Francis-Whaley 2021

Before the reunion, my wife had a reunion with her four sisters.

Always listening to a story

Sit and grin

More stories

Sister order: 2, 4, 1, 3, 5

Then the reunion started in earnest around 2 PM as people arrived and greeted one another.

Whaleys

Little brother

My niece had a creative memento of the event: She drew branches. Family members added various colors of fingerprints and first names.

A new generation on the way

Soo good making more of a connection with my grandson little Z this weekend.

Beards are much more common in this family than they once were.

My sister-in-law has always been a ham, and loves her 15 grandchildren who range in age from 25 down to still in the womb.

My oldest brother is now the Francis Patriarch. He is nominally watching the burgers in this picture.

It occurs to me that I should have taken more pictures when everyone had arrived and was seated, but at that time I was eating and talking.

Matching Mamaw and L and centerpiece

If you want to really know what this family is like, ask the spouses.

The last few rounds of a game of GaGa means plenty of spectators. Boys are ubiquitous in the Francis clan.

Nap time for my daughter's youngest

My oldest son and three of his progeny

Conferencing

Is it the glare or my pretty face that causes that reaction?

Plenty of food

For those of either family that see this, apologies for not getting pictures of everyone. I was more intentional at talking to multiple and new people, but not as good at picture taking.

Ginger Snap Cascade

 If I ever saw a climbing hold like this on real rock, I might sorta freak. Even here it doesn't seem quite right. Maybe they should put it in the tunnel and call the climb "The Womb". Some climber added some chalk to accentuate lips, nose, eyebrows, and cheeks.

The cascade was not large, but it did have some nice features.

There was a small swimming hole at the base.

You could slide down it safely at the right part with plenty of flow.

There was a nice little pool you could wade in or lie down in at the top.

It was totally hemmed in with trees and secluded.

My Lord Draws Nigh Tune

 I wrote the short musical notation in my journal as follows:

And following is a short mp3 file of me singing the second verse: MLDN Tune.

Dirty Corner

This grass-like flower was blooming all along the rim of the Gorge.

Surveying the cliffline; Camelback formation in the upper right; upper Linville Gorge in the background

The standing spire is called Green Monster

There had been heavy rain several days ago, so that I expected the a Green Monster to be wet and algae and moss laden. It was the driest and clearest part of the approach trail.

The Galax and ferns at the base of the climb were lush.

The Corner, 5.7
I called it Dirty Corner because of the lichen, bushes, moisture, and little evidence of having been climbed in ages.

Equalized trad anchor at the top of the first pitch

Morning shadow on the Linville River below the Gold Coast Cliffs

Lower Linville Gorge with Shortoff on the left

Table Mountain Pine with fresh cone set on

Vantage from the second pitch anchor

Highline stretched between buttresses- Do you see the man walking the slackline? The resolution is poor, but consider where the slackline changes direction.

A five foot Black Snake on the road out

Tight

 

Entrance hole and assorted tools

Two rotten joists to replace

Tight

Two joist splices and supports

Corner end of the joist splices

L's B-day

Long day at the doctor's office and 4 hours of driving
followed by a relaxing sunset in the country

Hanging out soon after arrival

Diligent daughter doing

Cultured, thornless blackberries even

The neighbor has all kinds of fun things.

Some prefer to watch.

Next evening hanging out with the neighbor and watching his Koi.

Shade makes you happy on a hot day, anywhere you can find it.

Three generations

HB and TR

First pitch of Lost in Space

 

See my climbing partner's head to the right of the horn

View from the top

With my son at Devil's Cellar

Resting before the next push

Devil's Cellar

midway up the East flank of Table Rock

See the climber?

My anchor point for belaying my partner