I’m in Durham, North Carolina right now, ending my 3.5-month streak of actually staying put in one place. The purpose of this trip was to visit some friends I haven’t seen in over a year and go to a surprise birthday party for one of my best guy friends, Dan. It’s been an amazing, joyous weekend so far (and yes, Dan was certainly surprised!) which I may write more about later. In the meantime, here is a photo from running 10 miles through acres of loblolly pine in the Duke Forest this afternoon. I’ll be back in my wonderful hometown of Fort Collins on Monday.
“Remember,” I said over the phone to my buddy Dan before arriving at his neck of the woods in Durham, North Carolina, “we have to exercise during this weekend.”
My recent travels, after all, had not been too conducive to training — particularly for the Mardi Gras Marathon that was coming up. To begin with, there was limited time already to spend with friends and family in California. The rain and food coma-inducing holiday treats did not help matters either. Ah, excuses excuses.
Also, prior to my upcoming trip to New Jersey and New York, Carolyn had warned me that we were going to be taking life nice and easy, so I had better get in my exercise before I arrived!
Dan took my request to heart. Let me list what he made us do: Continue reading »
On my last day of my “Southern Excursion”, I explored Raleigh, the capital of North Carolina and the second largest city of that state (after Charlotte). I was only here brief enough to form the most superficial impressions, but in a nutshell: not bad. Downtown felt very historical (with signs telling what Civil War leader did what and where, etc.) especially around the Capital. Some upper-class shopping districts downtown seemed to have a nice ambience for dining.
More photos are here.
Did you know that there is a whole chain of islands off the coast of North Carolina? I did not, but apparently, one of these islands included Kitty Hawk, the famed site of the Wright Brothers’ first flights. For thiese reasons alone, I had to go check out the area while I was in North Carolina, even if it meant driving almost 250 miles from Durham. Continue reading »
On Thursday (March 17) I awoke at Dan’s place in Durham only to see tiny snowflakes fluttering down from the sky. As the weather forecast for Ashville was a high of 39 with snow, I had some misgivings about the westerly drive of 210 miles, but it turned out not to be a problem at all. North Carolina highways, by and large, have much smoother roads and less traffic than California, and North Carolinans generally drive at a much saner, relaxed pace. Continue reading »
