Quiet my soul, O Lord, release the pain of recent weeks into your loving hands. Free my heart and mind from all distraction that I may surrender in naked desire to you alone. Come O Come, Emmanuel.
After a walk out to the end of the pier we hopped on to the bike for a ride to Jockeys Ridge Sand Dunes. Very little trail for hiking unless one wants to plow through sand. The visitors center was nice. From there we drove north to the end of the island, looked at the Hampton Inn as a possibility for another trip, searched for Class 10 SD cards 2 GB unsuccessfully. Dinner at the Black Pelican was another success.
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| Jockey's Ridge Sand Dunes |
29 Nov, Sat: Six plus mile walk to a preserve after devouring fat free yogurt at the OBX Yogurt Shop next to Walmart. Yummy yummy yummy. The shop owner is a delight, too.
28 Nov: Ron arose with the sun; the water looks breathtakingly blue but the waves are whipped by wind. Everyone coming into the hotel is shivering from cold. We worked - we ate - and enjoyed another fine dinner at the Black Pelican Restaurant. Cynthia read an interesting article about Soul Care, a widely popular book by Thomas Moore; twenty years ago she attended the lecture series at the Jung Center given by Moore. Here is a link to an excellent article about the book, Moore and spirituality: http://www.realclearreligion.org/articles/2014/11/11/what_happened_our_souls.html
27 Nov: Happy Thanksgiving!!!! Thanks be to God for His great goodness, for love, laughter and happiness. What more can be said other than thank you; it is the greatest prayer we can offer. In being grateful I discover the secret to contentment. Our day was spent walking in various fun ways; we walked on the beach watching surfers leaping while we dodged the surf. Cynthia took a video of Dolphins in the distance but missed getting a shot of one leaping in the air. The sun is shining brightly. JOY! Thanksgiving dinner at the hotel was delicious. Adam, the chef, prepared baked beets and sweet potatoes for Ron with steamed veggies. Ron walked to Walmart tonight to get a flash drive on sale at 8 PM. The sales have begun!! Cynthia received photos from family in Texas today. May your everyday be filled with Thanksgiving.
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| Granddaughter Lauren and Cynthia's son Jon |
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| Granddaughters Lauren and Samantha |
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| Son Jon and granddaugher Rachel |
26 Nov, Wed... Rain. Rain... But by afternoon it cleared enough for Ron to reach Walmart and return quickly because he forgot his money!!!! Sistah Carol enjoyed the lengthy conversation while he made trip one. The second trip he returned with money while he and Ed had a marvelous long conversation. We rode the bike to the Black Pelican for a yummy swordfish dinner.
25 Nov, Tues: Smooch surprised his delighted wee-fee with red roses. Rain was predicted; in-between water leaks from on high, we did indeed manage a pleasant, dry walk in 65 degree weather beginning with a half hour on the beach. The walk was longer than planned because Boy Scout Beatty decided to investigate a sidewalk with a bridge. The walkway led through parts of woodlands and suburbs that have no outlets; the streets make loops or trails ending up at the origin, or nearly so. According to Cynthia's Health App on her new IPhone, we walked six miles. The App exaggerates about 10% high. The only downside to our wandering was a blister on Cynthia''s left foot. The new liquid bandage works great so she is busy bandaging her blisters. Ron walked to Walmart, Harris Teeter's and the Frozen Yogurt (shhh!) shop to forage food for the next couple of days when rain is anticipated in large quantities. Dinner at the Black Pelican was very tasty. We stayed dry.
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| Miss Smoochie and Roses from Ron |
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| High Surf Attracted Surfers |
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| Beach at Kitty Hawk |
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| Blue Skies! |
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| Fishermen |
23 November: Ron captured a beautiful sunrise at 6:00 AM; mid-morning the skies and sea were breathtaking from our balcony: We walked the beach for an hour before the rain began to fall.
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| View From Our Balcony |
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| 6:00 AM Sunris |
22 Nov: Breakfasted, packed and on the road by noon, we had a pleasant ride from Raleigh to Kitty Hawk,, NC... Ron wishes he had worn his coveralls. Cynthia was warm in heated gear. The sun shine sparkled like diamonds on the bright blue water as we crossed several long bridges from the mainland. We will be on the Outer Banks for a week of hiking beaches, sand dunes, writing and watching water. Tonite we walked to the end of the pier and then to A market and Walmart but we were side-tracked at a frozen yogurt shop. Fat-free and no sugar added!!!
