Spring Break

We went to 'Bama for Spring Break-into the northeast mountains-with mom and dad.
We stopped by the Alabama (music group) museum to see the sights and sounds. Well, there weren't too many sights, though there were some good sounds. Not something I would drive to if I was a long ways away-but something you need to go to if you are in the area. I'm glad we did it. Above is Lauren, dad, Randy Owens, and the gang.

Me, mom, and the boys.

The museum.

This is the view out the back of our cabin in the mountains. Really cool.

The cabin.

Mom and dad, somewhere. By the Little River Canyon, possibly.

Lauren and I at the same not-sure place.

Little River Canyon . . . well if you turn around it is. This is looking upstream.

There it is-the falls. Amazing-I think we put up some pics a couple of years ago--it was basically bone-dry then. Amazing what was some rain can do.

Looking downstream.

This is the gorge the river makes. It was a really long ways down and really beautiful.

The southernmost ski resort in the U.S.A. I kid you not. Yeah, they had to make that snow. I think we have pics from there a couple of years ago, too. This is something I want to come do next year. The skiing is really, really cheap there-the only way I would ever do it. Of course you don't get a whole lot there--this is pretty much it. But still, it's cheap skiing. Lauren would make fun of me-but still, I want to do it.

Falls just outside of Desoto State Park. Again-there wasn't much flowing a couple of years ago.

This is the Hapeville Chick-Fil-A Dwarf House in the Atlanta suburb of Hapeville, close to the airport. This is the first Chick-Fil-A ever.

A good trip . . . as Prudence Jones would say in the newspaper, "A good time was had by all."

The Most Beautiful Place On Earth

Yeah, I know, it's been a while. So sue us. The goings-on of our lives seem to be less interesting, so we just sort of quick blogging. I guess all of the new things that fascinated us when we first moved to Georgia quit fascinating us so much. Maybe we became less "foreign" in a "foreign land." Who knows.

But I recently had a trip to Charleston, SC for a conference. I wanted to upload some pics to show off. Maybe this will energize our blogging-ness . . . maybe it won't. Who knows.

On my way to Charleston, I realized I would be going by Augusta National. I knew I would be going to Augusta; but somewhere in east Georgia, I had the thought--I should go take some pics.

I have tried this before. Years ago, on a trip to Charlotte, Lauren and I went by the golf course to see what we could see. Basically all we could see was a sign. It was very disappointing. We went hours out of our way . . . to see a sign.

This time around, I knew what to expect. I actually got some better pics this time around--I found a couple of parking lots across the street from the only entrance. Basically, besides this entrance, if you were driving by, you would have no idea you were driving by a golf course . . . much less quite possibly the most famous, most beautiful golf course in the nation, if not the world.

Above is a pic from a nearby street.

This is the view down the famous, "Magnolia Lane." I always imagined this drive down to the clubhouse to be longer. On one drive by, I peered in and could see the driving range. That thing was unbelievably green for the end of January. I mean, it looked better than most golf courses do . . . any time of the year. B-e-a-utiful.

This is the same view, from a different angle--showing the only marker of the golf course (the aforementioned sign) and a little check-in gate. There is a person there, checking people in and out, I guess. I had the fleeting thought of--I wonder what they would do if I just drove in. I decided not to give that a try.
A street sign of Magnolia Lane. This is the island (Daniel Island) I stayed on in Charleston. Really nice. Really beautiful.

Unfortunately, this was about the only picture I got from Charleston. One night, I drove down into the historic part of town, right around sunset. Our memory card on the camera had just filled up from pics. I did not want to take the time to sift through which pictures to delete and miss the town as the sun went down. So, I just decided to forget the camera and enjoy it all--pictures never really capture the true beauty of things anyway.

That night, like I said, I went into Charleston. It is great. I got to see across the water to Fort Sumter (where the Civil War started), ate at a fabulous restaurant, and got to hang-out in that really cool part of town. The next morning, I woke up early and went down to the beach, just as the sun was coming up over the Atlantic Ocean. I wandered down to a little fort, which I found out was the site of the first American victory of the Revolunationary War and where all the slaves came into the south before the Revolutionary War. It was a really cool moment. Charleston . . . if you ever get the chance to go, you gots to.

Sure Enough

I heard this morning that it was a tornado that came through Carrollton. Wow.

We Were Lucky

Last weekend, I took a trip to Macon for a Youth Minister's conference. I took this pic on the way back--it is Barbie Beach. These people have it out in front of their house, on the highway. They change the Barbies and the clothes every so often. A little strange.

Look at that short hair.

Also notice the sign in the background (if you click on the picture, it enlarges).

The above pictures are all from our storm last night. We were awoke at 4:00 a.m. to the storm sirens going off. I took a peek outside to see the strongest winds I have ever seen. We have not yet heard exactly what sort of storm it was--but the pictures above tell the story. Most of these pics are taken within a couple of blocks from our place. The large uprooted tree is about 30 yards from the church. One of the college students from our church lives in the house. In fact, he was in the room the tree smashed down upon.

