ST AUGUSTINE, FL (Home).  Arrived safely around 3:20 pm, unhooked the Jeep, and parked the motorhome.  Then we scurried to get ourselves ready for the drive to Gainesville to join our congregation in celebrating Reformation Sunday.  It was a longer drive than I had remembered, and the long drive back in the dark was very tiring.  In between was a wonderful time of worship and fellowship, getting to meet the members of our sister church, Redemption OPC.

Now that we are home, there is much unpacking and cleaning up to do.  Many chores and appointments await us.  At least it is not as hot and humid as it was when we left three weeks ago.

SOUTH OF SAVANNAH, GA.  Took only a couple hours to reach this campground, Savannah Oaks.  We have good WIFI here, enabling us to update this blog.  We did not want to drive all the way home today, since we have some housekeeping chores to do before arriving home.  We hope to get there tomorrow in mid-afternoon, allowing us time to get settled enough that we can depart by car for Gainesville to join our home congregation who will be celebrating Reformation Sunday with sister church, Redemption OPC.

SUMMERTON, SC.  Drove about four hours to get to I-95.  Stayed at a beautiful location on Lake Marion, the largest man-made lake east of the Mississippi.  This is another case where a large village was flooded to form a lake with a hydroelectric utility.  Apparently one can scuba dive down to see what remains of the village, replete with cemetery.

The lake is named after Francis Marion, the Swamp Fox of Revolutionary War fame.  Battles with the British were fought on this site.

It was a clear cool day, but we had no internet, so I am writing this the following day south of Savannah.

View of Lake Marion from Fishing Pier

View of Lake Along Shoreline

NEWLAND, NC (Day 6).  Today was an overcast, dark, windy, and rainy day.  As I write this after dark, I can hear a heavy rain and wind gusts outside.  Inside our home away from home, it is warm and dry.

It was nevertheless a good day in that we met the pastor of Grace Highlands Presbyterian Church (PCA) in a small town northwest of Boone named Vilas.  Most of its members are from the Boone area, but Vilas had storefront space at a good price.  A large portion of those who attend are sunbirds like us, so attendance fluctuates over the year.

The pastor's name is Graham Isaac Svendsen.  We marveled that a young man from the Los Angeles area originally was of Norwegian heritage.  Apparently his grandparents migrated to California from the upper Midwest.  Graham graduated from Westminster Seminary in Escondido a couple years before our pastor back home in St Augustine.  We had a wonderful time talking to him in early afternoon.  The photo below was taken in dark lighting indoors, so there is some blur.  Once again, this time due to the weather, I did not take my good camera, so I used my phone.

After this we got some lunch and visited a real estate office in Boone to leave our contact information for future properties in the area that might become available to us.

Graham Svendsen and Betty

Worship Area of Grace Highlands PCA

Tomorrow we leave for our home in St Augustine, stopping at two RV parks along the way, and arriving home Sunday afternoon.  We hope to have enough energy left to drive the car to Gainesville to join the Reformation Day celebration at Redemption OPC.  

NEWLAND, NC (Day 5).  Today we drove up to Boone and to its surrounding areas to check out things like the Publix (great), other campgrounds (some good and some bad), the new PCA church in Vilas currently meeting in a store front (no one was there but we looked in the windows; looked nice inside), and to make reservations for next summer at a KOA.

On our drive back to our campground, Betty shot images out the car window.  It was freezing cold and windy last night, and the colors of the leaves really seemed to snap in the sunlight today.  There is some blur due to the moving car.

The strong winds apparently blew off quite a few leaves from some trees.  See below.

NEWLAND, NC (Day 4).   Today we did some reading, went grocery shopping, and then went out to dinner in Banner Elk with the Rohrbaughs.

NEWLAND, NC (Day 3).  Today we spent doing laundry and other housekeeping chores.  A cold front came through today bringing wind and rain.  Much cooler now.  Good day to spend inside reading.

NEWLAND, NC (Day 2).  Today we once again streamed the church service back home.  After church we joined our friends, the Rohrbaughs, for a hiking trip at Linville Falls.  This time of year, especially on a weekend, this place is crowded.

It was a pretty long hike for us, and a fairly steep climb along a rocky and trip-root laden trail.  Betty and I need much more of this kind of exercise, and we were a bit sore from it the next day.

Early on we crossed the Linville River, beautiful in autumn coloration.  

Betty on Bridge Over Linville River

Linville River

Exposed Roots Along the Path

Tree Grown Out of Rock

David and Jo Rohrbaugh Along Trail

Lower Linville Falls

View from Higher Elevation

Betty Shot This of Steven

Jo, Betty, and Steven at Upper Falls

David and Jo at Upper Falls

Steven and Betty Near Upper Falls

Steven Near Upper Falls

Closeup of Upper Falls

As we returned to our campground, the afterglow of the sun after setting behind the park was spectacular (see below photo).

Evening Afterglow

NEWLAND, NC.  Today we drove the short distance from Buck Hill Campground to arrive here at Down by the River Campground.  As we left Buck Hill, the scene from the area of the rental cabins was great.  Even if you do not have an RV, you can stay there in one of their cabins.  Some are big as houses, accommodating six.

Buck Hill Cabins View

Our Section of Down by the River Campground

Our Site for Six Days

Today we shall do laundry and other housekeeping duties.

OUTSIDE NEWLAND, NC (Day 7).  Today was spent visiting Grandfather Mountain and Boone, NC, particularly Samaritans Purse Headquarters.

The ride to Grandfather Mountain was slowed by the bottleneck at the entrance, where traffic coming from both directions were stopped by those hoping to enter the park.  

 Once inside, one travels narrow winding roads that required a speed no higher than 25 mph to keep in one's lane.  Along the way are many wonderful views, picnic areas, walking trails, the museum with its gift shop, grill, and animal exhibits (or zoo).  At the very top (mile high) are the swinging bridge, photo exhibits, and another gift shop.

Forrest Gump Is Shown Running Up This Curve in Film

Betty Poses Next to Exhibit in Museum

Large Burl from Black Burch Tree

We Had Lunch in the Grill (Restaurant)

Bald Eagle at Zoo

Black Bear at Zoo

Cougar at Zoo

Elk at Zoo

River Otter at Zoo

We then headed up to the top to the mile-high swinging bridge area.

Betty Was Eager to Cross the Bridge

I tried to cross the bridge, but the strong wind was swinging the bridge too much.  I felt too woozy to continue.  But Betty persevered, as did many others.  

Those Who Crossed Over Continued to the Peak

The views from the top are wonderful.

The quality of these images are not the best, since we both forgot to take our DSLRs and shot all these with our phones.

Then we drove slowly down the steep roads of the mountain to make our way to Boone, NC.  We were surprised by the heavy traffic in a small town, but Boone looks like a great place to spend the hot months of the year.  

We fought with the GPS for a long while until it finally led us to the Samaritans Purse headquarters.  I was expecting a converted airplane hangar or the like where Christmas boxes and relief supplies could be packed and shipped, but what we found was a pristine complex of buildings with well-groomed grounds. 

Below is a panorama of the complex, with the office building on the left, the visitors center across the street far back at the center, and the packaging/loading/shipping center on the right.  The low sun toward the end of day complicated photography, especially using cell phones.  

Panorama of Samaritans Purse Complex

Office Building and Parking Garage

Their Logo Displayed at Garage Entry

Office Building Grounds

Logo Atop Packing/Loading/Shipping Building

Poster on Wall Inside Building Above

View Inside Front of Visitor Center