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Happy Trails,

Robin and Tim

Sharing some Camping tips...

So Robin just sent me a link to some camping tips with kids. I thought I would share them here. I'm liking number 10. What's your favorite or some other tips you would add to this list?

Tips for Camping with Kids

Happy Trails and Happy Camping,
Tim and Robin

Trip Report: A Birthday Hike to Oscar Blevin's Farm

This past Saturday, I celebrated another year of life. In honor of that, I decided that I wanted to go hiking with my girls. The night previous, we hadn't a clue as to where to go. We wanted to make sure that where ever we ended up going, there was a destination for Bug to get down and explore, so that hiking becomes a "Fun" activity for her and something that she'll want to continue to do.

The next morning, we awoke and hung out around the house doing the usual morning routine and overall we were just being lazy. After a little while though, we started to get things ready and packed into the car so that we could head out to go hiking.

The weather was perfect. Mostly sunny and in the mid 70's. We finally hit the road just after noon and decided that we would head up to The Big South Fork NRRA. We had a couple different trails going through our heads, and finally decided that we would hike the Oscar Blevin's Farm Loop. This was a relatively easy to moderate trail that we hadn't done since Kiddo was about 5 or 6. That happened to be the year that we beat a nasty storm front off the trail and watched an amazing light show put on by mother nature. What we didn't realize at the time, was that the light show was a precursor to the destruction that hit the area we had been hiking in later that evening.

Trip Report: Eleventh Anniversary Hike - Interpretive Trail Loop FHSP

Robin and I celebrated our 11th wedding anniversary back in April. We didn't get each other anything fancy or what-not, but what we did do, was all the better. Considering I had been out of work for over a month while Robin was recovering from back surgery, our finances were looking a bit thin and well we really couldn't afford to do much of anything. So with the lemons we had we made lemonade by spending the day with our girls, outside.

We decided that since it had been almost a month since Robin's surgery, and she hadn't set foot on a trail since late January, we would head to one of our favorite State Parks and give the mostly pain free feelings a test drive for Robin. We got everything ready including all of Bug's stuff (diapers, bottles, etc.) and loaded up in the vehicle and headed out for Frozen Head State Park to hike the Interpretive Loop Trail or as Kiddo has dubbed it, the Interpretive Dance Loop Trail. Teenagers can be so funny sometimes.

Living Under a Rock?

We're pretty certain most of you have given up on us and figured we've caved in and took solace under a rock with having a new member of the family. That really couldn't be further from the truth. While taxing, raising our wee-little one hasn't completely kept us from getting out and about. It has however, really limited us from having any quality "sit down in front of a computer to get something done other than bills" time. Also considering work, regular run of the mill household tasks and upkeep, and a nagging an all out painful back issue, we have been somewhat limited in what we've been able to do in the out of doors arena.

So what have we been up to other than wrangling babies, playing taxi driver, and battling a fiery hip/back/leg due to a herniated disk impinging on a nerve? Long story short, a little bit of this and a little bit of that. We've been on some walks, playing on playgrounds here and there when the weather permits it, a short hike, plenty of scenic drives, and for Tim, quite a bit of running including two trail races as he converts from a road runner to a trail runner. There's also been a couple impromptu trips to Mississippi to visit Tim's father in the hospital. He's suffered a couple heart attacks back in February and Cardiac arrest while in the hospital. We ask that y'all keep his dad and family in your prayers.

So as time rolls and my goodness does it, we can't believe that March is already almost half way over, you can look forward to more posts of what we've done in the past few months. We have some gear reviews that are long over due, a couple of race reports, a failed hike and lesson in risk management on the trail, among several others. What's more is Tim is now also a proud member of the Terramar Tribe so you can be certain to see some reviews on some Terramar gear. Tim can honestly say that the base layers he currently has from Terramar are awesome. He's in love with them.

Dinah's First Camping Trip

For Labor Day weekend, Robin and I decided to escape and go camping. It was a last minute decision really, an impromptu trip so to speak. Friday was the last half work day that work was giving us (part of the new summer working hours they were trying out this year). We had discussed going camping earlier in the week but never really decided on anything for certain, but the idea was still buzzing in our heads.

