Forestry. The threat of rain kept some people away, but we had over 600 visitors that day. Due to the large crowd, we worked our regular shift and the other team worked a half day to handle all the extra things going on including 5 birthday cakes to share. Of course, Smokey showed up and sat for pictures with the kids; even some big kids. By the way, Smokey was 68 this year and moved into retirement by the US Forest Service. Needless to say, everyone was pretty tired at the end of that day, but we still did our regular happy hour after work.
As per a request from Rachel to teach her how to make crepes, Lydia organized a “dessert crepe party” for both teams. Everyone was to bring something to go in or on the crepes and she’d provide the crepes. Nearly everyone showed up and the variety was amazing. Of course, we had to try some of every variation. Lydia had made all but one batch of crepes at home and Rachel did a great job of cooking those. Way to cook, Rach! 
It was also Frank and Joy’s anniversary so we toasted them with the bubbly they provided. Another fun memory for our summer at the Cradle.We picked Dill Falls for our next road trip because Kristyn said “you really need to see these falls”. We followed the directions which led us down this little used gravel road about 5 miles off the main road. The road ended at a dead end with two trails leading away. Our directions were a bit unclear, so we picked a trial and took off. After a few minutes we heard the waterfall below us,
but there was no trail, just a path down the mountain through the trees. We struggled down the 
slope about 30 yards using rhododendron branches as ropes and roots as stepping stones. The path ended at the base of a beautiful waterfall where we “high fived” each other for our stamina and creativity in negotiating the “path”. The sound of
thunder and s
ome dark clouds caused us to cut our celebration short and sent us scrambling back up the to the trail – not nearly as easy as going down. We finally made it and headed for the car. The thunder told us the storm was on the other side of the mountain and heading away from us. Feeling a little safer now, we paused for a snack and some water. Hey, let’s check out the other trail. This trail was much easier to negotiate and we soon arrived at the base of another waterfall that was bigger and much prettier. Sassy had a 
wonderful time playing in the water and Lydia even took off her shoes and waded. There’s a pool at the base of the falls just perfect for an afternoon swim but we hadn’t come prepared to skinny dip! Relating our adventure later that day, we discovered the second falls was Dill Falls and the first waterfall was Upper Dill Falls and that we had taken the wrong trail the first time. Duh!! It was a memorable day and will put that falls on our “must see” list. Thanks, Kristyn, for the recommendation.We continue to have our almost nightly happy hours with the neighbors and all
our furry children. The Lopes dog, 
Ginger, has decided that we’re all okay for humans and makes a bee line for the gathering. Of course, the treats that we always have could have had something to do with her decision. The “kids” seem to enjoy the get-togethers as much as we all do. Every now and then a “nut run” will begin and several of them (Sassy and Max being the instigators) will take off running around and sometimes through the circle. A couple of things happened over the next few days. First, the NFL preseason
started and Jim got to watch a Packer game on TV. The Packers lost, but Jim said not to worry because it was only preseason. Second, Lydia discovered through her Facebook contacts that Dennis and Barb Fotinos live about 30 miles from us. Dennis was the pastor at Good Shepherd Episcopal Church in Kingwood, TX where we lived before moving to Georgia. We will meet with them next month to catch up and share stories. Third, our neighbors, Jo and Fred, had a family emergency and they had to leave for Wisconsin the next day. They asked us to care for their little dog, Boo Boo. ‘til next time …
nice to hear your voices over skype for barb and terrys birthday. we all enjoyed the three days we had with them and some of their family ..terri and mark are everyready rabbits ,always on the go ,,man its was non stop there , pat and carolyn ,from the plantation were there,ok ttyl and huggs.ok ,,good blog and the falls looked great,good times for all
ReplyDeleteLove the picture of all the dogs gathered around. And of course, our little Boo Boo. Thanks for all you did for us.
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