Woods, Woods, and more Woods

Pennsylvania is filled with some of the most beautiful wooded areas you'll ever see, and of course it is especially gorgeous in the fall. We only saw the very beginnings of the colors..originally the plan was to go to New England after visiting in Erie, but time just got away from us, and it seems like it's time to head home. Away we went from Erie last Tuesday after lots of hugging and kissing all those Browns!!!!

Driving to the south through West Virginia and Virginia, and North Carolina I was surprised at how much of the country is completely covered by woods...so many different varieties of trees, wildflowers, butterflies, birds, and animals. I don't think we have ever truly appreciated the vast beauty of our country. We drove along the Blue Ridge Parkway ( in Virginia and North Carolina). You can see in the picture taken hi atop the ridge why they call it "blue".

One thing that we discovered about Virginia is that it is kind of difficult to find rv parks that will take a 40 footer. We had an awfully long (9 hours of driving) trek one day, and ended up staying in the WalMart parking lot. Of course Walmart is very smart to let us do that because we proceeded to eat there and do our grocery shopping!!!

We finally arrived in Apex, NC where my sister, Nancy, her son Steve, his wife Tracy, and their 2 boys Ryan and Josh live. Steve and Tracy really did some sleuthing for us, and directed us to the most beautiful state campground at Jordan Lake. The sites are wonderful....wide, no high trees overhead to scrape your roof, and yet completely surrounded by woods, and relatively private from our neighbor. The only glitch is that they close the gate at 8 pm every night, so we turn into pumpkins if we're not back home by then. Guess North Carolina doesn't want us vagabonds to get into trouble after dark!!!. So far , so good!!!! We even have a little deer to welcome us home at night. (see photo)

It's been so much fun to see Nancy , and see her new home in Apex. She has her beautiful flowers, park bench, great back deck, lots of woods behind and next to her, and a really nice home with tons of storage space. Yesterday she and Steve's family took us to a neat festival in the little town of Apex. It was interesting to see all the wonderful little shops (great pottery) lining the main street. I wish Camarillo had something like that.. Then Tracy had us over for dinner and cooked the best stuffed peppers I've ever had....what a treat. The day before, they all came out to the rv, and we had a little picnic. I had forgotten how much and how fast young teens can eat....wow, I think they liked my Texas sheet cake with fudge frosting!!!!!! They are really great boys and busy with lots of activities, including scouts (Steve was the scoutmaster for several years) Hap Kido...Ryan is a 2nd degree black belt, and Josh is working on it.

Tomorrow I'll tell you what Vern and I did today that nearly did me in. I had to sleep for two hours when we got home I was so tired...no, it wasn't hiking....well, maybe it was!!!

Till then, Mary

P.S. Happy birthday to my other sister, Soozie in Hollidaysburg, PA !!!!!