Mountain Musings

Hosting Family Friends!

Our Labor Day cookout was a very special time spent with friends stopping by on their way from New York to Atlanta to Oklahoma to Texas and to who knows where next!

Long time readers of the blog will remember our friend Erich who worked with Jonathan at the airport for a few years, attended our home church, took mountain hikes with us, ate meals around our table, and sort of became an honorary member of the family.

See the post where his family in Texas came to visit us here in Virginia back in 2009. And then part of his family visited again earlier this summer.

Well, this was extra special because Erich visited with his wife and now seven children!

One of our excursions while they were here was stopping by Natural Chimneys close by. Here are the Chimneys from a distance! Impressive.

Tom posing with Erich. It had been at least a decade since we'd visited here:

I think the kids enjoyed exploring inside the walls of the chimneys:

Then we proceeded to our main destination, Reddish Knob, located on the border of Virginia and West Virginia state lines. Great views!

Here I am with Tom enjoying the top of the mountain at Reddish Knob:

Erich, Beth, and their newest baby:

Exploring on his own!

Playing at the top of the mountain:

After we drove down the narrow road to get back to civilization, we enjoyed a nice picnic lunch at Wildwood Park, and Jonathan was able to join us on his lunch break from work:

Afterwards Erich treated us all to Smiley's Ice Cream!

The temperatures were extremely hot in our area these days they visited, so the kids enjoyed some cooling off time on the Slip 'N Slide:

Very excited children:

Then the day arrived that they needed to continue on their journey. We sure enjoyed hosting them in our home!

Sunset the day they left:

~Deb

Happy 43rd Anniversary to Us!

Well, I promised a post about...two old people at the beach...and here we are, celebrating our 43rd wedding anniversary! Two weeks ago we were enjoying some time away walking a somewhat empty beach each day and watching the waves.

We had debated about what to do for our anniversary this year...a day trip in Virginia? A quick overnight someplace close? Or even...a trip to Michigan to visit Mackinac Island, one of the places I'd suggested as a possibility and would love to go to one day...and then afterwards we could visit Hannah and Christopher in Michigan.

Well, we ended up at North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina...a place we had vacationed once years before when Granny and Hannah were with us.

This time of year was a perfect time to go...with kids back in school and the beach deserted:

View from our room:

One of our activities was going on a dolphin watching tour. Here we are getting ready to board:

We enjoyed riding on the boat on an absolutely beautiful day:

Yes...we did see dolphins! When the tour guide asked if there were any questions, I asked, "Do you ever see them jump?"  Answer: "Rarely. Not like you always see in dolphin shows."

The captain and tour guide thought this siting below was excellent. I'm thinking they should put this picture on their brochures and website instead of jumping photos! Ha.

Another most interesting activity was taking a wildlife and nature cruise. I think it was my favorite activity of the trip.

The covered boat was perfect on a hot day, and there was a very enjoyable breeze on the river. The tour guide gave the best narration we have ever heard on a tour...interesting, knowledgeable, and humorous.

We explored the cypress-lined Waccamaw River on this wildlife river tour. The peaceful scenery was very nice! We saw osprey and their nests, heron, egrets, and many turtles sunning themselves. No alligators, although the guide was looking for one!

Other fun activities included mini-golf, eating at fun out-of-the-way places, riding the Sky Wheel, treating ourselves to ice cream, and spotting a fisherman catch a shark on the beach!

Here's Tom at River City Cafe...one of those dives that ended up having excellent food:

And here's Deb at Fenderz on the way to our destination. It was fun trying out new places:

This shark that was caught by an excited fisherman was thrown back in:

The Sky Wheel and a view from inside our gondola:

A lady on the beach volunteered to take our photo:

And Tom wrote in the sand for our anniversary as he's done in past years...a heart and Happy 43rd. Aww....:)

Blast from the past...here's Tom on our 25th anniversary writing on the beach in San Diego:

Another blast....even I got in on the act...writing in the sand "Deb loves Tom."  This was on our honeymoon 1980 in Chincoteague, Virginia:

And the honeymooners holding hands over the writing in the sand...those were the days of youth--wow, 43 years ago! Great memories looking back over those long ago photos this week:

Well, it was a very nice anniversary trip! And on the last night we were there, someone even set off a fireworks display on the beach outside our window to send us off:

~ Deb

 

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