bits 'n pieces of the big picture

sam and i have a ritual. well, when i think about it, we probably have more than one. no, no...nothing religious...just a personal ritual we have every year during the last two weeks of august. VACATION!!  yay! august really isn't the best time for vacationing here in the south...it's HOT and buggy! buggy and muggy! we go camping...and  unless you go to a campground that's on a fishing lake...or on the beach...you'll pretty much have the campground to yourself!  we like it like that!  so we battle with the mosquitoes, the no-seeums, the yellow flies...so that we can be away for both our birthdays (the 19th and 21st) and for our (8th year of being together) anniversary (the 16th).
i say camping...but to alot of you, what we do might not be considered camping. we don't tent it. we used to, but now we have a camper. it's a slide-in. it sits in the back of the truck. it makes the truck a bit wider...a bit taller...but we can go anywhere!  it's not like dragging a 25 footer behind you...trying to make it around hair-pin turns or up steep hills. we invested in this camper about five years ago....deciding that when we get to retirement age...that's what we want to do...hit the road! travel around! see new places!  but we thought it a good idea to get the camper NOW and get away whenever we can...because you just never know what kind of shape you'll be in by the time your 60...65. or if we'll even still be here!  what if i can't climb up into the camper? what if i can't get up and down from the bed in the camper? so lets get away at every opportunity NOW...while we still can!  while we can still walk, hike, bike....

see the part that hangs over the cab of the truck? that's our bed. it's bigger than our bed at home!










so one week from today...next saturday...we'll be on our way to see some caverns in alabama. DeSoto caverns i think. from there...we're leaving it all up in the air! we'll go from state pk to state pk...staying a couple of nights here and there...hiking the trails...and going "aaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhh"  at all the beauty in nature!  we'll slowly work our way back to florida over two weeks.

so i thought i'd post some pictures from past adventures.    enjoy!!  :)

caverns in north florida. marianna, florida.










in the smokie mountains, north carolina.

this was NOT an august vacation...the trees have no leaves...end of march i think. this pictures always reminds  me of the desert. weird, but when i see the bare trees like that it makes me think of tall cactuses! (hey! i had to look that one up - cacti is the usual plural of cactus - but cactuses IS acceptable!)

this gorge was also famous for The Great Wallenda...who in 1970 tightrope walked across this gorge...making two headstands along the way!


below is another view of the gorge. on either side of the gorge...waaay up top, are the remains of the cement blocks and metal frames that held the cable for Wallenda's walk.

two water snakes mating  along the suwannee river at suwannee river state park,  (north) florida.

this park is where the withlacoochee and suwannee rivers meet.

It is a terrible thing to see and have no vision.  ~Helen Keller 

we don't have an 'air card'...or an i-phone...so, while on vacation we'll have no access to the internet...unless we happen to see a free wi-fi place along the way...but i kinda doubt it!

i'll probably post more pictures during the week...nature in our yard...

but next saturday...will be bye-bye...for 2 weeks!

The goal of life is to make your heartbeat match the beat of the universe, to match your nature with Nature.  ~Joseph Campbell 

pax pace amani peace shalom eace-pay vrede paz paix 

stay cool - laura