Arrived at Jill's on the evening of Dec. 31

We arrived after a very long flight from Dallas and brief taxi ride from the airport to a very cheerfully decorated house! The picture doesn't do it justice. It was also balmy with a slight breeze which carried the perfume of the flowering trees to our noses--80 degrees AND a full moon to boot. However, it was an empty house..no people, no Riley. But, we weren't ready for entertaining...we were ready to eat something and hit the sack.

Christmas 2009

We had a great Christmas with Gretchen and her dog Mason. Best Wishes to all.

A morning in Duke Gardens

We had a wonderful walk in Duke Gardens yesterday. It was a great day got to 74 degrees. Enjoy a selection of pictures.

Great Smoky Mountain NP with John, Judy and Gretchen

It was a beautiful fall day when we headed for Montreat for a short visit with Sam and Nancy Hope. The colors were glorious when we arrived. We had a great walk with Nancy down by Lake Susan where we saw the swans and the Mandarin duck. Had dinner and Hawaii pictures and in the morning we were up early and caught the stunning color of the sunrise on a cloudy day. This picture really misses the peak. Then off to Tennessee and my sister, brother-in-law and Gretchen....in the clouds.




























When we arrived at Judy and John's it was to a fallen tree across the top of the driveway. Fortunately, John had run to the store so it didn't land on their rental car! Judy had called him and he bought a chain saw and the two John's and Gretchen went to work. The tree had poison ivy growing up the trunk so gloves and care were in order! As is was cloudy and the park had been packed, we had a leisurely happy hour on the porch and an evening of talk and catching up.

Saturday was still cloudy but we headed to the Tremont Road and a hike up the trail to the Indian Flats waterfall (the big one falling into the large pool). It follows the Middle Prong Little River up the hill and it was roaring! Went by the Lynn Camp Prong Falls along the way (the one on the flat rocks). Sunday we were going to head up to Clingman's Dome but it was bumper to bumper traffic so we went back to the Sugarlands Visitor Center and did the nature trail there and the Catarac Falls trip. There was one of the old abandoned homes along the way. And the SUN WAS SHINING!! On the drive back, John was looking for "sparkly" water pictures and saw a blue heron sitting on a rock. Another great day!

Monday morning we were out the door at 6:30 so we could be at Cades Cove before they opened the gate at Sunrise. Turns out we should have left earlier...we were car number 65! Cades Cove is a one way road that winds through the valley where there are restored houses, churches and barns from the original settlers here. It's also a wonderful place for wildlife. We did see 45 deer and 68 turkeys, but no bear this trip (except Gretchen who saw 2 at the Laurel Falls walk). These bucks with their great racks were very nice! The Abrams Falls trailhead is about half way through Cades Cove so we returned there and walked to the falls (the one with all the color around it!) It too was roaring compared to what we saw in June when we were here with all the Wolcott clan. Also, much cooler along that shady trail. We headed home for happy hour and Gretchen, John Wolcott and I finished our second puzzle (a tradition to do jig saw puzzles while here) watched a little football before heading to bed. Tuesday morning we packed up and headed home. Gretchen also left and stopped at the Laurel Falls walk and got lucky with the bears! It was rainy and foggy on the Blue Ridge but we did get some great pictures. We had a safe and uneventful trip home despite the continuous rain. Thanks to the Wolcotts and Gretchen for yet another super trip to the Smokies!

Early morning in Shenandoah NP & Appomattox Court House

Early morning this morning! We packed up and checked out of the hotel and headed for Shenandoah NP and the Big Meadow hoping for a great sunrise and lots of deer. Ended up with clouds with a tiny bit of pink, lots of cold, a brisk breeze, but some very cooperative deer....not many, but it only takes one. After an hour or so and a warm breakfast across the road, we headed south and stopped by Appomattox Courthouse. We've been driving past the sign for years and decided this was the time! It was wonderful. It's a renovation/recreation of part of the village where Lee surrendered to Grant in April 9, 1865. There was one actor representing a sentry of the time that gave a 30 minute presentation on what happened during those last days. Very well done! The McLean House (with the second floor balcony) was where the actual surrender took place. Grant asked only that the Confederates pledge not to take up arms against the United States. Officers were allowed to keep their side arms and any Confederate soldier who owned a horse was allowed to take it home with him. The generous terms began the process of reunification. Since this surrender was only for the Army of Northern Virginia and there were soldiers returning home as far away as Texas and traveling through areas that were still fighting, they printed up Paroles that would act as passes for the returning soldiers. Printing presses (in sitting room) were set up in the Clover Hill Tavern (other building) and printers worked in relays to print 30,000 blank forms. By April 11th, the paroles were ready for distribution. The war didn't really end until Joseph E. Johnston's army in North Carolina surrendered on April 26th, Richard Taylor's army in Alabama on May 4 and Edmund Kirby Smith's army in Texas on June 2. The Confederacy ceased to exist at that time.
After wandering for several hours we headed home....in the rain. It was a wonderful long weekend, despite the weather!

