Waterfalls December 2018

I think I saw a post on Facebook about waterfalls along US 64 in Macon County. There were four in a row between Franklin and Highlands. I thought they would be a good expedition for us. Despite iffy weather we set out Sunday afternoon. We made a grand loop from Asheville to Franklin, down to Highlands, then across to Cashiers, Brevard and back home. It was about 5 hours all together.

We came to Cullasaja Falls first. It was tempting to try to make the descent to the water, but it was very steep and wet. We aborted after making it about 1/3 the way down.

 

Bust Your Butt Falls was very full. Nobody was interested in trying to get in the water here.

The path behind Dry Falls was closed "for falling rock danger" and indeed there was a lot of water rushing past making one wonder if parts of the overhang might break off.

Bridal Veil Falls was last. I think I was here as a child. The driveway behind the falls is closed but we could walk back there.

Beach 2017

For the first time in several years we made it to the beach this summer! One of Libby's relatives let us have their condo for several days. Briggs asked if we could get up early one morning and go watch the sun rise. He was ready this morning. It was cloudy, but he still got a pretty nice video. He shot for about an hour. We finally decided the sun wasn't going to poke through the clouds so we left.

 

The South Carolina coast is getting some beach renourishment this summer after Hurricane Matthew last year. The equipment in the background is part of that.

Backyard camping

 

The weather the past few days has been glorious, and quite unlike typical July-August weather. Low temps and low humidity have made for a delightful few days. Calvin often asks about camping during summer, which is tricky especially since a good combination of available time and agreeable weather is hard to come by. So I seized this opportunity: I asked Calvin if he would like to set up the tent in the yard, and he took me up on it. We set up the tent Sunday evening, and Calvin slept outside by himself. He said it was a little chilly Monday morning, but otherwise just fine. Monday we invited a friend, Tyler, over for Monday night. I decided to go for the whole camping experience by doing dinner over the fire pit. The boys had a blast. Tyler and Calvin tried to sleep in the tent but Tyler was too distracted by critter noises, and they finally came inside about midnight. I suggested to Calvin on Tuesday that it might be time to bring down the tent, and he asked for a third night. He stayed outside by himself again last night!After supper Monday catching marshmallows in the air got to be the big thing with Tyler and Briggs. They actually caught a few! We also learned that Tyler prefers gooey bits of carbon on his s'mores.

Ball, and more ball

It's been a couple of years since I took Briggs to watch the Braves play in Atlanta, and that was at the old stadium. I decided we should go again this year, with Calvin and see the new digs. We went to a day game on a Wednesday a couple of weeks ago. The trip down was a piece of cake. The trip back took forever. We were leaving at evening rush, and night-time construction held us up in SC. The game was fine, though Atlanta lost against the Cubs. The boys didn't really mind since they really didn't love either team. We spent some time roaming the stadium. On the way back we stopped for supper in Clemson, and took a drive through the university.

 

Early in the season, friends took Calvin to a Tourists' game. Somehow he got a coupon for a free package of 4 GA tickets for later in the season. We cashed those in this weekend. The weather was glorious, which is the only way I would have consented to a daytime game in the middle of summer. The Tourists lost, but the boys had a great time. One of the perks of day games is that children can run the bases after the game. Briggs and Calvin also stood in line to get autographs afterward. We used only 3 of our 4 tickets, so I gave one away to a guy in line with us. He couldn't stand it, and slipped me a few bucks as we walked in. I bought Calvin a mini-bat. Briggs snagged a fistful of balls during the game. Those were the items they got signed.

 

Late-winter 2017

It was a fairly mild winter, so the apple trees were looking pretty good as they budded. There was no late frost, so they were looking good for October apples. At some point Briggs got a notion to bake a cake, so he did. It came out fine. I was reminded of the time Eli got a similar idea. Without Eli at home, food consumption is different but things still manage to disappear regularly. I came home one afternoon to a flurry of activity in the back yard. A hawk had gotten a critter and was trying to finish it off. Mostly flying leaves and feathers, but I was cool if a bit gruesome.

Birthdays and sports in winter 2017

Here are a few pictures from winter-time birthdays and sports. It's a fun season of the year.

Calvin worship symposium

This was the 2nd year I had been to the worship symposium at Calvin College in Michigan. It's a really good event: lots of student groups are present giving a youthy vibe to everything. It's also a very large event on a rather small campus, so it get a little crowded sometimes. While I've enjoyed the event both times I've attended, I'll probably try for something different in 2018. This year the trip back was a nightmare. It began with a damaged window on the plane I was supposed to fly GR-ATL. I was delayed, missed connections, and then Delta had a massive tech incident which brought everything to a halt. I finally crawled into bed at home at 530am! I had to drive from AVL in snow! An international travel ban was put in effect while I was in GRR; there was a protest at the airport while I was awaiting my later flight. They disrupted car traffic but nothing in the airport was really affected. Eli was going to be heading out for AmeriCorps a few days after I returned, and he had lots of questions about air travel, so I took lots of pictures for him