30 Oct., St Simons Island, GA to Crystal River, Fl was a lovely drive on a bright, sunny day. We arrived at 5PM to overnight with TOM and Dot K.
Daughter Julie as renaissance royalty:
29 Oct, Columbia, SC. The temperature dropped five degrees from 8 To 9. The wind chill was 20 degrees on our ride from Columbia, SC to St. Simons Island, made worse because Cynthia lost the splitter to heat both jacket and pants. Even just the jacket with extra layers it was very cold. By 1:30 we were super hungry for warm food when we spotted a restaurant in rural east Georgia. The buffet only Offering was Deep South GA fried and buttered everything. Ron found white rice and turkeY. Cynthia ate the fried chicken and yams. We walked 1.5 miles to the St. Simons Pier where the wind was so strong it blew Cynthia back a few steps. The island is charming with a lot of historicity.
28 Oct, means the end of the month is approaching like a bullet train. Walking Columbia SC continues with Dick R. and the mall walk. Marvelous dinner with Clark and Elizabeth. Astros lost.
27 Oct, Friday, Columbia, SC: We arose early to meet Dick R. for breakfast followed by walking the Hotel floors and steps twice; then we met Dick at Harbison Mall for 45 minutes of fast walking. Ron walked Cynthia to Ruby Tuesdays for lunch and he continued on to Donna’s to find CDs for a computer program; Cynthia walked to Verizon to preorder the IPhone X with 256 GB storage. It won’t arrive for several weeks. Ron walked halfway to meet her after a girlie time at the nail salon. Lovely fleurs arrived. 7:00 PM Dinner with marvelous friends to include walking the 2 miles round trip.
26 Oct, Thurs. 49 degrees and very cold, our departure was at 10:00000002 and 3/8 of 2/5ths of a nanosecond, up the drive, right turn onto Kelly Brewer Road south, Go left or east onto Solomon Lea Road, then right or South onto Ridge Road. From there I couldn’t keep track of winding small roads. Ultimately we were on 40 West, then 220 South, and 64 west past Ashboro, NC where we turned south on 109, SC 20 to 26 North to west Lake Murray Road for the trip west to Irmo, SC. The day warmed up; it was pleasant and interesting to travel through historic ancestral counties written about in the Rambo books. We stopped at Cox Motorcycies where Cynthia lost a lens from her sunglasses, but we did not find it. We enjoyed dinner at Ruby Tuesdays with Dick R. And now plan to sleep.
25 Oct, Wed. Our last full FALL day at Hyco Lake will be spent packing, making a trip to Roxboro for lunch, mailing a package, dropping off recycling. Oh, I should mention the wildlife. Several or maybe two times we saw very skittish deer in the distance, additionally, three deer were very near the house a couple of nights later. Two wounded praying mantis were lovingly assisted off the highway. And a Daddy Long Legs crawled up the screen door. A few gnats were unpleasant company, too. The scariest and wildest wildlife faced us in the bathroom mirror this morning. What fun to see a deer on our way home from Roxboro tonight. Ron too photos of a gorgeous sunset. Good night!
24 Oct, Ron’s pacemaker test is completed and auto delivered by cell phone to the electrophysiologist in Houston. Modern technology is marvelous. Ron will ride to Raleigh to research now that the dense fog is lifted. Cynthia’s replacement Venture Heated pants arrived after dark last night and sat outdoors in the rain only to be discovered this morning. Wet. A peaceful day passed with a pleasant sunset:
23 Oct, Happy Monday on Hyco Lake. Silently, the leaves are falling like a gentle rain. Silence. There are only 12 places left in the world that are totally silent. It is hard to tune out the noisy world. In silence we find the difference between sight and insight. Silence helps us hear Gods voice. “He says, ‘Be still, and know that I am God.’” Psalm 46:10a (NIV)
The pacemaker tool phones in the three month report tomorrow.
