Callaway Gardens

Callaway Gardens, located about 1 hour south of Atlanta, is a beautiful park full of many flowers, gardens, hiking trails, ponds, nature trails, beach, chapel, golf coarse, tennis center, foliage and more. It's a non profit organization involved with conservation, and research on plants and wildlife. Open to the public, it provides education for understanding the "living world".

Doesn't Delton look colorful among the flowers!!!!!!!

We took our bikes and rode around the 8 mile trail circling the park. Passing many flowers and plants, we made our way through the nature trail, stopping along the way to admire many of the gardens of flowers and vegetables.

The Butterfly Garden was an indoor garden full of tropical butterflies and greenery. It was hard to get pictures of the butterflies in flight. They were flying all around us. Pictured are some of the butterflies on fern plants.

We attended an outdoor show on Birds of Prey and learned a lot about owls and falcon. Sometimes we had to be careful and duck as the birds flew over our heads to their trainer. We were disappointed that the eagles were on their day off! The birds were not on any kind of leash, so it was surprising that they did not fly away into freedom. Guess they liked the FOOD service!

The Parrot Encounter show was a one on one presentation between the parrot and it's fans. Pretty Bird!

While in the area, we were able to have diner with Delton's brother, Steve, who is a career Air Force Lieutenant Colonel based in Alabama.

Hiking Stone Mountain, GA

Our first stop on the way back to Texas was Stone Mountain in Atlanta, GA. We only stopped for 1 night, took and hike and left the next day.

The mountain is a big rock that sticks out of the landscape high above the city of Atlanta. It's a 1.3 mile hike and takes about 30 minutes to get to the top. What a spectacular view!

Some sections were very steep and a hand railing was built for safety, but it was a short section near the top.

It was about 5:30 in the afternoon and the sun was going down. Also, it had been raining earlier in the day, so it was still partly cloudy and parts of the rock were wet. See Atlanta in the background as the sun is going down.

That was it! We hiked and left!

Myrtle Beach 2009

We liked Myrtle Beach so much that we decided we would go there again. We visited Ocean Lakes in Myrtle Beach 3 years ago. It's one of the biggest parks in the country and has won many awards (see awards photo). Joni is shown sitting on the beach with her umbrella.

There are many organized events activities going on, especially for kids. We were there to enjoy the beach. Joni just can't get enough of the beach.


Legends in Concert was performing at Myrtle Beach. They were great. If you didn't know better, you'd think you were looking at the authentic celebrity. We saw Elvis, The Blues Brothers, Louis Armstrong, Roy Orbison and Reba.

The Dolly Parton Dixie Stampede was very entertaining. It's a diner show. AND you have to eat without utensils. The menu consisted of soup, chicken, corn on the cob, baked potato and pastry for desert. A hand wipe was "served" after diner. We had a great time.

Delton did some repair work while we were there. The bubble over our shower (see Delton sitting on the roof with his feet dangling) developed a leak. Delton took the bubble off and resealed it. On our way to Myrtle Beach, the backup camera on our motorhome went out. Delton installed a new monitor, 2 side cameras, a new back camera AND redid all the wiring. What a guy!

And yes, the fires were burning while we were there. We were never in danger as the fires were in North Myrtle Beach. The park we stayed in is in the southern part of Myrtle Beach. We could smell the fire and see the smoke through.

After 2 1/2 weeks, we headed out and started our way back to Texas. Our plan is to take our time and make some stops along the way.

Hilton Head

On our way to Myrtle Beach, we decided to take a side trip to Hilton Head. We only spent 2 nights there, so we didn't have much time to do stuff.

We went on a bike ride through a national preserve (See Joni on grass) located just a few miles from our RV park. Mainly it was an island with swampy areas around it. Much wild life is found here - alligators, snakes, birds, etc. but we didn't see any. Our ride was short.

Then we headed to the beach and the ocean. The beaches here aren't as nice as Florida beaches, especially during low tide. The sand is hard and the beach is wide. We took our bikes on to the beach for a great ride. See Delton heading down the walkway to the beach. There are only a few spots with public access to the beach, with most of the beach front built up with homes and hotels.

Hilton Head is mainly known for it's golf courses and tennis centers. There are many hotels and up scale shops everywhere. It was very pretty but much too commercial and touristy for us.

The park we stayed in was located on Hilton Head Island and had it's own marina, but it wasn't on the beach. We didn't use the pool, but it had a nice view over the waterway. It was a nice park, but we were ready to move on and get to Myrtle Beach.

Easter Sunrise Services

Easter Sunrise Services are held at Ocean Resorts every Easter Season. This year, Delton was honored by a request to be the main speaker at the services.

The services began at 6:45 am and the sun rose at 7:05. It was sooooo early, but sooooo beautiful. God sure knew what he was doing when he created this world for us. He loved us so much that He died for us!

A cross was erected in the sand, right in front of the steps leading to the beach from the boardwalk. Many came from Ocean Resorts and the surrounding condos. About 180 people attended. See the crowded coming down the boardwalk.

A trumpeter started the service. A keyboard was set up on the beach for music and sound equipment made it easy for everyone to hear. The thunder of the waves in the background was loud!
Jack played a solo on his stringed instrument (I can't remember what it is called) and he was accompanied by himself on the piano which was pre-recorded and put on CD. Also a few sang solos.

As Delton was giving the message, the sun was rising behind him. WHAT A SIGHT! GLORIOUS!
After the service was over, everyone was invited to the poolside patio for coffee, juice, donuts and more.

The cross was left in the sand all day. As people walked the beach, swam and sat in their beach chairs, the cross stood brightly in view as a reminder of what Easter means to all of us.

Life at Ocean Resorts

As the 2008-2009 winter season at Ocean Resorts come to a close, we are already looking forward to next winter. We have already decided we want to come back here again. We've made so many close friends and there are so many activites here that it is hard to go somewhere else.

Here a few more of the highlights of our winter. Tennis, of coarse, has been our biggest activity, with daily play and many tournaments. We enjoyed every minute of tennis - Delton too! He played more than Joni - isn't that amazing! Biking was our main mode of transportation. See Delton on his way to his next tennis match!

We had a cool winter this year, but we still enjoyed the beach. Pictured are friends, John and Karen, on the beach with us.

We hosted Karaoke in the Rec Hall on five different occasions. The crowds weren't as big as in Fun Valley, Colorado, but we still had a great time. See Gene singing a special song to Nancy.

One of the best investments Joni has ever made was a kayak. She went kayaking with Nancy and others many times. See Nancy and Joni on their trip to an island paradise.

Delton held another Bible Study this year, doing a chapter by chapter, verse by verse, study of the Book of Daniel. Shown is a picture of our Bible Study class! (Joni took the picture)

Alas, our winter is over and we will be "on the road again" after Easter. Our next adventure leads us back to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. We went there a few years ago and liked it so much that we decided to go back. We will stop in Hilton Head for a few nights on the way.

See you in Hilton Head!