important and I missed the words

Something very important has happened

The ACC day three- games 9 and 10

and that is one heck of a lot of basketball to watch.  

The heels lost and my goodness the gnashing of teeth and such carrying on from the fans immediately behind us.  Thankfully they left as did many of their compatriots - we were hopeful for a rare double double when both unc and duke would lose on the same day but the fates were not kind as duke did beat Maryland.

I think I mentioned the building is large

this is where the Atlanta Falcons play football

Mark has some more photos I will upload later to give you an idea of size

We traveled to and from via the Metro, changed trains at Five Points and I don't reckon Mark or I ever figured out how to make the eastbound to northbound or west to south or whatever to wherever with the upstairs, downstairs and can not cross the tracks problem

your may have noticed we traveled with friends and neighbors too

and at the end of the day we had a nice dinner at The Oceanaire

one and done

Well I looked for my friend the Deacon, but IMPOSTORS showed up.

Yup, impostors, looked like 'em, but sure did not play like them.  I got there early too.

The building was quiet a bit more full than yesterday.  Though yesterdays crowd was "only 26,000.  This is a big building.  I guess 34-36,000 here today, we will see what offical attendance is.  Problem is so very very many wear light blue.  Really sad to see so many sick people.

Between games Mark "took ill" and had to rest after dinner.  He was a bit upset with all the blue.  He kept mumbling about the evil empire or something like that too.

anyway we are one and done and that is no fun.

but we have some seen some other very good games (not counting the Deacons mess) and tomorrow is another day - and somewhere the sun is shining and all that, 

 

We have some adventures planned for tomorrow evening so we will be alright.

just got to find the real Deacons.

In the Georgia Dome

As you can see it is quite large and bunches of people have chosen not to come to game sessions one and two.  The early games are not heavily attended and were a bit slow.

note the couple beside me, they are really intently following the games.  They were in the building when we got there, and there when we left, a nice enough couple from Winston-Salem, but were certainly not intently following whoever it was playing Clemson.  (it was Ga.Tech-who won in an upset)

and if the upper deck is full, someone really wanted to come to the game.

(Photos from Mark's i-phone)

Paul's camera is in Raleigh.

got my lucky hat

Soon we will be looking for my friend the Deacon again.  

I have searched the closets and the lucky shirts, hat and such are packed.  If the Deacons are not Champions, it will not because of me.  

Work is a good thing to leave behind for a few days

see you from Atlanta

getting ready for Atlanta and the ACC

no I am not excited, and I am not counting the days, but I am sure starting to think about it.

At the ACC Mark, Marie, Patt and I will have a view somewhat like you see below.

We are in Section 131 row 6 and I think that puts us about the second hand rail as our seats are 5-8 I am not sure if we count from left to right or right to left.  I think it is to much to hope for that our seats are in the front block- I am thinking those are rows a, b, c, but if they are not, whoa nellie.

the seating chart is below, of course Carolina and Duke have the prime seats, and goodness but what did Maryland and Virginia did to irritate the seating decision makers - but I would not recommend it.

The Georgia Dome is set up for basketball and I think there will be about 32,000 people there for the games.  Pretty large audiences and with 11 games in four days, it will be a bit tiring at times.  Four games Thursday, four Friday, two Saturday and one on Sunday.  The Deacons have a bye on Thursday as do Duke and Carolina.  The other bye is as yet undecided and final seedings of nearly all the positions are not yet decided - Wake will finish either 2nd or 3rd.  Its been a good year.  

check out the video from the Maryland game, it was a great moment and a turning point in the game and we are planning on seeing more of the same from Atlanta next week.  

This was an entertaining moment on TV- and has become a hit on youtube too.

more to come -- stay tuned.  

hike on the sleeping indian

After a bit of time at the top, we started down.  Stephen started down first - continuing the hike in order to complete the trek to do the entire trail and not "back track" the way we came.  As you can see it was quite steep to go down the "neck",  I turned around and went down like it was a ladder.  

Jose and Stephen started out across the grassy trail along the edge of the volcano and to the right stretched jungle and more mountains and eventually the ocean (wish I had taken a picture) and to the left the valley with El Valle, the little town in it that was enclosed by the ring of mountains. 

This picture below captures the valley surrounded by the volcanic ring.

It was a great adventure and if ever in El Valle I would recommend doing the hike/trek.  It was great fun and I hope to do it again.  Stephen and Jose are great hiking companions and Jose knows all sorts of wildlife and such.  His English is less than my Spanish ability if that is any guidance to you on your language needs.

After the hike we went to a very nice little restaurant in a home for a formal meal.  Stephen was a bit more tired than I.  Only I faked it better.  - for a while anyway.

hiking the india dormdia

The mountain in the background, the sleeping indian, is the hike Stephen took me on while we were in Panama.  We entered the mountains at the edge of the valley - which is a large caldera- about at dead end of the street Stephen lives on -- see previous post.  In this picture it would be against the mountain about where the wire is hanging down.  We started out climbing towards the right rather than up the sleeping Indian's head.

Our guide and hiking partner was Jose, a neighbor and friend of Stephen's who was of some degree of local fame as one who was able to make the trip very fast in an annual race.

At various points in the early hiking it was quite jungle like, complete with the jungle sounds, and very very wet.

The water fall is a famous tourist spot and has some indian carvings which I will show in the next post, (I forgot to up load the photo and do not know how to place a photo where I want it with out starting over)

As you can see there were points where the hiking was quite rough and over an "uneven trail" and in other places very very steep.

In the photo below you can see the lip of the volcano and the path along the edge, the wind was quite strong as we approached the top at this point and was the point from which we first began to see something other than plants.  

The proverbial "at the top" photo and extremely strong wind- hence my willingness to remove the hat.  and our knelling down rather than remaining standing on the edge with strong gusts of wind.  You can also see the valley in the background.

next post.  the rest of the trip.  and some photos I forgot from the trip up to the top.

Visiting Stephen and Jen

Patt and I just returned from a trip to Panama to visit Stephen and Jen and what a very nice time we had midst the heat and rain of Central America.  Our hosts were wonderful, treating us to a trip into the interior of the country to their see "new"  "hometown".

above,  the coffee shop -- no double "p" spelling with an "e" on the end either.

The little grocery store at the dead end of the street where Stephen and Jen were living and at the foot of the ring of mountains or edge of the volcano that surrounded the valley

passing what would pass for a subdivision ( a house) on the road back to their place for February -- S and J are moving to another next month

just another house, I think I thought  that  it was where they were moving, but it does capture the low hanging rain clouds which were so present for a couple of days.

Stephen's office, seriously, it is his office, internet provided by the hotel above. the resturant

Patt and Jen in front of the house - now former residence.

We had such a good time.  Next post, Stephen takes me on a mountain climbing expedition along the rim of the volcano.