We may have underestimated....

The recreation area Duke Energy opened this area with a trail to the falls. The trail just opened this year in April.

we didn't know anything much about it...other than it was a way to get down to the waterfall.

reading to see about how long it would take us...

getting closer to the trail

We happened to meet the man who designed the trail as we set out. He was there with his family. He wanted to show his mother the finished trail.

Based on the sign we figured 1/2 hour down..."we may have underestimated" is what more than one person coming up the trail said....but we kept going...haha

John, Bill & Kathie

We climbed over fallen trees...and crossed a couple of little bridges...like this one

over the bridges and through to woods...past the rocks... I know it's silly...but they made me nervous...I went quickly past the rocks

heading back up-I looked like a professional...with my purse! hahah

stopped while John and Bill Chatted with "Mom" and others

It was a nice day. The trail was nice...a little more strenuous then we thought....but not enough to stop us. We took about 2-3 hrs total....from the time we started down...to the time we hiked back up.
We were glad we had taken advantage of the walking sticks someone had left behind. First took them as kind of a joke...but realized rather quickly that they might actually come in handy. We all made it in one piece...Bill with his bad knee...me with my purse, Kathie slow and steady...and John stopping to get photos for me. It was worth the hike... we all felt good once we finished!

A Trip To the Mountains

View from my window

Centerpiece...one of Kathie's many decorations around the house

lots of colors

Out on the deck we were surrounded by trees. Lots of yellows...that got deeper yellow as the days went by.

Temperatures were nice and cool...40's in the morning...60's during the day. Mostly clear skies while we were there. We did have some rain during the drive up from Atlanta and it continued the next morning...but when it cleared up...the sky was BLUE!

many different birds were enjoying the bird feeder on the porch...a little more variety than I have in Florida.

view down near the clubhouse...I loved the row of red trees

coming down the path on our walk

I liked the pop of color in the green

Each time I went out for a walk I had to have my camera ready. I was snapping away...I just couldn't help myself...haha I loved the colors. I stopped along the way to collect various colored leaves. Tried to find different shapes and colors...it was kind of  like going to the beach  and collecting shells. Once I started looking...it was hard to quit. But at the end of the day I looked them over and took a picture of my favorites.
John was patient with me...every time I stopped and said "Look at that one!" he went along with it...haha
He held the phone while I took pictures...or held leaves while I got  my camera out...etc I missed seeing the leaves the last two years...it was great to go back!
This trip I was determined to see a little more of the area...waterfalls, etc. We made it a point to take a few easy hikes. Decided I needed to spend time outdoors, enjoying the beauty...not just going into town to shop and eat...but don't worry...we did that too. haha All over town were pumpkins, scarecrows, haystacks, flowers, etc giving everything a very festive look.
Tomorrow I'll post some pictures from our hike on a new trial that just opened in April.

Tell tale signs that you are getting older.....

John's 40th Class Reunion was this past weekend.

The committee did a great job...everything was super organized and very nicely done

They had an informal  get-together downtown Friday night, then a dinner/dance party on Saturday night.

there were lots of goodies...treats on the tables, door prizes and goody bags with an assortment of coupons and gifts and the requisite T-shirt

AND THESE! HAHAHAHAH ...only at a 40th reunion would you find these kind of treats in your goody bag!

 

The weekend was a great success...John really enjoyed seeing a lot of old friends. I think he told me 169 people had signed up...not a bad turn out. Approximately 60 classmates have passed away over the years...they had a nice tribute to them as well. I knew some of the people...enough to have a good time Saturday night...though I did spend some time "observing " from the sidelines. More than once I met up with other "guests" in the bathroom...we all just laughed and figured we could handle being out of place...since our husbands seemed to be having fun. One of John's buddies and his wife danced  (I guess you could call it that.)..haha they could qualify for "So You Think You Can Dance"...he was such a goofy dancer...having such a good time...it was pretty funny. She kind of hopped around "doing jumping jacks (John's take on her moves)...don't know if anyone enjoyed the music more than those two. Funny!

Music "snob" that John thinks I am...I'm not really...it just takes me a while to get going if it's not the music I normally listen to... I enjoyed some time on the dance floor. Local DJ did a great job...kept everyone going with mostly old hits...but enough current, or more current music to keep things moving. We stayed until the end...then ventured over to The Monkey Bar where we crashed the Palm Bay High Class of 1988 Reunion. Their band was playing my kind of music!
Our friend Heather was there with her husband.
 Originally I had made a tentative plan with my friend Karen, Al, her cousin Rob and son David to meet up there if I needed to escape the Mel-Hi reunion...then I found out Heather & Chris would be there at her reunion...so things worked out well. We stayed at Monkey Bar until closing...can't remember the last time I did that! Danced (we danced more than the kids at the reunion I might add...hahah). John & I, our friend Kemp...who first crashed the  Mel High's reunion...then joined us at the Palm Bay High party. we had fun...the band Rock Candy was great...lots of Alternative 80's music. It was a bit loud...but what the heck...
Sunday morning we slept in a little...and then used some of the Biofreeze on our sore muscles...hahah

Another Sunday(except now it's Monday )

Last week was a pretty  good week. It was relatively quiet...which was fine with me. I needed a quiet week. Yesterday I spent the day shopping a various stores. I seemed to run in to someone everywhere I went. I guess one thing about having a hairstyle that never really changes...people always remember me...hahah I have run in to several people recently who greeted me with a hearty "Hi Anne!"...and I must confess I had to stop and think "Oh crap..who is this...I know this person..." I figured it out each time...and told them...as they asked "Do you remember who I am?" Two of the people were friends from Holy Trinity. Their girls were in the same class as my girls. It was fun to hear how their kids were doing...and to know they still remembered me...since I had not seen one of the  women in probably over 15 years!
Now in case you're wondering how these pictures have any relation to that story...They DON'T! haha There was an Art show in downtown Melbourne this weekend...David was in it. We stopped by today and

saw that he had won a prize! Always a good thing! It was really HOT though...so we did not hang around for long. We did stop by an artist's booth that we recognized. (He carved two of the fish we have on our walls.) John was chatting with him and noticed a new one he kind of liked. The artist gave us a bit of a deal...and John decided to get it. I took down one of my wreaths that was starting to get a little dried out...and rearranged the rest of the art work to accommodate the new fish.

