Passing Through Jacksonville, Florida

Good morning,

Welcome to Florida!

Jacksonville is the first large city we pass through in Florida on our way to Port Canaveral.

Traffic is usually fairly heavy here.    At least the construction in this area is finished!

More tomorrow....

Lois

South Carolina - Georgia Line

Good morning,

We are still moving South on our road trip from Ohio to Florida.

Here we are passing over the South Carolina - Georgia state line.

We crossed over the river from South Carolina and were suddenly in...

...Georgia!

We'll have lunch in Georgia, then move on to Florida.

Florida, here we come!

Lois

Huuuuuge! Tires

Good morning,

As we were driving down the road we saw a usual sight of an orange container truck, but...

...as we got closer we could see the HUGE tires sticking out of the top of the truck.

We've seen these large tires before, but haven't seen the vehicle for which they were made recently.  They will be used on huge equipment on industrial sites. 

The road trip continues....

Lois

Sand Hill Cranes at the Hampton Inn

Good morning,

We are staying at the Hampton Inn near Melbourne, Florida. 

As we returned to our room after breakfast we saw this family in the parking lot.  The were walking straight toward us when we walked out of the door of the hotel. 

We set our coffee down on the sidewalk and got our out phones to start taking pictures as the Sand Hill Crane family walked up to say hello.

We stood there taking pictures as the family found breakfast. 

As I stood in one spot, the family got so close I could no longer them them all in the picture.

 Aren't those feathers beautiful!

 I've never seen a Sand Hill Crane baby this close before.

 Just precious!

 Finally, we backed away to go into the hotel and leave the family to enjoy their breakfast.

What a lovely encounter!

 Enjoy,

 Lois

Red Velvet Crepe

Good morning,

My friend, Libby, just loves Red Velvet Cake.  When I saw this Red Velvet Crepe on the menu at IHop, I had to get one (just to take the picture, of course) so that I could show it to her.

OK, I ate it, too.  Oh, my goodness, it was wonderful!

Enjoy,
Lois

Road Trip - South Carolina

Good morning,

We are continuing our road trip.  We spent the night in Columbia, South Carolina.

Behind our Hampton Inn is a beautiful lake.

There is a nature walk around the lake and places to sit and rest.

 We bought sandwiches for dinner and enjoyed them here.

 The wild life is completely comfortable...

 ...with all the humans at the lake.

What a pretty place.

Lois

Lifetime Supply of Wood

Good morning,

My Honey makes beautiful things with wood:  pens, boxes, wine bottle stoppers, seam rippers....

I think this would be a lifetime supply of raw materials for him!

;),
Lois

Driving "Through" the Mountains - Literally

Good morning,

We literally drove through the Smoky Mountains.

The tunnels are long enough that we can't see the other end when we go in...

...but it doesn't take long...

...to go "through" the mountain and find the light at the end of the tunnel.

:),
 Lois

Blue Ridge Mountains

Good morning,

We make this trip every ten weeks and always enjoy driving through the Blue Ridge Mountains.

The flowering trees along the highway are just beautiful.

We stopped for lunch at Perkins in Dandridge, Tennessee.  This is one of our regular stops.  This time we see they are expanding the dining area.

 So many choices!  We were good, though, and ordered large salads.  :)

 Back on the road...

 ...and on into the Blue Ridge Mountains.  It is easy to see where they get their name.

 It wasn't long until we moved into North Carolina.

More to come....

Lois

Road Trip - Tennessee

Good morning,

We're now in the State of Tennessee.  As we traveled South we watched Spring develop quickly as we saw more and more green on the trees and undergrowth.

We stopped at the Welcome Center at Jellico, Tennessee.

In addition to a building staffed with people to answer questions, maps, and clean rest rooms, there is a vending area...

...and a large picnic area.

 There is also a walking trail you can see in the center left of this image.

We stop here on each trip South, but have not explored the walking trail. 

Lois

Road Trip - Kentucky

Good morning,

We are on the road in Kentucky and just passed the Kentucky Artisan Center.  We stopped here a few years ago and I want to make a special trip to Kentucky to stop here again when we can spend more time exploring this wonderful place. 

Sadly, the quilt pattern on the end of this barn is in the shadow.  The quilt patterns on barns are something we didn't see when I was a child. I love seeing them!  They are the favorite patterns of the resident quilter.

Look carefully to see three deer in this image.  I saw them just fast enough to turn my camera in their direction and snap the picture as we traveled down the highway at 70 mph.  I didn't know if I got them in the scene until I looked at the image afterward.  I hope they stayed away from the highway.

We are traveling at a wonderful time in early Spring.  The red bud trees are blooming everywhere along the highway.  The trees are dressed in a lacy light spring green. Beautiful.

 And, here's a little fuel for us on our journey.  That's a mocha caramel coffee there.  We each had one that we enjoyed tremendously.

And, the journey continues....

Lois