Goodbye Raleigh, It’s a Wrap!

Our time in Raleigh NC has ended and it is once again time to hit the road. In this blog I’ll wrap up our stay with a few other things we did during our stay.

As I have mentioned before we spent the weekends staying with our daughter and her family enjoying time with our granddaughter. We did venture out one Saturday evening to see a minor league team, the Durham Bulls play at their stadium in Durham, NC .

   

The stadium is located off the interstate in downtown Durham. We parked a short walk away and upon leaving the parking garage we landed in a scenic area featuring water features, lots of shops and restaurants adjacent to the stadium.

We had great seats and really enjoyed the game. A cold stadium beer with some peanuts and BBQ nachos completed the experience!. It was also pretty cool to see a dog who was trained to fetch the players’ bats after each at bat. Disappointingly the Durham Bulls lost but we had a grand time watching the game and enjoyed our brief visit to Durham NC.

We also enjoyed the occasional Wednesday together on our daughter’s day off. We were able to hike once at Johnson Lake and then another at Umstead State Park. Her corgi, Benny was really happy to accompany us on the hikes.  We also played disc golf together several times and we will certainly miss the exceptional disc golf courses in this area.

One Wednesday we drove over to Duke Gardens to walk around. While we have been there many times before, this is one of those places requiring repeat trips to allow us to savor it at different times of the year. It never disappoints. Admission is free but does require paid parking to be close to the gardens.

One last long weekend over Labor Day we drove over to White Lake where Katie’s in-laws invited us to their family lake house. It was great to visit with all of Brooks’ grandparents, parents and neighbors. It was also fun to be at the lake and chill a bit. Allie, our granddaughter, seemed to really enjoy the lake but wasn’t too sure about getting in the water although she was willing to give it a try with her Dad.

Goodbyes are always hard especially for Sharon but it was time to plan our route out. We had such a great time with family and with new friends at the RV park but the weather is changing reminding us it is time to go.Since we have finally decided to winter back in Mesa Arizona we will start our slow trek westerly…

Hiking in Lake Johnson Nature Park NC…

One thing we noticed about the larger cities in North Carolina is that each has lots of nice parks. One park in the Raleigh area called Lake Johnson Nature Park is a favorite of ours for a scenic nature hike while still being located within the city.

Lake Johnson Nature Park is not only a metro park but it is also a nature preserve. We loved walking the 2.8 mile paved trail around the lake. One morning we met our daughter Katie and her dog Benny for that nice hike around the lake. Benny was probably more excited about the hike that any of us were.

There is ample parking at the trailhead entrance and an overflow parking lot nearby if the main lot is full. The trail began by taking us on an extended boardwalk over the edge of Lake Johnson. We passed several fishermen on the boardwalk who weren’t having much luck based upon my queries.

Once we were off the boardwalk we entered a thick forested canopy of pines and mixed hardwoods approaching 130’ in height. The canopy of this mature Southern Mixed Hardwood Forest lets in very little light so the woods are fairly open underneath. The shade keeps the temperatures underneath the canopy making this a popular hike.

We hiked the trail during the middle of the week and it was still rather crowded as we passed people occasionally as we ambled along. The trail has quite of bit of elevation but mostly due to the constant up and down slopes of the terrain near the lake.

There were lots of mushroom and other fungi littering the forest floor peeking out through the dense layer of pine thatch in the woods. We found opportunities along the trail to venture closer to the lake for some spectacular views. Benny especially enjoyed wading in the lake to cool off.

The trail is pretty much shaded the entire way other than a small open area where the dam is located.. Adjacent to the dam was a wild patch of passion flowers blooming. Of course we had to stop to admire and photograph these most beautiful flowers. It was a great sighting and a fitting end to the hike as we made our way back to the car. What a great oasis for all the city dwellers to enjoy!