White Squirrels and Waterfalls

We had an amazing Easter weekend visiting Melody’s parents in beautiful Brevard, NC. Brevard is in Transylvania County, which is nicknamed “The Land of Waterfalls” because it is home to over 250 waterfalls! Brevard also is home to white squirrels. These are not albino squirrels, but a separate species altogether from the more common gray squirrel. The Brocks had two white squirrels in their backyard every morning and we got to watch them over breakfast. They were quite territorial and ran off the one gray squirrel who came near the feeder.

Here is a shot of one of Brevard’s white squirrels…

The highlight of the weekend was getting to hike Daniel Ridge Trail. Daniel Ridge is a 14 mile loop that follows the Davidson River upstream with breath-taking views around every turn. (At one point, it was in the top 5 mountain biking AND hiking trails in the US simultaneously.)

I snapped some photos below, but, because it was pretty overcast, they did not do justice to the scenery we were enjoying Click HERE to see some much better photos of the waterfalls and a great description of this wonderful trail. If you love the outdoors and find yourself in the Blue Ridge Mountains, you MUST take the time and enjoy this trail.

Here are some of the shots I took during our hike.

Braille in the Men’s Room?

On our way back from Orlando last week, we stopped somewhere north of Gainesville to take a potty break. I pulled into the convenience store, walked in, and did a quick scan to hopefully find some helpful signage pointing the way to the men’s room. This particular store had the “facilities” in the back right corner of the store, and, like so many others like it, required a Garmin GPS system to navigate around the heat lamp hot dogs, potato chips, magazine racks, cheap trucker hats, and sunglass displays to get the bathroom.

While in the bathroom waiting to wash my hands, I noticed one of those molded plastic baby changing stations mounted to the wall with the big blue Koala bear logo on it. Maybe it was because I was brain-dead from the road or maybe it was because the dude holding me up at the sink was obviously OCD about clean hands…whatever the reason…I started reading the label on the baby changing station.

And then I noticed it.

In the lower right hand corner there were these little bumps that, after closer inspection, I realized was Braille. Yep…you got it…Braille! Yes, THAT Braille, silly.

And that led to some obvious questions…

(See…you are already asking them! Don’t get ahead of me now.)

My first thought was to remember the labyrinth I had to walk through to even get to the bathroom in the first place and wondered how on God’s green earth a blind person would make it to the bathroom.? With an infant? Unassisted?

And even if they were able to pull off that feat at this particular establishment, how many convenience stores did they have to go to before they FINALLY found one that had a baby changing station? How many MORE did they have to go through before they found this store that provided such stellar customer service as to even provide a baby changing station with Braille?

And now you have a blind guy, in the men’s room, unassisted, with an infant strapped to the baby changing station. Is he REALLY going to be able to change the baby by himself? Didn’t someone drive this dude to the store? Can’t they change the baby for crying out loud?

“Sir, that is not where the diaper goes.”

Here is a picture of a baby changing station just like the one I saw. Next time you see one like it, look for yourself to see if I’m lying about the Braille!

So as I’m looking online to find the above photo, I read one of the descriptions given by one of the web sites that sell these baby changing stations. Here is what I found describing one model. (My comments are in red and emphasis is mine.

Surface Mounted – Baby Changing Station Horizontal Supports static loads up to 400 lbs. (400 lbs? That gives new meaning to the term “dirty diaper”. You definitely don’t want a blind guy changing THAT load! And what does it mean by “static” load? Can’t jump up and down on it?) Steel-on-Steel hinges with 12 guage steel mounting supports ADA compliant with proper installation. Child protection straps and diaper bag hook. (Something else the blind guy has to find.) Molded-in liner dispenser will hold approximately 25 sanitary liners. FDA approved blow-molded high-density polyethylene with Microban… More Antimicrobial additive (resists odors and bacterial growth). Reinforced full-length steel-on-steel hinge mechanism, with 11-gauge steel mounting plates and mounting hardware included. Molded in graphics and safety messages in six languages and Braille. (And you thought I was making this up!) Contoured changing surface area (nice) is 442 sq in (2873 sq mm). Horizontal Changing Stations: Dimensions: 36 L x 22 W x 4 H

I also stumbled upon this photo, which I will save for another post. I know you are already asking questions about it also.

Do people actually just hang their kid on the wall while they use the john? What has our world come to?

Vacation Photos of the Fannypack Posse

We returned this afternoon from one of the most exciting vacations we have ever taken as a family. Actually, it probably was the most exciting vacation because it is the first vacation we have taken together as a family in at least 7 years. Keller was just 2 when Melody and I divorced, so she barely even remembers me being in the home, let alone vacations that we took together. On top of that, the vacations we took back then were not much to speak of because of our tight financial situation.

I can honestly say I am returning from this vacation completely rested and refreshed. The kids were great (although they spent time fighting over who had to sit in the rear seat and then fighting over who got to sit in the rear seat.) I found myself on more than one occasion simply smiling and soaking in the fact that all six of us were having an absolute blast together in Orlando. God is soooo so good!

In addition to the great time we had together as a family, we also got to reconnect with some great friends from college who now live in Dallas. They happened to be at the Magic Kingdom on the same day that we were and we had breakfast the following morning. For me this was super special because for so many years I completely isolated myself and kept people at a safe distance. Visiting and reconnecting with old friends was a vivid reminder of how different things are nowadays.

We left Orlando Thursday morning and headed 2 hours north to hang out with friends of ours from here in Birmingham who were at his parent’s lake house near Gainesville. We skied, tubed, and knee-boarded and had an absolutely fabulous BBQ dinner…eating a Boston-butt that Duck had smoked all day. I ended the day on a high note by running over the ski rope with the jet ski which sucked it up into the boat’s intake. We had to load it onto the trailer and, fortunately, were able to get underneath and cut the rope out. I breathed a sigh of relief when I saw the jet ski fire up and run without a problem. Whew!

Here are just a few of our photos from this fabulous trip. I know many are anxious to see the fannypack photos, and I reluctantly included a few. Please keep your laughter to a dull roar.

Day 1 at Universal’s Island of Adventure

We found some shade!

Keller strikes a pose!

Ryland and Tal behaving as if they actually like each other.

Gabe after a successful ride. He did not let the Bama hat go!

Keller found a new “do”.

One of the highlights of our trip was watching the Shuttle launch! Not sure we will ever be this close again.

Ok, ok…here is a shot of our super-duper deluxe fannypacks. All of the other park visitors were SOOOOO jealous.

Yes that is me hiding behind a fannypack.

This girl could no doubt dunk.

Tal getting drug by Marmaduke in Toon Lagoon.

Anyone seen Sponge Bob?

Kids with Woody and his female friend. The female Woody liked Gabe’s Bama hat and started doing the hand motions to “Roll Tide” just after this photo was taken.

This was a trick photo that worked perfectly!