Bob Laney
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05/26/2006
Watauga River Trout
On a pretty, sunny [and early - starting at 6 a.m.!] spring morning in late May, 2006, Debbie and Bob Laney traveled to Hampton, TN, to meet Judson Conway. That name may be vaguely familiar. If you read the biography of Eustace Conway, The Last American Man, Judson features prominently in several chapters. He is Eustace's younger brother, the one who rode with Eustace and Judson's girlfriend on the world record setting cross continental horse packing trip about 6 years ago. And the author, Elizabeth Gilbert, was right: Judson is handsome and charming!
Published in Newsletters -
05/21/2006
Wild Dunes Redux
It's a tough job, but somebody's got to do it. The weekend of May 21, 2006, the Paul Anderson Tuesday Afternoon Tennis Club and Tea Society caravanned to Charleston, SC, for another outing. We decamped to Wild Dunes Resort where Bob Boettger arranged for us to rent a truly large and luxurious house for a pittance. Also along were John 'Death Star' Willardson, Jim 'Vacation' McCrae, Bobby 'Casanova' Isenhour, Dave 'Coach' Wiles and Bob 'Volley' Laney.
Published in Newsletters -
10/15/2005
Night Biking to a State of Zen
One warm, foggy October evening in 2005 after work I decided to do my first bike ride on Lithia Springs Road after dark from start to finish. Always before I would start in the daylight and try to end in daylight, or at worst finish soon after dusk. But this time it was too late in the day. This trip would require the balance of several competing factors: concentration vs. relaxation, perseverance vs. patience and domination vs. acquiescence.
Published in Newsletters -
07/24/2005
Grandfather Mountain Training for the Tetons
In the fall of 2004 Jim Smoak graciously invited several men from St. Paul's Church to join him for a week's vacation in August, 2005, at his cabin on the Snake River near Jackson Hole, WY. In addition to eating, sleeping, beer drinking and tall-tale swapping, we hope to get in some fishing and trail hiking in the adjacent, dramatic, magnificent Grand Teton National Park. Toward mid-July, 2005, most of us desk jockeys became aware of the sedentary nature of our life styles. Compared to the lung busting, feet pounding hikes around 10,000 feet coming up in the near future, we felt ' how can I say this? ' inadequate.
Published in Newsletters -
07/16/2005
Blue Stone Quarry Diving
Some where near the middle of our fair state, just north of Asheboro, is an old rock quarry converted to a scuba diving resort called Blue Stone. On a cloudy Saturday in late July, 2005, the Wilkes County 2004 Hurricane Dive team trekked there. This is the crew whose first open water training dive, to get our scuba licenses, was planned for Key Largo, FL, in August, 2004. That trip was postponed four times (count 'em - 4) by serial hurricanes.
Published in Newsletters -
07/15/2005
Dive Show Production Press Release
Date: Friday, July 15, 2005, 3 p.m.
Subject: Bonaire DVD Press Release
By: Paul 'Hollywood' Anderson, videographer, producer and director
The much anticipated DVD of Paul Anderson's production of Bonaire, An Adventure on Land and Sea will soon be available. According to inside sources, problems encountered in production, attributed primarily to user error (the nut behind the wheel) are being resolved'finally! The studio is now projecting a release date of July 22, 2005.
Published in Newsletters -
01/26/2014
Doughton Park Hike in the Cold
The cold was penetrating when I entered the woods. The temperature had been down in the teens the night before. There was ice in the creek. After hiking up the ridge awhile, my body temperature became effusive. Soon the heat over came the cold, and I shed several layers of clothes. I continued up the trail in bright sunshine under blue bird skies.
Published in Newsletters -
02/01/2014
Stone Mountain Park & Mtns to Sea Trail
On Saturday February 1, 2014, the weather was cold and clear. I returned to the Widows Creek Trail in Stone Mountain State Park. My goal today was to take the north fork of the trail that is the Mountains to Sea Trail. This fork of the trail runs from Widows Creek almost straight north to the Devils Garden Overlook on the Blue Ridge Parkway.
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02/02/2014
Alligator Back and Bluff Mountain
On Sunday, February 2, 2014, in the mountains, the weather was still cold and clear. I went to the Blue Ridge Parkway to attempt to reach the Devils Garden Overlook. I was trying to hike the upper portion of the Mountains to Sea Trail and connect with the lower portion of the same trail that I had hiked from the bottom just the day before. Unfortunately, parts of the Parkway were covered with ice and the Rangers had closed some of the barricades. I could not get to Devils Garden Overlook, so I stopped at Doughton Park and hiked the Bluff Mountain Trail, starting at Alligator Back Cliff.
Published in Newsletters -
04/16/2014
Turtle Island Preserve Gun Maintenance Lesson
Eustace Conway's Turtle Island Preserve is staffed by interns, who enter a contract and work for 14 months in return for teachings and experiences in the natural ways of doing things. One of TIP's current interns is Brian from Connecticut. Besides being adept at nearly everything mechanical, he is a gunsmith.
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