Spring Break

The Gonzaga spring break was last week, and we decided to drive down to Georgia to visit Mike and Susanna. Mike is at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Academy (FLETC) for 4 months. We left mid-day on Friday so that we could get a jump on traffic and spend some more time with Mike when we arrived Saturday. Traffic was light, and we camped at Jones Lake State Park in North Carolina that night. It was cold, but Calista loved wandering around the campground and did not complain at all. We arrived in Brunswick on Saturday and hung out with Mike and Susanna and the couple Susanna is staying with.



Sunday and Monday were spent at Cumberland Island National Seashore, which was a beautiful spot. The old Live Oak trees were all twisted from the wind, and hung with Spanish Moss, and Palmettos carpeted the understory. Mike had to go back to work, but Susanna travelled with us to Osceola National Forest on Monday night, and we explored the national forest and the Okeefenokee Swamp. We hiked 6 miles of the Florida Trail, and saw alligators, snakes, and a variety of birds in the swamp.

At the end of the week we headed to Atlanta, and camped for two nights at Red Top Mountain, where we stayed in 2005 before our backpacking trip on the AT. We saw the Atlanta Aquarium on Friday, and met up with Aunts Andrea and Regina and cousins Alyssa and Renee at a diner for dinner that night. We headed home on Saturday, driving 7 hours in steady rain before giving up for the night at a hotel in Durham. An easy drive home on Sunday was the conclusion to a nice trip.

We have more pictures here.

Winter adventures

We spent the last weekend in February in Blackwater State Park. Snow was a bit sparse this year, so we spent the time hiking, exploring new areas of Canaan Valley, and hanging out in the cabin with friends. Several of us hiked a section of the Allegheny Trail, which stretches across West Virginia from Peters Mountain on the Virginia border, near Pearisburg and on the AT, to the Pennsylvania border. We hiked from Canaan Valley State Park to Blackwater, about 8 miles
. As we drove home last night we noticed salt trucks and snow plows hovering around the highway shoulders and exits, and as we arrived home it had begun to snow. We woke up to around 8 inches on the ground . . making this perhaps the first time that DC has had more snow than the West VA high country. There was no school today, which in my case did not cancel classes but an in-service day with other Catholic schools in the area.

Calista is having fun wandering around and exploring new things. We played with her in the snow a bit today. She went for a hike with Tatiana and our friend Laurie on Saturday -- a real hike on a natural surface trail with roots and rocks to navigate. Some pictures are here.