The town looks much better tonight; but this morning, Carrollton was a mess. Streets were shut down, with trees and power lines down everywhere. Trees smashed into lots of houses. Our power was out for over six hours. Getting ready for this morning for church was an experience. We had worship service in the dark--that was one to remember.

We have heard a tornado went through about 10 miles south of here. We checked that out--and roofs are off of some houses down there.

All in all, we feel lucky. We woke up at the time of the worst part of the storm--but we could not get any TV or radio, so we weren't sure what was going on. The house of some friends of ours, they said, was shaking; and their trampoline was thrown a quarter-mile from their house.

If this was all just a storm, it was quite a storm.

Just thought this picture needed to be taken.

This is a familiar scene around the house these days. Jane had a summer haircut last week. It is basically a burr. She went from long hair to extremely short hair. We think it has affected her personality. She seems to be depressed now. She used to chow down her food; now she sort of grazes on it throughout the day. She sort of mopes around the house. She just, to put it simply, looks sad. Hopefully she will jump out of this quickly. We do now know that Jane is a very fit dog--was difficult to see under all of that hair.

Jane did enjoy this past Friday. We went to Johns Mountain, up north of Rome. Of course, we forgot the camera. But, the drive and the view were incredible. We drove up to the top of a mountain, then hiked a 3.8 mile loop up on top. I got me some SnoBiz--in Cedartown. Just as good as I remember it. A margarita/orange sno-cone mix. Mmmm. There is also a SnoBiz in Bowdon--not far from here. It is a super-duper SnoBiz--I have never seen anything like it.

Now This is Beautiful

This past weekend, we went to Callaway Gardens. They are about 60 miles or so south of Carrollton--a large preserve, I guess you would call it. Full of gardens and all sorts of different stuff. They have a few golf courses on it. They hosted the PGA Buick Classic a few years back. An absolutely beautiful place. We have heard about it since we moved to Georgia. Earlier last week, I took a trip with our Senior Adults at church to the area and everyone said we needed to go down there. So, the next day we did. They have an amazing-looking lodge, some cottages, and people live out there, too.

The above picture is from their Azalea Bowl region. The azaleas are in bloom right now--and look amazing. This is what I imagine Augusta National to look like.

This is an overlook from a highway around Callway Gardens. Franklin Delanor Roosevelt moved down to this area right before he began his presidency--and had a little white house--something they now call "Little White House," a play on words from the presidential White House. This is one of the places that the Senior Adult group went to. I have some pictures from there-to post later.

Back to the Gardens . . . this is a picture from the chapel they have on the grounds.

Back to the Azalea Bowl area . . . pictures really do not do it justice.

More azaleas . . .

Have to turn your head sideways--sorry. A really interesting white flower.

They have a building that has butterflies flying all around in it--you can walk around in there. Pretty neat. Lauren loved it. She got to talking to a lady from Alabama in there. The lady told Lauren she drove through Texas once and, "saw some places she would never live in." She asked Lauren if she knew where Abilene is--said she could never live there. She was probably taken back a bit when Lauren told her we lived there seven years.

Jane and Lauren by some statue . . . should probably be able to remember what the statue is.

Jane and I. She had a fun day--walking all around the gardens . . . but wow did she sleep on the way home.

They have a vegetable garden on-site. They did not have much growing right now. They sell what they grow in their Country Store.

About 10 miles south of Callway Gardens. Ha.

Have never seen this before--the little red light in between the two bigger ones. I have seen little lights off to the side in Georgia that you can see as you come around corners, where red lights are located directly on curves. But not this. As best we can tell--we think it is a red-light camera.

Wow, did we see some signs. If we turned around and snapped all of the pictures we saw, we could do a separate blog just for them. We wanted to get a truck painted as an American flag; but it was gone on our way back through.

Afterwards, we went down to Columbus--had never been there before. I got me some Mazzio's Pizza--had not had that in forever. And wow, was it good. Tasted just like I remember it. Must not be too many of those around. I have seen one in Georgia (Newnan). Don't know when the last time I saw one was before that. There used to be a Chicken Express in Columbus--we were pumped about going down there--but it must have went under, because there is no sign of it on the internet anymore. But not to worry--there are some out in eastern Georgia--we'll have to make it to one before too long.

--be

Texas, O Texas

First, the dog pictures. Miss Jane with us . . .
Jane seems to really be coming to life. She is getting a little more feisty and more animated, which makes us feel good. I think she is liking her new home and new peoples.

Kevin-Dog, celebrating Conley's big day.

Lauren went to Texas a couple of weeks ago to see family over Spring Break . . . and got to go to her niece's (Conley's) first birthday party.

Here is Conley with one of her birthday presents.

This past weekend, we went to Hamilton for Jana's wedding.

It was a long weekend with lots of work to be done--but it was very nice. We got to see lots of friends and family. It was a lot of fun.

Well we are sitting here watching the Mavs play the Lakers. I swear-they better not lose. They play the Lakers, Celtics, and Spurs this week--this week will tell us a lot.

--be