We’re really excited today to announce a new venture: a weekly podcast that we’re calling Views from the Treehouse. Why, you might ask, is it called that? Because we record every episode in our secret treehouse headquarters (and by secret I mean you can see it from the street, if you know where to stand).

RichmondOutside.com’s treehouse HQ/podcast studio.

Every week Riverside Outfitters owner Matt Perry and I will make the climb 20 feet up a tulip poplar to sit down with Central Virginia’s outdoors newsmakers. We’ll ask them relevant questions and irrelevant ones. We want the result to be topical and informative but also fun and entertaining.

Before Christmas we sat down with the one and only Ralph White, legendary James River Park manager of 32 years who retired in 2012. During White’s tenure, the James River went from dumping ground to the crown jewel of Richmond, now a first-class outdoor recreation destination. White is a master storyteller. In Part 1 of this two-part series, White covers everything from how he’s like Judas Iscariot to meeting hobos in cabooses. This is a conversation you don’t want miss.

And come on back every Thursday for the next installment. We’ve got a really great lineup of guests in the works!

Click here to listen to Episode 1.