Let me know if any of the captions are wrong...
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| Trying out the Tops Aunt Dona made | |
| Mckenzie and Tyler | Tyler, Aviana and Mckenzie |
We headed out to Greers Ferry Lake, a reservoir formed behind Greers Ferry Dam. The dam was completed in 1963 by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
Joe had rented a big house on the lake. It worked out really well for our group of 18 (yikes!). A big master bedroom downstairs, two more bedrooms upstairs, plus a big "bunkhouse" room with bunkbeds and doubles. And lots of recliners to snooze in.
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| Bob Fishing | Bob and Aviana |
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| Addison with her Broken Arm | |
The house didn't have a fireplace, but it did have a big fire pit outside. Someone got a bonfire going after a lot of poking around with a small fire to start with. It was cool enough we roasted on one side and were chilly on the other. We needed a human rotisserie.
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| Bonfire | ||
| Justin and Joe Anthony | Tonya | Justin and Joe Anthony |
At home we have matching games we play with the kids using images of local birds, mammals, reptiles, and flowers. But they are pretty specific to where we live, so we brought a commercial bugs and butterflies of the United States game to play with the grandkids. When we play we make everyone say the name of each card when they turn it up, and that way they end up learning the animals and flowers. Elizabeth, Aviana and Amelia took to it right away.
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| Isabella, Amelia, and Aviana matching Butterflies | ||
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| Isabella and Aviana | Isabella, Aviana and Amelia | Gary, Aviana, Amelia, Isabella |
The medium-aged folks made frquent use of the recliners...
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| Joe Anthony, Addison, Justin, and Kennedy |
Joe and Bob headed off to rent a big pontoon boat. They motored up the lake to the house, then a bunch of us hopped on and we headed out to "the island" for a hike. The trip to the island was chilly in spite of sunshine; there was a breeze blowing and we all hunkered down behind seats or under blankets.
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| Gerardo, Addison, Kennedy, Captain Joe, Navigator Bob, and Joe Anthony |
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| Aviana, Amelia and Isabella | Addison and Kennedy | Alejandro and Christian |
We didn't know squat about the island, so we picked a likely landing spot, beached the boat, and hopped off. Bob, Joe, Joe Anthony and a few others stayed with the boat. The rest of us swarmed into the woods, heading for the top of the "mountain".
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| The Swarm Heading to the Top of the Island |
On the way up we found a small tree / big shrub with what looked like chestnuts, only they were growing in clusters of three and not singly. I don't know what they were. They had a meat kind of like a coconut.
After a lot of slipping on leaves because of the steep hillside and inadequate footwear, we arrived at a trail and a sign showing us there was a dock a bit further around the island. The trail led up to the top, and down to the dock. We groaned a bit for not knowing that from the start, then continued up the trail to the top.
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| Sugarloaf Mountain Map |
Just before we got to the top we came across a plant with clusters of bright purple berries. I haven't a clue what they are, but they sure were pretty!
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| Berries Xxx Purple |
The island / mountain is Sugarloaf Mountain; it rises about 500 feet above the lake. At the top there are some rock cliffs of sorts; the trail winds around and through them. There is an awesome view from the top.
Nicki had her phone with her and called the guys on the boat to tell them to go around to the dock and meet us there. After a while we saw our boat heading around towards the dock.
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| The Boat Heading to the Island Dock | Waving to the Guys on the Boat | Gary, Dona,
Isabella, Aviana and Amelia |
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| View from the Top of Sugarloaf Mountain |
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The Army Corps of Engineers has wisely placed trash bins along the trail, and for the most part people seem to be using them. Given the large number of visitors, it would probably be futile to expect everyone to pack out their trash. However, they aren't very large and I suspect they need to be emptied on a daily basis during the peak months.
On the way down we found a perfect "sitter" tree. I saw another one with a seat about fifteen feet up in the air. I wanted to shinny up and have Dona take my picture up there but I wasn't really dressed for rough tree climbing; I was wearing sandals and my only shirt and a nice vest and it didn't look particularly easy.
