Under the Archive click on Lake House to see the pictures.

Here's an update on what's going on with us. The locum tenens job Howard has been working at in Norwood, NC will become a permanent position. The hospital that hired him for the temporary job has offered him a permanent position. And since we like the area and the offer was good, we have accepted it. We will move to Albemarle, NC (just about 10-12 miles from Norwood) . We were able to find a cozy house on beautiful Lake Tillery to rent for the next 3 years. Fortunately, the hospital will pay to move us (YEAH!) and that will take place November 2. The movers will come in on Monday, pack us up, load us on Tuesday, and deliver and unload on Wednesday. We are looking forward to making use of that lake - fishing, swimming, and eventually boating. And with my near-completion of the photography class, hopefully I will be able to get some great pictures while living there.
Look below for a couple of pictures of the lake. It was beautiful the day I was out there checking out the house.
Later!

Lake House

These lake scenes are from the backyard of where we will be moving to, in Albemarle, North Carolina, on Lake Tillery. The other picture is the front of the house where we will be moving to.

Okay, let's see. The log cabin is the former home of the county's first doctor. He and his wife and two daughters lived on what is now called Morrow Mountain. Beautiful area! He had a greenhouse and an infirmary where he saw his patients. Down behind the house in the woods, is a little cemetary with graves of the family. Next to the house, by the chimney, is a fig tree -- never, NEVER eat an unripe fig. Bitter, nasty!
By the greenhouse he had a scupernong arbor that we students partook of. Some of these poor students had never even heard of them! (Our photography class had a field trip here).


This is just a picture I took because I liked the clouds. It was while we were on our field trip, as are the other scenes below. Again, the lake is of Lake Tillery.

Picture one we are hiking on a trail at City Lake - beautiful area. The first in line is our friend Diane, then her husband, Rod, then Howard, and then their son, Sadri. Gabby, their daughter has gotten a good lead on us, and of course, I'm bringing up the rear. The second picture Howard is panning for GOLD. Yes, real gold. There is a place about 10 minutes from where we are living called Cotton Patch Gold Mine. We all went there and learned how to pan for gold, and actually found some! It is very tiring work. You get about 7 buckets each full of rocks, sand and hopefully some gold flecks. We found about $15.00 worth during the 3 to 4 hours we were there.
The third picture is of Howard riding his bike (duh), out in the country near where he works. I didn't have the setting on camera set right so he came out a little blurry.

The picture to the left is of Lake Tillery, about 2 miles from the clinic where Howard is working.


The picture below of the duck and the pond is at a little park in Norwood, NC (near Howard's clinic). There is a walking trail and we get to see these beautiful ducks as we walk. I'm taking a photography class at the local community college in Albemarle, NC and these pictures are some of my first attempts with my new camera.

Meet Katelyn Breanna (Breanna) Whatley, born Friday, July 24, 2009, weighing in at 7 lbs 14 oz, 20 1/2 inches long, with a head FULL of dark hair. BEAUTIFUL!











Pawpaw getting to know Breanna

Mimi Chris and Pawpaw with Breanna

Big Brother Taylor - 4 yrs old.

We have left Ketchikan, had a month off for "retirement" and are now back on assignment in Norwood, North Carolina. We flew out of Ketchikan, had a long lay-over in New York (unplanned) and arrived in Raleigh where Rod, our close friend, picked us up and took us home. We had a few days home, then went on a trip to Kiawah Island in South Carolina, played tennis, and relaxed, then went to visit our grandchildren (and children) for a couple of days. After returning home we had about 2 weeks to get ready for the next leg of our adventure.

The clinic Howard is working in is located in Norwood, but we are staying in a guest house that the Stanly Hospital in Albemarle, owns. It is very nice and very comfortable. The drive from the house to the clinic is 12 miles through beautiful countryside. Albemarle seems to be a little bigger than Rockingham, and I have been impressed with how clean it appears to be. People seem to take pride in their surroundings.

I have been able to connect up with my "adventure buddies", Audrey and Barbara, and we have had a chance to catch up on things.

One sad note -- on Wednesday morning we found out that a former partner of Howard's, Dr. Stan Vetter, passed away during the night on Tuesday. He had been in Rockingham for probably 50 years as a family practice physician. I'm sure the whole town will miss him.

Well, as soon as I can take more pictures of our new place I will post them. I have signed up at the local community college to take a digital camera class. Hopefully I will soon be a pro at taking pictures!
OH, I must add here that Howard and I will soon be grandparents again -- no, not Heather. (boo-hoo). Tracy, Howard's oldest daughter, will be delivering Breanna on Friday and we will be flying down on Saturday to see her. We won't be able to stay long, so we will be flying back on Sunday. Breanna's big brother is anxious for her to arrive and has been a big help in taking care of momma. Maybe I can get pictures of them too!

Enjoy the rest of the pictures I've posted on the blog. Love you all.

Pat and Randy Deering and myself standing in front of a totem pole at Saxman Village. Pat and Randy are dear friends from long, long ago, when I was a mere teenager. He was my youth director at the time. They were on a cruise and the boat stopped in Ketchikan and got to "ketch" up on our news.

