That Ol' Janx Spirit!

Can't get enough of that Ol' Janx Spirit! When you can't think of a post title, throw in random lit references that nobody will get.

So here are a few more of the vacation photos. These are from the first day of hiking, we hit the Falls I Can't Remember The Name Of, Issaqueena Falls, and then did some mini-golfing. Enjoy!

This is the Stumphouse Tunnel, an attempted rail tunnel that was started just before the Civil War. The mountain this tunnel is going through is solid granite. The company eventually ran out of money, then war broke out. The tunnel was never finished and ends in a blank wall. I actually thought this was one of the more fascinating things we saw all trip. We saw lots that was historical, but this had a weird sense of immediacy. I can't explain it, but being inside was really, really neat.


Inside it was wet and very dark. No grues, though. (Another obscure reference - HA!)


Liam got excioted when he sank a putt.

It's a bit of camera trickery, but this ball is actually moving at about 85 mph.

Procrastinators 'R' Us

Yeah, it turns out I'm not so timely with the introduction of new photos, even when I promise to be so. Better late than...well, you know.

These are all photos from the hiking we did at Oconee State Park in far western South Carolina. We're in the foothills of the Great Smoky mountains, part of the Appalaichan range. We didn't see a whole lot of wildlife, but we did make it to some great waterfalls and had fun giving the boys some outdoor time.

Their motto was "speak LOUDLY and carry a big stick". Liam sang "Livin' On A Prayer" and "Say It Ain't So" over, and over, and over, and over...

After awhile Logan like to get way out ahead

Eatin' lunch at Station Cove Falls

The tree with the built-in bench

Liam got pretty good with the whole Smores thing. Not so good at the "eating neatly", though.

...And, We're Back!!!

Well, we made it back home.  After a THIRTEEN HOUR trip back from the SC mountains, no less.  Oy vey.  

The camping/hiking bit was great.  We spent two days in and around Oconee State Park, in extreme far western South Carolina.  Most of the time was spent hiking to waterfalls, mini-golfing, and chilling at the cabin.  We have a lot of pictures that we'll try to get posted in the near term, but here are a few highlights:

- First hike was a long one, about 30-40 minutes to a great, 75-foot waterfall coming down a granite face.  

- Second waterfall we never found, but we did drive the van off-road down a rough gravel path for about 10-12 miles into the South Carolina wilderness.  I don't recommend this.

- In our first game of mini-golf, Jill opened with two consecutive holes-in-one.  

- Still no hot boiled peanuts

- It's actually not easy to go through a dozen eggs in two days.

- The trip back today took thirteen hours because after about an hour of windy, twisty North Carolina roads, Liam threw up all over himself and the car seat.  Jill and I spent about a half hour cleaning it all up on the side of the road.  We drove about twenty minutes to the next town and stopped to wash our hands.  Within literally 60 seconds, I am not making this up, Logan threw up.  So we stopped AGAIN to clean up vomit.  No further episodes, but it threw the whole thing out of whack.

So anyway, I'm not going into a whole lot of detail cause it's late.  More to follow in the next couple of days.