Family and Friends in Georgia

March 12
Daylight Savings!!! A cool and damp morning. Connie, Rudy, and I just took a stroll around in the woods with one of the dogs.

There used to be a lake out back, then highway work...

When Mark was home from work, the four of us went to Lanes Southern Orchard for peach and pecan goodies - kind of in between seasons, so just some baked and preserved treats. We next went into Columbus to eat Mellow Mushroom pizza - good stuff - lots of fun and tasty options. In the evening, Connie was inspired to make pie from fresh pecans she recently received, and we played lots of cards!

March 13
Nothing too exciting today - more cool and damp weather - lots of chilling out and visiting - an easy run for me - just leftovers for dinner, followed by fantastic pecan pie! Cards, of course.

March 14
Pi Day! I was the only one festive enough to have pizza for my breakfast. Cool again, but less rainy, so Connie took Rudy and I to Calloway Gardens. Some pretty fun spring blooming was happening, and the butterfly house was awesome, as expected.

 
 

We met Mark back in Columbus to eat (and drink beer!) at The Cannon Brewery. After that, we enjoyed pecan pie and playing cards.

March 15
Another hang out day. Big activity was visiting Georgia's place for dinner. Connie put in all the work making shepherd's pie and Irish soda bread and pecan bars - lots of experimenting with the recipes, but all turned out well! Eventually it was time for Georgia's little ones to get to bed, so we headed back to Connie's for yet more cards.



 March 16
Connie was busy for the day, so Rudy and I went to Flat Rock Park in Columbus. There were pretty decent trails, a few spots where following the trail was tricky, but overall a nice park and better mountain biking than I would have expected. In the afternoon, Connie and Mark hosted a fire with all the family over. We finally got to meet Tony's girlfriend, a Southern girl that treated us to scrumptious collards and black eyed peas - NBD for them! Everyone departed early enough that we got in a final game of cards!







March 17
Happy St. Patricks Day! A bit more visiitng with Connie in the morning before we drove to Atlanta to visit Alicia (former Duluthian that I know through ultra-running) and her husband Divesh. We just had time for a little hike before Divesh was home from work and we sought out some corned beef and cabbage. We only stopped by one place with a two hour wait before we bailed on that plan and went to one of the local's known favorites, Lucky's, for burgers and Guinness. Just a bunch of visiting, then slightly earlier to bed - ahhhh!

March 18
Overcast and a little rainy. We had a mellow morning before getting out for running and hiking along the Chattahoochee River. The afternoon was more chilling/visiting, and a little excursion by me and Alicia playing with running form drills. Dinner was pizza, followed by a bit of gaming - Sequence and 3-13.

March 19
A big fun day that required an early wake up to head for Red Top State Park for some running, hiking, and orienteering practice for Alicia (the rest of enjoyed following her around in the woods!) Next was a couple of hours of indoor climbing. I mostly tooled around on the easy routes, Rudy mostly bouldered, and Alicia and Divesh did all the real climbing. Finally, we made it to a brunch buffet of Indian food - the reason for the early outings, and well worth it! After that, more hanging out, a little dinner of rice and dhal, and cards.