in october we visited one of our most favorite getaways at holden beach, north carolina. we spent a few last warm days introducing clem to the beach. she got her feet wet and enjoyed the sunshine.

– ryan & gub

we were impressed with the denver b-cycle program while out in colorado! basically there are a ton of these bike racks around the city where you can rent and return bicycles. they even had baskets on the front! we were told atlanta tried a similar program but the bikes kept getting stolen. oh well.

– ryan & gub

while visiting denver in october we went on this amazing scenic drive along the guanella pass in the rocky mountains! we stopped along the way so clementine could experience snow for the first time! it was quite the contrast from the sandy beach she went to a couple of weeks before.

– ryan & gub

we were recently in ellijay, ga for fall festivities and stopped by r&a orchards for some country apple dumplings. they were amazing to say the least! you can find their recipe below if you want to try it at home.

– ryan & gub

r&a orchards

5505 highway 52 east
ellijay, ga 30536
706-273-3821

country apple dumplings recipe:

ingredients:
2 large granny smith apples (peeled and cored)
2 x 10 oz cans crescent roll dough
1 cup butter
1 1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 x 12 oz can mountain dew

directions:
– preheat oven to 350 and grease 9″ x 13″ baking dish
– cut apples into 8 wedges each
– separate crescent roll dough, and roll each apple wedge up in the dough
– pinch the edges to seal and place in dish
– melt butter in a saucepan and stir in the sugar and cinnamon
– pour mixture over apple dumplings and then pour mountain dew on top
– bake for 35-45 minutes or until golden brown

i ended up going to the decatur craft beer festival this year with my buddy willy! there were lots of great beer for the tasting, although it’s always a gamble drinking that much between noon and 5pm on a saturday. i know it’s boring, but my highlights were sierra nevada’s northern hemisphere harvest and estate homegrown ale on tap!

– ryan

i recently spent a nice fall afternoon brewing a couple batches of beer with some friends! it had been awhile since i’ve brewed, so i was excited to get back into the swing of things.

we made a bell’s two hearted clone and a pumpkin amber, although we had to substitute some ingredients on the two hearted. the ipa ended up being 9.6% (wohoo!) and the pumpkin amber a respectable 5.2%!

here is the bottle rocket brewing website if you want to check out previous beers i’ve been a part of.

– ryan

brewing recipes:

pumpkin amber ingredients:
5-8 large okra sliced

egg wash:
1 lb pale ale 2-row
1 lb caramel/crystal malt (10l)
6.6 lbs amber sparkling lme
2 oz willamette pellet hops
1/2 oz fuggles hops (dry hop)
wyeast 1098 british ale
2 tbsp pumpkin spice (2 tsp dry hop)

two hearted clone ingredients:
1 lb pale ale 2-row
1/2 lb munich
1/2 lb carapils
6.6 lbs golden light lme
2.3 lbs pilsen light lme
4 oz amarillo hops (centinnial was the hop we wanted)
1 oz cascade hops (dry hop)
white labs high gravity yeast

our gingko leaves have turned yellow and are falling down.

– ryan

here are some nice fall leaves i saw while working in gwinnett this week!

– ryan

check out this beautiful reflection!

– ryan

we had a great day at satellite beach today! there was lots of fun and sun and the heat was surprisingly tame. we topped off the day with some soft serve from a roadside stand called moo’s. here’s to florida beaches in november! too bad nasa keeps delaying the shuttle launch.

– ryan & gub