21 Nov: Ron arises early to edit. We did well today arriving by bus at the State Archives by 12:15 and returning to Ruth's Chris Steakhouse by 6:40 PM. Ron enjoys having three scoops of Raspberry sorbet for an appetizer. It makes a terrific dessert, too. He is happy to finish Cynthias sorbet, too. Everybody's happy.
20 Nov, Thurs: Thanks to Cynthia's cousin Krista Gandrud Sanda Johnson for sending a delicious recipe for sugar cookies for Christmas.
Nellie's Sour Cream Cookies
"The Gandrud Cookie"
from Detroit Lakes, Minnesota
1 cup butter (no substitution)
2 cups sugar
2 large eggs
1 cup (8 oz.) Sour Cream
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon soda
2 teaspoons Baking Powder
5 cups flour
Sift the four, Baking Powder and soda. Cream butter and sugar; beat in eggs and add vanilla.
Add part of dry ingredients to egg mixture.
Add sour cream, then rest of flour.
Roll on very lightly floured board to desired thickness and cut round with cookie cutter.
Bake at 350 degrees F. to desired browness, or keep them Norwegian white!
Richwood Lutheran (ELCA) church - favorite cookie from Becker County, Minnesota
Made by the hundreds by Nellie Gandrud, daughter of Engebret E. & Ingeborg ( Leknes ) Gandrud
Dunked in "egg-coffee" cups by Norwegian farmers for generations. Make them large!
from Krista
11/20/14
19 Nov, Wed: Ron arose at five AM to become sufficiently caffeinated when Cynthia awoke at 8.00 AM; the electricity was out, no doubt because of ice someplace, but turned on by 8:30 AM. We stayed in bed to stay warm. Ron went to the Archives alone because the high temp is too cold for Smooch Smooch. She planned a girl day around hair and nails and the fitness center.
18 Nov, Tues: How nice to have a bus to ride downtown escaping the cold except for the few blocks to the Archives. We were pleased with our success at the Archives. Ron found Lawrence Rambo and Lawrence Bankston on the same abstract. Cynthia discovered several goodies. The shuttle dropped us off at Ruth's Chris Steakhouse. We like to eat there because the food is delicious and the raspberry sorbet has three scoops. Cynthia orders one dessert for herself but eats less than one scoop so Ron gets 5 scoops! All fifty states have freezing temperatures. We appear to be in the midst of a polar vortex. Ron found a 42nd Street Oyster Bar and Seafood Restaurant in Raleigh five blocks from the Archives. If it warms up we can try it.
17 Nov, Mon: The Archives is open so we will take the bus! NO NO NO! We took the shuttle from the hotel to the airport and the city bus to downtown Raleigh only to discover that the Archives is NOT open. Leaving downtown Raleigh early we caught the 5:05 bus back to RDU and the shuttle to the hotel. We dined IN! The cold is getting colder, didja notice?
16 Nov, Sun: The Archives is closed on Sunday. Breakfast at the HGI, followed by computer time, followed by a 4.5 mile walk over the hills and onto the highways. Dinner at Ruth's Chris Steakhouse again was delicious and delightful. Now we can take the shuttle and stay warm.
15 Nov: Another hour at the Archives. We had a late AM arriving by 1 PM; they close at two PM. The Raleigh Times Restaurant had been recommended to us but the noise of the band playing outside and the noise of a thousand little kids inside was simply too much for us. We don't do noise.
14 Nov: Raleigh, NC at the Hilton Garden Inn after a hugely successful day at the State Archives in Raleigh. Cynthia found an original signature of James Lea of Cobb's Creek that appears to be distinct from James Lea, the deposed. We had many wonderful dinner suggestions by the sweetest young woman at the archives, but opted to get outta Dodge before rush hour and colder temps. Rush hour on Friday night was a given, but we were ok temperature wise. The salmon and baked sweet potato french fries here in the hotel restaurant were delicious.
