Montecito Sequoia Lodge…Sequoia Nat’l Park

Posted on November 1, 2011 by Travel Spirit

My Tour Director class stayed at the Montecito Sequoia Lodge for one night in October. It’s located in the Sequoia National Park, California. That evening we had a bonfire and it was magical! First, one of our classmates’ topics was Sasquatch aka Big Foot, so having her present at night by the campfire was a perfect setting. She did a great job and then another classmate who is also a singer, sang O Danny Boy. She’s Irish and has a lovely voice! I cried (trying not to let others see me)! To top off the evening, a man named Frank gave a talk about John Muir, playing the character of John Muir. He spoke for at least 30 minutes and I was amazed at how he could recite and remember so much!

The next morning, I woke as usual before dawn and watched the sun rise. It was gorgeous!

The lake on the property was perfect for taking reflection shots of the trees and as the sun came out, I was able to capture some breathtaking colors…

We had a hearty breakfast before embarking on our tour of Sequoia and Kings Canyon Nat’l Parks!

Everything is a Miracle

Posted on October 6, 2011 by Travel Spirit

I believe everything is a miracle. You are a miracle. There is no one else on earth like you! Everywhere you look, there is a miracle…the spider web in the windowsill, the computer I’m typing on, flying in a plane, being able to hear and see and taste and touch everything!

People are amazing…the things that they can do physically and intellectually! Animals are so cool! Anyway, this is the park I trail run at, but I took a hike there tonight…some of the photos may seem to look-alike, but they are actually quite dissimilar…the colors of green are different and the composition of the trees, etc.

This is what I see first after exiting the vehicle to jog or hike…

Then…I walk down this gravel road and turn to the left…

Jake, the spoiled hunting dog runs ahead…

That’s me…

It felt strange hiking rather than running the trail this time…

I love the light in this photo…

Here comes Jake…

There goes Jake…

Hope you can see the miracles all around you and in you and have gratitude for them!!

Lodge to Lodge Hiking on the Appalachian Trail – Day Three

Posted on July 21, 2011 by Travel Spirit

There was a 50% chance of thunderstorms today, so we were prepared. We left Skyland a few minutes after 8:00am, after having a big breakfast and began our almost 10 mile hike to the car parked at Thornton Gap.

The trail was well marked and we never got lost. Like yesterday’s hike, we ran into a few other hikers, but not many. I had researched the pattern for thru-hikers and verified that most of them had already been through this section of the trail about a month earlier, on their way to Maine.

Luckily, it only sprinkled once for about 2 minutes and the clouds kept the temperature in the 80’s, although it was quite humid.

The longest hike Cindy had taken before this had been about 5 miles. She was concerned about hiking 17 miles in two days, but she did a great job! We only took a couple of breaks (other than when taking photos) and kept a good pace. I love to see people challenge themselves and realize that they’re capable of doing more than they thought originally!

One-third to One-half of the trail on today’s hike was rocks…like below. The shuttle guy, Rodney, calls them “ankle busters”! They made the hike more difficult, not only physically, but mentally.

There were a lot of flowers on the trail. I discovered that when my flash went off, the background was darkened, which really made the flower pop!

These look like the kind of berries that bears like. Luckily, we didn’t run into any… we only saw some bear poop on the trail…but it didn’t look fresh!

Cindy nicknamed this rock “Plumber’s Rock”…

After researching the area, I had reserved a room at the historic “Mimslyn Inn” in Luray, Virginia. It’s located within a 15 minute drive from Thornton Gap (where our car was parked) and has a pool and hot tub. As soon as we checked in, we took a shower, poured a margarita and went out to the hot tub. Our calves were sore and it felt great. The pool was the perfect temperature also. After relaxing for a bit, we were starving because for lunch we had only eaten an apple and a granola bar, so we went upstairs to shower and made our way to the “Speakeasy Lounge” for dinner. We both had a tenderloin wrap. The wrap was made with spinach…yum…yum!

I drove us to find some “White Lightning” (kind of like moon shine) and a blackberry syrup, so we could recreate the blackberry moonshine slushie drink we’d had at Skyland Resort. After returning, we took a few photos of the lovely grounds at the Mimslyn. They have weddings here and it is lovely!

Lovely Cindy!!

We’re both glad we had the opportunity to do this and look forward to the next adventure!

Lodge to Lodge Hiking on the Appalachian Trail – Day 2

Posted on July 20, 2011 by Travel Spirit

After a good night’s sleep, Cindy and I were the first to be seated for breakfast in the dining room at 7:30am. Breakfast was included so I chose the “Eggs Appalachian“…similar to Eggs Benedict, but on a biscuit instead of a muffin. It was tasty! Our box lunch consisted of a sandwich, an apple, a granola bar and soda of choice, prepared by the Lodge, at a cost of $11. We had filled our water containers with ice and water before breakfast and were ready to hit the trail by 8:00am.

Today’s hike was 7.7 miles from Big Meadows Lodge to Skyland Resort in Shenandoah Nat’l Park. I would rate this section as moderate in difficulty level because of the length. There was a variety of terrain ranging from level and soft to rocky and on an incline/ decline. I especially enjoyed the ferns that were growing alongside the path in many sections. It created a very lush look.

This little guy was only about an inch in length. Cindy spotted him and thought he was a toy at first because he didn’t move. We were able to stick our cameras right in his face and he didn’t budge.

At this section, we had to make our way across the rocks that had slid down the hill.

I didn’t grow tired of looking at the green….every where green!! We only passed a couple of groups of people hiking. After being warned by family/friends of all of the possible dangers…bears, snakes, deranged hikers, mountain lions…I had armed myself with a large pocket knife!