How do you choose your journey?

Sometimes the best ones come from out of the blue.

Last year, I asked Jim if he wanted to go away for our anniversary. He said, "How about a road trip?" That was really a given since Jim won't fly anymore, but I had to consider I couldn't take much time off from work and didn't want to spend most of our vacation actually driving.

So where could we go in one day's driving from Palm Bay, Fla.? It couldn't be a city -- that's not Jim's thing. What did we like to do best? Enjoy nature, away from the madding crowds of course. State and national parks are great, so that was where I started on my web search, thinking the Carolinas or Georgia. When I found Amicalola Falls State Park in Georgia, I was intrigued. What sold it? The lodge in the park (that's it above), several trails, and nearby Dahlonega, an historical gold mining town and much more. We weren't disappointed, as the photos below show. They are just a tease as I will fill in the details of our trip later.

My husband, Jim, and I have had some memorable trips together, especially the Oregon coast and Glacier National Park for our 30th anniversary. More recently we stayed closer to home (Florida) with a trip to Apalachicola Falls State Park in Georgia. In the next week, I will talk about why we chose that destination and how it transpired.

Come back and enjoy the journey!