These are pictures from a sunset last week. It was so nice...I went in and got my camera...and just kept taking pictures. My friend had a shot of the same sunset from her roof...and I passed another woman out on the street who was snapping pictures with her phone. It was one of those kind of nights!

The days have been nice lately...blue skies...a little cooler...if you get out early enough!  This was the view from my new phone...as I came in the back way into my neighborhood the other day.

And these clouds reminded me of some kind of giant smoke signal...they arched across the sky from south to north (or the other way I guess) here's the view looking north

same clouds- looking south

I mentioned that last week was kind of quiet...the week before...there was a little more going on. My good friend Karen lost her sister Laura on September 21st. It was not unexpected...but still hard. The memorial for Laura will be this Saturday. Also that week our good friend Mike Roy lost his father. His dad went golfing...came home and suffered a massive stroke. It was totally unexpected...but the family is managing. Mike and Denise had a small get together at their house...something he knew his Dad would've enjoyed.
Then the funeral mass was Monday, September 30th. It was a nice funeral...but sad. Everyone from the family participated in some way, the priest was good friends with Mike's mom...which all made it a nice service. Everyone is still kind of in shock...it's not something you ever can be prepared for. As I was telling Mike what a nice job he did with the eulogy...in my  mind I was thinking That is not anything anyone wants to be good at...reading eulogies for loved ones.  We also lost a neighbor the same week. He was a few days shy of his 89th birthday and from what I understand he was very matter of fact...he recently got sick and decided he was fine with whatever happened...he did not want any treatments...no heroic measures...as his mass card said (an excerpt)
When I come to the end of the road,
 and the sun has set for me,
I want no rites in a gloom -filled room,
Why cry for a soul set free?
 Miss me a little, but not too long and not with your head bowed low.
 Remember the love we once shared,
 Miss me and let me go!

I didn't know him well...I knew his daughter a little...but as I saw all the cars and people gathered at his house during his last few days...I remembered what is was like for us when we lost my dad, John's dad, my mom and my sister Jen. There is comfort in having all the family together...at least there was for me. I know what Mike and his family are feeling, what Karen, Linda and her Mom and all the family are feeling and what Vicky and her family are feeling. It's that final goodbye...knowing that this time...they are gone...and this time they won't be back. For a while it's like a hit that takes your breath away...and slowly time goes by and it's not as hard. We still miss our loved ones...but knowing that all of them are now at peace...not suffering anymore...is some comfort.
And on that note I will wrap this up. Started this Sunday night...now it's kind of a gray Monday afternoon....I got off work at 1pm and now am just relaxing and getting myself organized for the rest of the week.
Happy Monday!

It wasn't Disney World...

leaving from the Sebastian Inlet boat ramps

As I mentioned in the last post...my wacky schedule wound up giving me a 4 day weekend. I had hoped to maybe go to Disney World (it's slower this time of year) or do something  exciting....but none of the plans I/we came up with seemed to work out. In spite of that...it was a nice relaxing weekend...the weather was great and other opportunities presented themselves. We went to dinner and a show on Friday night, Saturday we watched the GATORS BEAT TENNESSEE!!!! Winning always makes watching your team more fun..haha
And then... John decided now was the time to take me offshore on the boat...since I've never gone out on our boat. He told me he'd make sure the conditions were going to be good and he had invited Charlie and Gayle to go along with us. I was nervous...but decided to give it a try.

can you see all the little bait fish?

 It was a really calm day...no wind and it was like a lake.
 We went out to the buoy to catch some "livies"

watching the clouds as we rode along

we got about 30-35 fish at the buoy...bait fish that is...haha

 These conditions were about as good as it gets for a nervous passenger like me...we saw assorted 
 sea  turtles, dolphins, a shark, lots of flying fish...but we never found any FISH to catch!

these birds know there will be fish near by the buoy

we also happened upon some friends also out looking for bait.

 

                     We stayed out for about 5 hours....maybe more...spotted some birds...but never found any fish to catch. I didn't really mind. Towards the end of the day...we were running south for one more look...when I started getting nervous as I watched the storm clouds building in the west. I don't mind rain...but I did not want to be out in the ocean on that boat in the middle of a thunderstorm! John agreed...and he had promised me he'd get me in before any storms started up...so he turned around and headed in.

We got back safe and sound...only a few drops of rain along the way. I started feeling a bit like I had worried for no reason...until about 1 hour later when the big storms hit. Thunder (never saw lightening...at least here.)..and the power flickered a few times. Some areas had flood watches in effect...because there were spots that got 2 inches of rain in 1 hour....so it's a good thing we came back when we did. John was happy...he finally got me out on the ocean in his boat...and even though we came home empty handed...it was a nice day.