A great time was had by all! We have shared many wonderful adventures and look forward to many more! Love you! Have a great day!
Love,
Jim
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Sunday, May 12, 2013
Happy Mother's Day Mom!
I'm sitting in the Atlanta airport waiting to board a flight home and wanted to share this picture of my Mom and I taken in Seattle a couple of summers ago before we took and Alaskan cruise.
A great time was had by all! We have shared many wonderful adventures and look forward to many more! Love you! Have a great day!
Love,
Jim
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
A great time was had by all! We have shared many wonderful adventures and look forward to many more! Love you! Have a great day!
Love,
Jim
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Biltmore Gardens
The grounds of the Biltmore were as impressive as the house itself.
Wanting the best, Vanderbilt employed landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted to design the grounds, with the immediate gardens in the Garden à la française style, beyond those in the English Landscape garden style. Beyond these were the natural woodlands and agricultural lands with the intentionally rustic three-mile approach road passing through.
Gifford Pinchot and later Carl A. Schenck were hired to manage the forests, with Schenck establishing the first forestry education program in the U.S., the Biltmore Forest School, on the estate grounds in 1898.
Intending that the estate could be self-supporting, Vanderbilt set up scientific forestry programs, poultry farms, cattle farms, hog farms and a dairy. His wife, Edith Stuyvesant Vanderbilt, also enthusiastically supported agricultural reform and promoted the establishment of a state agricultural fair.
The Vanderbilts invited family and friends from across the country to the opulent estate. Notable guests to the estate over the years have included author Edith Wharton, novelist Henry James, H.R.H. The Prince of Wales, and Presidents McKinley, T. Roosevelt, and Wilson.
Vanderbilt paid little attention to the family business or his own investments, and it is believed that the construction and upkeep of Biltmore depleted much of his inheritance. After Vanderbilt died in 1914 of complications from an emergency appendectomy, his widow, Edith Vanderbilt, completed the sale of 85,000 of the original 125,000 acres
to the federal government. This was to carry out her husband's wish that the land remain unaltered, and that property became the nucleus of the Pisgah National Forest.
If you find yourself in the area the Biltmore is worthy of a visit!
Jim
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Wanting the best, Vanderbilt employed landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted to design the grounds, with the immediate gardens in the Garden à la française style, beyond those in the English Landscape garden style. Beyond these were the natural woodlands and agricultural lands with the intentionally rustic three-mile approach road passing through.
Gifford Pinchot and later Carl A. Schenck were hired to manage the forests, with Schenck establishing the first forestry education program in the U.S., the Biltmore Forest School, on the estate grounds in 1898.
Intending that the estate could be self-supporting, Vanderbilt set up scientific forestry programs, poultry farms, cattle farms, hog farms and a dairy. His wife, Edith Stuyvesant Vanderbilt, also enthusiastically supported agricultural reform and promoted the establishment of a state agricultural fair.
The Vanderbilts invited family and friends from across the country to the opulent estate. Notable guests to the estate over the years have included author Edith Wharton, novelist Henry James, H.R.H. The Prince of Wales, and Presidents McKinley, T. Roosevelt, and Wilson.
Vanderbilt paid little attention to the family business or his own investments, and it is believed that the construction and upkeep of Biltmore depleted much of his inheritance. After Vanderbilt died in 1914 of complications from an emergency appendectomy, his widow, Edith Vanderbilt, completed the sale of 85,000 of the original 125,000 acres
to the federal government. This was to carry out her husband's wish that the land remain unaltered, and that property became the nucleus of the Pisgah National Forest.
If you find yourself in the area the Biltmore is worthy of a visit!
Jim
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Saturday, May 11, 2013
Biltmore Estate
Among the many things we did while in Asheville we toured the house and grounds of the Biltmore Mansion. It was beautiful.
