Merry Christmas! Wishing all of you a happy holiday. Celebrating the reason for the season brings this holiday celebration into focus for us, especially this year. Our web presence is still a comfortable way, on this end, to send our holiday greetings and to share what has happened in our lives. My compulsion to document life with photos provides a level of detail that is awe-inspiring and takes some determination to work through.
Another year, another Christmas picture! Agreed we look another year older.
A look behind the scenes. Hanging out with our tablets in front of a cozy fire.
Our retirement strategy is to see as much of this great country as we possibly can. In the last thirteen years Jan and I have spent time in every state, Canadian Province, and explored the majority of National Parks. Next up on the travel bucket list was to explore the Great Mississippi River, set for the summer of 2022. The idea was to meander along the River from the Gulf to the headwaters in Minnesota with some quality down time in New Orleans. Reservations were made early for a stop in Petoskey for a month to catch up with life in Northwest Michigan. Finally, on the way back home catch up with family and friends for some quality one on one time long overdue.
I think Robert Burns said it best in his poem “To a Mouse”. “The best laid schemes o’ mice an men often go awry” (well something like that anyway). Last October my doctor threw the red flag that called for a timeout, totally interrupting our lives. To make a long story short, a diagnosis of prostate cancer took precedence. Little did we know what lie in wait. With the help of great doctors, awesome technology and proven treatments life is getting back on track. If the body cooperates (and with the blessing of the good Lord) the expectation is to be back on the road by spring. Plenty of ups and downs along the way but neither Jan or I have ever lost faith. Timeouts like this bring into focus what is really important in life.
This is where I spent the better part of this year…
We are traveling this path together, mostly with a smile. There are so many milestones along the way. Here we mark the completion of radiation treatments with the ringing of bell.
Being grounded kept us hanging at home. Not as many waterfalls or mountain pictures to share.
Trying out the new porch swing. It soon became a go to place to kick back and relax.
Peaceful scene from last January. The only snow for the winter.
For a minute, I thought we were back in Michigan.
These guys are wondering where the grass had gone.
Getting our hand dirty was good therapy. Both of us love working in the garden. Summer produce was good, now working a fall gardening adventure.
The spring garden is off to a good start. The black ground cloth will help keep the weeds in check.
This early summer shot shows off our very successful vegetable garden. Tomatoes anyone?
Audio books became my friend. Jan and I spent countless hours enjoying the summer weather and the view from our deck. Then there was our ever presence equine friends next door who always seemed to be posing for that next camera shot.
Spring view from the deck. Spring flowers getting off to a good start.
By fall the landscape is more colorful.
Still enjoy following our friends next door. At the moment the horse in the middle has been banned to another pasture due to poor behavior.
Here are two fun pictures that caught my eye from the oversized digital pile.
These are common visitor to our garden. This guy did a great job posing for this shot.
Sharing a bit of our summer color with a photo shot of the Crepe Myrtles in full bloom.
Celebrated the summer holidays with good food and fun music in the comfort of home.
Grounded at home for a few weeks in the spring trying to stay out of harms way. However, that did not prevent donning the chef hat to create a fun Easter Breakfast. Jan did the Wool Roll, a filled pulled apart bread.
4th of July, blue skies, sunshine, what could be better…
Finally, in late September we were able to hit the road. Local hikes, a trip to the Blue Ridge Mountain in North Carolina and ending up in the Smoky Mountains.
It was fall when the travel light turned green. Pulled the RV out of storage with plans to hit the road. After a little TLC plus some spit and polish we were ready to go.
A yearly adventure is a hike at the South Carolina Botantical Gardens. This is a fun trail.
Another stop along the trail. Great old building with cool landscaping.
Another fun shot taken on a really fun hike.
Here we are back in the Blue Ridge Mountains. Never tire of these expansive views.
Another Blue Ridge Mountain scene taken near the end of September.
The Blue Ridge Highway called us back. Love fences with character. Hardly a cloud in the sky.
A popular stop along the Blue Ridge Highway is the Linville Falls. This stop actually exceeded expectations.
Another Linville Falls…just a bit of hiking to get a view.
A return visit to the Moses Cone Estate near Boone, North Carolina. I think I took this same shot last year.
Lots of trails to choose from at the Cone Estate. This time was a trip around the lake as climbing the mountain sounded like a lot of work.
They grow their Golden Rod very tall here in North Carolina as you can see from this shot.
Great trail around Price Lake. Just had to stop to enjoy this view.
We found ourselves back in the Smoky Mountains enjoying the Little River Trail. This trail was just right for a day hike.
This is our fifth year for an annual visit to the Smoky Mountain National Park. We have found several favored campgrounds. This time setup in the Elkmont Campground, near Gatlinburg, TN. The National Park Service has been restoring Daisy Town. This log cabin goes back to the 1890s.
Here is an example of a successful restoration. There are so many interesting stops here in Daisy Town.
Fall is not complete without a stop at Grandad’s Apple Farm in Hendersonville, NC. Again, we got our yearly apple fix. Two months later we are still working through the bounty.
“Grandad is ready for Halloween with a large inventory of pumpkins and a corn maze.
The green machine on top of the silo always gets my attention.
Blowing Rock, NC is a great stop in the fall, if you like flowers plus the mircobrewery is not bad either.
Jan and I wish everyone a happy holiday. Looking forward to seeing or hearing from you soon.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from South Carolina!
God Bless,
Larry and Jan
Link To Our Family Fall Gathering…