22 Oct, GO ASTROS!!! Another fall day on Hyco Lake, this one filled with expectancy for the Astros to win the World Series. The fall weather is forecast to stay almost perfect. The lake is a vision to behold. Jim and Joni’s twin grand babies arrived today, a boy and a girl, Anna and Mark. We walked to Dockers for lunch and cooked in the afternoon sun returning home. Now, we ride to Roxboro for oatmeal and to mail letters. 2 Happy hearts. Thank God. Enjoying a talented 3 year old granddaughters artwork.
21 Oct, Hyco Lake, NC on a stellar fall day with bright sunshine and a 70 degree forecast. Boats are out early, even in the morning fog. Our stretches done, the tummies are full, togetherness is happiness! We walked to Dockers for lunch. Cousin Michael J. and his young son Micah visited about 5:30 PM into evening. Cynthia reported the interesting facts about their common ancestor James Lea of Country Line Creek: this Lea family is in the book, Roots. Chicken George Lea was a ggrandson of james Lea; his niece Margaret Lea married Sam Houston. Witty daughter responded, “Kiiras’s in grad school at Sam Houston, so it comes full circle.”
20 Oct, Raleigh, NC Archives: How fun to see our friend Gaye, the smiling receptionist. We had to wait to ride to the Archives in Raleigh until the fog lifted at ten AM; the ride took 90 minutes and 63.4333 seconds. The research is productive. Cynthia needed the 1771 Petition to form Caswell County out of Orange. The signatures are key to proving which James Lea married the Bankston daughter. Ron forgot to move the motorcycle after an hour, but four hours later there is no ticket and the bike is moved. We started the ride to the Hyco Lake at 5:06 PM and arrived at 6:33 PM, dark-thirty. The weather was warm, and the day was Pleasant. The roads are not nice. Ron called the UNC Medical Center in Chappell Hill and learned an echocardiogram was indeed done with the reports sent to our cardiologists in Houston. Ron does not need to repeat the test. Good night
19 Oct, Hello Fall on gorgeous Hyco Lake. The fog lifted early, the sun sparkles like trillions of diamonds on the blue waters. Ron cooked egg white veggie omelets. The master suite jacuzzi is really huge and awkward to enter; it had to be designed by a huge guy or for a party of six in the bathroom. Cynthia's cousin Randall is visiting us to discuss plat maps from 1755-1830 for Cynthia's book about the Leas of Caswell County. We ate lunch at Dockers Grill and walked home.
18 Oct, It is a very Foggy fall morning at Lake Hyco, NC. The dense, eerie walls of mist didn't lift until 10:00 AM. We waited for the temperature to rise from 49 degrees before we ventured forth on a five mile walk. Happy US! Thanks be to God.
17 Oct, Tues: Fall on Lake Hyco, North Carolina. Once again we are enjoying the Lake Hyco house with off season rates; it has a marvelous view of the lake from most rooms of the house. We do need food! This meant a ride to Roxboro, NC where we thoroughly enjoyed spinach and strawberry salads at the Brookfield Grill. On to the library for research and to Walmart for a food buying spree.
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| View from the house |
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15 Oct, Thr Appalachian Trail in the Blue Ridge Mountains of VA. Yes, Virginia is for lovers and hikers, too, especially us on a gorgeous day like this one. We hiked from Beagle Gap over Calf Mountain and towards Jarmin Gap. Just when we thought we wouldn't see another thru- hiker, we met three of them. Flip has 160 miles to complete his thru-hike by the time he reaches Harper's Ferry, WVA. A couple was southbound this late in the season, possibly hitting cold and snow in the smokies next month. The female of the two will be a freshman at MIT. We had a super filling lunch causing a big stomach ache for Cynthia; Ron eagerly hopes it is morning sickness. Happy Birthday nephew Benjamin!
14 Oct, Waynesboro, Virginia: Staring out the hotel window at thick fog at noon thirty, we are thinking about walking about to Ruby Tuesday and Walmart. The forecast promises us better visibility by mid-afternoon. Ron rode to Skyline Drive and hiked 6 miles. Cynthia worked on DNA.