When I got home from work, we discussed it further. Kiddo was going to a friend's house for the weekend  so we had to be around to take her over there after school (life of a teenager's parent = taxi driver). So we figured it wouldn't hurt to throw the tent and canopy in the back of the SUV, load Bug into her car seat, let our trusty side kick Clover hop in, and head out to Frozen Head State Park to see if we would even be lucky enough to secure a campsite. It was Labor Day weekend after all but with the remnants of Hurricane Issac threatening to drench the weekend here, we figured it was a toss up.

A Blue Ridge Road Trip (Pt. 2)

It was our second full day on our Blue Ridge Parkway trip and we (rather I) woke early once again before the girls did. For some reason, this whole trip I was always the first one up. I guess knowing that I had Robin and Ashby to contend with for the bathroom, my subconscious decided it was best to be first before anyone else was up and avoid fights over the bathroom.

It wasn't long after I was done and ready, that Robin was up and at 'em. Not long after Ashby and Dinah were both up and going, we were packed up, loaded up, and ready to check out of the Hidden Valley Motel by 9am. Our first task was to sequester breakfast. It wasn't hard, as we had eyeballed a Cracker Barrel in the heart of Boone the day previous to this.

A Blue Ridge Road Trip (Pt. 1)

The third weekend in July is always family reunion time on my mom's side of the family. Every third Sunday in July, the Patteson Clan gather for fun, food, and reminiscing at Glenwood Park in Princeton, WV. Seeing how Dinah was new to the family, and all my aunts absolutely love to see her we decided we would go to the reunion this year. As an added bonus, I thought it would be fun if on the way back home we spent a couple days driving down the Blue Ridge Parkway. The four of us (Tim, Robin, Ashby, and Dinah) as a family doing a mini version of the vacations Robin took as a kid with her family.

Once the reunion was over, or rather close to the time people were starting to leave, we loaded back up into our SUV and we were Blue Ridge bound. We had made arrangements to stay over night at the Allegheny Inn in Sparta, NC shortly after making it to the Blue Ridge Parkway. We got all checked in and hung out for a little bit before going out in search of food. The Allegheny Inn was a wonderful motel, located in the heart of the quaint downtown of Sparta, North Carolina and only 15 minutes from the Blue Ridge Parkway, where we would begin our adventure on the next day. Unfortunately, our adventure wouldn't begin without some sort of hiccup.

SteriPEN and Outdoor Retailer

I know it's been a while since you last heard from us. We've been ultra busy the past couple of weeks, complete with a family reunion and a two day road trip down the Blue Ridge Parkway which included stops at Blowing Rock and Grandfather Mountain. There will be more about that in two separate posts in over the next few days. For now, we just wanted to let you know we are all well, trying to stay cool, and staying super busy with baby and all. Now to the heart of the matter.

As some of you know, especially those in the outdoor blogorealm, the Summer Outdoor Retailer (OR) show is coming up this week and there's a few of you that will be heading out to see what great "Newfangeled" (a termed used by Robin) technology will be released in the fall of this year as well as the Spring of 2013. You'll be among the first of the outdoor lovers to drool over these items in person. For us however, we will not be making it to OR. Maybe one day they will decided to have OR in places other than Utah (Tennessee would be great :D). Until then we have to sit back and wait for all our blogging pals to post their stories on the new gear and happenings from OR.

Trail Report - Slave Falls/Needle Arch Revisited (A Father's Day Hike)

I really couldn't ask for a better family. Constantly and always on my mind, are the Great Outdoors. Having four walls around me on a daily basis is actually quite confining, suffocating, and if it weren't for the light switch, the fluorescents would be deadly. So when asked what I wanted to do for Father's Day, naturally I wanted to get in the woods for a hike with my girls, and that is exactly what we did.

I had two hikes in mind, one being at Frozen Head, the other in The Big South Fork. Considering that Robin and I had just run a 5k the day before and Robin's back has been and still is in a "shape," I figured hiking to the fire tower at Frozen Head wouldn't be such a good idea. So I opted for the Slave Falls Loop trail. Robin and I hiked to the falls and to Needle Arch last year while she was pregnant with Bug so I figured we could revisit them now that Bug is here.

