Monday, September 13, 2010

WOW!!! Vacation Over. Catch Up Time.

For over a week we have been on vacation and I barely scanned blogs one evening. It's going to take quite a while to catch up with you all.

Thank You All

A couple months after I began writing this blog someone told me I should put a "hit counter" on the blog. For those that have been to the very bottom of the page you can see the hit count. While we were on vacation the counter registered over 100,000 hits. AMAZING! That's over 100,000 times that someone came to this blog to help us or seek help. There are no words big enough to express our gratitude for the help and advice that has been provided to Dad and Mom. Thank You is all I can say, we are eternally grateful.

Our vacation was a motorcycle trip back east. It involved riding the Blue Ridge Parkway from southern NC to northern VA. A visit to Washington DC, someplace neither of us had explored. And last but not least a trip to Gettysburg, PA. Plus many sites and deversions along the way.

I'm going to post a couple pictures on here but if you want to see them all they can be found at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/15120866@N05/sets/72157624822564411/

Lunch with my sweetheart on the Blue Ridge Parkway

The Blue ridge Parkway is over 400 miles of twisting, turning, up and down scenic riding. We stopped and had a cheese and fruit lunch along the side of the road overlooking miles of the Smokey Mountains. This is common, impromptu picnics are an obvious pleasure along The Parkway. This is a must ride for any biker, one thing to check off my Bucket List. Our ride is the big red one in the background.

The White House and Lincoln Memorial

The obligatory photos in front. I think there is a DC law that mandates everyone takes these pictures. ;-) We visited so much in DC and when you think about what all of these places and what the memorials mean it really grabs a hold of your gut.

Gettysburg, PA (this was much more impressive than I imagined)

It is hard to describe the emotion of this place. Think of the men and boys that fought at this site. It is hard to even imagine the fear, the bravery and the courage it took to be in these battles. All of us should give thanks to these men and women and bow our head to them, from President Lincoln all the way down to the infantryman.

11 comments:

The neverending battle of child's opiate addiction said...

Welcome back, looks like you had yourself some fun! Glad to see it;)

Syd said...

I like the Blueridge so much. And my visit to Gettysburg was moving. Glad that you made it back safe and sound.

VJ said...

Safe and sound! Welcome home. You deserve a great vacation!

kim said...

Glad you had a wonderful vacation. Also you must be proud of your Kansas football team too!

BMelonsLemonade said...

The Blue Ridge Parkway, huh? It really is beautiful there. I grew up in NC, and the mountains have been part of my family history for many generations. My grandfather used to tell this story about going to the mountains when he was a child to bring spring water back to his town in SC. My mom has a house near Asheville that we visit as often as we can. She is actually up there most weekends. I am glad you had a wonderful time. I think the mountains of North Carolina are very healing.

CC said...

it is beautiful country there. glad you had a fun time. welcome home, Dad.

Bar L. said...

Awesome pics! Your sweetheart is beautiful, you lucked out, dude! Glad you had fun and that you are back.

Remember when you were approached to be on Intervention or one of those shows? Keven has been approached and wants to do it but I am a bit hesitant. Any words of wisdom? Its a new show that will show the whole nine yards....not just the end result of meeting the addict and talking to him. Not sure what it will be called. His therapist is involved and recommended him. Yikes!

Anna said...

Welcome Back ! I was very moved by Gettysburg too.

Tori said...

Thank you for sharing all your pictures. Welcome back.

Her Big Sad said...

I'm so glad you had a good time!!! Thx for sharing the pictures! I sent you some photos recently by email (woodword at the OC fair). Let me know if you did not receive. :)

Dad and Mom said...

I got the pictures. They were great, segmented bowls are real popular right now. I do not have a large lathe so I have not been able to try my hands at those.

The rocker was great it was a Sam Maloof style rocker and those require a lot of skill and expertise in joinery.

Unfortunately Sam Maloof died recently and he was a wonderful man in the woodworking field. Google him and see some of his work. He made the rocker for President Kennedy that you see him sitting in when you see pictures of President Kennedy relaxing because of his bad back from fighting in WWII.