Decades

Decades pass and people ebb in and out of our life; parents, siblings, grandparents, children, friends, school mates, colleagues, neighbors, son-in-laws, etc.


They celebrate the good times with us and support us in times of trial.

So it was great to gather wives, daughters, son-in-law, brother-in-law, friends and even a grandson at the Bender Lake House this weekend, to celebrate Memorial Day and Jeff's 60th birthday.



The water was still a bit chilly, but some folks swam.













Some people dressed funny!















Some people went boating; great hot sunny days for motor boating but alas...no wind for the sailors.













Henry has a new favorite word, "Jet Ski."













Some people fished and Henry earned his SML shirt for catching (sort of) his first fish from the Bender dock.


The food was grand and the drink plentiful. Jenny, I really appreciate all the time and effort you commit to making all of us feel welcome and making sure our visits are exquisite!


Jeff, your first six decades brought much success and many blessings. I wish you the best for many more years of health, happy times and exciting adventures!

Love,
Tom

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TOF Brothers Weekly Ride sans David

Figure eight training ride Coffee to Perrowville to Cottontown to Trent's Ferry; 34 miles. Good training ride for getting used to heat. It was 88 degrees and I felt every degree! Can you believe for the second ride in a row, there was a tractor trailer blocking Coffee Road? What is the probability of that happening?

Tom



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Pie Dreaming

If you wake up dreaming of pies, it's time to mount your horse, get on your bike or even get in your car and head to Elon, VA. Our preferred mode of transportation on this day was bicycle so Gary, Laurie, Gretchen and I set out this morning to visit the Pie Lady!


An hour and a half ride brought us to Woodruff's store with Angie (aka the Pie Lady) cooking for her usual lunch crowd. The store is a piece of Americana and the entire family is involved. Angie's sister and husband help with baking, cooking and waiting on customers. Angie's mom who ran the store for decades can always be found at her table chatting with customers; however, she did give up baking last summer...said it was just to hot to make fried pies.


Summer burger specials, chicken and potato salad along with fried apple pies made a mighty tasty lunch. The Sykora's friend Leah joined us at our table and took our picture for the wall of infamy! We'll look forward to seeing it on the board on our next visit. My those pies were good!!







Fueled and rested, we headed back to Lynchburg with a thunder storm circling around us always putting a wind to our faces....but nary a drop of rain.


Photo for the wall!

Tom

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Sea Trails for Droplet

The day to launch Droplet, our Seahopper folding dingy make in Sommerset, England, finally arrived this weekend!



Droplet was looking quite spiffy in her new varnish! Jenny and Jeff joined us for the day helping to put Droplet through her paces.





Our initial impression is Droplet is easy to launch, very stable, rows well and two adults can travel easily in her. The only issue was a little water seeping in around the centerboard trunk which we'll hopefully rectify this week.


SunShower was eager to take her little sister for a tow so we headed out for trials under power and sail. Droplet towed well, tracking directly behind SunShower and handling large motorboat wakes with ease. Her light weight did not have any noticeable effect on SunShower's speed under power or sail.


Back at the Bender lake house, Jeff and I took turns honing our rowing skills. I felt like I was punting on the Thames! Jeff declared afer his turn that he was a changed man and was going to paddle his kayak a lot more fishing for stripers off the bank!

We were really pleased with how Droplet handled under oar and tow. She seems to be what we expected and will allow us to have a tender for SunShower that is feasible to transport to the Chesapeake Bay and tow on our sailing adventures.
Tom

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Hills

Gretchen wanted hills so up Eagle Eyrie we pedaled. Fine ride around to the water plant and Trent's Ferry; 20 miles with plenty of hills.


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TOF Brothers Weekly Ride

Beautiful day to to ride a bike; cool, blue sky and no showers! The course was touted as flat and it was as flat as possible in central Virginia. Rolling countryside with expansive views of farmland and woodland dotted with beautiful small churches. My body protested vociferously the first 13 miles but finally decided to get into it. Saw the first totem pole in Virginia on a farm today; makes me wonder why? What is the owner's connection?
Ate lunch on the porch of a church and then headed to the hamlet of Sherwill where we posed for a photo at the old general store on the corner. I particularly liked it because it had Tim Caine and Mark Warner campaign stickers in the window! :)




Tom
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Location:Rustburg 40 miles Leader:David

Chesapeake Bay 2011

Well after looking at the weather forecast, we decided not to sail next week so I'm bringing SunShower home. Gretchen and I will plan to return to the Bay again in June.



I took this picture of the tornado damage in Deltaville. It was a one block wide path of destruction and this church was dead center. Everything on each side was untouched! Sometimes you are lucky and sometimes not so much!
Tom
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