Rainy drive, Sunday, June 13th

We left early this morning and drove the major portion of the day up many steep hills in a pouring rain. We feel fortunate that this was the first day on the trip that we had significant rain. Needless to say, it was a tiring day, so we were happy to relax early and enjoy Yvonne’s now famous crock pot chicken (remember, she cooks it on the way?).

Chimney Rock , Saturday, June 12

Aaron left early this morning to drive home to Hilton Head in order to be at work this afternoon. Randi and I have grown very fond of him and it was really great to spend a couple of days together.

Randi, Curt and I drove to Chimney Rock today. It was 25 miles of beautiful mountain roads bordered by green forest, charming mountain cabins along rocky streams and awesome vistas. At the “rock” we rode the 26 story elevator through the mountain where, at the top, we enjoyed the 75 mile views and ice cream. Yvonne stayed home today, but when we returned to the park, she couldn’t pass up an opportunity to check out an equivalent of our favorite store, Harbor Freight. She and Curt and I made the quick trip there, which didn’t interest Randi.

“Zip Line”. Friday, June 11

This was truly the best experience for me to date. Aaron and I did the “Zip Line”. If you’re interested, you can watch a video on their website to see what it’s all about. http://www.navitat.com/

At this site we were as high as 250ft above the ground and rode a zip line that was 1,100ft long (it took about 35 seconds from start to finish) and on some of the zip lines we went over 40 mph. If you pull up into a cannon ball you go faster.

In all there were 10 zip lines, from 120 to over 1,100 feet in length and from 2 feet to over 200 feet in the air, 2 rappelling descents of over 30 ft, 2 suspended sky bridges, 3 short hikes in the forest. The whole experience took approximately 3.5-hours with over one mile of suspended cable.

Randi and I did a zip line adventure like this on our Alaska trip a few years ago and loved it. We didn’t think it was a good idea for her to do this one because of her healing leg…..she was disappointed.

Curt drove Yvonne and Randi along the Blue Ridge Parkway, which they tell me (and I’ve no doubt) that it is a beautiful drive.

Biltmore Estate, Thursday, June 10

We spent most of today touring the famed Biltmore Estate, the largest privately owned home in America. Built in 1895 by George Vanderbilt for his family, the 250 room house sits on 8000 acres framed by the Blue Ridge Mountains. The day included a tour of the beautiful gardens, the shopping village and the winery where we enjoyed “tasting”. It is an incredible experience and is worth a few minutes of “googling” and a visit if you are ever in this area. Randi loves the afternoon T-storms and we’ve had a few, including today. We have been fortunate so far not to have had to drive in any.

Driving, Wednesday, June 9

We spent the major part of the day driving. It was a long day for us (about 320 miles); therefore, we were all pretty tired when we arrived at the RV park in Ashville, NC. Curt and Yvonne’s son, Aaron, arrived late tonight after driving to Ashville from Hilton Head after work to spend his days off with Mom and Dad.

Hardeeville & Savannah, SC, Tuesday, June 8

It was very hard to leave the kids, but the doctor gave us an OK to continue the trip. With his instructions, we left for Hardeeville, SC to meet Curt and Yvonne. It was fun to be together again. Our delay in Jacksonville prevented us from the planned tour of Savannah, so Curt gave us a quick drive around the historic district and then to the waterfront for dinner. We’ll have to spend more time there on the “next trip”? No one took a camera (what were we thinking) so no pictures.

Change in schedule, Monday, June 7

Change in schedule! The pathology report on the suspicious area removed from Randi’s leg turned out to be a squamous cell carcinoma, so off we went to have more taken out. We are so thankful for Lisa’s great friends (doctors and nurses) who took care of us right away. We have since received a good report and are greatly relieved. The most heartbreaking part of this ordeal is that we were unable to attend Brooke’s graduation, which was our reason for the extended time in Jacksonville.