Here, There & Everywhere

My cousin Sue told me if we went to St. Augustine that we needed to go to the Alligator Farm. Amanda had seen some information on this as well and was insistent that we go. I’m not an alligator fan–as a matter of fact, they give me the heebie jeebies–but I decided to tag along. Tommy, on the other hand, stayed in the truck and waited for us.

We thought that this one looked a lot like Molly when you give her a treat:

This guy was pretty cool looking. Unfortunately he was in the same building as the snakes–Yuck!

The saving grace of this place was the beautiful parrots/macaws they have. I don’t know if these birds typically don’t fly away or if their wings are clipped, but they were right out in the open. Beautiful birds!

Tommy and I had found a restaurant that we enjoyed the first night we were in Jacksonville. So when Amanda and Evan got to town we decided to go back to Clark’s Fish Camp for dinner with them. As you enter the restaurant you are greeted with this:

Note Amanda and Evan taking it all in:

The place is really packed with all sorts of stuffed animals. The food was really good too!

The first door is from the Castillo, the second from the Cathedral. The window is part of the lighthouse.

These trees lined the road just outside of the Fountain of Youth park in St. Augustine. I thought that they were simply beautiful until Tommy started talking about chiggers!

St. Augustine has some of the most beautiful buildings including the Cathedral of St. Augustine:

After visiting the museum and the cathedral in the middle of town, we went to the lighthouse. Tommy, Amanda and Evan all climbed up to the top.

Being afraid of heights, I did not make the climb. Here’s my point of view of the lighthouse (looking up):

I was a bit disappointed in the lighthouse. Not the building itself, but the surrounding area. My idea of a lighthouse is that it should be at a point on the beach by itself with nothing else around. That was not true here. There was not enough space to back up and get a better perspective of the lighthouse, so all of the pictures I took are pretty much just looking up.

What a fitting way to be laid to rest. I think Terry would have been pleased.

More later.

February 1
I thought I’d be able to sit here and type up my thoughts about this weekend. But, I just can’t. Instead, I’ll leave this post with just two pictures:

Here are a few pictures of our trip to St. Augustine. I have a lot more, but we’re going to dinner soon.

This is a trip I really wish that we weren’t having to make. It’s time for Terry’s memorial. It will be on Saturday. Amanda and Evan had said that they wanted to come but would like to spend a few days extra here. So we came down yesterday and picked them up at the airport this morning around 9:00. Here are some pictures from our trip down yesterday (only a couple) and some from today:

We saw lots of fields just full of cotton. Luckily for me some of the cotton had not yet been picked! Tommy is so patient with me. He almost always will pull off the road so I can take some pictures.

We were stopped in a little town in south Georgia (believe it was Adel) and saw this sign. Tommy grabbed the camera and quickly took the picture. I’m thinking of sending this to Fox News. :)

Wyoming comes to the beach!

I’m not sure if they were hollering at each other or at me!

Here’s Amanda practicing to be a Hawaiian princess. I think her pullover gives her away though. What do you think?

A typical beach scene.

After we ate dinner we headed down to the beach to walk back to the truck. The moon was beautiful over the ocean.

Tomorrow we’re going to St. Augustine. I’m really looking forward to going there. Look for more pictures soon.

Even though Terry was the driver this particular day, the Corvair was not his car. It was the family car and the one that we traveled across country in (California to Georgia). There were 4 of us who made that trip. A long, long way in a little car. This is also the car that I learned to drive with.

Miss you Ter!

What a month for birthdays!
Jan 1 – Joe (my favorite nephew!! and the first baby of 1975 in Smyrna)
Jan 8 – Kennedy (my long time friend and for whom Amanda Kennedy was named)
Jan 8 – Bubba (the goofiest beagle ever)
Jan 12 – Anne (a very special sister-in-law who taught me to play Mahjongg)
Jan 22 – Abigail (my niece who surely can’t be 25!)
Jan 23 – Ed (my father-in-law who is now 92–WOW!)
Jan 25 – Amanda (if Abigail is now 25 that must mean Amanda will be 29. It is so hard for me to believe that I am old enough to have a daughter that is 29.)

We had a late lunch at Doris’ and Ed’s house today to celebrate the big birthday. We had a full turkey dinner with everything but the cranberry sauce. Yummy!

