Our America trip was a total of 2 weeks and 2 days...or 3 days if you count the overnight trip back to Amsterdam. I have already shown the first week in Maine with sister Ruth, BIL Don, and brother Nelson here.
So, that leaves 1 week and 2 days, split between two places as follows (as posted on Facebook):
The North Georgia Mountains:
Actually, the story begins with daughter Amy picking us up from our flight to Atlanta from Portland,
and immediately taking us to her place of business since March of this year:
[This was my only photo, from inside the glass building--I was too busy listening/looking!]
Astrid made this collage of her images.
And yes, one of Amy's perks is having her own MB car to drive!
Top-left is their most expensive MB; the red one below is their cheapest, with a $100K difference!
You know Astrid...dying to get outside first thing every morning.
She loved practicing with her new camera, a 2-upgrade version of my Canon PowerShot.
[BTW, I also upgraded to the same camera but didn't get it till at Bob and Peggy's.]
[BTW, I also upgraded to the same camera but didn't get it till at Bob and Peggy's.]
I followed suit with my coloring. HA!
In the meantime, we had 2 days of errands before our annual trip to the cabin,
sneaking in the obligatory how-he's-growing-up photos with Nicholas.
He's not in college this semester but is working at Chick-Fil-A as a shift supervisor.
After settling into our cabin in the North Georgia mountains, Astrid and I took a walk.
Because rain was forecast off-n-on for the next 3 days, we grabbed the good weather while we could.
So, what do you do when it rains all day at the cabin! So many choices.
Amy had made a jigsaw puzzle of one of Astrid's past cabin photos...a fun challenge again.
Mark, Dennis, Amy and I continued our Spades games, while Astrid and Nicholas did their thing.
We watched the last two Avenger movies...and football, of course!
We've been carrying on like this for 10 years by now, most of the time at the same cabin.
Astrid had so much fun learning what her new camera can do. Rain was good to practice on.
And since I was still coloring, yes, I had to post this for our Saturday football.
I got to watch my alma mater, Michigan, beat Notre Dame, 45-14.
You have no idea how good that made me feel. GO BLUE!
Astrid made this collage of the muffin-making process I undertook each morning.
Son Mark brings the all-bran muffin mix every year and I bake them fresh each day.
OMG! Another one of the obligatories!
This is the collage Astrid made of the jigsaw puzzle,
which she ended up working on more than the rest of us put together.
She was also the one who took walks, more than the rest of us!
When this popped up from 3 years ago, I had to post it again.
This was her old camera, of course, but she continued the practice with her new one (not as big).
By the last day, Mark, Astrid and I took our "annual" walk together, to catch up,
which Astrid captured beautifully here. If you're counting, that makes a 3rd "obligatory."
The cherry on top is that Mark the next week got a promotion at his work during his annual review.
The cherry on top is that Mark the next week got a promotion at his work during his annual review.
Bob and Peggy's South of Atlanta:
Just like that, we came down the mountain, grabbed the rest of our stuff, said good-bye to everyone and headed to our rendezvous point with Bob and Peggy (thanks to Mark).
You might remember that both Bob and Peggy love to cook.
How about a cream cheese, smoked salmon omelet for breakfast? WOW!
Or the low-country boil Bob loves to make for us, under Astrid's supervision?!
Astrid's fun was also going with him to the DeKalb Farmer's Market to buy the ingredients.
My fun (and Peggy's, too) was eating it!
We had rain there, too, so Astrid took only one walk with Bob and Roscoe-the-Dog,
all decked out for Halloween.
Our last full day we treated Bob and Peggy to a meal out in Covington,
at one of their favorite restaurants, Real Louisiana Cuisine.
It was Astrid's first time to eat Jambalaya, which we both had.
If you like Cajun/Creole food, you'd be in heaven.
[Astrid's collage]
The day we started our flight back to Amsterdam was Halloween.
BOO!
I say "started" because we always fly overnight, arriving at home the next day.
It so happened that the weather was terrible that Thursday, with many roads closed.
Bob and Peggy had a prior engagement they didn't want to miss...so we started early,
which explains why we were at the Atlanta airport waiting for our flight for 9+ hours.
Not to worry! Amy gave us her Sequence game after finding out how much we liked it in Maine,
so we pulled it out and quickly passed away the time.
By 7 p.m.the next day we were back home safe-n-sound.
There and back again. It's always good to go and then come back home,
feeling so lucky for these times with family and friends.
Precious memories! Beautiful photos!
ReplyDeleteYes, Marie, and thank you!
Deleteit looks like a lovely vacation when you see it all together like this, for us to go with you <3
ReplyDeleteI'm always glad when you can go with us like this, Elaine, so thanks.
DeleteI look forward to the photos of Astrid and Nicholas every year. It's fun to see how fast Nicholas is growing.
ReplyDeleteI know what you mean, Maria. It's an annual ritual we all love! :)
DeleteI love seeing these again in one place. And congrats to Mark on the promotion!!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Ruth. I need to put everything in its proper place to keep it organized. HA! You know how much Time has its way of mixing things up. :)
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