July 9, 2016

It has been about 2 months since my last post.  So much has happened during that time that it will take a couple of posts just to get caught up again.  I will try to do this over the next two or three days.
First --- the Alaska Cruise.
We flew from Birmingham to Seattle on the 26th of May.  Once there we met up with Chuck and Mary Jane Wood, and then took a shuttle to the Embassy Suites which we called home for two nights. We spent the 27th going to the Space Needle and Pike's Fish Market.

I used the digital zoom on the camera to take this picture of the cruise ship.

I don't think Amy was enjoying the height.

I had read about this place in the book 

Fish!: A Remarkable Way to Boost Morale and Improve Results 

so this was high on my list of things to see in Seattle.

The next morning we boarded the ship and for the next 7 days it was our home.  Great food, good friends, very restful and did I mention COLD!   We left Alabama temperatures in the 90's and expected temps of mid 60's. Instead the temp was mid 40's.  Just a little cold for the shorts and short-sleeve shirts I had taken.  There were a lot of others on the ship that had not planned on the cold.  They were probably from the south also.

View from our stateroom balcony looking over Seattle.

Amy "enjoying" the balcony.

Our first stop was Juneau

Eagles were everywhere.

We rode the tram to the top of the mountain to do some hiking.

View from inside the tram, about half way up the mountain.

Mary Jane and Chuck

Amazing views along the path we hiked.

Of course Amy was always in front.  My excuse was I lagged back to take pictures.

Carvings in the trees.

Tram ride coming back down.

Back on board the ship and sailing again.

Our next stop was Skagway.

Beautiful snow covered mountains everywhere.  We hiked this trail system.

Just part of the uphill climb on this hike.

Of course note who is leading and who is bringing up the rear.

View from the trail overlooking the cruise ship.

We did not hike the 3 additional miles around the lake.

Next we sailed in Glacier Bay.

Next stop was Ketchikan.  Cold and rainy.

This boat was once on the "Deadliest Catch". Now it has been converted to a tourist attraction to teach people about the crab fishing industry.  The ships skipper was one of the speakers onboard our cruise ship. Very interesting. 

Front view of our cruise ship.

Our last stop.

Then back to Seattle.

Our ship docked about 8:00 am on June 4th.  We pre-shipped all our luggage so we would not have to carry it around the airport.  Our flight out of Seattle was not until 10:30 pm which meant we spent the whole day at the airport.  We arrived in Houston at 2:00 am and had a four hour wait before flying to Birmingham.  Stepping out of the airport we knew we were back in Alabama, high humidity and mid 90's temperature.  Finally home at 12:00 pm on June 5th.  All in all, it was a fantastic trip.  I would highly recommend this cruise and the Crown Princess on the Princess Cruise Line (featured on The Love Boat)

May 14, 2016

Amy and I just spent 2 nights camping at Vogel State Park with Jason, Shelley and Brooks.  We had a really great time.  Enjoyed everything except traffic delays just getting to the park.  Atlanta traffic during rush hour and road construction made a 3 hour drive into almost 6 hours to get there.  Vogel State Park is located in north Georgia at the base of Blood Mountain.  Blood Mountain is the tallest mountain in Georgia on the Appalachian Trail. Several pictures of the park are given below.

Park entrance.

Amy looking over the lake.

Ducks went wild when Brooks went into the water to play with them.

Great view of the mountains from the far side of the lake.

Great view of the falls below the lake.  All of us.  Brooks would not pose for the camera.

This one is slightly different from the one above.

This is the name of the trail around the lake.

Managed to get our campsite setup before dark.

Of course eating is always important.

Great location for tents.

Brooks was the most well behaved of all of us.

Okay, this is not a great view, but our campsite location.

On Friday we ate breakfast and prepared for hiking up Blood Mountain.  The name comes from a war with the Cherokee Indians.  Legend has it that the fighting was so severe that the streams flowed red with blood.  Therefore the name Blood Mountain.

Jason and I posed for a selfie before the hike.

No trip to the Appalachian Trail would be complete without a stop at Mountain Crossing. 

Amy and Shelley

The store is located at Neel Gap.

Our hike started out on the Byron Reece Trail.  Seven tenths of a mile in we turned right on the Appalachian Trail.  This approach trail was rated strenuous due the climb in elevation.  

Lots of steps up. 

About a 1200 foot increase in elevation over .7 miles.

The approach trail intersects with the Freeman Trail, which goes around the mountain instead of over the top.

Of course we choose the AT trail (white blaze marked) at this intersection.

When I needed a rest, I took a picture.

These two were taken during a rest stop.

As you can see I was quickly lagging behind.

Amy taking a break.  Me too, that's the reason for the picture.

There were even some rock scrambles near the top.

Views near the top were awesome.

I think I like this one best.  Taken from the top near the shelter.

I threw this one in to prove that I made it to the top of Blood Mountain.

     Of course we went down the same path we went up.  Turned out that was a great day hike.  We met several through hikers along the way.  One young man was from Scottsboro and another from Birmingham, and many others.  One day hiker was from Blairsville, a town close by.  Of course some people passed me going up and then passed me again on their way down before I got to the top.  I might add this included my own family.  Beautiful park, beautiful views, lots of steps up and then lots of steps down, but well worth the effort.  I would totally recommend this for anyone who loves the outdoors, loves to hike and loves to get away from it all.

Just as a side note, the knees did fine and the wrist held up with the hiking poles.  We are looking forward to our next adventure --- Alaska here we come!