It was a gorgeous day today! Blue sky, warm and no wind! We got through the breakfast pretty fast, all the while passing up opportunity after opportunity! Then we headed back up the mountain to Shenandoah NP. We took a wonderful hike down to Herbert Hoovers Camp Rapidan, his get away from the heat and humidity in Washington....and there was plenty of heat during his Presidency! There are still three buildings, his house included. It was a lovely walk down a hollow and across several gurgling streams. On the way down we saw a garter snake sunning himself on a tree stump. We had lunch on the porch of his house, wandered the area for awhile and then headed back up the mountain. You must remember that all trails in Shenandoah begin on the ridgeline and go down....so you always get to go back by going uphill! As we were nearing the top we saw a deer feeding. She just kept wandering closer and closer to us. John got some great pictures. We headed back to Massanutten, got cleaned up and went to dinner. Came back and packed some stuff in the car and most of the rest is ready to go out the door at 5:15 am. We want to visit the Big Meadow as it's getting light. We did this a few years ago and it was magical, even though it was raining. Tomorrow is supposed to be clear in the morning, so we'll see what it's like then! Then home. It's been a great weekend!

Shenendoah National Park

We are in the area for a long weekend, thanks to our Timeshare people. They were offering lodging and mad money for us to come up and have breakfast one morning and listen to one of their spiels. Sounded like a deal to us. We came up Friday afternoon and stopped by the park on the way (it's only about 15 minutes away) and I bought my own Senior Access card! I've partaken of the best government deal there is!

I took my card this morning and used it to admit us to the Park for the day! Loved it! It was drizzly, cool and windy but still we had a fun time. We headed north from the Rt. 33 entrance and just stopped and took pictures of the changing weather and took a few short hikes and saw some wonderful fungi (?), wonderful lichen and mosses, distant meadows with charming cabins, and beautiful seedheads.
We returned to Massanutten mid afternoon and John worked on pictures and I read. I'm starting the Mitford series again. We're heading off to our favorite Vietnamese Restaurant in Harrisonburg and then tomorrow back to the park on what looks like a sunny day! That is, of course, after "the breakfast". :-)

Home again!

Jill dropped us off at the airport yesterday about 10:30 am and we got checked in. Very busy airport and long security line so didn't have a huge wait before we boarded the plane to LA. All went smoothly on the 3 flights and we arrived home at about 9:30 am to the smiling Joanne and Jim Hooker. Bless their hearts! Thanks to you both! They brought us home and we sort of drifted through the day since we'd only slept a couple of hours on the way home and had a 6 hour time change. Hopefully by Friday we'll be pretty much back to normal.

Thanks to Jill, Dave, Colin and Ryan for another WONDERFUL visit! You're great hosts and it's so much fun sharing those wonderful and thrilling adventures together! Looking forward to January when we can make new discoveries, this time with Gretchen too :-)

Aloha!

Box Cars and Air Show

Since today was really Colin's birthday, he got to pick out the activities for the day...and he made GREAT choices. We headed north and spent an hour riding in the box cars. You had to be 5 to drive by yourself so Colin just slid in. Had it pretty well under control by the time we left.

Then we headed to Hickam Air Force Base for the Wings over the Pacific Airshow. There were lots of planes on the ground, bombers, fighters, tankers etc, helicopters, fire engines etc. You name it, even the Admiral's 747 was out. Most of them you could walk through and sit in the cockpits, much to the thrill of two little guys! Then the highlight was the Thunderbirds performance. Quite amazing. Makes for sweaty hands and chills down the back when they are passing each other just feet apart! Great show. We then headed home to have mac and cheese with chicken and peas for dinner--Colin's choice! Yum! Another very fun day! Thanks Colin!