The Scenic Route - Saturday March 14th

After we left the Rehabilitation Center, before we took a scenic tour of some of the attractions in the area, we stopped along the road for a picnic. We had packed up leftovers from our braai the night before along with lunch meat, some very tasty bread and assorted snacks to go with it. We stopped near a very large tree that I cannot for the life of me remember what it's called! Of course there is no one here to ask right now! I'll tag the photo as soon as I can grab one of my Tour Directors to remind me. I'm telling you, I'm so senile at this point that I'm good if I remember my name! So many new things to see, experiences coming...

I am not going to try to describe what I saw on that drive. I'm going to let the photos speak for themselves for a change :) I am still in awe at the things I saw on that little cruise down the "South African Super Highway". It's kind of a joke between us. The farther out of the cities you get the more potholes in the roads. I don't mention this to pick on the roads here, heaven knows we have the same problems in the States! I tell you this because one on the vistas on our route on Saturday is called, "The Potholes". Santi didn't bother to tell me this was a natural wonder in the area! I was thinking, "oh goodie, more potholes!" So not true! Again, I will let the photos speak for the view. Links will be added to the end of this blog if you want more information on "The Potholes" and the "3 Rondovels".

The only downside of the day was the low clouds did minimize the views to some degree. Cara reminded me that the town we were staying in was called "Hazyview" and I guess we know why that is, now don't we? Being higher in the mountains of course the clouds seem lower! I think in a few of the photos you can see that rain was threatening at different times during the afternoon.

To keep us entertained on the drive between destinations, we had Cara and her friend, Stefan, in the center seat of the Combi doing their best impressions of 7 years olds on a cross country summer vacation! Oh how I remember those days, "he's on my side of the seat!" and the "she's touching me!" I kept telling the "kids" that I was going to have "Dad" pull over to the side of the road and put them out of the car if they didn't behave! They did keep us entertained during the long drive! I did miss Liese this weekend and wished time and time again she had been able to join us...

Stefan is a good guy and fits right in with the family. He has a great sense of humor and he's great at working that grill for the braais! He's also good for carrying luggage around and hauling the supplies as well ;) He has been to the University but I think he majored in stand up comedy! I'm just kidding Stefan, if I didn't like you I wouldn't pick on you the way I do.

I will add that they are taking their turns at trying to kill me! First it was Cara and the caves and the elephant ride (my bum still remembers that one well!). Then it was Santi's turn. Before we got to the 3 Rondavals, Mom made it perfectly clear that I was going to walk DOWN to see the view. I know Santi well enough to know when there is no point in arguing with her. This was one of those times... The photos will give you some idea of the path we followed to see this miracle of nature! It was another one of those sites that was more than worth the effort to get there but Mom, PLEASE! LOL It was absolutely breath taking down there (again I use the word DOWN). Again, this is one of those times where I'll let the photos do my talking :) Then there was the crawling back up part... Yes, I admit, I WHINED and Peter just laughed at me! Of course this is the marathon runner I'm talking about. Ppppffffftttttt!

When we got back up the "kids" saw an ice cream stand and of course there were the screams of , "I scream, you scream, we all want ice cream". I'm going to tell on Santi now, don't tell her I told you this but remember those DO NOT FEED THE ANIMALS signs I talked about earlier? A monkey appeared while we were having refreshments and Mom fed the monkey! And if that wasn't bad enough, Peter was teasing the monkey! It was getting harder and harder to tell the kids from the grown ups at that point! This little boy (ask me how I know he was a boy... photos again), wasn't afraid of people by any means, I guess he stayed close to the refreshment stand. Now, she said she did it for me... because I am still not used to seeing them running around in the more rural areas (no, like the lions and elephants, they have pretty much fled the urban areas).

We left for Hazyview for dinner and a good nights sleep for the ride home. Dinner was out on the patio of the restaurant and the breeze felt so gooooood! I think we've been pretty lucky in our travels, this is the end of summer here and it's still a bit toasty at times but there is usually a nice breeze to cool you off :)

Sunday on the ride home, there wasn't as much conversation. I think we were all ready to get out of the Combi and back into our own beds!

As far as Monday and Tuesday this week? So far, it's been pretty much spent on editing the photos for the albums. I did have dinner with Cara and Stefan this evening. Cara is a great cook by the way :)

( I think I've hit an all time record for the fewest type-o's [for sure not spelling errors] in quite some time! Yeppie for me! )