Family Dinner at Bridget's New Home

First Picture: Table 1 - Dad, Mom, Brian, Bridget, Uncle David
Second Picture: From L to R - Brian, Maggie, Bridget, Gregg

While in town for my high school reunion, I was able to attend a Biviano Family dinner at Bridget's new home. It was fantastic to have everyone there...well, minus Matt and Sarah! At the lake last year all of the siblings were there, but not the significant others. This time they were there, including a new addition (Tony's new girlfriend). Even Uncle David was in town and joined us. It was great to have that time with family. Bridget and Dad remodeled this house and it was a wonderful little place for her first home. The full album can be viewed using the link on the left. Click on the pictures here for larger view.

Batesburg-Leesville High School Class of 1997 Reunion

Me, Jesse Johnson, Melissa Maroney McVey


On the dance floor!


Allison Ray Hall & Tiffany Furtick Fallaw, Event Planners


Becca (my BFF - 16+ yrs) and her man Sean

I recently returned to South Carolina to attend my high school reunion. (10-16 July) I have been looking forward to my 10-year reunion for a couple of years now, even though the planning only began at the beginning of this year. Honestly, I didn't enjoy my high school years that much so for quite a while after graduation I didn't want to have anything to do with my small town. I kept in touch with a handful of friends and that was enough for me. Once we moved to Colorado I started to look back on my life and realized that high school, and Batesburg-Leesville for that matter, were just a small part of my life. Many years have passed and we are all [hopefully] better, more mature people. I wanted to see my former classmates and were genuinely interested in what they had been up to the last 10 years. Whether or not I would be disappointed in the event, I knew that I would regret not attending. Even though we are living in England now, I was fortunate enough to make the trip back to South Carolina for this special time.

Tiffany and Allison did a wonderful job of planning the event. Sadly, there were numerous people from our class not in attendance but that didn't stop us from having a great time! It was nice to reminisce with everyone and catch up on the years. I can't wait for the next one!

Tour de France - Le Grand Depart - Stage 1: London to Canterbury

Before the race began


The Race Leaders in Tenterden


The rest of the pack approaches


*See the rest of our pictures in the Web Album on the left!

Matt and I took advantage of the opportunity to see a leg of the first stage of the Tour de France on Sunday. We drove to Tenterden for a nice quiet spot to watch the riders. We got into town around 11:00am, bought some things for lunch later, and found a nice shaded spot to set our picnic mat down and wait for the race to come by. At around 12:30pm the Caravan started to come through. The Caravan is made up of 200 sponsors, vendors, and race partners that come through a city ahead of the riders to hand out free stuff. Sadly, they stopped right in the town centre but since we were about a mile out of the centre we only saw them zooming by at about 50 mph. Matt did get hit by a flying body-wash bottle, that a person chucked out at him at a high speed. LOL! At around 2:25pm the first five leaders came through and within minutes the mass of other riders sped past. It was only over in a matter of minutes and then everyone packed up to drive home. We didn't have to deal with a lot of traffic to and from the town and had a peaceful picnic out in the beautiful weather. It may not have been the huge celebration one would imagine but it was our chance to be a part of the Tour. I know that in London/Greenwich and Canterbury there was much more excitement as those towns were the start and finish of the first stage.


Notes about the Tour:

*Stage 1 of the Tour was 126-mile route from Greenwich to Canterbury
*There are 189 riders in 21 teams
*There are 20 stages of the Tour to be completed in 22 days (includes two days of rest)
*The Tour started in 1903 by L'Auto newpapers - keen to use cycling as an event to boost its circulation by staging a race around France
*The Tour de France is the world's most watched sporting event
*In the early years of the Tour the race comprised of just six stages - but the riders were expected to ride through the night, with no breaks for sleep.