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| Raleigh, NC |
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| Fall has not fallen in Raleigh, NC |
13 Nov. Thurs. En route to the State Archives in Raleigh to research we discovered fall has not yet fallen in North Carolina. Beautiful trees lit up the Target Parking Lot.
12 Nov. Wed: Cynthia's dear friend from Houston surprised her with a visit; Suzanne, a very lovely attorney, has relocated to Virginia with her large family. Following the visit, breakfast at Weasie's, we rolled off to Yanceyville, NC Courthouse to examine deeds; then onto Pittsboro, NC with glorious weather accompanying us all of the way to the 485 West B&B. Dinner at the Roadhouse Bistro was a delightful treat. Searching for a good restaurant we strolled downtown asking the first couple we met if they were local and if they could recommend a place for dinner. They laughed heartily while pointing to the Roadhouse, "Yes! Indeed, we own that restaurant; we will take very good care of you." They certainly did.
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| Cynthia with Suzanne |
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| View of Beagle's Gap |
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| Fall Foliage is Fading |
9 Nov, Sunday: It is going to be hard to reconstruct our hikes. Sunday we started so late that we opted to shorten our ride time by hiking south from McCormick Gap.
8 Nov: We hiked from Rip Rap Trail to Browns Gap. 7 miles. Hiker proud!!!
7 Nov: We bought a new iPhone. This was our day off the trail.
4 Nov: Good grief, where does the time go. Well, hiking for one. Oh, yes, and sleeping in until 9 AM is another. So we enjoyed a late breakfast at Weasies, and the cook remembered our order and sent the waitress back to ask if we wanted cheese or NOT. We returned through a thousand stop lights to the Comfort Inn for pills and shoes and hiking supplies (jelly beans). After a pretty ride on I-64 and along the Skyline Drive, we arrived at McCormick Gap and changed shoes. Neither of us remembered that the trail was THAT steep to the top of Bear Den Mountain and the full complement of radio and microwave towers. The trail then goes steeply downhill to Beagle Gap and back up sharply up to the Little Calf Mountain meadow for lovely, lovely views of the Shenandoah skyline. On the return, after the forest of towers, we met two southbound through hikers, Mav and Birdie. After they completed the trail to Rockfish Gap (on slippery leaves after dark) and after we stopped at the Rockfish Gap Outfitters to buy hiking poles, a GoPro helmet mount, wind-up flashlight (no batteries) and to try on hiking shoes, we treated Mav and Birdie and Ty to dinner at Ruby Tuesday. And this was the day we turned back at 3 PM in time to see ominous black clouds approaching; we arrived at the bike by 5:10; the rain was a mist at first but becoming wetter and wetter. Part way down the mountain we saw two very large bears; one lumbered across the road in front of us while the other one went down the ravine on the side of the road. Now it is time for me to sleep. Maybe I can write about yesterday tomorrow. Another sentence to repeat ... tomorrow.
3 Nov: After a pretty ride on I-64 and along the Skyline Drive, we arrived at McCormick Gap and changed shoes. Neither of us remembered that the trail was THAT steep to the top of Bear Den Mountain and the full complement of radio and microwave towers. The trail then goes steeply downhill to Beagle Gap and back up sharply up to the Little Calf Mountain meadow for lovely, lovely views of the Shenandoah skyline. We started back at 3:PM just as the skies turned an ominous black. On the return, after the forest of towers, we met two southbound through hikers, Mav and Birdie. After they completed the trail to Rockfish Gap (on slippery leaves after dark) and after we stopped at the Rockfish Gap Outfitters to buy hiking poles, a GoPro helmet mount, wind-up flashlight (no batteries) and to try on hiking shoes, we treated Mav and Birdie and Ty to dinner at Ruby Tuesday. Now it is time for me to sleep. Maybe I can write about yesterday tomorrow. Another sentence to repeat ... tomorrow.
2 Nov: Drive to Waynesboro, VA; it was very long. We did manage to get to Ruby Tuesday's for a huge salad dinner.
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| Miss Smoochie was ready to roll! |
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| View of the Potomac from Jefferson Rock |
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| Thomas Jefferson admired the view from this rock |
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| Fall Foliage at Jefferson Rock |
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| View of Susquehanna and Potomac |
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| Love the color |
