Well, it was a tough call between this photo and one of the Capitol dome from the inside, in Washington, D.C., for a circle, but this one has brighter colors, so it won.

This is the ceiling of the lobby of the all-inclusive hotel where we stayed in Playa del Carmen, Mexico - the Mayan Riviera. That was a fabulous trip - we took a day trip to Chichen Itza, a famous Mayan city ruin, and another trip to the ruined fortress of Tulum, on the coast. And it was our first all-inclusive experience, which was fantastic. Three meals a day, plus all drinks, plus trips, all for one price. Not a cheap price, but it was great. I highly recommend it.

Our new passion is kayaking, so now I have my own We bought it Saturday morning, and Saturday afternoon Josi and I went out for a paddle. It handles beautifully, in flat water anyway. Maybe in a couple of weeks we’ll head back up to Richmond and hit the whitewater.

Specs: It’s a 9-foot Dagger Zydeco and we bought it at Appomattox River Company in Yorktown. And the color is mango

This is my submission for the Photo Friday challenge for this week: Friend.

Barbara and I went to visit Liz, who was living in Fort Collins, CO, for two months, working on her Ph.D. While there, we took a horseback ride to the Continental Divide, 8,400 feet up. Great fun

This was the view behind us:

Could it be the end of the George Allen campaign for president, more than two years before the election?

Slate magazine reports today that he took a moment at a campaign rally in western Virginia to make fun of the only person of color at the event, who, amazingly enough, was there to videotape the event on behalf of Allen’s opponent for senate this fall, James Webb.

If I didn’t think before this that he was too stupid to be senator, much less president, I sure do now.

Also in July, when Hannah, our former exchange student, and her family were visiting us, we went whitewater rafting on the James River in Richmond. It was a blast It’s known as the “best urban whitewater” in the country. I will get some more pix of that posted soon.

In the meantime, here is a photo I took in June of some rafters heading down the James toward the Pipeline - this is the beginning of the whitewater rafting trip.

So, check out the photo gallery - I finally got some photos posted of our trip to Michigan in July and my trip, with my friend Barbara to visit Liz in Fort Collins, also in July.