Hello everyone! It’s been a while since my last update. That’s because my travels slowed down for a while at the end of October. When I made my last update, I was in Carbondale, CO, visiting my friends Mike and Tina.
I promised baby pictures in my last post, so here you go!
Attentive readers will recognize Mike and Tina from my trip through Colorado in July. They will also recall that Tina had a rather large belly. Well, the belly is back to normal size, and they have a little boy! Henry John Ogburn, born September 21, 2009. These pictures were taken on his one month birthday. I'm sure he's a lot bigger by now!
The family, including big sis Molly. 
Mom and tired baby after photo session. 
Who ever said the baby has to be awake for baby pictures?
I managed to sneak the new dad out for a day of playing. We went out for a quick rock climbing trip. (Mike lives near some amazing climbing, yet he really doesn’t climb! He has his own harness and shoes and gets out every now and then; but living where he does, he should be an addict! I'm working on this!)
Mike says you’re not taking advantage of Colorado if you only do one sport a day, so after climbing we went to a local kayaking play spot and splashed around for a few minutes. Close observers will note that I am not wearing a real kayaking top. I’ve been spoiled by the warm waters of Virginia and West Virginia and forgot to bring a real top with me. The water out here is cold!
For family reasons I had to be back in Blacksburg, VA by the end of October. So, after leaving Carbondale, I hit the road and headed east about as fast as I could. I got slowed down by some nasty in Colorado. I got through the mountains with no problem, but the snow picked up east of Denver and kept getting worse. I figured once I got to the part of Colorado that might as well be part of Kansas I’d be fine. I was wrong. There was over a foot of snow on the ground. I tried to get off the highway but a couple of exits in a row were blocked by jack-knifed trucks. So I kept slowly pushing on, hoping for a place to get off the highway. At one point traffic was completely stopped. A police car was weaving its way through the stopped cars and trucks. The truck in front of me backed up to let a the cop through and backed right into me! The driver of the truck denied that he ever even backed up. Fortunately the damage was pretty minor, so it was no big deal, really.
I finally got to a rest area and spent the night there. The next morning the snow had stopped and the highway had been plowed, but there was a stuck truck blocking the road into the rest area and a stuck pickup pulling a camper blocking the way out, so I got to spend a few more hours in the rest area. After that little adventure, I headed to Indianapolis. I spent a night there with my friends Meg and Adam.
Here’s a picture of me with their beast Betsy.
After that I got back on the road. The way home takes me within a half hour of the Red River Gorge, so I just had to stop. I got in one great day of climbing, then I headed home!
I spent most of the next two months at home. I got away for about two weeks at the Red River Gorge, and I flew up to Chicago for a long weekend. Other than that, I was hanging out with the family and a few folks I still know around Blacksburg.
The most exciting thing to happen in Blacksburg was a huge (by southwest Virginia’s wimpy standards) snow storm. That can mean only one thing...
Sledding!
Here’s my friend Margo (in Blacksburg for the holidays from San Francisco) tearing down the Blacksburg municipal golf course. It’s nice and steep. That’s probably not good for the golfers, but who cares, it makes for great sledding!
And here’s a picture of my family’s dog, Sunshine, dashing the snow.
Sunshine with her favorite prey: a plastic bottle.
Once the holidays were passed, I decided it was time to hit the road again! I spent a few days in North Carolina taking a Wilderness First Responder course. For those of you who spend a lot of time outside, it’s a great course. The whole WFR course is a week long if taken all at once. I took a 4-day Wilderness Advanced First Aid course a few years ago, so I was eligible to upgrade to WFR with a 4-day bridge course. I learned a ton, and really enjoyed both courses. The instructors both this time and last were great, and full of information that I found really interesting (and that I hope I don’t have to use).
After the course, I caught up with my cousins Matt and Josh in the Charlotte area, then I hopped a plane to Argentina! (Ok, I hopped a plane to Miami, spent a few hours there, then hopped a plane to Peru, and spent a few more hours there, then finally got on the plane for Argentina.) I got into Buenos Aires yesterday evening. I haven’t done a whole lot here so far--mostly I’ve just wandered around the city taking it all in. This is the first time in quite a few years I’ve been in a country where I don’t speak the language! I’m spending a few more days here in Buenos Aires, then heading south to Patagonia.
So, stay tuned for updates from South America!
Thanks for reading!
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