August

We didn't do too much in August after getting home from the lake. Scott was doing a lot of traveling for work (Unc Scott is?), so one day I ran down to HSV for a quick visit.

pool time

fearless swimmer

M's first (ever) time off the board

Very proud of his accomplishment

the waterbug

getting braver

JH showing off his different type of jumps

the Kindergartner

the Tiger

the Star

Lake time

We only remembered to take pictures the last day we were at the lake, so we have no pictures of family or our day in Philly. Here are a few of the shots we have.

Scott's pouting because he has to say goodbye to the lake for another year.

Birthday!!!

Last week was Scott's 35th birthday. We went about 5 hours east to camp and hike at Roan Mtn State Park, which is on the NC/TN state line. The park is in TN.

We got to the camp ground in time to get the last tent site along the Doe River, which is barely 15 ft wide here. Nice sound of a waterfall all night, oh wait, that was the rain AND the river!

A couple picts of the bday celebration on my birthday, which was celebrated at 11:03 pm central time, so it was my birthday in the eastern time zone.

Cake!

Present with sharks attached by my nephews. It was super cool!

I bought myself a new day pack, which is kind of big, but it is super comfy for hiking.

Our campsite, when we were tearing things down. Yes, we used a chair to push up the tarp so we could move around under it in the rain. The tarp worked fine, but the campsite wasn't good for angling ropes to make it work better.

Rhododendron gardens in NC from Carver's Gap, which is the road over the mtn.

View from the viewing area at the rhodo. garden.

Picts from the Appalachian Trail

Tiny mushroom

Gray's Lily, named after Asa Gray, famous botanist. This flower is Federally Endangered and this area is one of the best places to see it, when it blooms in June.

More Gray's Lily

More Gray's Lily.

Goats! They have goats in fenced in areas, watched by a dog and full time people, on the mountain to eat the blackberry that is overtaking the grassy balds at the top of the mountains. It is a fairly passive management approach to saving these unique habitats.

HUGE tree on the AT. Yes, that is me standing next to it. The tree must be 300+ years old as things don't grow fast up here.

Bee Balm? I have some in my flower garden, but didn't know there was a native version.

At Carver's Gap.

Bec and flaming azaleas.

Who smuggled a beer onto the trail?!

Bec at Round Bald.

Our car is down there, which is a long way away.

Bec on the bald.

The grassy ridge and bald. The AT snakes up this. It is steep and rocky.

We saw the Mello Yello truck on the interstate.

Memorial Day camping trip

We went to the Big South Fork National Recreation and River Area (National Park land) a few hours from the house. We camped Sat and Sunday nights and did a 9.3 mi hike on Sunday. Here's a few picts.

View from a top the twin arches (after 8.5 mi of hiking, we went up about a million stairs).

Neat rock outcrop along the Big South Fork River.

Yes, I am that strong.

Bird list!!

Rock outcrop.

Creek.

Huge natural amphitheater.

Camp site!

I got one of the last sites (via reservation) and we had the water tower next to us, but it wasn't lit up, we had no neighbor on the other side and the bathroom was across the street. Worked out well.

Old railroad bridge. You can drive across it now.

Another outcrop. It is all sandstone in the area and it was like the beach but without the ocean and with that big wall there.

Super strong Bec!

Bec on the bridge!

One of the twin arches.