Monday, August 18, 2008

God's Country




































































Well, we finally made it to the west side of the state. We spent a long weekend with some friends in Valle Crucis. It is a quaint little mountain town that has not changed much over the years. It is truly a spectacular place. We stayed at a really nice cabin on 11 acres with a huge deck on the edge of the mountain. The cabin was great, however, we did not have a view from the deck. It was thick forest. If you didn’t know you were in the mountains, it would seem a lot like northern Michigan. We spent a couple of days bumming around and doing some hiking and checking out the river. On Saturday we took the kids gem mining. They actually got to pan for gems and found a lot of good stuff. They found ruby, garnet, emerald, and a couple other gems. Sunday was the best day as far as sight seeing goes. We headed over to Grandfather mountain. It is the highest peak in the Blue Ridge Mountains at 5,984 feet (That is over 1 mile high!) It is rumored that Daniel Boone used to hunt on this mountain in the 1700’s. We crossed a hanging bridge a hiked up a sketchy peak and had the most spectacular views of the mountains. It was absolutely amazing. When we left for home we headed down the Blue Ridge Parkway, which is a road that spans over 250 miles through the mountains and took over 50 years to complete. These views were even better (we did not stop to take pics, the kids were tired and wanted to get home). It is a spectacular drive. We hope to head back in the fall to see the colors. We are proud to call North Carolina home and are having a great time exploring all of its wonders and beauty. We really enjoy sharing our new experiences.

‘Til next time…






Wednesday, August 6, 2008

Summer Dayz





Did you see the great white shark in the pic above?





































Well, we had a wonderful weekend with Grandma Jo, Dan, Deb, Melissa, Pat, and Kenzie. We hung around by the pool, enjoyed a Durham Bulls baseball game, and took a trip to the coast. We saw dolphins out in the ocean in the morning, crabs on the beach at night, a small shark caught by a fisherman at the local pier, and we all showed off our talent at surfing. Owen did the best and although the picture was cut off you can see him riding in on a wave. It was fun and entertaining to watch me, Shaun, Pat, and Melissa try our skills at surfing!


Here a just a few pics from the weekend. Hope you enjoy!!




Love,


Shaun, Jamie, Owen, and Justin