Pass-A-Grille, FL

On our second day here, we took the ferry over to Shell Island. The island is only a short 10 minute boat ride from where we were staying. We arrived at the island at about 10:15. The water and sands there seemed even clearer than at Pass-a-grille.


We spent most of the day wading through the water looking for shells. We found so many sand dollars that we eventually stopped keeping them if they had any imperfections. In addition to sand dollars, we found olive shells, a lightning welk, a pear welk, scallops, and and Florida fighting conch shells.

When the boat captain dropped us off at the beach, he warned us that stingrays are often found in the water this time of year. He told that if you shuffled your feet while wading in the water, the rays would swim out of the way. We were skeptical, but we followed his directions not willing to risk a painful sting. We are glad we followed his instructions- we did stir up a sting ray while wading in the water. Since we were not hurt thanks to our skilled shuffling, it was fun to see the ray swim gracefully off. Kate actually stirred one up on Tuesday as well, but it actually swam over her foot. It gave her a little scare!

Once again, it felt like we had our own private beach. We walked for a long time and ended up on the opposite side of the island. We were focused on searching for shells but we were delighted when we saw 2 dolphins diving in the water less than 30 yards away.

As we were heading back to our chairs we began to hear thunder in the distance. Since we were on a island, we decided not to eat our picnic lunch but try to make our way back to boat in case it did start storming.
Because we were out in the water most of the day, we did not have our camera with us. But this is us still at Shell Island waiting for the ferry to return. We got back to our room around 2:30. We ate brief lunch, and then lotion-ed back up to go back to the beach. We truly enjoyed alternating between sitting in the beach chairs and floating in the teal water.

We had dinner just a block from our room at the Hurricane Restaurant. We ate outside so we could watch the sun set as we ate dinner.

Andy had a fresh caught grouper sandwich. The menu claimed that the recipe was the same one that they had used since 1945. We have to agree that we don't see any reason to change. It was some of the best fried fish we have ever had.
I had a crab cake melt. It was wonderful as well. We really enjoyed the food and the atmosphere. You can't beat a view like this at dinner!


And it just seemed to get better as the sun set!

On day three, we spent day lounging beside the water. We have gone through a lot of suntan lotion in the last three days.

We took our last dip in the ocean at about 5:30. While we were swimming, 3 dolphins surfaced just in front of us. We have constantly been surprised by little unexpected moments in our three days here.
In addition to variety of shells here, we have seen a lot water fowl too. Here is a heron that walked right up to where we were sitting.
Tonight for dinner we went to Snappers. This restaurant was not on the water but the food was excellent. Andy was overwhelmed by the size of his fried "fisherman's friend" platter. It was so much food, that he was unable to clean his plate! Yep, that's a lot of food!

Kate had coconut cashew encrusted mahi with grilled bananas and a potato puff pastry! It was as good as it sounds! We had planned to have key lime pie for dessert but we were just too full!

Each day there has been a little bit cloudier than the previous. Tonight it was too cloudy for a spectacular sunset, but we went down to the beach anyway. The sand was so soft and cool, so we posed for one more photo opportunity. It was a great end to wonderful, romantic vacation.

If you ever need a quick romantic or family-fun get-away, we highly recommend Pass-a-grille Beach, Florida. And while your there, we recommend staying at the Sabal Palm Inn. We had our own little apartment complete with a kitchen. They also offer complementary beach chairs and beach bikes.

Tomorrow, we head towards Atlanta to see Andy's sister and her family, and then on to Concord from there. Andy goes back to work on Monday, and I know he is not ready for his vacation to be over. But we can't complain because we have had a great month of July!

Florida Day 1 & 2

Kate and I were honored to be invited to my friend Brandon Clark's wedding in Ponte Vedra, FL. Brandon started out as a student/basketball player of mine when I taught and coached at Avery County High School in the NC mountains. We have kept in touch and are now good friends. I was so young when I was teaching him that it was easy to transition to being "grown up" friends. We left early Saturday morning (6:00am!) and drove down to St. Augustine Beach, where our hotel was. We were a little disappointed in our hotel, but we only slept there so no big deal. The town of St. Augustine wasn't as good as we were hoping it to be. It is very touristy and reminds of a cross between Myrtle Beach and Charleston. We didn't like it too much so we were glad we only decided to stay one night.