O&W Bridge - A Hike on National Trails Day

We were recently blessed with the opportunity to do an actual hike (and by "actual" I mean something more than a half mile with a stroller) since Bug has been born. Since she's been doing so well in public, we decided it was time to carry her into the woods. We chose the O&W Bridge trail (4.6 miles) because of its ease and accessibility. A few weeks previous to this day, we'd tried to hike this trail and found that (1) it is not stroller friendly by any means and (2) thunderstorms looming + baby = bad idea. The trail, however, is virtually easy with small elevation gains and the occasional rocky runoff crossing.

Back To Running (Barefoot?)

As some of you might know, I'm somewhat of a wannabe runner. A couple of weeks ago, I finally got to get back to it a bit when Robin and I struck a deal, she got to go to a movie she was wanting to see while I stayed home with our Little Bug. In return, she let me go for a trail run. Let me tell you, it's been awhile and my legs felt it for sure. I haven't let that stop me as I've been running regularly for the past couple of weeks now and that's a first since Miss Dinah Marie came into our world a whopping 5 months ago. Where does the time go? This time around however, Robin has decided to join in the running with me and I couldn't be happier. Running alone gets lonely once you hit a certain point and you're slogging out mile after mile with only your thoughts to rattle your cage.

Dinah's First Official Hikes

We've been jonesin' to get out on the trail for a while now. We hadn't been on any hikes since September of last year. Well I take that back, Robin did let me out on the Hiker Release Program back in November. Granted we've been on the Songbird Trail at Norris Dam State Park a couple of times and up to the Pinnacle Overlook at Cumberland Gap NHP after our little Bug was born but those were more just strolls along the path and not what we consider "real hikes". This all changed last weekend when we decided we were going to get out on the trail even if it killed us.

We had originally planned on just doing one hike this weekend. However, we had a small dilemma. Dinah is at the discovery age (4 months old) and she's not keen on being in her car-seat stroller. So we had to find a stroller that would allow her to sit up and see the world as it came at her. We found a good stroller and decided that instead of hiking on Saturday, we would just go to a park and walk around to test out the stroller and see how "Bug" did.

Bug's Big Adventure Weekend

So last weekend was pretty busy for us. Big sis had her first track meet of the season, and so it would also be a big test for "Bug" (one of the few nicknames for Dinah). The meet was a jamboree so nothing official. I have to say that I am very proud of my "Big Bug". She threw the discus for the first time for a whopping 43'9". She also did the long jump and the 800m run, she did those events last year as well.



As for Bug well, she didn't take to well to the meet business. Actually, she didn't take to well to being out and about much at all. It was still a bit cool and there was a pretty good breeze blowing and Bug doesn't much care for big breezes. So Robin and Bug ended up spending much of the time stuck in the car where Bug was more apt to be pleasant. At one point she had finally taken up the whole back seat, forcing Robin to sit up front in the drivers seat completely bored out of her mind while little bit napped the day away.

We're Still Around

First off, let us just wish everyone a very belated Happy February as well as a belated Happy Valentine's Day. From the looks of it, Spring has sprung rather early for the most of us, and it's quite strange. What's unfortunate, is we haven't been able to get out and enjoy it as much as we'd like, but that's quite alright, we've got very good reason, and we shall be changing that all soon enough.

We're pretty sure that all of you are wondering how life is going with a newborn, and we'll be honest in that it's been stressful, pleasurable, nerve-racking, blissful, fearful, and joyous all wrapped into one. We've done quite a bit with little Miss Dinah since she's come into this world. A few weeks back we made a trip up to Cumberland Gap NHP just to get of the house for a while. We had been cooped up for a while and Robin was climbing the walls. Dinah made her first, but likely not last trip to the Iron Furnace at Cumberland Gap. Of course she was oblivious to the whole thing. What did you expect? Infants sleep, a lot. Well, at least when they are feeling well.