H.J. holding our sign welcoming Heather and Andrew, after a very long, and tiring, plane ride.

Andrew, Heather and I went exploring and found this frozen lake. It was beautiful.

Heather taking pictures of the lake ....

Andrew testing the frozen lake.

Howard, Heather, Andrew and me about to board a float plane for a tour around the island. It was a lot of fun. We saw lots of sea lions gathered on a big rock (from the plane they looked like magots).

We got to go to a Lumber Jack show and had a lot of fun. Here they are having a competition chopping wood. One side was the "U.S." and one side was "Canada." The show was fun, funny, and they had a lot of talent.

This is a picture of a primitive doctor's office in Ketchikan "back in the day", from a local museum.


Heather and Andrew standing in front of a beautiful lake we "hiked" to.

Local plant called "skunk squash"; when bears come out of hybernation they love to eat this -- it "cleans out" their system. (Like a giant laxative!). They love it.

This is Heather standing below the root system of a giant tree that has fallen over. It was HUGE!

Pull my finger! Whew! Howard having a little fun with one of the totem poles in the Saxman Totem Pole Park.

Another totem pole.

this is a stream I saw on the 7 HOUR HIKE I took with Heather and Andrew. Yes, a SEVEN HOUR HIKE!!!!! I almost died. It was beautiful but WAY TOO LONG...... Heather and Andrew did fine. I tried to get them to save themselves and leave me behind, but they wouldn't leave me.

Here Howard is enjoying his part-time retirement. He's playing ping pong with a good friend of ours.

Well, we have 3 more weeks here in Ketchikan, Alaska! We are ready for the warmth of North Carolina -- personally, I'm a little tired of feeling chilled all the time. However, even though it is about 50 degrees outside today, it is very sunny and beautiful! Our daughter, Heather and her husband, Andrew, will be arriving for a week's visit on Friday, May 22. We are so excited to see them. Then after they leave on the 30th, we have one week left. We will leave on Friday, June 5, and arrive in Raleigh, NC on Saturday, June 6. Then we will drive on home to Wilmington.
Howard will then begin his month-long "retirement" before starting his next assignment in Norwood, N.C. on July 6. Norwood is about 10 miles from Albermarle, NC and about 40 minutes from where we used to live in Ellerbe. This assignment will go until about Oct. 16.
I'll update again before we leave -- we are planning on doing more "touristy" things while Heather and Andrew are here -- so I'll report on that later.

Stacy (on left) and Dr. Jennifer Bell (on right); our boating companions.

Here's Capt'n Howard, piloting our 16' skiff that we rented one beautiful Saturday. It started out a bit chilly, then warmed up as the day went on. We invited Dr. Jennifer Bell (doctor at the clinic) and Stacy, (a visiting nurse) to go with us. We had a blast!

On the hike through the woods, we came upon this beautiful little lake -- very serene.

It is a little difficult to see, but these fallen trees are covered by a soft, mossy-like growth - Alaska's version of kudzu.

On a path in the beautiful woods off Naha Bay, Howard "walks the plank" --

This is a view from the landing about midway through our boatride. This is Naha Bay. The church we have been visiting owns a ranch (camp) here and offers it out for others to use for youth camps, etc.

When we got back from our boat ride, we found these kids "swimming"! If you notice, only one is really in the water. It was still cold!

I got this picture also while on my walk up on the hill -- 2 cruise ships were in port - it's a little hard to tell by this picture but the second one is at the top of the one you see length-wise. When the cruise ships are in town, there are people at all the intersections with stop signs - when a visitor needs to cross the road, they stop all the cars. For some reason it is fun to see the ships come in - they are so big! I know this little town really depends on the business these visitors bring.

I took this picture while I was out walking.

The building in the middle bottom of the picture is First Baptist Church of Ketchikan. (The speck in the background is a float plane landing). It appears that the church sits right on the water, but in fact, it sits on a steep hill and there are several buildings between it and the water. There is also the main road. You just can't see it.

We have been visiting FBC for several weeks and will be taking the pastor and his wife to lunch on Sunday (May 3). I'm looking forward to getting to know them.

This is Howard's office - he has a nice view from his window - but you have to stand up to see out.

He shares this tiny office with someone else.

While on my little outting, I saw this mailbox and thought it cute - it's a miniature bulldozer !

Well...here's the end of the road to the south of Ketchikan! There is also an electrical station and a little dirt path just big enough for a small car to drive on. But, since I didn't have my "adventure buddies" (Audrey and Barbara) with me, I thought I better not go alone. (Howard was working).

This END is about 12 1/2 miles from downtown Ketchikan. At about 8 1/2 miles from downtown, the paved road becomes a hard-packed dirt and gravel road.

I was out for a drive to the end of the road south of us - and came across this deer. The "poor deer" had trouble finding a way off the road - mountain on one side - road guard rail on the other. It finally found a narrow path up the mountain.