NC weekend

I went up to North Carolina this weekend to do some hiking with a few friends. It was good times, though our hike was cut short by some heavy rain. It was my first experience with this kind of rain while hiking. We were about 2.5 miles into a 7 mile loop when it started pouring. We quickly made the decision to head back and spent a lot of the trek back sprinting, which added quite an adventurous spirit. That was a lot of fun. I recommend it some time.

I also went to my first casino on Saturday night. We were staying pretty close to Cherokee, so we stopped by Harrah's. My initial thoughts: really smoky and really old people. And when I say old people, I mean people in their 80s and 90s, with wheelchairs and oxygen tanks, who apparently consider it worthwhile to spend their last few days in a casino. It was kind of depressing. While walking through, Piper's "Don't Waste Your Life" talk came to mind. Our group managed to find a smokefree, less depressing area, and Caleb and John managed to win a few bucks at the digital blackjck tables.

I also started and finished "Franny and Zooey" by J.D. Salinger over the weekend. If you've never heard of it, you should check it out. It came highly recommended and I really enjoyed it.

So, overall, a great relaxing trip. I enjoyed all the hang out time, but particularly that of our car's driver...she is pretty cool ; ). Anyway, here are a couple of pics:Pre-rain pic heading in to the woods
Post rain