We got to the wedding in Ponte Vedra around 6:00pm. It was at Palm Valley Gardens, which is a beautiful venue with a large house, pond and nice open area for the ceremony. The ceremony was small and intimate and we loved it. It was so good to see so many of my old friends from Avery County. I have so many great memories with these people, and it was so much fun to revisit some of them at such a joyous time. We wish all of God's blessings on Brandon and Shelley and are very grateful they invited us to be a part of their day.


This is me and my boys. (left to right) Anthony, Sean, Stephen, Q-Ball (me), B.J. and Chris. Brandon is missing but he was kind of busy today so we'll let him slide. I spent a lot of hours with these guys and ate a lot of meals at Sean and Chris's house while I was a young bachelor. I probably would have starved to death if they hadn't fed me so well. Thanks to the Turners, Edwards and Spradlings (and the Country House) for feeding me all those meals! It was so good to see everyone. I hope it's not 10 years before I see them again.

Since we were in Florida already (and Andy had never been to Florida before), we decided to explore the coast and see what adventures awaited! Andy did some research before we headed south, and we decided to go to the gulf coast instead of staying on the east side. We ended up in quaint historic town called Pass-a-grille Beach, Florida. We weren't sure what to expect, but we were pleasantly surprised. It was enough off the beaten path to ward off the huge crowds. And it was beautiful.


The waters were turquoise and the beaches were white. And great sea shells were every where. Sunday there were quite a few people out on the beach, but on Monday and Tuesday it seemed like everyone else went back to work and we were left with our own private beach. And the best part of where we were staying- it was literally 100 steps (Kate actually counted) away from the beach!

Andy and Kate on the beach on Sunday. Look at that water!

After an afternoon on the beach, we went to a local restaurant to get some fresh seafood. This is us at The Wharf. The Wharf is on the sound side of the island. Andy had fresh hand-made crab cakes and I had steamed shrimp. It was some of the best steamed shrimp we have ever had.


The gulf coast is known for its sunsets and the sunset on Sunday night did not disappoint.

Our tan toes in the sunset!
These are the palm trees along the dunes.

After a beautiful sunset, we had to top off our wonderful first day with a beach must...ice cream. There is a local sweet shop only a block down the road from our hotel. To our delight it had homemade ice cream. Andy's choice for the night...Toast Coconut and Chocolate.

Rocky Mountain High...Colorado

On Wednesday, July 13^th we made it to our last national park in out Wild West Tour- Rocky Mountain National Park. We decided to abbreviate our trip and just do a day tour of RMNP.

We started on the east side of the park. We had lunch at the Trail Ridge Café. Since it was a beautiful day and we had been cooped up in the car for two days, we opted to eat lunch outside. And I am so glad we did because the porch was lined with hummingbird feeders that were swarming with Broad-Tailed Hummingbirds. The hummingbirds darting from one feeder to another hypnotized both Stephanie and Kate.

After lunch, we stopped in at the Falls Visitor Center to see what they suggested we see. The ranger recommended that we travel the Trail Ridge Road. Here’s a little information about the road. The road covers 48 miles between Estes Park on the park's east side and Grand Lake on the west side of the park. Eleven miles of this high highway travel above treeline, the elevation near 11,500 feet where the park's evergreen forests come to a halt. At one point we reached a sign letting us know that we were 2 miles above sea level. Jim and Stephanie experienced a little shortness of breath due to the high altitude but luckily none of us experienced the dreaded altitude sickness that several friends had warned us about. At the its high point on the road we were at 12,183 feet elevation. As we drove into the alpine tundra, we watched the thermometer on the dashboard dropped 10 degrees in about 15 minutes. The self-guided booklet tour that Stephanie bought said that in that windswept alpine world, conditions resemble those found in the Canadian or Alaskan Arctic. It's normally windy and 20 to 30 degrees colder than Estes Park or Grand Lake. The sun beats down with high- ultraviolet intensity. Kate experienced the affects of the strong UV rays. Even though we spent less than 30 minutes out of the car in the sun, Kate’s face was visibility sunburned that evening.

