Back From Vacation

We are finally back from a very long and fun-filled vacation that took us all the way across the country to the great state of California. Our plane just landed at 5:30 this morning and boy am I tired. I have to choose between the 10 loads of laundry that await me or sleep off some of this jet lag.

There will be weeks of blogging to come on the trip with lots of pictures! Stay tuned.

Back Home

It's always a real treat to take those types of vacations where you can just sit back, relax, and regenerate the senses. We have been doing this every summer for the past 5 years now and it never gets dull. It's just a short 13 hour hop in the car from our house to the foothills of South Carolina and I love it on Lake Keowee. Everyone has their share of fun and my fun is breathing in clean air and dipping myself in clean lake water.

One Fish Two Fish......

for Ryan and I didn't get a picture of it. Unfortunately most of us were in the house at the time of his catch on the dock. He described it though and it appears to have been a 3 lb catfish. He currently holds the fish catching record at the Miller house in Lake Keowee. Picture shown is of a different fish later on in the day.

Stumphouse Tunnel

Today we went to the old Stumphouse Tunnel in Walhalla, SC.

The tunnel was built by hand by Irish workers hired by the State of South Carolina to build a railroad to connect Charleston, SC to Knoxville, TN. Three tunnels were to be built, but none were completed. The workers used black powder for explosives. We visited the waterfalls there as well.








After our trip to the tunnel, we visited a McDonald's for lunch in the hoppin' town of Union County. It was especially nice to meet very friendly southern folk as most South Carolina residents are.

In the afternoon we went back on the lake to do more jet skiing and then back to the lake house for some relaxation. Kelly got to play with her Aunt Elizabeth who she completely adores (in fact she truly and honestly loves and talks about all of her aunts and uncles and her grandma and pop-pop). Aunt Elizabeth helped her play with her books and even let her make some jewelry with beads and other jewelry making knick knacks that she had left over from some of her nieces when they were here at the lake house. All of the kids are having a great time so far.

Water Fun

Today was a fun day on Lake Keowee and there are always a bunch of "firsts" each time we come here. Today was a first jet ski ride for Kelly and Jack's first tube ride. Jack got his first fishing pole and learned how to fish in the lake. It was Mommy's "first" day off this year! Kevin and Ryan will surf behind the boat but that won't be a first. It certainly is something they look forward to though.








We went to the pool at The Reserve and enjoyed the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains. The view and the temperature was perfect.

48 hours till Summer Vacation

This year we are going to South Carolina for our Summer Vacation. This has been our tradition for the past 4 years. Our trip will take us to the University of Alabama in Birmingham where we will meet with one of the best genetic physicians in the country. He has agreed to take a look at Kelly's diagnosis of NF. Once we are done with that we will detour to take a look at Auburn, Alabama and Auburn University where Greg spent 4 1/2 years of his life. I am sure he will show us some really exciting engineering buildings. The heat index right now is about 110 degrees. OUCH!

After that we are heading up to Salem, SC. to enjoy this.....


LAKE KEOWEE where Greg's brother has a lake house and his mom has a condo. We will spend a few days with her and probably drive into Clemson. There is this cute little pizza restaurant that I love to visit every time we go there. It's called The Mellow Mushroom. Maybe Kevin will be inspired with all of the university touring we will be doing.

Anyway back to Lake Keowee. The lake is so beautiful and clean like bathwater. In fact most of the time when we go there we hardly take showers because the lake water really cleans you off. It might be too hot to play golf which is something we also do but that will just save room for more skiing, wake boarding, tubing and jet skiis. Over the weekend we will be joined by Greg's other brother and his family. They are going to drive down from Ohio so it will be like a family reunion. I think the last time we were all together was when Greg's Dad died and definitely before Kelly or Jack were born.

Well, I am off to getting things ready for the road trip which includes homemade banana chocolate chip bread for Kevin and chocolate chip cookies for Ryan. Road trips just wouldn't be the same without those particular favorites.