As you can see, we are a bit far from home. Almost directly East, which is kind of odd. Anyways, it is so different here than California, let me tell you! Everything here is big and green. The leaves on the trees are the biggest I have ever seen. Even the flowers attached to those leaves! They have some of the most beautiful Magnolia trees in this town. So much beauty and green, everywhere. Before we started we wanted to get coffee and took the liberty of driving through a local Starbucks. In doing that, we ordered and as we got to the window to pay, the man helping us asked where we were from. Apparently, we don’t sound like we are from Tennessee. In response our simultaneous one word answer of “California” the man without though says “No shit!” and instantly realizes he is at work. His face was priceless. He looked around a bit to see if anyone heard him, looked back at us and says “I mean, cool!” It was a pretty humorous start to our morning. I’ve come to find many people are surprised
As you can see, the pictures say it all. Laura found these two different National Parks. The drive to find these parts was.. just.. beautiful. The houses we drove past looked like they may have been old plantation houses or something. They were all huge and extravagant with green covering every inch in between.
The first place we drove through, we were surrounded by trees. There were green trees for miles, surrounding everything. They were so tall, it was unbelievable.
The second place we went to, where you will see most of the pictures from is Radnor Lake. It was another random find on our quest to find meadows. Really, we landed ourselves on the road that is closest to the lake. That road drops you right at the start of trail heads in a few different directions. Laura wanted the lake so we followed the lake. Keep in mind, I didn’t really plan or prepare to go hiking on this adventure or this trip at all. But that’s alright. I had my sandals on and I can walk for those in miles, so I did.
The trail wasn’t that bad or rough for my sandals. But, my feet were very dirty by the end. It was beautiful in those trees. We saw so many deer. Deer who just didn’t care about people, weren’t afraid of people and went on their grazing ways.We took dirt trails, old closed roads, and bridges. Eventually we made our way around the entire lake, making our journey about 5 miles. It was beautiful, it was hot, it was exhausting.
When we were done, we dropped off the rental car, headed over to Embassy Suites. This hotel is faaaancy. Much more upscale than the place we had just stayed in. We all sat exhausted in the lobby, reading books, waiting for Will and Flavia to get here.
Eventually they did and we just grabbed grub and relaxed for the evening!
The Wandering Sandals 