Here’s the birthday boy at 92:

We woke up to 12 degrees this morning. It has warmed all the way up to 16! Yesterday our high was about 25–not enough to melt the little bit of snow that we got the night before. Tommy took Bubba for his walk this morning and didn’t get too far. They only made it up to the corner as they were slipping all over. Must have been a funny sight–a beagle slipping and sliding!

I went through all of the pictures that I took in 2009 to try and find my favorites from the year. I decided to limit myself to one per month, which I was able to do except for a few months. They may not be technically correct or others may not like them, but for one reason or another I do. So here they are:

In January, after several years of a drought we received a pretty good rain in January. My aunt Alline called to tell me about this mill with all the water pouring over the dam. So Tommy and I jumped in the truck to find it. It’s quite a picturesque spot.

My cousin Sue, aunt Alline and I went to the Botanical Gardens in February for an outing with our cameras. They just happened to have a Camellia competition going on that week. Until then, I hadn’t really been a fan of camellias–now I want to add several bushes to our yard.

The Dogwoods started blooming in March. Beautiful blooms!

I shot this Tulip Tree blossom in April while on a walk with Tommy and Bubba. A neighbor has a gorgeous tulip tree–at least while it’s blooming.

We have Flame Azalea (or Native Azalea) bushes/trees at the house in NC. While they are really pretty when they are in full bloom, I love looking at the buds as they are opening. They kind of look like little bird heads to me. This photo was taken in May.

While Purple Cone flowers may be quite common, I absolutely love them. I love the colors in this picture which was taken in June.

If you follow my blog, you are aware of the “Highway 30 Barn Tour” that Tommy and I took in July. Here’s one barn photo that I took and then played with in Photoshop. It may not be to others’ liking, but I like it. And, since it’s my blog, I can post it!

Since our July trip to Wyoming was cut short, we decided (after much coaxing from Amanda) to head back in August. The thing that tempted Tommy was going to see Ian Tyson at the University. While there we went up to the Snowies. Can you tell how much Tommy loves just looking at the area?

Here’s another favorite from August. This photo just says “Wyoming” to me so I couldn’t leave it out.

Back home in September, there wasn’t much blooming and not much going on. Thankfully, we have some Dahlias that last into October. I love this picture for its softness.

The drought finally ended this year. After one of our many torrential rains, Tommy, Bubba and I went to the Roswell mill and found this small waterfall.

We spent nearly the whole month of November in NC. What a delightful time it was. We visited a lot of waterfalls (and I took a gazillion pictures of them) and just enjoyed the peace and quiet there. We loved having our visitors–Anne, Cleg, George and Gracie; Hall and Sara; and Julian and Sue. The above picture was taken one morning when we drove up to the Blue Ridge Parkway. When we got there, we could barely see the road because of the thick fog. I was able to take this, and a few other pictures, before we headed back down.

We were invited to join this group for Christmas. I asked for a white Christmas, and boy did I get one! It is so much fun being with Amanda and Evan–even if the temperature never got above freezing the whole time we were there.

Another December shot. I really like this train picture because of the snow that the train kicked up as it flew past. Besides, I thought I got pretty good focus on it since it was traveling one way and we were traveling the opposite way.

The following pictures were among my favorites for sentimental reasons:

I finally convinced Hall and Sara to let me take a picture of them. I usually don’t take people pictures but wanted to give it a try. So many things that I need to correct if I do it again. But, these are two of my favorite people so I love it!

Bubba makes me laugh almost daily. He is such a goofball. This is how he travels in the back of the truck cross country. He can sleep almost all day in the truck and then sleep all night at the hotel.

When we were in Wyoming, Tommy and Evan took a 6 mile hike. They took Moose, Molly and Bubba with them. While everyone was getting ready, Amanda and I got Moose to run back and forth between us. Is there anything funnier than a basset running with ears flying?–unless it’s Bubba sleeping in the back seat of the truck!

Amanda and Evan are part of the Wyoming Basset Hound Rescue. This sweet girl, Charlie or Chuck D, came to live with them in October. Amanda told me that she couldn’t get a good picture of Charlie because she didn’t like cameras. I was lucky to get this shot. If I could have, I would have brought her home with us. She is such a sweet, loving girl!