Enjoying a fun day with Chuck and Claudia

We arrived at Chuck and Claudia's around 10:00 this morning.  They have a beautiful home and it is so welcoming and relaxing here.  Chuck had booked a round for golf for us at 12:58.  The sun was shining and it was quite warm.  What a fun time we had.  It felt good to be out on the course again and we all played well.  We certainly enjoyed ourselves. We had a nice dinner by Coconut Grove at a restaurant called South Fork Grill.  The food was delicious.  We were all pretty tired by the time 10:15 rolled around.  I think it was because of all the sun we had.

The course is getting a complete overhaul this summer and they have sprayed the grass so that it will die.  The greens were still in great shape and they were very fast.  With the fairways your ball would run for a really long time getting you closer to the greens.

A day of relaxing

Today was a quiet day.  Ralph and I both had some work to complete so we took it easy.  Ralph spent more time at the keyboard than I sadly.  I was able to spend a couple of hours sitting by the pool with a book. This is something that I haven't done in many years.  It felt good.

I got up early and went out to take some pictures of the sun rising.  Our hotel is right on a small lake and you could see the sun come up behind the lake.  As well - the moon was shining brightly this morning so I took a few pictures of this as well.

Later this afternoon Ralph and I went out exploring with the intent of going to Casperson Beach to photograph the sunset.  Time got away from us and we found ourselves racing to catch the sun before it sunk down below the horizon.  We missed it totally. I was able to get a few pictures from the car window as we were racing the beach.

Room with a view

We have arrived in Florida.  Our drive took about 5.5 hours.  We took our time and enjoyed the scenery along the way. We were surprised at all the changes we have seen enroute.  Tree's and bushes have certainly grown over the last couple of years.

During our drive, Ralph and I listened to a sermon on being a Christian by R.C. Sproul.  It was very good to hear and prompted much discussion between the two of us.  It was a nice way to start our morning.  We found our hotel without much difficulty.  The weather here is amazing and warm.  It's 31c.  Our room overlooks a small lake.  I'm told that there are alligators in it.

I enjoyed a nice long and leisurely walk this afternoon.  Later this evening we had a fair bit of rain. You could see the storm coming by the shape and colour of the clouds.  

Waterfall adventures

Today it was our plan to explore some of the waterfalls along the Blue Ridge Parkway.  In the lobby of our hotel a picture was hanging of a beautiful waterfall. We inquired  about it and discovered that it was only about 10 minutes away in the Pisgah National Forest.  We made plans to alter our route and go there first.

I wanted to get up early and see the eclipse first thing in the morning.  My alarm didn't  go off but Ralph woke me up just after 6 :00.  I raced outside to watch.  It was hazy out and the moon was hugging the tree line of the forest.  By the time I got the camera on the tripod it had almost disappeared behind the trees. What I saw was pretty amazing.

After that I woke up Ralph and we enjoyed a nice breakfast.  We planned to be at the first falls by 8:30.  As we were driving  we passed a bunch of guys fly fishing in the  river.  It was pretty cool to see.  It reminded us of the Lotto  649  commercial.  We went back later and look some pictures.

The first falls that we saw  were called Looking Glass.  It was quite large and  powerful. It was beautiful. We spent about an hour  here.

From there we continued through the park and came upon a few others.  We then  headed to the access of the Parkway only  to discover it was  closed. They had experienced a very difficult winter in North Carolina and it appears that the road itself sustained damage.   Hmmm we thought.  Where do we get on now?  We asked  several  people but no one seemed to know.  We stopped  at a craft shop and the store owner told  about a few other falls that we might find interesting, so we took his recommendations and changed our plans.   We drove down Highway 64 and enjoyed 2  beautiful falls. The first was called Bridal Veil.  It was a much finer waterfall, where the water fell into a basin and subsequently flowed under the road.  Many people were attracted to this waterfall because you could drive your car behind it.

From there we went to see Dry Falls.  By the sound of the name you don't think it will be much. We were pleasantly surprised.  This was a really large waterfall with lots of water running down.  It was awesome.  These both were in Nantahala National Forest.

By the time  we finished taking our pictures it was almost 3:30.  It was time  for us to go as we still had a 5 1/2  hour drive to Georgia.  We got a bit lost in the park and found ourselves  driving down a gravel road. Ralph wasn't too happy about this, but I thought it was quite an adventure.   We received some directions from a nice man who was clearing a fallen tree off the road. We were finally on our way.  We arrived in Tifton, Georgia at around 8:30.  At this point we were tired.  We enjoyed a quick dinner and relaxed for the rest of the evening.

On the road

We were up early this morning and on the road by 4:15 am. The drive started with a bit of wxcitement when Ralph's phone adapter shorted out and we had smoke in the car and almost a fire.  Thankfully we caught it in time.

Travel has been good so far.  The morning started off really  foggy and it then changed to rain.  We are now driving with the sun shining and the temperature is  24c.  We saw our first  leaves on the tree's in Bristol, Tennessee.  The tree's are all budding here and should be in full bloom in a week or so.  We are still driving through Tennessee with our final destination being the Pisgah National Forest in North Carolina.  We should arrive around 6:00 pm.  Tomorrow, weather permitting  we plan to travel the Blue Ridge trail.  We'd like to explore some waterfalls but only if it isn't raining.  The weather forecast isn't promising.  I've been able to use the time in the car to work on my book from our  trip to Arizona.  I have all the pictures in and I  am now working on the journaling   I hope to be finished by tomorrow.

All packed and ready to go

Finally, we are on vacation!!  Wooo hoooo.... I can't wait to point the car south and head to some warmer weather.  We rented a car which is large enough to hold the clubs and our bags.  Hopefully it gets good gas mileage.  The exchange rate to purchase  US dollars was quite surprising.  Wow, I don't recall ever having to pay $1.28 for $1.00.  Crazy....

We are looking forward to visiting with Chuck and Claudia in Florida and then spending time with Laura and Jay and the family in Myrtle Beach.

This morning I ventured back down to the lake to check out the sunrise.  I wasn't expecting much as there was alot of cloud cover.  Surprisingly it turned out quite beautiful with lots of contrast in the sky.

I love the contrast in the sky.  

This was a sun flare that \I saw as I was walking back to my truck.  It was pretty interesting to see.

Spring is in the air

As I drive into work these days, I am often presented with the most beautiful sunrises.  I thought it was time to take a cup of tea to the lake and enjoy one firsthand and take some pictures at the same time..  It was nice this morning. but not quite as pretty as I had hoped it would be.  I wish I had gone yesterday, as it was amazing.  I arrived around 6:20 and stayed till 7:05. It was enough time to take some pictures and finish a cup of tea.  Then I was off to work for a busy day of meetings.  It's funny how a little change in routine can pick up your day.  It was nice.  I think I might do it again tomorrow.