Munday's the Arizona Roadrunners

We are back in the "sunshine" state and happy to be here after watching the weather report and looking at the rest of the country! ha!  Sunshine and some clouds and a little much needed rain but otherwise fairly nice.  Will update later when I get pictures added to computer but wanted to say we are here.  All good here...  Here is picture of our Lake Hancock which I love to walk out to and Myrtle the turtle.  These wonderful turtles can be seen occasionally here at this park.  This one has a stump for a hind leg (did an alligator try to get it? - don't know) ha!  In any event, wonderful to see some different wildlife.

Black Friday this year turned out to be a very enlightening and joyous day for sister Karen and I.  We took off and went to the Carter Center (Presidential Library) in Atlanta.  Jimmy Carter has taken a lot of bad press for his presidentcy but this guy is a tough one to beat when it comes to being honest and a wonderful humanitarian. Spent hours in this museum and am sure we did not see it all although we tried including his Nobel Peace Prize!  What an honor to one who so deserves it!  The grounds are worth seeing just by themselves.. lovely and a perfect place for a picnic lunch.. Loved this little donkey on his replica of the Oval Office and the carved desk.  Pretty nice.  Had a great time there and recommend highly.  We think it's bad now but boy this man had some really tough times during his administration too.  Fun to see the history timeline and remember back on all the news from the 1970's. ha!  Goodness.. 1st test tube baby and Iran terrorists.. One thing I enjoyed wa

We have been so very blessed this year and it was so great to meet up with sister Karen and Jeff for Thanksgiving!  She prepared a meal that left us feeling as if we had more than enough to eat!  So good to be able to see family for the holiday.  

Traveling south we again found ourselves at High Falls State Park in lovely Georgia!  This carpet of leaves was so pretty and we enjoyed our stay here.  Of course it helps to see old friends like Peggy and Joe who came out to greet us.  They took their "maiden" long voyage in their coach this year and had a marvelous time visiting places like Zion National Park and Yellowstone!  Who would not enjoy that.. so good to see them and catch up on all the news.  Might add Peggy and I have been mates since Jr. High school so a good many years...

This is our 2nd trip to this wonderful state park in the lovely state of Georgia.  Picked a cold, clear day and a good thing too.  There are over 1200 stairs to climb in and out of this gorge and it's a work out!  Loved it before and enjoyed it this time too.  Most of the colorful leaves were down because of the last storm that passed thru this area the other day!  Packed a picnic lunch and off we went for the day.  Our 1st stop was in Toccoa Falls then over to here.  My legs were near like jelly climbing all those stairs but we did fine and although I thought being so out of condition my legs would cramp up and be a cripple for the next few days; not so.. am doing find.  In better shape than I thought. ha!   Great place to visit and so glad we did - not too far from our park in SC.   Bet is gorgeous in the spring when the rhoddies are in bloom along with the other wild flowers...

Once upon a time many moons ago there was beautiful valley with a lovely Cherokee princess named Toccoa.  There is more to the story however the legend is not sure if these beautiful falls are named for the lovely Toccoa or because of it's own beauty.  In any event, these falls are now on the grounds of a Christian college in the town of Toccoa and the only access is through their gift shop where they charge a nominal fee ($1.00 each) to take the little walk up to the falls.  Well worth the stop.  The grounds are lovely even at this time of year and we did choose a pretty day even if it was rather on the cool side.  Good for hiking.  We were a bit surprised by all the water considering the dry summer here but they recently had some rain so that helped!

The last time we were here at this park in SC there was quite a bit of working being done and we had high hopes of seeing all the changes.  Unfortunately they didn't come to much and this park has not been kept up as we'd like to see.  The tennis/pickleball courts are now a parking area for boats!  What a disappointment.  Nice area and large park so hate to see it not being kept up.  Lovely walk to the lake front - all up and down hills but excellent for walking - ha!  They do have nice cabins and we walked down to Bubba's about 1/2 mile down the road one day for breakfast.  Wasn't quite like Tarheel Q but the southern hospitality can't be beat! ha!  Love all the attention from the waitress and the endless coffee.. ha! 

Quite a view of beautiful Hartwell Lake here on the border of South Carolina and Georgia!  This is a HUGE lake.  Came into State on a fairly nice day and had a few rather warm days.

Found a brochure when we first arrived here in NC on this gallery in Welcome, NC.  Wanted to see this giant hummingbird so off to Welcome we went (not far from our campground).  Dempsy Essick is an artist who was inspired when his daughter held a hummingbird in her hand.  Looks to be a cute little shop however we chose the wrong day to visit and found them closed.  Since then have been to their site dempseyessick.com.  Very cool.  Part of traveling like this is to see little places like this and see that even in these hard times at least someone is able to eek out a living with their own special talent.  Very cool.

We are back in the "good" bbq country!  This is our 4th trip here to the Thousand trails park in Advance, NC and right down the street is the cutest little place with the best darn BBQ!  Tarheel not only has the best food but they are reasonably priced and have the best service you could ever ask for.  Real southern hospitality!  Love this place and glad to be back...  We are even planning on ordering extra to take back to the freezer with us so we can extend the good eats!!

Needless to say perhaps this is a lovely home.  Enjoyed the visit very much and felt well worth the day!  Of course it helps to have a picture perfect day too. ha!  Loved the new visitor center; gift shop, cafe and museum but most of all the tour of the home and the beautiful grounds.  It took Tom 40 years to get this house to his liking and left him terribly in debt upon his death on the 50th year anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.  Quite a man.  I can't help but wonder though with as beautiful as this home is what it must have been like to live in it back then... let's see; no electricity, no plumbing and those huge dresses women had to wear; let's not forget the wigs and privy's they had to use.  When ever I feel bad I just conjur up those sorts of thoughts and realize every day we should just be grateful we didn't have to live back then. ha!  As romantic as it seems now not sure the practical part of really living was all that glamorous.

Although these pictures do not show all the color; the parkway was beautiful.  Painted as only nature can do with trees of every color from deep reds to bright yellows with all sorts of gold and peach and greens intermixed.  Stopped along the drive at a visitor center and found this old lock on a canal leading into the James River.  This thing was built in early 1800's and very narrow.  The thing is still there!  They really knew how to build in those days - ha!  Enjoyed the drive very much but alas day was cut short.  Proceeded up the skyway when we came to road closed barricade.  Wondering what was wrong we returned to the visitor center to learn #1 we had a flat tire?? and #2 the road had been closed partially due to ice and trees down from recent storm.  Ok, so Early fixed tire and off we went for 2 new ones (he doesn't mess around).  We did manage to take another drive on another day to try to capture some of what we had missed. 

Yogi Bear's Jellystone Park, Natural Bridge, VA.  What is not to like.  A lovely park on a the James River here in the perfectly beautiful state of Virginia!  This has been a good location tucked away in the shadows of the Blue Ridge Parkway with color bursting on the hills all around us.  Of course the James river is a main artery here in Virginia too.  This park is quite large and was quite full the day we arrived but has really cleared out after a few days although new folks keep coming in too.