Christmas 2014 Newsletter

Dear Friends and family,

Our month-long vacation in Maine this summer was the hight light of the year. Bud and I loved camping at Acadia National Park's Blackwoods and Seawall campgrounds. Blackwoods Campground has a new, short, wooded trail that connects to Otter Bay where we saw amazing sunrises and sunsets over the ocean and Cadillac Mountain each day. The panoramic views of Acadia's coast and island-studded bays from Cadillac Mountain's 1,530 ft summit, the tallest mountain on the U. S. Eastern seaboard, are stunning.

Baxter State Park turned out to be our favorite. Our campsite at Abol Campground, on the West Branch of the Penobscot River, had a magnificent broadside view of Katahdin Mountain's 5,268 ft ever-changing monolith. Wispy white clouds drifted over the mountain's long flattish top. Sometimes only a tiny white cloud covered Baxter Peak, the highest point. We could see the mountain's every ridge and crag without the clouds.

Hiking and viewing the many waterfalls and streams at the base of the mountain was also a treat. On our last morning a moose cautiously stepped out of the woods into a pond and began swimming towards our campsite. I bolted out the RV door and ran towards towards it. We almost collided! I held my breathe and stopped as it sauntered off into the woods.

Avoiding the small black flies, no bigger than the point of a ball point pen, was our biggest challenge at Baxter SP. Only bug spray with deet gave us relief after the first day of many tiny, painful, bloody bites.

Bud and I are in good health considering Bud takes medication for his heart (he's had a stint since 2005), high blood pressure (went to the emergency room recently when the top number was over 400), diabetes (recently had an episode of memory loss and confusion), is at risk for heatstroke (had an episode of heat exhaustion) and uses a sleep apnea machine. I take medication for high cholesterol and tryglycerides. My pap smears have been normal since the cervical cancer surgery last September.

Bud lost his closet friend and hunting buddy of 43 years to pancreatic cancer. We mourn along with his wife, children and grandchildren.

Bud and I continue to love our trips and activities with Macon's "Georgia Wilderness Society." Our favorites include camping at Georgia's Cabretta Beach on Sapelo Island and canoe camping on numerous rivers in Georgia and Florida.

We enjoyed staying with Bill and Vickie, Bud's brother and sister-in-law, and visiting with Matria, Bud's 98 year-old mother, Gina, his sister and her to two sons near St. Petersberg, Florida.

Bud continues to serve as president of Georgia's "Friends of High Falls StatePark" along with his other hunting, civic and conservation activities. He, and Truett, his Vice President, organized numerous work details and cleanups along with an amazing all day "Civil War Days" educational event that included a 27-mile bike ride this fall.

Love and warmest wishes, Niki and Bud