Lake Johnson, Raleigh, NC- 3/4/12

Location: Lake Johnson Park, Raleigh, NC

Date: 3/4/2012

How far we went: 2.98mi

How long it took us: 1:00:29

Elevation reached: Started at 406ft and got upto 540ft

Weather: Sunny, breezy, nice


A little stroll around the lake for today's update. If you're looking for some exciting new information about Lake Johnson, there isn't any. They have some paddle boats and some small Jon boats to rent but you honestly won't get very far because this is a tiny lake... Although if you're having a lazy day in the spring and want to eat lunch or just troll around, it will do. They also have small drinks and snacks available for purchase, along with worms if you would like to fish. I spoke to someone and asked him what he usually catches and the only thing he said was "Catfish" and "Yes, I eat them out of the lake." Don't know if that is safe or not but I won't eat anything out of a body of water that is in the middle of the city. I don't care how many trees or vegetation there is around. As with a lot of places I visit, you can hear the steady humming stream of traffic and the park is VERY populated towards the end of the day on weekdays and all day on weekends. If you're close to it, I recommend visiting as it's not bad for a little cross country run/jog. If you're more than 10 miles away though, it is probably is not worth the drive. Pics and videos are from iPhone 4.

Greenway/North Carolina Museum of Art trails- Raleigh, NC 11/20/2011

Location: Art Trails at the North Carolina Museum of Art/Greenway system, Raleigh, NC

Date: 11/20/2011

How far we went: 2.98mi

How long it took us: 1:00:29

Elevation reached: Started at 406ft and got upto 540ft

Weather: Sunny, breezy, nice

Haven’t updated in awhile. I guess I’ve been busy with welding, working and trying to get things together. Anyways, this is part of the Greenway system in the greater Triangle area. It’s nice, there’s no doubt about that... But lets be honest, the Greenway is very loud in certain areas due to the Beltline and other busy roads. It is also somewhat scary if you’re caught on it and the sun is going down. Nonetheless, still a nice change of pace if you can’t escape the city for a trail.

Also, everyone wonders how to get to the walking overpass that goes over 440 near Hillsborough street. And this trail is the answer to that...

Map of the trails

App Ski Mountain- 2/24-2/25/12 Blowing Rock, NC

Beginning of the night session

Decided to take a 2 day ski trip to App Ski Mountain that consisted of a night session on Friday and an all day session on Saturday. In my limited skiing experience this seemed like a small place, but definitely a great venue to learn if conditions are right. The first night sucked for learning because it got so cold that everything was ice. However, the next morning was much better when they were making fresh snow.

Everything about this place was bi-polar. We would discover something awesome about it, only to have it countered by something negative. First, the staff. We met a nice woman named Diane who set us up with the one set of clothing we needed to rent between the two of us. She was happy to hook us up with a woman's pair of ski pants for my partner and a men's coat for myself. She was very polite and got us excited for our time there. Next we went downstairs to rent skis, a locker and buy our lift tickets. WHAT A HASSLE! The staff down there were incredibly rude and short with us. We were 20 minutes early for our night session and they wouldn't let us rent our equipment OR lift pass until 5pm. They would only give us our locker. I'm sorry, but that is bullshit... Especially when they told us on the phone to come AT LEAST 90 minutes early. The lift ticket I understand, but the equipment? What the hell? After waiting, we finally received our skis from some nice people who chatted me up regarding my Ski Dubai hat. I'm telling you, half the people were real jerks and the other half were really awesome folks. They were also terribly inefficient! So much paper mumbo-jumbo to deal with. They need to do themselves a favor and buy a computer system to streamline everything. It can't cost that much and I know they're not broke charging $55-60 for a lift ticket. It was a decent mountain and we had a nice time tearing up their slopes, but we definitely wont be returning. I would suggest this place only if someone is paying for you. The Google reviews speak for themselves.