Greenville, South Carolina

Carolyn raises angora rabbits and spins their fur into yarn. She showed us her prized spinning wheels and the rabbits in her backyard.

Her garden was beautiful as well.....

Carolyn took us to see a lovely park in downtown Greenville park with a waterfall.

And here is another one of those amusing road signs.  Each regions seems to have its own way to say "Watch out for speed bumps in the road ahead"..........

Asheville, North Carolina

We stayed in a most wonderful and welcoming Bed & Breakfast in Barnardsville, just outside of the Asheville area.  It is called the Hawk and Ivy and is run by a lovely and interesting couple.  They raise their vegetables and have extensive gardens on the hill behind the main house and cottage.  Breakfast was always beautifully presented with fresh flowers and tasted absolutely amazing!

Breakfast at the table in the main house was really fascinating every day.  We happened to be staying there at the same time as two other couples.  One of the men was a food photographer, I regret that I don't remember what his wife does for a living.  the other couple were both immigration attorneys and we had a lively discussion on that topic our last morning there.

 We hope to return again to stay at the Hawk and Ivy in a couple of years.

While there, we toured the Biltmore Estate and spent a few hours at the local Bele Chere festival in downtown Asheville. Above is a picture of Sara on the street near some creative grafitti.

We drove along the Blue Ridge Parkway, enjoying the peace and beauty of this part of the world.

Next we will drive to visit my sister Gail and her husband Ray in Cumming, Georgia.  But along the way we will stop and have lunch with a friend of Bob's who lives in Greenville, South Carolina, Carolyn Grothouse.

Warren Wilson College

When we arrived at Warren Wilson College in Swananoa near Asheville, North Carolina, there was a board greeting the visitors to the campus to which Sara's name had been added, same as at Earlham.  The Admissions building was a green building and built by students.  Very cool design that fit into the surrounding mountains.

We toured the campus and had lunch in the dining hall, all the while admiring the beautiful views and clean mountain air.  Students at the school commit to a triad of focus: work on campus, community service, and classes.  It is an all-encompassing life.  Over 90% of students live on campus, as do about 70% of teachers.
While we were there, the Swananoa Gathering was under way, which is a music camp of sorts, for people who come from all over the US and even other countries.

Though the campus and philosophy were beautiful and intriguing, Sara decided this college was not the best fit for her personality.  And that is precisely the reason we are making this trip....to see what is the best school for her to attend.

Gallaudet University in Washington, D.C.

We stayed in a nice hotel over the Chesapeake Bay Bridge in a little Maryland town called Chestertown.  Bob wanted to stay in Maryland and we thought being out of the middle of Washington would be better.  It turns out that traffic in town was really horrendous.  People at the school told us it is always bad and the construction never seems to go away, so we were glad we chose not to stay there.  But we really loved the campus.  It is gated and like a little oasis in the middle of town.  You'd never know you were in an urban setting.

Saw the Capitol from a distance only while crawling down the street in traffic.  Wish we had time to do some tourist things, but we must save that for a trip dedicated solely to seeing Washington in the future.

 
An amusing street sign

The university has a lot to offer.  For a hearing person like Sara, she can go one of two ways....a BIA degree for Interpreters, or she can go into the Hearing Undergraduate (HUG) program (Sara liked the acronym). We toured the art department, where we met a professor who is a ceramist, Andre Pellerin.  We liked his work so much we bought a small vase to bring home!  We also toured the theatre department, since Sara has expressed an interest in that area as well.  She had a lot of opportunity to practice her ASL and was advised on many ways to build up her signing skills before she applies for admission, if she chooses to go to Gallaudet.

When the day was over, we headed back over the Bay Bridge and went to have dinner at a place recommended to us...Harris' Crab House in the Kent Narrows area.  It reminded us a lot of seafood places back home in New Orleans, minus the availability of clams.

Tomorrow...on to North Carolina.

Stopped to visit my college friend Myla, in Parkersburg, West Virginia

Enjoyed seeing Myla in person after many years of just exchanging Christmas / Hannukah cards and e-mails.

She and her husband Doug have a lovely home in an historic section of town.

We toured their factory where a wide variety of silk and metallic threads are made for needleworkers, crafters, scrapbookers, quilters, fiber artists, and fly fishermen!  It was a really interesting experience.

Myla also drove us to a scenic overlook of the town on the Ohio River.

 Wish we could have stayed the night but we had to move on to Washington D.C. where Sara has an interview and tour scheduled at Gallaudet University tomorrow.

Earlham College - Richmond, Indiana

Arrived at the Admissions Office for our tour......

The Daily Tour Board had Sara's name posted, it was kind of nice to see her acknowledged.

A delightful tour guide, Krystnell Storr, showed us around campus and took us to lunch.  She is a Biology major from the Bahamas, who is in her Junior year.  It would be great if Sara chose Earlham and Krystnell were there to welcome her to the college, but she will have graduated by the time Sara starts school.  We wish Krystnell the best for her future and thank her for the time she spent with us.

Tomorrow we will drive to Parkersburg, West Virginia to visit a friend from my college days at UNO, Myla Gilman, now Myla Kreinik.  It will be so much fun to see her again after many years.

Mammoth Cave, Kentucky

After a wonderful visit with the Kleins in Little Rock, we drove to Mammoth Cave, KY.  Got there in time for a really heavy downpour, but managed to take the "Historic" tour in late afternoon. There are nearly 400 miles (yes, four hundred!) of connected underground caverns and tunnels in the Mammoth Cave system.  We saw only about 2 miles of it.  Would love to go back some time and see more.
Here are a few pictures...

This was the original natural entrance created by fast-moving water.  Still used today as a starting point for tours.

This is a pit formed by water dripping down through surface cracks.

Formation called "Giant's Coffin"

Stalactites in the cave.










Tomorrow...Earlham College, our first tour on this trip.

Houston to Little Rock

Started driving out of Houston around 9:00 AM.

Sara was our driver for a lot of the day and we were mostly doing freeway driving.  At lunch we stopped in a little town called Timpson.  Just next door to the Whataburger was the Big Texas Hair Salon.......
I couldn't resist attaching a picture of that establishment as it was so quaint.

We arrived at the home of our friends Suzanne and James around 5:30 PM.   Pictures tomorrow.

Getting ready for the trip

Doing laundry, wrapping up projects around the house, confirming

appointments at the various schools and making hotel reservations.  

Met the wonderful lady who will petsit with our two little schnauzers.

Talked to our old  friends from New Orleans, Suzanne and James,

with whom we will stay on a short visit to their home in Little Rock, AR.  

We are going to enjoy seeing them again, it is always too long 

between times we are able to get together.

Here's the plan.........

Bob, Sara and I are about to begin our Summer College Odyssey 2010. We have planned a trip which makes a loop around the Eastern U.S. and stops at four locations where we have appointments to visit schools which Sara might be interested in attending. In between those four locations, we are going to visit friends and family and do a little sightseeing. I will be taking my laptop along on the journey and posting pictures of things we encounter along the way.