November sunrise

 We had such a beautiful sunrise this morning. I couldn't decide which of the three of these I liked best.

I think I like the composition of this one best but the one above it is more vibrant.

Visit with Ralph and Bill

Got to hang out with our good friends Ralph and Bill this past weekend. Went to Gainesville, GA where we saw a really cool Veteran's memorial and then back to Blue Ridge for their art festival.

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Chick Fil A fun

 Today Emerson came over and hung out with us for an hour or so. We played play doh, hit balls, bowled ( a different kind of hitting balls) and went to Chick Fil A where Emerson had a blast on their climbing apparatus. After Emerson went up in the tubey thing, I started wondering if he was really old enough and HOW we would get him down if he didn't come down on his own. Luckily there was a very helpful little girl that was probably about 5, but not a whole lot taller than Emerson, then helped him down the first time. Ah for helpful little girls.

Last weekend's park excursion

 Last weekend we met up with Bry, Kim and Emerson at our favorite, Swift-Cantrell park.

 We hung out for a while at the normal little kid part and then after a trip down the favorite slide...

 Over to the rope climbing web. Emerson is FEARLESS. That kid was all over this thing!

 Bry said he just watched some kids the week before and figured out all by himself how to do it.

Look at him gooooooooo!!!

May 2011 Vacation Day 6- Friday Redwood National park

On Friday we headed through Redwood National park. Our first stop was at the Ranger station, which was a great plan since he told us all the great places to go and see in just one day. I could spend a year there and not see enough to satisfy me, I think. Redwood National park is heaven to me. Our first stop was Lady Bird Johnson Grove, where this giant stood watch. I truly did not realize that the effort to preserve the redwoods just came about when I was a kid. I am so thankful to Lady Bird Johnson for this AND her beautify America campaign. Remember her "Keep America Beautiful" and not throwing trash out the window of the car. Seems unimaginable that people ever even did that without thinking. Showed the picture below to my oldest grandson to give him an idea of just how big the trees are and he said, "Bopp, it is the perspective.... look how far away you are from Wood". Yah he is pretty smart for a 6 year old.... but gee they really really are big trees. I would love to have a conversation with one of them. Ron S., this picture is for you, so you can see how long Wood's hair is. We drove on Newton B Drury Scenic parkway.. which the ranger said was even better than Avenue of the Giants. Boy was he right. We took the turn off to see the 'big tree'. We hiked a little more throughout the park and then headed away from the park and the ocean and turned inland for the next phase of our trip... a fun filled visit with the Budds.

So Thursday morning we drove back over to Jenner for our trip up the coast. I am so glad we did . It was very windy and slow but just so gorgeous and peacefulLots of rock stacks when the land used to jut a wee bit more out to the seaI think I posted a closer shot on my picassa web album of this one where you can actually see flowers growing on top. We headed up toward Humboldt State park and stopped along the way to drive through the Chandlier tree. They say a Hummer can fit through, but I am not exactly sure how. Same tree side view. Isn't it pretty and still so very much alive. This is just one tree among many to drive through in all the redwood parks. We arrived next at Humboldt state park and drove through the Avenue of the Giants. We were both in awe of the ginormous trees!Doesn't this one look like a giant hand is breaking out through the bark?

May 2011 Vacation Day 5 Muir Woods to Jenner/Windsor

We left Monterey early Wednesday morning and headed for our first redwood encounter I had forgotten how much I enjoyed coming to Muir Woods when I lived in Walnut Creek, CA. So close to SF and so very very beautiful and verdant. I spent a lot of time looking up trying to see the tops of these giant coastal redwoods. On the way to Muir Woods we stopped to get a view back at the city from on top of Mount Tamalpais. I meant this picture to be first but am tired of trying to move it to the beginning of the post... sheessh.I just love this quote by John Muir, because for me at least, it is very true. I would rather be lost in the woods then found in the city any day. I spent a lot of time looking up and Wood spent a fair amount of time reading about Redwoods and the history of the area. His favorite thing to do. I just can't get over how green and mossy everything is here. But as you can see, the day we visited it was foggy and misty...perfect weather for this area. Got a kick out of this banana slug that had crawled up onto this sign about salmon and trout. Indeed a timeless journey for him.... but someone told me they actually travel relatively quickly. We left Muir Woods and continued up the coast through Point Reyes National Seashore and turned inland at Jenner. I am really bummed that I didn't get more pictures of this part of the trip because we went through some ginormnous eucalyptus groves. I LOVED them and Wood thinks they smell like cat pee. I had no idea there were so many groves and that the trees got so large. We went inland to Windsor where we had a room for the night, but then came back to the coast in the morning for our next day's journey up the coast to McKinkleyville and the Coastal redwoods