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| Isabella, Aviana and Amelia on the Tree Seat
Julie and Nicki on the sides |
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| Tyler, Isabella, Aviana and Amelia | Elizabeth and Christian |
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| Sugarloaf Mountain ("The Island") |
The boat ride back was chilly also. Bob and Joe unloaded the rest of us and then took the boat back. They were pretty well cooled off when they got back.
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| Alex Surrounded by busy Women |
Mckenzie caught a lizard out under the woodpile.
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| Lizard |
Joe grilled up some great steaks and fillets; the women cooked up all sorts of extras and desserts. Yum!
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| Joe Anthony, Bob, Nick and Alex at the Bar | Justin and Joe Anthony |
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| Anne and Julie |
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| Bob, Joe, Aviana and Amelia | Joe, Aviana and Amelia | Bob, Joe, Aviana and Elizabeth |
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| Joe and Isabella | Joe and Aviana | Joe, Aviana and Amelia | Joe, Aviana, Amelia
and Elizabeth |
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| Joe and Elizabeth |
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| Kennedy and Addison | |
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| Joe Contemplates the Cake
Elizabeth Advises |
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| Joe when Informed that Nicki was Pregnant Again
Elizabeth, Mckenzie and Isabella (but she's not) |
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| Bob, Joe, Elizabeth, Mckenzie and Isabella | Bob, Joe, Elizabeth and Mckenzie |
As well as making tops, Dona had made jigsaw puzzles with all the grandkids, kids, and old folks in them. Bob and Joe got the one with the old folks, made using scAnneed images of photographs when they were younger.
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| Bob and Joe Working on the Puzzle |
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| Bob, Joe, Tonya,
Amelia and Isabella |
Anne, Bob, Joe,
Tonya, Aviana, Isabella, Amelia and Dona |
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| Anne, Bob, Joe, Aviana, Isabella and Amelia | Anne, Bob and Joe |
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| Julie, Anne, Bob and Joe | |
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| Julie, Bob and Joe | |
Tonya looked at one picture of Joe when he was little and compared it to a picture she had of one of her kids (I can't remember which one...); talk about a spittin' image!
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| Bob, Joe and Tonya | Comparing Grandkids and Grandpa |
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| Julie, Bob and Joe | ||
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| Julie, Anne, Bob and Joe | There! It's Done!
Dona, Anne, Bob and Joe |
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| Bob, Julie, Nicki and Nora | Bob, Julie and Nicki |
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| Amelia, Joe and Aviana |
Towards evening, we settled in for some competitive bananagrams.
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| Bananagrams | |
| Tonya, Joe, Dona, Nick, Joe Anthony and Justin | Joe Anthony, Justin, Tonya and Joe |
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| Tonya, Joe, Dona, Joe Anthony and Justin | Joe Anthony, Justin, Tonya and Joe |
Then we moved on to Scrabble.
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| Scrabble | |
| Joe Anthony and Justin | Nicki, Tonya, Joe Anthony and Justin |
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| Joe Anthony, Justin, Alejandro, Nicki, Tonya and Addison |
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| Nick, Julie and Joe |
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| Sara, Alex, Nora and Christian |
The next morning we had a highly competitive game of horseshoes. I think Julie was the only one to get a ringer.
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| Horseshoes | |||
| Nick | Julie | Joe Anthony | Justin |
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| Bob | Joe | Nora and Alex | Alex | ||
The hammock got well used, despite the cooler weather.
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| Mckenzie in the Hammock |
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| Amelia, Mckenzie, Isabella and Aviana | |
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| The Porch Review Officials
Anne, Nick, Julie, Sara, Nicki, Justin, Mckenzie and Joe Anthony |
All too soon it was time to go.
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| Group | ||
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This page last updated on 2017-11-18