Our first stop was at Sheep Lakes, a place that is often frequented by big horn sheep. But there were no sheep to be seen today. We were disappointed because the big horn sheep are the icon symbol of RMNP. Kate and Andy had seen the big horn sheep in Glacier NP two summers ago but we were hoping that Jim and Steph would get to see these unique animals.

From the convenience of our car, we were able to park and walk to several amazing views. There aren’t really words to describe the panoramic views that we encountered around each turn. I’ll have to just let the pictures speak for themselves. But trust me when I say, that in now way do these pictures do justice to the real thing.

In each of the parks we visited this summer, we timed it just right for the viewing of wildflowers. Even in the alpine tundra there were over a dozen types of flowers in a square foot.

We did not do any hiking in RMNP, but that did not hinder our wildlife encounters. As mentioned, we got to see the Broad-Tailed Hummingbird. Its wings make a whistling noise when it flies through the air. We also got to see an American Pike, a rare rodent that lives at extremely high altitude. It can be fatal for a pika if its body temperature ever exceeds 75. We also got to see several large herds of elk. Even though we had seen elk in Yellowstone and Olympic, it was interesting to see the elk in large herds. We also saw several make elk with large antler racks. These male elk had already shed the velvet off their antlers making them look more like the picturesque elk in classic western art.

The ranger had told us that if we did not see the big horn sheep at Sheepshead Lake, then our next best bet would be at Millian Pass. We got to the turn out for Millian pass. We grabbed the binoculars to scan the rocky slopes, but again there were no sheep to be seen. We decided to follow Highway 34 out of the park instead of back tracking over the road we had already seen. You can imagine our excitement when we rounded the bend and there were several cars pull off to the side of the road. We started scanning the mountainside for a possible animal encounter. And there they were. Up on a high rocky ledge. Four big horn sheep. We watched as the climbed the rocky slope and head-butted each other.

Our waitress at lunch had told us the best place to perhaps get view of a moose would be on the west side of the park near Grand Lake. So after viewing the sheep we piled back in the car to make our way out of the park and towards Grand Lake. We passed several traffic jams of people pulled over to look at elk grazing in the meadows. But when we were less than 15 minutes from the park exit we approached our last animal jam of the day. We knew immediately that is one was different because people were quickly exiting their cars and running down the shoulder of the road. As we got closer we could see why. There next to the road beside a small creek was a mother moose and her twin babies (we call them meese!)

If you don’t know, moose are typically shy around humans and like to avoid the limelight. What a rare treat to get to see this mother and her babies so close. As we pulled out of the park and pointed the suburban east towards Concord we all agreed that it was the “icing on the cake” to an awesome adventure!

Tonight we are in Paducah, Kentucky. We are only 9 nine hours from home. And while we have all had a great time filled with moments we will never forget. We are all ready for our own beds. So until our next adventure (Florida in days), we are signing off and encouraging you to get out there on the road and have an adventure of your own!

Andy & Kate

Last Days In Olympic

Today we woke up and packed up our campsite at Kalaloch and moved north toward our next destination, Log Cabin Resort on the shores of Lake Crescent. We were sad to say goodbye to our campsite on the beach, but excited to see what surprises Olympic had in store for us.

As we moved on towards Lake Crescent, we passed another of Olympic’s famous beaches, Rialto Beach. This beach was not sandy at all; its shoreline was covered with round smooth stones. Most of the stones were a blue-gray color, but some were shades of brown, green, and red. We decided to hike to the sea stack called “Hole in the Wall”. The hike was about 3 miles round trip. But it was worth the effort. On the way to the “Hole in the Wall”, we saw seals playing in the breakers. We also saw another river otter scamper out of the trees into the ocean and a bald eagle soar overhead. Once we reached the sea stack and took lots of photos we explored the tidal pools around the sea stacks. They where filled with more sea stars and sea anemones.

