer) I decided to start looking for a device a bit more up to date. I did not want to have everything in my life, contacts, music, email, etc on a phone so I wanted a separate "thing". My phone is a small simple, make a call kind of device...that is all I want for a phone. The iTouch has all the music I have had on my computer, all my contacts and the biggie for me...my calendar. It also has weather, email (with a wireless connection if available) and a note taker...which I use constantly, as I cannot remember anything for more than a nanosecond these days! It also holds the 3GB of music I own!
Since it was raining yesterday, (no bicycle ride) and I had laundry and other stuff to do, I played with it alot, really alot. I finally got ALL my contacts in one location, with phone numbers, emails, and info, including all my friends from my rides (so Ben can call them on the ST!!!) I hope it will suit my needs and it plugs into the car jack to play music while I am driving. I can download audio books (some free) or music that I used to have when I had my van with a cassette player..remember those? I had a nice little collection of cassettes and I do miss them. My collection of Irish music we bought on our bike trip and tons of other CD's have been loaded on my computer over the past two years and now they have a home on the iTouch. Am I happy about this..you betcha!!
Now I just have to learn how to use all the features, and I have heard that you can use it as a phone with Skype, so I will have to look into that...but I need a wireless connection to use that feature. My little simple phone is fine for me!
Well the sun is trying to peak through and I am going for a ride. :-)
Ben is going to be fully retired on December 15th. He has had enough of the 24/7 on call schedule and has taken off some time lately...ridden 5 days in South Carolina from State Park to State Park, ridden Cycle North Carolina, all this in between traveling to various locations to judge beer competitions. He took the judges certification exam in May (after his 1000 mile self supported ride) and STILL has not gotten the results. However, he is still allowed to judge and had a great time this weekend doing the judging thing!
Big news is that he is planning to ride the Southern Tier next March. He has had an ad on the ACA and Crazyguy websites and has gotten a nice group of men and women (total of 9) to ride. He is so incredibly excited! I know now first hand how he must have felt as I prepared for my Southern Tier ride. Maps, gear lists, plans, training, and the start is less than five months away! The emails are flying back and forth among the group and the excitement is palpable. This will be an entirely self supported ride, so there are many questions from the group about gear, camping plans, etc. I will plan to train alongside but will not be going as I am going to be the designated home person! Life is like that! Someday we will be able to ride together on the same trip and the Northern Tier is at the top of our list!
While Ben has been beer tasting and visiting with Graham, Sherri, and Morgan, I have been playing with my new toy, an iTouch. After my OLD Palm Zire refused to hold a charge for any usable period of time and all my data was lost (I did have it backed up on the computer) I decided to start looking for a device a bit more up to date. I did not want to have everything in my life, contacts, music, email, etc on a phone so I wanted a separate "thing". My phone is a small simple, make a call kind of device...that is all I want for a phone. The iTouch has all the music I have had on my computer, all my contacts and the biggie for me...my calendar. It also has weather, email (with a wireless connection if available) and a note taker...which I use constantly, as I cannot remember anything for more than a nanosecond these days! It also holds the 3GB of music I own!
Since it was raining yesterday, (no bicycle ride) and I had laundry and other stuff to do, I played with it alot, really alot. I finally got ALL my contacts in one location, with phone numbers, emails, and info, including all my friends from my rides (so Ben can call them on the ST!!!) I hope it will suit my needs and it plugs into the car jack to play music while I am driving. I can download audio books (some free) or music that I used to have when I had my van with a cassette player..remember those? I had a nice little collection of cassettes and I do miss them. My collection of Irish music we bought on our bike trip and tons of other CD's have been loaded on my computer over the past two years and now they have a home on the iTouch. Am I happy about this..you betcha!!
Now I just have to learn how to use all the features, and I have heard that you can use it as a phone with Skype, so I will have to look into that...but I need a wireless connection to use that feature. My little simple phone is fine for me!
Well the sun is trying to peak through and I am going for a ride. :-)
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