Youngest (for a while) grandchild

Thursday we made it to Nashville (actually Franklin, right near my three daughters), made contact with the girls and scheduled dinner. Judy and Scott, Kelly, Curtis, and Laney, and Samantha joined Joseph and me for a grand time... I focused on seven month-old Laney... she has changed so much and is such a happy girls! She giggled and gurgled all through dinner and was a total delight to be with... we'll see more of her today (Friday)

On to the Great Smokey Mountains

From the piedmont section of North Carolina, as soon as we could, we left the I-40 freeway and headed west on the Blue Ridge Parkway...
Now, how could we pass by a sign for "Rough Butt Bald"? I can't tell you the exact conversation that followed the giggles when we saw the sign and thought about posting the picture to the blog!
We got out and hiked along the way through the National Park... Joseph usually forging ahead, curious about what might be around each bend.
Thursday morning we headed towards Nashville, but took "The Long Way Home" through Cades Cove... This wild turkey was one of about 40 scavenging in a field by the "Scenic Loop".

Hatteras Lighthouse and Beach

Monday, after meeting Jim for lunch, we stopped by the Wright Brothers Museum and then headed for Cape Hatteras... After a pleasant dinner and a vow to wake up for the sunrise ('cuz Gramma told us we should) we went to bed and awaken in time for the sunrise that didn't happen - it rained!
So, we went across the street to a supermarket, bought some supplies and came out into sunshine! First stop was the famous lighthouse, and then on to the beach where we first came across a cordoned off square marked for a nest of turtle eggs... and finally, Joseph got to challenge the waves of the (much warmer than the Pacific) Atlantic Ocean...

Wright Brothers and Kitty Hawk

Ever wonder why the place the Wright Brothers flew was called Kitty Hawk when it actually is in Kill Devil Hills? Seems kinda obvious...
Joseph and I stopped at the Wright Brothers Museum and wandered all over the lot, from inside to outside, up to the monument atop the grass-covered dune and out to the marker for the fourth flight - read the inscription on the marker...

Hampton Roads' Finest

Monday morning, Joseph and I set out across the Chesapeake Bay Bridge and Tunnel and because Joseph was curious, we pulled out of the second tunnel and out on the fishing pier... and were treated to a Nuclear Submarine (I couldn't get the hull number, so I don't know which sub is was) and two Ticonderoga class missile cruisers, the USS Leyte Gulf, and a second whose hull number wasn't visible when we headed South.

It LOOKED like it was deep enough...

As we pulled out of the ferry slip, we see the power boater's worst nightmare... Mr and Mrs Boater are visible at the stern... if we had a microphone you could almost hear the dude's wife chewing his ear... "George, I told you the tide wasn't coming in, but you wouldn't listen!" He is NEVER gonna hear the end of this one!

Ferry Boat, She Comin'

From where we sat in line, melting, waiting to load, finally our ferry comes into view... we'll be cooler on board than on the tarmac waiting... sorta...

Joseph, the Mime...

The last but one night at Summer School is a "Celebration of the Arts" and Joseph, Nancy's (and my) grandson, was a mime is a delightful and hilarious improvization narrated by a wonderful young man from Memphis - "Oh, I just love his accent" - "He doesn't have an accent, it's y'all that talk funny!"