After leaving the beach, we reached Lake Crescent. The lake was formed by a glacier and at its deepest point it is over 600 feet deep. But the waters are a clear turquoise blue; it almost looks unnatural. We spent most of the afternoon setting up camp and doing laundry.

The next morning, we had two hikes planned. The first hike was up to Marymere Falls. This hike took us back through the old growth forest similar to the Hoh rainforest. The waterfall was beautiful. It was about 90 feet high and collected in a small pool at the bottom of the fall.

From the waterfall, we headed into Port Angeles. Port Angeles is a city on the Strait of Juan de Fuca which separates the Washington state from Canada. We ate lunch on the pier at a delicious restaurant called Downriggers. I know we seem to talk about food on our blog a lot but we do appreciate good food. We started with crab dip and asparagus tempura (Washington is the nation’s leading producer of asparagus). Mom had grilled salmon, Kate, Trey, and Jim had a shrimp and crab melt, Meg and Andy had fried halibut. It was glorious! For dessert we stopped at a local produce stand and picked up 2 lbs of cherries. Both pounds were eaten in less than 2 days! They were tasty!

After our hearty lunch, we headed up the long, twisting road to Hurricane Ridge. We decided to take the hike called Hurricane Hill. I think calling it a “hill” was a bit of an understatement. We started at 5000 feet and climbed 600 feet. The trail was 1.6 miles one way- but the way up was definitely the most difficult part. When we were almost to the top Megan said, “How do we get down?”. Mom replied, “The same way we came up.” To which Megan said, “Are you freakin’ kidding me?” The trail was pretty steep but it was also gorgeous. The wildflowers were in full bloom so while we were all sucking in gasps of oxygen at least those gasps were the scent of fresh mountain air with lupine and evergreen mixed in. The ranger at the vistor center had told us that there were some spots that were still covered with snow. We all envisioned some light patches here and there. We did not expect to find entire section (some at least 100 yrds long) still completely cover with snow that was several feet deep. Once we all arrived at the top (which was at varied increments of time), we were greeted with a 360 degree view of Hurricane Ridge. It was one of the most spectacular views I have ever seen. This hike was full of unexpected wildlife encounters as well. There were black tail deer everywhere. They were not really scared of us. In fact, it was usually us that were backing away from the deer as oppose to the other way around. Megan spotted a black bear on the mountainside next to use. This was the first wild bear encounter for Megan and Trey. We also saw several Olympic marmots (this is the only place in the world where they survive) and a mother grouse with her two babies. On the drive down off the mountain, Megan spotted another black bear. This one was close enough for us to get some photos. All in the group agreed that the hike was well worth it and that we were glad we had decided to do it.

After our hike our stomachs were growling. We decided to hit up Port Angeles again. We were pleased with our choice of WestSide Pizza. And we pick up 3 more chocolate bars at the convenience store since it was Meg and Trey’s last night with us; we had to roast the last of the marshmallows. We have perfected the art of marshmallow roasting. Some of us even go as far placing our graham crackers and chocolate bars on a warm rock to heat the chocolate while our marshmallow roast. I highly recommend this technique.

By the time the marshmallow roasting was over, the moon was high in the sky and sparkling off the smooth surface of Lake Crescent. We all said reluctant good nights knowing that tomorrow would bring some temporary good-byes.

In the morning Megan and Trey headed home via the Seattle airport. And the rest of us packed our tents back into the Suburban and made the turn back east. We still have a lot of miles to go. Washington state is a long way from Concord, NC. But we have one more stop along the way. We are going to spend a day in Rocky Mountain National Park, and who knows what other adventures we will find along the way.

Kate and Andy

Kalaloch is Pronounced Clay-Lock

Wednesday (July 7) we packed up our campsite at Yellowstone and headed west yet again toward Washington State and Olympic National Park. Not much to report here other than another long travel day. We ended up stopping for the night in Ellensburg, WA. Washington looked and felt a lot different than we imagined. When I think of Washington, I think of Seattle and rain, but pretty much all of eastern Washington was dry farm land. We learned that Washington is one of the leading agricultural states in the US.

We got up Thursday morning (July 8) and headed toward the Pacific coast. We went through the Cascade Mountains, and once we got over the mountains, we ran into the weather that we expected for Washington. It was about 57 degrees and sort of misty/rainy all day.