13 Oct: Friday the 13th before Halloween, but we are not superstitious. We extended our stay in Waynesboro, Virginia until Monday. The forecast is for cooler weather and very humid; the fog is very thick this morning, so Ron is blogging while we wait to see if it will ever clear. Always rejoice, always. Ron snacked on shredded wheat all morning, then we went to Ruby Tuesdays, and he is now stuffed to the gills - uncomfortably full, and checking the forecast to decide when to ride to ALDIs and Safeway for groceries and fat-free, salt-free pretzels, his miracle absorbing-water-to-sleep food.
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| Photos don't begin to do justice |
12 Oct: Singing in the rain, just hiking in the rain! Jarmin Gap Trail was an enchanting place to hike and sing in the rain:
Why am I smiling
Why am I smiling
And why do I sing?
Why does October
Seem sunny as spring?
Why do I get up
Each morning and start?
Happy and head up
With joy in my heart
Why is each new task
A trifle to do?
Because I am living
A life full of you.
Although we had to ride a little farther through intermittent fog (Isn't it strange when you round a curve in the mountains and the fog suddenly disappears - or suddenly re-appears?), we stopped at the Jarmin Gap trail head in order to have an easier hike to reduce bodily distress, ... and it apparently worked. Cynthia was hesitant to commense hiking in the least little drizzle that greeted us as we parked and wondered for most of the hike if we were actually being rained upon, but Ron steadfastly held that it was just cloud and dripping trees, as it appeared to him. Since we carried our ponchos, we had nothing to fear except running out of trail food (jelly beans). It was amusing to discover several somewhat large branches that had fallen onto the trail since our previous visit three days ago.
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| to the beauty of the fall fog |
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| Ron waving goodbye as the fog enshrouds |
11 Oct, Waynesboro, VA: Today as we started riding towards our hike, Ron noticed that the top of the mountain was in the clouds, entrancing to see the cloud decapitating the forested mountain - no top just a clean line of cloud. Along the parkway we encountered pea-soup fog and were quite startled to come upon a new vehicle with inadequate taillights; is seems so strange that the newbee designers can embrace form over function without enough seasoned supervision to catch their inappropriate designs. Since the fog was thick, we stopped short of our intended hike and started at Beagle Gap, enshrouded in thick fog (as you can see to the right). The hike to the top of Beagle Gap was delightfully colorful, but when the cloud started actively wetting us, Cynthia voted for turning back because of the rain; Ron contended that it was just a wetter part of the cloud. (Truth be told, it was a light rain.) We continued to the rock pile at the "summit" and congratulated ourselves on our 10,000 steps hike. We got off the mountain by 4:30 and dined at our favorite, Ruby Tuesday, where Ron can happily eat salad until over-full.
10 Oct: Our favorite color is October. Today's 4 mile hike wasn't difficult, but it was very humid. We hiked from Jarman Gap to the the designated sitting rock at the top and on down to Sawmill Run Overlook on Skyline Drive. This was one of the longer hikes we did in June, so it was reassuring to find that we are in better condition now than then. Cynthia loves her gift of roses. Our granddaughter Lauren said she misses us and sent a photo with her aunt Julie, our newest hiking pal.
