Visions from an All American vacation!

So, as it turned out, my threats to give this blog its 100th post during our visit to the States were completely empty. Here I am now, having safely returned to Hong Kong with Katherine, and the 100th post is finally being crafted. Still, the post itself is a recap of our time in the States, so it still has nothing to do with Hong Kong. ;>

Let's start, as we did just over three weeks ago, in Ann Arbor...

Meet Chad and Lin Jones (standing with Katherine on their deck), our most gracious hosts for the few days we spent in Ann Arbor. They showed us, as always, simply amazing hospitality.

Here we are at Charlie's Mediterranean (formerly known as LaShish) sharing a meal with some family and friends. From the front-left of the table to the front-right: Betty, Wing Hong's chair (he's taking the picture), Ayase, Paul, Andrew, Carson, myself, and Katherine. This was just before we went to see "The Dark Knight" (which was outstanding).

Two days later, we shared another meal with the same family and some other friends. ;> This time, it was in Vera and Chris' backyard for a wonderful cookout feast that Vera put together (with some dessert and sides help from the guests). From the center of the table going left: Me, Katherine's chair (she's behind the camera), Vera, Carson, baby Andre, Chris, Sander, Nancy.

Next stop: Virginia! Here we are with my sister, in my parents' new house in Radford, celebrating her birthday! Happy Birthday, sis!

Later that same day, my mother whipped up one of my absolute favorite meals: Eastern Carolina pulled pork BBQ (with a touch of Maurice's South-Carolina-style mustard sauce), baked beans (in a fresh bell pepper), homemade applesauce, and mac-n-cheese.

My mother caught me completely by surprise with an early birthday celebration - this was the immediate result: me setting up my new Slingbox Pro in their living room. This will allow me to watch all the college football I want, live and from the comfort of our living room in Hong Kong, as soon as the season starts in two weeks. (It'll allow me to watch anything else on their TV as well, but I really only care about the college football. ;>) How does it work? The magic of the Internet!

The next day we all took my father's Hobie MirageOutfitter (pedal kayak) and took turns cruising the New River.

My parent current permanent home, and the home where I grew up, is in Bluefield, WV. We spent a night there and, as you can see, enjoyed a beautiful evening on the deck.


Back in Christiansburg, VA, we went to my very favorite fast food chain: Chik-Fil-A! It's something I certainly can't get in Hong Kong - and I couldn't even get it in Ann Arbor!

After spending a little over a week with my parents, it was time to head to Snowshoe, WV for the wedding of my buddies Manu Sporny and Monica Licher...

Here's Monica on the first night, feverishly approving of our shuttle ride to the top of Snowshoe Mountain (where we had a mighty nice dinner at Cheat Mountain Pizza Company).

This is the back of the "cabin" where the Licher family stayed (and where the wedding ceremony was held). A gorgeous house in a gorgeous place!


...as evidenced by this sunset tearing across the West Virginia sky (taken from the back deck of the house). After sunset, though, it was time to head indoors and do another kind of tearing...


...the kind that happens after you are repeatedly dominated by a seven-year-old boy in Foosball. That boy would be Spencer (aka "scoring machine") and he's in the upper right of the picture. In front of him, also on the right, is Greg (an old friend of Monica's) and Manu is on the front left. I'm dislocating my shoulder in the upper left.


Here comes the bride! The ceremony was truly beautiful and presided over by...

...Manu's father (Stanley), who did a wonderful job.

The next day, we went with Manu's sister (Rasmi) and her husband Ben, to the Cass Scenic Railroad in Cass, WV. It was fun - and smoky.

On the final day at Snowshoe, Manu and Greg joined us for a hike around Shavers Lake (at the base of Showshoe's "Ballhooter" lift). We knew exactly where we were going...

...well, mostly.

Once we found the right path, we were very surprised to stumble across a large patch of wild blackberries...

(The patch was much bigger than this, but you get the idea.) What to do?! Go a-pickin'!


They were delicious! And exactly like the blackberries my family would pick (to make wonderful cobbler) when we lived in Princeton, WV during my early years of life.

Thus concludes our vacation! It was a wonderful time that only had one flaw: it was too short! Katherine and I will be returning to the States in November, though, so we'll get some more time with some of these folks later on in the year.

Before closing this post, I'd like to send out a big thanks to Wing Hong Chan, Vera Irwin, and my mother for sharing their photos with me so that I could fill in a few blog blanks above. This post would have been much lighter without their contributions!