Around mid-day, we arrived at our campground at Kalaloch (pronounced Clay-Lock) Beach in Olympic National Park. This part of the Pacific certainly looks different than any other beach we’ve seen before. It’s pretty cold, and the water never gets much above 45 degrees. There were huge driftwood logs washed up on the shore. I don’t mean just logs, there were entire trees washed up. It’s hard to believe. We had a nice campsite that had a view of the Pacific. It was a little cold, but certainly worth the view.

Kate’s sister Megan and her husband Trey flew into Seattle and drove down to join us at our campsite so we had the whole family in one spot. We had back-to-back campsites so we all hung around the fire to stay warm and had a few s’mores to wrap up the evening. Our campsite had some berries that we thought were raspberries, but turned out be to salmonberries, a local berry. The trees in Olympic were amazing and had all sorts of different root formations and weird angles.

Friday (July 8) we all got up and had a great breakfast of eggs, bacon, grits and toast. Kate and I had said we were going to eat healthy on the trip, but we left that idea in Nebraska. We’ll pick it up on the way back through, but for now we’ll indulge a bit. Today’s first stop was a trip to Beach #4 in search of tidal pools where we could see some sea life. We were really hoping to see some sea anemones and sea stars, but weren’t sure what we would see. The beaches here are so different than what we have in NC. They are very rocky and have huge trees and logs washed up. There are millions of small, smooth, round rocks that have washed up on the shore. It really is an amazing site. The water is also very cold and not a lot of fun to walk in.

We got down to the beach and made our way over to the rocks where you can see the tide pools. We got really excited when we saw our first sea star and sea anemones. Little did we know that we would see as many as we could possibly hope for. There were anemones and sea stars everywhere. The stars come in purple, orange and pink and are big and fat. I’ve never seen anything like it before. It’s like being in a different world.

As we were looking for stars and such, we came across an otter eating an early lunch on a rock not 20 yards from us. He was eating a fish and we got to watch him for a good while. I think we got a little too excited and were talking too loudly because he kept looking at us and eventually went back into the water to finish his lunch.

It was really nice to have Meg and Trey here with us. I will say though, that we have been going through the food. It’s hard to pack food for 6 people in one cooler and the back of a Suburban with all your other stuff. Makes you wonder how they did it back in the pioneer days. They probably did without Coke and Wavy Lays, which have been a staple around our campsite.

After a picnic lunch at beach 4, we headed toward the Hoh (pronounced Hoy) Rainforest. The Hoh rainforest is a temperate rain forest and has species and growth that only exist in this one spot in the entire world. The Hoh exists because of a combination of several geographic things that happened all together to create it. There are giant trees, huge banana slugs, cougars, air plants, and elk that live in the forest. The Hoh gets an average of 142 inches of rain a year. That’s about 12 feet of rain every year. The Charlotte region averages about 42 inches a year if you want to have a comparison. It feels like you are in the jungle, except it’s kind of cool. Kind of reminds of Jurassic Park when the Velociraptors jumped put and ate everybody.

We found a couple of banana slugs, which is one of the Hoh’s most unique residents. Compared to a bison or grizzly bear, it’s not much. But, as slugs go, it’s pretty impressive.

On our way out of the Hoh, Trey decided he wanted to pick up where a beaver had left off and grab a quick snack. I tried to rupture all the muscles in my legs and do a split between two huge fallen trees.

We left the Hoh and stopped to snap a family pic at the Olympic Park sign, then checked out a couple of t-shirt shops and grabbed some snacks before we headed back to our campsite.

We ended the day with a nice spaghetti dinner cooked up by Steph, whom we have affectionately nicknamed “Cookie” for this wagon train. Jim is the “Captain”, Kate is the “Tour Guide”, Meg and Trey are the “Stowaways” and I’m the “Navigator”. Put us all together and we make a pretty good group. After lots and lots of s’mores, we watched the sunset on the Pacific, which is almost worth driving 3,000 miles on its own. We called it a night and I don’t think any one had any trouble sleeping.

Andy & Kate