First Walk (Not quite a hike)

On New Years Eve day, the weather was phenomenal, and considering it was likely going to be the last pretty day for a little while we decided to take full advantage of it and get out for a bit. Granted we've been out a couple times since the wee little one arrived almost two weeks ago, it's not been any getting out that we wanted to do. It seems that when you go out because you have to it feels more like a chore than it does anything else regardless if you've been cooped up for any length of time (just ask Robin). It was different this time. Yes, we did hit the big local box mart but not before we got outside and filled our lungs with some much needed fresh air.

She's Finally Here

Everyone, let us introduce our newest addition to the family. Miss Dinah Marie Bird made her entrance into this world and stole all our hearts in an instant, at 5:56am on the morning of December 20, 2011. She weighed in at a very healthy 8lbs. 14.2oz. (I don't know what those ultra-light folks would say? :P) and measured 21 1/4in.

We promise to get better quality pictures of her posted once we get into a groove but right now we are all taking our time absorbing every little moment with her at this time as it will only last so long. So if you don't hear from us for a while I'm sure you can all understand.

Happy Trails,
Tim and Robin

Apples, Oranges, and 5K's

We hope everyone had a chance to get out this weekend to enjoy the perfect fall weather. It was perfect for most of us out in the east here, but I did see where there was some snow out west. Yikes! Snow in October?! I know that's not totally unheard of here but it would be unusual. Anyway, the leaves are turning color more and more each day. We are nearing peak around here in the East Tennessee Valley. From Cumberland Gap to Cherokee National Forest and down to Knoxville, the colors are magnificent. It won't be long before "Old Man Winter" is knocking on our doors. So if you haven't yet, you better get out and enjoy this weather before it gets too cold.

That's exactly what we did this past weekend, and look forward to doing just that over the next few weekends. We started the weekend by heading out to Coalfield, TN for the Coalfield 5K supporting the Coalfield Cross Country team. The race started at 8:00am and ran through a subdivision next to the school then through the cross country trail on the school grounds, back in front the school and down another road before turning around and heading back to the school for the finish. It was a pretty fast course with a nice little uphill just after the start. Then there was a nice 1.5 miles or so on the trail the cross country team uses to practice on. It's a graveled trail with a couple of foot bridges and two covered bridges. After the trail, it's back to the road and a slight up hill just before heading back to the finish at the school.

The Ghost Train to Blue Heron

We hope that everyone had a wonderful weekend and was able to get out and enjoy the wonderful weather. Where did you go? What did you do? We'd love to hear all about it. Did you get out for a hike, go camping, or just hang out doing yard work? Luckily for us, most of all the home buying work has been done so we had a free (for the most part) weekend to do what we wanted.

In Memory of Tom, KK4TA

As you know from our post last week, we had the Ten-Tec hamfest to attend on Saturday morning to sell gear for our friend who lost her husband to cancer earlier this year. We really couldn't have asked for better weather. The turn out was a lot bigger than in previous years thanks to the gorgeous weather. Robin and I arrived just before 7:00am and were swarmed by "old men" (don't worry, that's what they're called in Ham Radio) wanting a chance at the sweet gear we brought to sell. By 11:30am we had sold all we were going to sell (nearly everything!) and it was time to pack it up and head home to prepare for our next event of the day.

Trail Report: Judge Branch Trail - Frozen Head SP - 9/11/2011

Woohoo, all the outside work has been completed and now we just sit and wait. Well not exactly, we still have some cleaning inside to do before the appraiser comes, but until then our weekends will not be spent working all day long. It couldn't have come at a better time either. The weather has cooled a bit and it's September: our favorite month and a signal that our favorite time of year is here.

After finishing up all the outside work on Saturday, we decided that Sunday we would get out for a much needed walk in the woods. Besides, Robin's Trinity Maternity Trekking Pants from Mountain Mama arrived a couple days prior and she was itching to try them out. The only caveat to this: Robin is now limited as to how much she can do. With that in mind, it had to be short, not very strenuous, and most of all something that she didn't need to carry any gear - except her camera, which I don't think I could rip out of her cold, dead hands. So we decided that the Judge Branch trail at Frozen Head State Park would fit to a T.