www.roanoke.com

Don't be surprised to see a car carrying skis or a snowboard, even when it's warm. It may be headed to Liberty Mountain Snowflex Centre  in Lynchburg.

The year-round snowboarding, skiing and tubing park was built by Liberty University for use by its students and the public as part of Ultimate LU, a program to make outdoor recreational opportunities more accessible for students and funded by university benefactors.

"It's pretty good to come here during the week and shred a little bit," said Aaron Derr, a Liberty University student. "It's a little weird to get used to at first, but once you get the hang of it, it's pretty fun."

Snowflex is a synthetic material designed to simulate snow, including layers of cushioning underneath, making it softer than groomed snow.

This is the first slope in the United States to use the technology. Users of the slope must wear long-sleeved shirts and pants for protection, preferably water-resistant since the surface is misted to keep  it conditioned for use.

Evan Graybill, 14, of Lynchburg summed it up: "It's the summer, and you can ski anytime. It's really fun, and you don't have to go far from home just to ski."

Online: www.liberty.edu/snowflex

At exactly "lat=37.56572, lon= -79.48064," south of Natural Bridge Station, Sam Clifford dives head-first off the high rocks into the cold waters, followed fearlessly by his 10-year-old son, Leo. Sam, on vacation from Alexandria, wanted to show Leo and his cousin Norman the place where he swam as a young boy.

"It's one of my favorite things to do is come swimming with the boys. I take time off of work and we come out here and go camping and swimming. It's a great family thing to do. It's kind of like being at nature's amusement park. This is it. This is my favorite part of summer."

Read more »

Parrott, Va. - Clothes hung on a line in the summer breeze near two large tents tucked away on the riverbank along Parrott River Road.

The quiet of the river was broken by the squealing of children struggling with a smallmouth bass on their line. Kellie Hurley helped her son, Eric Lee Hardin, 3, reel it in on his tiny toy rod. Her other son, Michael Hardin, 2, splashed around nearby in his Marvel Comics underwear.

Eric Lee wriggled in delight and the bass wriggled in distress before it flopped off the hook and into the New River. "He's gone!" exclaimed his mother.

It was a Tuesday and the Hurley family had been "roughing it" along the riverbank since Sunday. A Norfolk Southern train screeched down the tracks running parallel to the river on its way to West Virginia, the Hurley's home. Then quiet set in again.

"It's just your family," Kellie Hurley said as the water lapped at her feet. She said she doesn't get to see her kids as often because of her job as a volunteer firefighter in McDowell County.

Her father David sat nearby and said he had been coming down to Parrott to camp and fish for 20 years.  "I live back in the woods," said the Mercer County native.  "There ain't no fishing like New River," he said. David went on to tell monster fish tales from his past expeditions.

"Kellie said she caught a eight-pound smallmouth. I told her I wanted to see it but I think she's lying to me," he said laughing. Kellie smiled back at him as she attempted to put a new hook on her sons' line.

A wise fisherman once said that the science to fishing isn't how big a fish you catch, it's how well you lie about it when you get home.

Story and Multimedia by Justin Cook / The Roanoke Times

When they were high school sweethearts, it was the Starlight Drive-in in Christiansburg.

Now Wayne and Leigh Ann Davidson are parents in their 40s living in Forest.

On a recent Friday night, they packed their truck with blankets, a cooler full of drinks and snacks. Their daughter, Ashlyn, and her friends Anna Carter and Morgan Tomlin, each 15, came along to the Mayberry Drive-In Theatre & Diner. It's the first summer season for the theater, located in a field along White House Road in Moneta, near Smith Mountain Lake.

A stream of headlights illuminated the gravel road to the ticket booth and its flashing neon sign. People bought tickets and took directions: "Turn your radio to 88.9 FM to hear the movie, drive around the diner and don't park in front of anyone."

By 9:30 it was dark. Only the glow of cellphones cast light on the faces of Ashlyn and her friends as they text-messaged during the showing of the newest Harry Potter movie.

The movie drowned out the sounds of summer insects; the projector beam overpowered the flashes of fireflies.

Wayne and Leigh Anne Davidson gave the truck bed to the teenagers and sat in lawn chairs beside the truck. No cuddling, no steamy windows.

Ashlyn and her friends were as impressed as teenagers get: "Yeah, it was OK," they said in unison. "The milkshakes were good."

Ashlyn's parents were more nostalgic. "It was a good summer experience," Leigh Anne Davidson said. "It was as good as the Starlight."

-- Stephanie Klein-Davis

Stephanie Klein-Davis has been with The Roanoke Times for 22 years.

Summer Moments will publish each Monday through the end of August. Got an idea for the photo column? E-mail natalee.waters@roanoke.com.

His shaggy hair and T-shirt fall on his frame as if on a hanger.

Her big eyes take him in. She giggles more than speaks.

Brandon Handy pedaled his bike 16 miles over the mountain from Paint Bank to the carnival in New Castle, just to be with Madison Paxton.

"I'm going to marry this woman," Brandon says. "I want to be with her the rest of my life."

They're two high school kids in love, stealing an embrace under the tangerine glow of Tilt-A-Whirl lights at the Craig County Carnival.

But a carnival is always about a momentary temptation. A brief indulgence. A passing fling.

Some might say there was more than a little temptation the last time the carnival rolled into New Castle. Back then, it wasn't much more than a girly show and some dice tables. So the city fathers (and mothers) shut it down.

Tonight, they sheepishly chuckle, recalling the bygone days while watching children and grandchildren float through the fairgrounds like fireflies. It must be 20 years ago since the last die was thrown.

Now, grandmas, single moms and laid-off dads toss down dollars some don't really have for cotton candy, funnel cake and soda to fuel their youngsters spinning in neon tea cups, barely able to keep down the sugary blend.

The young couple sneaks another long kiss, this time by the midway, as the carnival workers try to lure them to the ball toss or balloon pop.

Brandon pushes his hair back from a face smooth as hers, save a few hairs in the tip of his chin. Madison giggles again, then spots a group of friends.

It's one last peck and she's off.

--  Sam Dean | The Roanoke Times