Jamaica trip

We had a great week in Ocho Rios July 26-31 at the Royal Plantation resort. It's fairly small- 74 rooms- and quite nice. I'd say this is our favorite spot in the Caribbean so far- great scenery, great food, friendly and fun people.

Click here for an album with a bunch of pics.

We were pretty lazy on this trip, although we did peel ourselves out of our beach chairs long enough for some snorkeling and sea kayaking. I'll have to post a few pics of that stuff later, as they're on a water camera we have to take to get developed.

Mamaw's Grey Wood saves our weekend of camping

Each year about this time, we take Fran the Van on a weekend trip to a nearby campground to fine tune our packing list, make sure all supplies are stocked up, etc. This year we headed to Parris Mtn State Park, a nice park about 20 minutes from the house.

We were able to squeeze in a 2-hour hike on Saturday morning, but then the skies opened up (good thing we brought our big awning). We got absolutely dumped on for hours on end, but the load of Mamaw's Grey Wood we brought along ensured we didn't have to stay cooped up in the van all afternoon/evening. Pictured is Rhonda (sitting under the awning) warming her feet in front of the miniature inferno. I'm quite certain a lesser grade of firewood would have made for much soggier weekend. Most of our fellow campers weren't as well equipped to deal with the elements, and we had our end of the campground pretty much to ourselves (the other end was all big trailers and motor homes whose drivers probably weren't looking to spend too much time outside anyway).

Doing some landscaping

Don't look for us to start a second career in landscaping; this may not look like much, but it was pretty exhausting! It took us about a week and a half (2 weekend days plus quite a few after-work sessions) to prep the beds in front of the house and by the driveway, build the retaining walls, plant new bushes and spread mulch.

The whole project started innocently enough, with the planting of a cluster of azaleas. Before they were planted:

After the planting:
Those bricks laying in the driveway were lining the bed before. Rhonda had just pulled them up.

Here's Rhonda putting the finishing touches on the bed by the driveway (not pictured: the hours of digging/chopping/cussing involved in getting the bed to this point. That's 2.5 tons of stone sitting in the driveway that will soon become retaining walls.

The driveway bed from the front end:

The wall beginning to take shape:

Getting close to making the turn:

It got much easier after turning the corner, since we didn't have to worry about maintaining a straight line anymore.

The bed to the left of the steps without a wall:

The bed to the right of the steps without a wall:
The wall to the left of the steps (and getting ready to plant a couple of rhododendrons beside the azaleas):

Still on the left side of the steps:

The wall on the right side of the steps, with a newly planted rhododendron underneath the bird feeder:

Lots of mulch waiting to be hauled/spread:

Mulch in the driveway bed, with a row of newly planted hydrangeas:

Mulch with the azaleas/one of the new rhodies:

Mulch to the right of the steps:

The front of the house with the new plants/walls:

The plants are small now, but with some TLC will hopefully look a little more impressive come this time next year.

The "public hearing" sign is a necessary step in attempting to get approval for our new windows. The sign has to be displayed in front of your house for 2 weeks before the hearing (ours is on May 6th- keeping our fingers crossed). Sometimes living in one of the historic districts can be a bit of a pain.

Being a beer geek is a little more work now

The degree to which craft beer is a part of the culture in Oregon would probably surprise most folks who haven't been there before. While I doubt we'll ever approach that mindset down here, the craft beer scene is certainly worlds different (and better) than when we headed out west back in 1997. There are a number of well-respected breweries like Highland, Pisgah and Foothills in NC, and COAST in SC, and a decent brewpub here and there. There are a least a couple of microbrews to be found even in the small-town Bi-Los, and decent beer stores to be found if you know where to look. There are a number of beer festivals to mark on the ol' social calendar. And, thanks to my shrewd real estate selection skills, the best beer bar in the state (Barley's) is a 20-minute walk from our house.

Rhonda got outed at work as a beer geek when somebody produced a copy of the Greenville Metromix paper (kind of a nightlife guide) with a couple of pics of us. These were taken at the upstate release event of the aforementioned Foothills Brewery's Sexual Chocolate imperial stout.
I'll admit to being a bit jealous of the swank t-shirt Rhonda won as a raffle prize.

Recent trips to get our fix have taken us near (Asheville) and far (Charleston). Here are a few pics from the first annual Charleston Brewvival. Dad was kind enough to provide lodging and transportation.

Hats, gloves and chilly weather at a beer fest- are we still in Oregon?


You won't know which one is better unless you taste them both, right?

The face of a seasoned pro.

The next day was the release of COAST's Blackbeerd Imperial Stout. Here it is waiting on the shelves for me.

The fruits of my labor. A few for me, a few for friends, family, etc.

Next up- the Top of the Hops right here in Greenville at the Bi-Lo Center on April 10 (walking distance from the house- kaCHING!).

First winter storm of the year

We dodged a bullet here in Greenville, as we ended up with a bunch of sleet some ice on the trees. People seem to be driving just fine, if slowly. The ice doesn't look so bad, but Jack and I did see a tree down about 3 blocks down the street. Duke and the City of Greenville were already on the case.
Luckily, it fell on the opposite side of the street from the power lines. The only casualty was the bed of this pickup truck.

Saw a crazy guy out there as well.
Our intrepid Mountain Correspondents Mamaw and Papaw report 6 inches of snow in Franklin, pretty but manageable.

I think I'm gonna like this place

Seen last night on the menu of one of our favorite restaurants here (specializing in "New South Cuisine"):
Fresh Fried Pork Rinds with Truffle Sea Salt

Fancy, huh? I didn't have them, but they're on my to-do list.

The Return of Sugar Mama

Today, Rhonda got offered the job she interviewed for with the
Greenville Hospital System. She'll be at the main hospital location, only a 10-minute commute across town. While the last few months "off" (not counting babysitting, decorating, various home repairs, studying for the SC law exam, etc.) were a nice change of pace, she's chomping at the bit to get back to the grind. Her exact start date is TBD, as there's orientation and HR stuff to work out.

We're still firmly in adjustment mode, but it's tough to deny that things have gone pretty darned smoothly over the last few months. The following things happened after we decided to move:
* Rhonda discovered one of her friends/coworkers in Portland went to school with the pharmacy manager at GHS. She was able to make contact with him and sew those seeds back in August.
* I was able to negotiate a transfer of my job to SC (which ensured we were able to buy a house here).
* We were able to buy and sell houses 3000 miles away from each other in less than a week (no small feat "in these economic times").
* Rhonda knocked her interview out of the park and secured herself a new gig.
* Plus the normal coordination of moving, auto transport, utilities setup, etc. Oh, and beginning the process of becoming not exactly parents or guardians, but something more than a regular aunt and uncle.

To those among us who believe in the Big Man Upstairs, it's easy to believe he's had a hand in getting us to this point. At the least, it would seem Lady Luck has been on our side.