The Holidays Have Come and Gone....

Wheweee! Where does the time go? Another year has come and gone...Can't believe Sparky and Eldo have lived in their Bradenton home now for 1 1/2 years! Florida has been a bit of adjustment for Sparky...She didn't realize the summers were as bad as they come some years. The first year we were here, the rains came every afternoon, and cooled things down. This isn't so bad, she thought! This summer, the rains didn't come....and it was extremely hot and muggy, hotter than normal, drier than normal. But we got through it with a couple of trips north--to Alaska and North Carolina, and that helped a LOT!

Family came.. Eldy's son and his family came just recently over Christmas....Grandkids sure grow fast, don't they!? Trevor is taller than his sister now, and he's about four years younger!

Cate is a fantastic natural athlete having just started golf in August as a high school freshman, and making the varsity team AND lettering in the sport! We had lots of fun showing them around....A tour of Anna Maria Island.....Naturally, we had to stop at the Gulf Drive Cafe and get a snack on the beach....A lot of silliness when posing for photos...

A lot of fun taking the family to our favorite local Wasabi Hibachi Grill and Steakhouse in Bradenton...For the adults they squirt saki wine and see how long you can keep your mouth open, along with cracking corny jokes and for the kids, they squirt just water using a baby bottle...Trevor had fun trying to catch broccoli thrown at him, too.

Trevor got a bottle of Japanese soda. It was very interesting! It was called Shirakiku Ramune Drink. The bottle came sealed with a little marble on top. You smack the top of the bottle and a little stopper of some kind plops the marble down into the narrow neck of the bottle where it rattles around as you drink the pop. It's supposed to aid in keeping the carbonation in the drink, we think. Kind of gimmicky, that's for sure. The drink is also known as "marble soda" outside of Japan.

Trevor is still nuts about lizards...He always asks where they are when he comes to visit, and even now that he's 10 years old, he still hopes to catch one. Sparky is glad he didn't while he was here!

The visit was over too soon, and time for family to head home...Sparky and Eldo will be getting back into their habits of bike riding (hopefully!) and watching ahead for some events coming to the area....Time for quiet reflection on another wonderful year here in Bradenton...We are truly blessed with yet another year of good health and prosperity, and our families are doing well.....Here is Eldo and Sparky with the grandkids, Trevor and Cate.

Sparky and her bare feet, becoming a true Floridian!

Happy New Year 2015, everyone! With love and best wishes for a great new year from Sparky and Eldo....a.k.a. Jeannie and Eldy

Well, It's About Time, and Here's the Rest of the Story....NC Trip

Sparky is FINALLY ready to finish her North Carolina tale, and to shorten things up, will just give you the highlights instead of drawing it out. Life got in the way of blogging these past few weeks, so best to move on, right? And besides, the HOLIDAYS are coming and FAMILY is coming for a visit, so Sparky better hurry up and git 'er done!

OK, where was she? Getting ready to go on the trails in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, specifically the Deep Creek area. The Deep Creek area is where some of the Cherokee and their leader, Tsali hid out in the rocky areas at the headwaters of Deep Creek to avoid being forced to relocate to Oklahoma (Trail of Tears), and where later, one of the larger mountain battles of the Civil War was fought. There are some nice easy hikes and some LONG ones in the Deep Creek area. They are 1)the Juney Whank Falls Loop, .7 mile loop hike, 2) the Three Waterfalls Loop, a 2.4 mile loop hike, #3) Deep Creek Indian Loop, 4.4 mile loop, #5, Indian Creek/Thomas Divide Loop, TEN mile loop, #6) Deep Creek Noland Divide Loop, 17.9 loop hike...whew! and #7) Indian Creek /Sunkota Ridge Loop--12 mile loop.  Sparky took a couple of easy hikes and photos of some beautiful waterfalls....The area was absolutely gorgeous, shady and still green......

We bought a waterfall book at the park visitor center, well worth it! The Wayward Traveler's Guide to Waterfalls and Back Roads-- Franklin, Highlands, NC and Clayton GA Edition, which also covered waterfalls in Cherokee, Bryson City, and Cashiers NC. very close to where we were staying. This book had directions, ratings on the falls, unique lodging and dining, short hiking trails and much more. It was 5 bucks!  We spent the week visiting and hiking short trails listed in this book....Sparky went to one where after you hiked about a mile, the trail ended at the falls where you could walk behind them! Cool!  Some waterfalls not to be missed: Cullesaja Gorge area with the Cullesaja Falls, Mingo Falls and Soco Falls. There are over 1,000 waterfalls in North Carolina, one of the most beautiful states in our nation, in our opinion.

Sparky hiked, Eldo rested (broken rib healing time)....Sparky hiked the Water Rock Knob Trail...a VERY steep first hike in the week, and about had a heart attack, it was so steep...She realized very quickly how out of shape she was...Whew! But the view! The views were spectacular all week long.....

Sparky decided she was going to hike the Appalachian Trail! And she did! For about two miles....the Trail runs through the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. You can pick up the trail at Newfound Gap Road at Newfound Gap. The AT runs for 72 miles through the national park. Sparky was excited to be on it and would love to do it again for longer distances.....Newfound Gap is the high in the middle of the park, about 4,000 feet up, and the Newfound Gap Road is the only road across the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Here's the part of the trail Sparky got on....

We were very lucky to see elk at the Oconoluftee Visitor's Center in the park the week we were in the area. We saw them two nights in a row, then they quit coming on their dusk visits to the visitor's center.

We heard stories from the rangers about dumb tourists who got too close to them. (Sparky, did you take notes? Were you paying attention? asks E., with a smile)

The male of the herd was AMAZINGLY huge and definitely had his harem with him.....We heard the elk bugling the first night, and saw two males lock horns! This particular male charged a car last year because some lady insisted on driving too close to him when he was crossing the road. He lost an antler ramming her car, they said. Because it was the rut season (October), the rangers were really on high alert with this guy in the meadow with his females and were shooing people away from the sidelines whenever the Big Guy moved.

We didn't see any bears this week....But they must be around....This was at our rental cabin...

Eldo is sort of glad about that, as Sparky was on a few trails by herself this week. But no worries, mate....there were lots of other people on the trails, too! We saw scenery after spectacular scenery....Many fabulous waterfalls and of course, the mountains....

View from our deck of our rental cabin

Above the clouds at one of the overlooks!

One of our favorite excursions of the week was the Roaring Forks Motor Trail--a 5.5 scenic drive through the park near Gatlinburg and a spectacular drive full of breathtaking vistas and canyons. Sparky took the Grotto Hikes trail there, awesome waterfall where you can walk behind it...Sparky reveled in the variety of trees, the beautiful colors, the crisp fall temperatures, she was in 7th heaven! Eldy enjoyed it, too, but Sparky more so....As you can see...

There was so much to see and do in the area, we decided to come back next fall and do some more! And that is that, folks, the quicky version.....Sparky now has to catch up with what we've been doing since we've been back home.....We'll be back soon.......