Here is a bit of history from Wikipedia - Biltmore Estate is a large private estate and tourist attraction in Asheville, North Carolina. Biltmore House, the main house on the estate, is a Châteauesque-styled mansion built by George Washington Vanderbilt II between 1889 and 1895 and is the largest privately owned house in the United States, at 178,926 square feet and featuring 250 rooms. Still owned by one of Vanderbilt's descendants, it stands today as one of the most prominent remaining examples of the Gilded Age, and of significant gardens in the jardin à la française and English Landscape garden styles in the United States. In 2007, it was ranked eighth in America's Favorite Architecture by the American Institute of Architects.
The grounds were as beautiful as the house - worthy of a post all of its own. Biltmore grounds up next!
Jim
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Here is a bit of history from Wikipedia - Biltmore Estate is a large private estate and tourist attraction in Asheville, North Carolina. Biltmore House, the main house on the estate, is a Châteauesque-styled mansion built by George Washington Vanderbilt II between 1889 and 1895 and is the largest privately owned house in the United States, at 178,926 square feet and featuring 250 rooms. Still owned by one of Vanderbilt's descendants, it stands today as one of the most prominent remaining examples of the Gilded Age, and of significant gardens in the jardin à la française and English Landscape garden styles in the United States. In 2007, it was ranked eighth in America's Favorite Architecture by the American Institute of Architects.
The grounds were as beautiful as the house - worthy of a post all of its own. Biltmore grounds up next!
Jim
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Ramble Run 12K - Asheville, NC
I've got a lot to post about and I'm behind so I thought I'd just get started with a few posts from our time in Asheville, NC. It's now Saturday and I have been here since last Monday. Kent arrived on Wednesday and we head home tomorrow.
We have been on the go and today we participated in a 12k run.
It was a great course filled with challenging hills!
Here is a map from my iPhone Nike Plus with my time. I was pleased given the hills that I was able to complete at an average pace of about 8:11 per mile. Kent also had a great run and felt great afterwards!
Here are a couple of pictures of each of us before starting.
And finally a picture of Kent crossing the finish line! Great job!
Next weekend we will be in Boise where I will run a full marathon and Kent will run the half. Looking forward to it! I have several more posts about our time in NC - stay tuned!
Jim
Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
We have been on the go and today we participated in a 12k run.
It was a great course filled with challenging hills!
Here is a map from my iPhone Nike Plus with my time. I was pleased given the hills that I was able to complete at an average pace of about 8:11 per mile. Kent also had a great run and felt great afterwards!
Here are a couple of pictures of each of us before starting.
And finally a picture of Kent crossing the finish line! Great job!
Next weekend we will be in Boise where I will run a full marathon and Kent will run the half. Looking forward to it! I have several more posts about our time in NC - stay tuned!
Jim
Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Monday, May 6, 2013
Opening Day of Boating Season
Saturday was the opening day of boating season in Seattle and the Windermere Cup crew races. Kent and I took full advantage the events since all the activity is just a short walk from the house. It was a beautiful day in Seattle! Such a rare treat to have 80 degree weather in May! Here are a few pictures from the event.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Sunday, May 5, 2013
Marathon Training
I know I have a lame way old announcement of the Chicago Marathon on my blog that I need to take down. My next marathon is actually in a couple weeks in Boise ID. Kent will be running the half and I will run the full. The good news is that I have begun the taper as of today! My final 20 mile training run was this morning! Here are a few pictures from this mornings run.
I ran from our house to Magneson.
From there to Green Lake and finally to MOHAI before heading over the hill home.
Joined our friends Mike and Gary for Cinco De Mayo and ran into this huge drag queen!
Headed home to pack - I leave tomorrow for a week in Asheville NC. Work through Thursday and then Kent will join me and we will do a little hiking in the Great Smoky Mountain National Park.
Happy Cinco De Mayo!
Jim
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
I ran from our house to Magneson.
From there to Green Lake and finally to MOHAI before heading over the hill home.
Joined our friends Mike and Gary for Cinco De Mayo and ran into this huge drag queen!
Headed home to pack - I leave tomorrow for a week in Asheville NC. Work through Thursday and then Kent will join me and we will do a little hiking in the Great Smoky Mountain National Park.
Happy Cinco De Mayo!
Jim
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
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