The Gamble Family (.Net)

About halfway through our recent trip to the mountains, I dropped my digital camera. Fortunately, the aforementioned mishap did not damage the memory card, not it’s contents, only the camera itself. The immediate dilemma at that moment then became what to do about taking pictures for the remainder of our trip. Or, to be more specific, I prefer digital over film for my picture-taking needs. It’s not a quality thing - it’s more of a convenience/flexibility/cost thing. All of the photos that I have taken over the past four years have been taken with a digital camera. So, what’s the big deal, you ask? The big deal is that I didn’t want half of my photos of the trip in digital format and the other half in film format. Fortunately, advancements in film processing now facilitate creation of a CD from your film. With this in mind, I decided that the reasonable thing to do at that point would be to purchase a disposable camera, have a CD burned from the negatives, and all would be OK (at least for the remainder of our trip). Then, once I returned home, I would begin the search for a replacement.

Now comes the more complicated issue - finding a suitable replacement for my trusty cheap (damaged) digital sidekick. Being the “googlemeister” that I am, having seen samples from Canon’s Powershot product line, and having used a couple of my friends’ Powershots, I settled on a Canon A620. This particular model shows up on just about everyone’s Top 10 list. Hey, that was easy. The only thing left to do is run a price comparison on PriceGrabber.com, pick the lowest price from the vendor with the highest rating, click the “Add to Cart” button, and wait for the big brown truck to show up in a few days.

Canon A620

But…

I mentioned my model selection to one of my coworkers,and found that she too was on the prowl for a new camera. Her research had led her to a Kodak Z650, which has a 10X optical zoom on it. 10X? 10X optical? Are you sure? This sounded too good to be true, so I decided to check it our for myself. The Z650 does indeed have a 10X optical zoom, all of the features (plus a few more) of the A620 (that I was going to purchase), and it’s only $15 more. I did some quick research by reading reviews from the various digital photography sites and decided that the Z650 would meet (actually more like totally exceed) my expectations, so I clicked the “Send it to me now - I’ve got to have it” button.

Kodak Z650

I’m anxiously looking down the street to catch a glimpse of the big brown truck making its approach.

Be sure and read the all of the related entries for this trip: Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, Day 4, Day 5, Day 6 and Day 7.

View the complete photo album here.

Returning home from vacation, the day we dread most, had finally arrived. We left Blue Waters and started towards one of my favorite roads, the Cherohala Skyway. But first, we stopped by Wheeler’s and picked up some T shirts. The Cherohala is such a joy to ride. The Skyway extends 41 miles between Robbinsville, NC and Telico Plains, TN. The road changes elevations from just over 2,000 to about 5,400 feet. The views are breathtaking and the sweeping curves always put a smile on my face.

Once we arrived home, we were greated with the usual post-vacation duties: Laundry, grass that needed cutting, bills that needed paying, and hundreds of emails. Welcome back to reality.

The past week seems like a dream. Cheryl and I reviewed our digital photos and re-lived as much of that past week as we could remember. Why does it all seem so long ago? Why does it seem like such a distant memory? The past week was wonderful. We lived each day for all that it offered us to consume. We road each hill, each curve, each mile with no concern for an agenda or a sense of urgency to reach any particular destination. Only two hearts on two wheels, sharing each heartbeat for everything that each one offered us.

Be sure and read the all of the related entries for this trip: Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, Day 4, Day 5, Day 6 and Day 7.

View the complete photo album here.

Up until today, we had good portion of each day on the bike, so we decided that we would do only minimal riding today, and take the remainder of the day to just relax.

After a delicious breakfast at Blue Waters, we set out to ride the perimeter of Lake Santeetlah. The lake is 30,000 acres of fresh water, with a coastline that is primarily national forest. This means that there are very few boats and jet skis to interrupt the picturesque tranquility. We stopped at the local marina just long enough to reserve a pontoon boat for later in the day.

Then we headed on around the lakeshore to the Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forest. Joyce Kilmer wrote the poem “Trees” in the early 1900s. As a tribute to him, the National Park Service dedicated an area of nearby forest to his memory. The tract of land is 3800 acres large, and contains some of the most beautiful forest in America, unmarred and undefiled by the hand of man. Huge poplars, some or which are 20 feet in circumference, tower 125 feet or more toward the sky. Giant red oaks, magnificent hemlocks, and many other varieties of trees stand as proud neighbors to the mammoth Poplars. It is truly humbling to stand next to such a grand creation and look up.

Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forest

After we returned from our trip to the forest, we changed into our swimsuits and rented the pontoon boat that we had reserved earlier. Our host at Blue Waters had prepared a couple of box lunches for us to take along. We spent a couple of very peaceful hours just puttering around Lake Santeetlah on the pontoon boat. After our boat ride, we returned to an exquisite meal at Blue Waters.

Be sure and read the all of the related entries for this trip: Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, Day 4, Day 5, Day 6 and Day 7.

View the complete photo album here.

With heavy hearts (because we enjoyed Lake Lure so much), we pointed the Wing towards our final destination, Blue Waters Mountain Lodge in Robbinsville, NC. We returned to the Blue Ridge Parkway to continue our journey westward. We were able to see parts that we missed on our trip last year due to rain and fog. This year, the weather continued it’s perfect streak. The greenery of the trees and grass floated past as the Wing glided through turn, after turn, after turn.

We were blown away by the surroundings of Blue Waters Mountain Lodge. The lodge is isolated from major traffic by the Smokey Mountains in all directions. Immediately across the street from the lodge is Lake Santeetlah, which is a 30,000 acre fresh water lake with a shoreline that is primarily national forest. The water is crystal clear. Our first impressions of the lodge is that this is our best stop yet.

Blue Waters Mountain Lodge - Robbinsville, NC

We knew that Blue Waters did not serve dinner on Wednesday evenings, and we also knew that there is not much around Robbinsville in the way of quality restaurants, so Cheryl suggested that we create our own wine and cheese picnic. On our way to Robbinsville, we stopped at a grocery store and picked up a bottle of wine, some cheese, luncheon meat, and a piece of cake. This turned out to be a fabulous idea. We had a very enjoyable time picnicing on the front porch at Blue Waters. I think we made the other travelers very jealous.

Wine and Cheese Picnic

Just before sunset, Cheryl and I walked down to the dock to where a pontoon boat (that belonged to Blue Waters) was moored. The quiet lake, the setting sun, and the solitude of the boat provided a very romantic setting for us to enjoy each other’s company. The quiet of the night, the cool mountain air, the joy of holding the woman that I love - this was true happiness.

Be sure and read the all of the related entries for this trip: Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, Day 4, Day 5, Day 6 and Day 7.

View the complete photo album here.

Our primary objective today was to make it to the top of Mount Mitchell, which is the highest point (6,684 feet) east of the Mississippi River. We had previously attempted to visit Mount Mitchell last year on our trip down the Blue Ridge Parkway, but rain and fog prohibited our endeavor. Today, however, the skies were clear, so off we went. You can’t just drive directly to Mount Mitchell. You can only get there via the Blue Ridge Parkway. Even then, Mount Mitchell is located at milepost 355, and the only access points to the BRP are either at milepost 343 or 382, so you still have a short (albiet a very enjoyable scenic) distance to travel before reaching the 5 mile access road that leads to the summit.

Entrance to the Blue Ridge Parkway

The weather at the summit can literally change from perfect to dangerous in under 10 minutes, so I called the state park to set what the conditions were like before starting our journey. The park ranger told me that the skies were absolutely clear and the temperature was in the mid 40s. (It was 80 degrees where we were at that moment it Lake Lure.) When we reached summit (by way of many twisty roads), the temperature had warmed up to 50 degrees. The view from the top was superb. With no humidity and clear skies, we could see from horizon to horizon. This was definitely worth the effort.

Mount Mitchell - Highest Elevation East of the Mississippi

We left Mount Mitchell, and continued down the Blue Ridge Parkway on our return trip to Lake Lure. Since today was day 4 of our trip, that meant that it was laundry day. You would think that in a community marketed as a “touring resort”, that there would be at least one laundromat in town. Wrong - We had to ride 18 miles to a nearby town to find one. Laundry is always the low point of our trips, but it is a necessity, so we made the best of the time.

After supper, Cheryl and I walked down to the lodge’s boathouse. Inside, we found three canoes. I, being an able-bodied seaman from my previous six year enlistment in the US Navy, suggested that we take one out for a relaxing time on the lake. We paddled about a mile up the shoreline of the lake, stopped, and allowed the beauty of the surroundings engulf us. Afterwards, we returned to our room, and Cheryl enjoyed a long soaking bath in the claw-foot tub that overlooked the lake.