This year marks my 20th year living in Asheville.  I can't believe I've been here that long.  Time sure does fly when you're having fun.

Well I spent all of August and part of September visiting Cherie in Vermont.  The motorhome only broke down once on the way up.  I got to spend a nice day in the AutoZone parking lot.  Anyway it's always great spending time with my sister.

We made plans to spend 10 days in Acadia.  I can't believe how beautiful that part of Maine is.  It had rained almost every day the month prior to our arrival, we were lucky the sun was out most of the time we were there.  A week after we left a hurricane hit the island, good timing.  This area is a kayakers dream.  We spent most days on the water.  One of my favorite paddles was taking off from Bar Harbor and navigating through the Porcupine Islands.  The water was calm, all the time we were there and because of this we were able to paddle a lot of the coastline.  On the days we weren't on the water, we were biking all the carriage roads in the park.  We even found time for some shopping.  But by far the thing I enjoyed the most was the exorbitant varieties of seafood this area had to offer.  Breakfast lunch and dinner it doesn't get any better than that.  We just don't seem to have very good seafood in Asheville and the oysters around here don't come from the ocean.

I am keeping quite active in our mountain bike group, still the chapter treasurer.  Our group has grown a lot, becoming an active participant in the local community.  We are building a new mountain bike trail system within the city limits. It's been a lot of fun organizing large trail work groups and providing support for them.  The system should encompass more than 6 miles of new trail.  6 miles isn't a lot of trail, considering the hundreds of miles we are blessed with within the Pisgah national Forest, but it's new and all hand built by our group.

This coming May, IMBA (International Mountain Biking Association) will hold their World Summit in Athens Georgia.  Our group will be one of the chapters hosting this event. I booked a nice waterfront campground about 18 miles outside of town.  It's also located about 5 miles from one of the best mountain biking parks around (FATs), East Coast anyway.  So I guess it's kayaking, mountain biking and schmoozing for a week, it should be fun.

My work is so isolating, this group is one of the few opportunities I get to meet new people.  Most of the women I meet are almost half my age, I'm not complaining mind you but I just can't keep up with them, way too much energy for this old guy.  I have recently become the senior member of our Board of Directors, My gray hairs tell the story.

I hope all is well with you and your family and that you all have a Merry Christmas.

Love to all