Fields of Cotton

Hubby and I went to Myrtle Beach last month. We enjoy road trips together when there is no timetable and we can enjoy looking at the scenery. Take a look at what we saw on the way down.

Don't the cotton plants look so soft? 

These are the cotton pickin' machines. hehehe That was supposed to sort of be a joke. They're actually cotton gins. One of them will pick 6 rows at a time, and the smaller one can only pick 4 rows at a time.
http://www.cottontimes.co.uk/whitneyo.htm

 

This is what it looked like after it had been picked.

Have you ever seen cotton fields?

Sunrise, Sunset

These were taken at Myrtle Beach, SC a few weeks ago.

A Touch of Pink

To get to Myrtle Beach, SC from Roanoke, VA we had to drive through a lot of small towns. I started seeing pink trashcans, but they were in people's yards. Well, yeah, of course they were.

Finally we came to one on the edge of a street where hubby could stop so I could jump out of the car and snap a quick picture.

Do these homeowners - and all the others - read Pinkalicious? Are they fans of the color pink like many of you?

I bet you already knew why the trashcans were painted pink. See that ribbon. It's the ubiquitous symbol for breast cancer awareness.

While at the beach, I read an article in Woman's Day. One of its points:
Just 30 minutes of exercise five days a week can cut your breast cancer risk by nearly 20%.

Now I have another reason I should be exercising. How about you?

This little engine could.

I hope you've been reading about the train trip we took with my parents to see the fall foliage in Elkins, WV.  If you missed it, check my last two posts.
http://grammygoodwill.blogspot.com/2011/10/fall-foliage-on-tracks.html
http://grammygoodwill.blogspot.com/2011/10/what-we-saw.html

This sign was in the gift shop as we were leaving and I thought it summed up our trip very well.


Here is the special twist I mentioned:

I took this picture from inside the train as our locomotive was coming around us. Yes, the locomotive was coming around its train. If I had known this was going to happen, I would have taken a picture of the locomotives before we got on the train. What you are seeing here is one of the two locomotives that pulled our train. In order to get to the falls, this one had to come around on the side tracks so it could push our train to the top. It made me remember that great childhood refrain from the book: I think I can, I think I can, I think I can....Pretty interesting, huh?

I'd like to end this post with a happy picture. These curtains were in the diner car. Aren't they the cutest faces you've ever seen?

Recap: We left our house at 5:00 a.m., spent 9 hours on a bus, 4 hours on a train, and got home about 8:30 p.m. My parents had to drive another 45 minutes, getting home about 10 p.m.

Memories: Somewhat priceless



Hubby and I left the next morning for Myrtle Beach and a much-needed vacation.

More pictures will follow.

Hurricane - Earthquake - What's next?

I'm at Myrtle Beach this week.

Internet service is sporadic.

I did some posts before I left home, 

but I can't seem to find the time to put them online.

Meanwhile, we're fretting over Hurricane Irene,

wondering when she'll hit land,

and trying to stay upright in the waves.

Then, today there was an earthquake.

I've always heard that things happen in threes.

I wonder what that third thing will be.

Are there any volcanoes around?

Maybe I'm not supposed to go on vacation.