We Have a Winner (5.11 Tactical ATAC A2 Flashlight)

Happy April everyone. We know that y'all have been waiting with nervous anticipation to find out who gets to add the spiffy ATAC A2 flashlight from 5.11 Tactical to their packs. Well ladies and gentlemen, wait no longer. We do have a winner and to beat it all Dinah helped me pick the winner when we logged into the Random Number Generator and input the numbers for the entries.

So without further ado, the lucky winner of the ATAC A2 flashlight from 5.11 Tactical is none other than Jeff of the blog AppalachianHikerHQ. Jeff, when you see this send us an email at appalachiaandbeyond (at) gmail (dot) com with your mailing address and we will send it along so 5.11 can get you your new flashlight. Let us know how it does out on the trail.

Okay everyone, that's about all the time we have for this evening. It's time to go wolf down supper before the Bug wakes up from her nap. Stay tuned as we have a pretty cool contest announcement post for tomorrow from a company located here in the Southern Appalachians and we are happy to help spread the word.

Happy Trails,
Tim and Robin

Early Celebration Giveaway(5.11 Tactical Flashlight)

Wow it's already spring and well it's one of our favorite times of year to be out on the trail and/or camping. We've been at this blogging business for a while now and well this year is a bit different. You know this May we will be celebrating five years of blogging, trail reports and destination guides here at Appalachia & Beyond. And while you can expect some cool things to celebrate the occasion, we thought with it being spring and a great time to get out on the trail or in the campgrounds, why not start celebrating a little early.

Photo Courtesy of:
5.11 Tactical

We are lucky enough to begin the celebrations for the upcoming anniversary by teaming up with 511Tactical  to give away a prize to one of our readers - and it could be you! The prize is an ATAC A2 Flashlight from 511's range of flashlights.

The ATAC A2 is simply designed to be strong, light and bright - the 2AA batteries supply 162 lumens, or just 15 lumens on 'ultra low power' mode.

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.

Happy Birthday Atticus!!!

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Photo Courtesy of:
Tom Ryan

Today, Atticus M. Finch turns a whopping 10 years old. Who is Atticus M. Finch? Atticus M. Finch is an amazing Miniature Schnauzer who's probably hiked more miles than we have and through way more ardent conditions than we could ever imagine. We've had the pleasure of getting to know Atticus and his mate Tom Ryan through our outdoor blogging exploits. Late last year, Tom's book, "Following Atticus", made a grand debut on bookshelves. Previous to that we were fortunate enough to win an advanced readers copy and were sent on a virtual adventure as we followed Atticus and Tom and learned more about their lives as well as Atticus's precursor Max while reading "Following Atticus".

If you remember correctly, we reviewed the book late last year and if you love adventure or stories with spirit, then you will love "Following Atticus". To celebrate Atticus's 10th birthday, Tom and Atticus would very much appreciate everyone purchasing a copy of their book. It is Tom's birthday wish for Atticus to hit the NY Times best seller's list. If they do so, then they will donate $1,000 to the Jimmy Fund and a $1,000 to Angell Animal Medical Center, two organizations that both Tom and Atticus believe in and support full-heartedly. If you ask us, that's the greatest birthday gift anyone could ask for.

Photo Courtesy of
Tom Ryan

If you've been meaning to buy the book, for yourself or as a gift, take some time today or this week and get a copy. All the big stores should have it (i.e. Barnes and Noble, Amazon, etc.) and yes the e-book counts as well. We think that Tom and Atticus should have already been on the NY Times best seller list, and they've been close, so let's put them over the hump and get them on the list. I couldn't think of another pair that deserves it as much as Tom and Atticus.

Oh, and don't forget to keep up with Tom and Atticus' adventure over on their blog and Facebook page.

Happy Trails,
Tim and Robin

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.