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| fleurs fer de feme |
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| little Lauren & auntie Julie |
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| foliage underfoot, notice flesh tones |
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| fall colors in Virginia (Virginia is for lovers) |
8 Oct: Oh oh! Rain is forecast for 3 days. Will we make it to Waynesboro, VA dry??? No? At 10 AM, it is raining, with increasing thunderstorms forecast. Will we ride today? We did! Ron watched the color radar and the predictions faithfully and decided to leave about 1:42:37. Frequent isolated raindrops damped us and stung Ron's eyes en route to Frederick, MD and south to Leesburg, VA on US Highway 15. Our GPS discovered a multitude of charming smaller roads to cross over to VA highway 7, where we turned west on 7 until it intersected US 340 south. It was amusing to find ourselves on the same road again after detouring south on 15 to avoid the increasing rain on 340 west. Ron was content to follow 340 all the way to Waynesboro until he saw the sign for Skyline Drive, whereupon we detoured for 60 miles of gorgeous yellows of all shades from BRIGHT to purple and rust. At higher elevations the clouds laid on top of the mountains and provided a surreal experience, driving through patches of heavy fog. The K1600GTL has fog lights, but I cannot say that they helped at all. Ron slowed down to the speed limit in the fog, not at all concerned about vehicular traffic, but quite concerned about four footed traffic, especially deer and bears. Unfortunately we saw neither. After a scenic and very enjoyable twisty excursion, we exited onto US Highway 33 westbound and turned south on US 340 for the third time until we arrived in Waynesboro before dark and DRY! Fall!!!, Mother Nature used every Crayola in the box! We checked into a jacuzzi suite at the Comfort Inn and enjoyed seeing our friends at Ruby Tuesday. Ron ate Sooo much salad, partially because the final set of DARK clouds arrived to deliver a real cloudburst after we had walked to Ruby Tuesday and were seated and eating, Thank God. Cynthia's Accuweather said that Ron, already full, needed to eat one additional small plate of salad before the rain would stop. Ron walked to Martin's Grocery to buy salt-free, fat-free pretzels which absorb lots of water from the system, allowing him to sleep several hours at a time. We slept very well indeed.
7 Oct: We are in Mount Airy, MD, celebrating fall, plus Jim and Joni's first wedding anniversary; Cynthia officiated at their wedding a year ago October 16th. A crew was here filming a mystery movie on Jim and Joni's pond. We were filmed returning from a long walk; hopefully it won't end up on the cutting room floor.
6 Oct: Matamoras, PA, bound for Mount Airy, MD to visit Jim and Joni for the weekend. The window view of Fall in her colorful finery is marvelous. We drove south first on PA 209 and 225 south, 100 east before I lost track of the numerous highway changes. The traffic was extremely slow near York, PA, and it was very warm sitting in traffic. About two PM we found a Ruby Tuesday's for lunch, pigging out so much we thought we didn't need dinner.
5 Oct: We departed eclectic Brattleboro, VT where every third person has green or purple dyed hair and one in five is an old hippy; people watching has been fascinating. The temperature forecast is a blessed 72 degrees; with sunshine on our shoulders, we ride towards the Delaware Water Gap; VT Highway 9 west, although slow because of construction, featured fashionista Fall in an extravaganza of eye popping color between Brattleboro and Bennington. We stopped just before Bennington at Papa Pete's for a huge second breakfast/lunch that was beyond delicious. Oh my goodness, 14" pancakes! Ron ate a stack of two besides his egg white veggie omelet, which was also large; he was full for the entire rest of the day & night. Crossing into New York, VT 9 becomes NY 7 south we soon turned west onto NY 22, thereafter turning onto the Taconic State Parkway for a short distance. We wiggled west and south around New York City until we reached US 209 south to Matamoras, PA and the Hampton Inn for a good night sleep. We are still full from lunch. Good night!
4 Oct, Brattleboro, VT: Lunch with Eddie and Beanie at Whetstone on its patio overlooking the Connecticut River. The huge salad was delicious. Our hearts are heavy over the hurricane disasters that have affected thousands including friends. The senseless massacre in Vegas is gut wrenching. Equally insane is politics instead of compassion.
3 Oct: On the road again! We departed for Brattleboro, VT by noon thirty plus thirty. The ride on VT 100 south to VT 103 south to 11 east and I-91 south was spectacular. Cynthia particularly enjoys the views of the several lakes which border the roadway. Eddie and Beanie are not available until tomorrow, so we plan to meet them for lunch. Left to our own devices for dinner, we tried the Brattleboro Food Co-Op and enjoyed huge, fresh, yummy salads.
2 Oct: We delivered Julie to the Rutland Airport, packed and ready for her return trip to Houston. She laughed heartily as we waved kisses at her while she was going through security. After returning the rental car we visited Patrick, the former ILT chef, at his new business in Chittendon. We spent our afternoon packing and doing laundry. Our room smells fresh like New Tide.
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| Julie & momma on toppa Killington in Vermont |
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| photo from Julie, tail gating |
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| Cynthia feelin' fine at the Van Trapp Lodge |
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| daughter Julie |
