WHERE I AM, THERE I AM (December 13, 2023 - January 11, 2024)

Fairfield Glade backyard deer

 

Our final three weeks at the "Glade" were spent watching a lot of basketball and football on TV as the weather turned off quite cold. My daughter's family drove down from Indiana and spent a week with us over the Christmas break. Puzzles and table games were the order of the days. They stayed through January 2, 2024 so we could all watch MICHIGAN win the National Championship! 

We left the woodlands of WYNDHAM FAIRFIELD GLADE a day early. This time we rented a car for our travel and headed via the southern route through Atlanta, Ga. in order to miss the icy Smoky Mountain roads. After spending the night outside of Atlanta we drove to South Carolina and Edisto Island and the WYNDHAM OCEAN RIDGE RESORT.                                                                                 

Blue skies greeted us as we arrived at our Bay Point unit at the resort. We have stayed in Bay Point every spring since 2017. Right now, this will be our front yard until June. We have just nicely settled in. It feels like "home". The resident dolphin have been active in the Bay and seemed glad to see us. The shore birds have flocked to welcome us back and the swaying Palm Trees waved hello.

Edisto has been a favorite since we first visited in the summer of 1985. We fell in love with the Low Country of South Carolina. We've never stayed this long....we'll see how it goes.                                                                                                         REFLECTIONS

I thought I'd reflect on the year just passed. In 2023 I pillowed my head in Florida, South Carolina, Indiana, Missouri, Alaska, and Tennessee. 51% of those nights were spent in WYNDHAM RESORTS and 49% were spent with family, friends, and as an interim pastor in Alaska. We "visited" WYNDHAM CYPRESS PLAMS (Kissimmee, Florida), WYNDHAM OCEAN RIDGE (Edisto Island, South Carolina), WYNDHAM MOUNTAIN VISTA (Branson, Missouri), and WYNDHAM FAIRFIELD GLADE (Crossville, Tennessee).

I am often asked which resort is my favorite. I don't have a good answer because they are all unique. Cypress Palms is located just off busy Highway 192 but has great pools and hot tubs. There are all kinds of eateries and stores within walking distance. Ocean Ridge, in the other hand, is located an hour from Charleston and is as remote as it gets. Yet it provides a place to enjoy the simpler things in life. There are zero hotels, motels, or high raise resorts. Ocean Ridge is it. The only national restaurant is the Subway in the gas station (several local places provide the best seafood ever. Mountain Vista is your invitation to all that is Branson. Nuff said. Fairfield Glade sits on top of the Cumberland Plateau. It is a golfer's paradise and its own post office and shopping center.

 I have awakened to grazing deer, slinking alligators, and jumping dolphins. We have been joined by family and friends. We have made new friends.

"Regrets? I've had a few. But then again too few to mention." So I'll look forward with great expectations for the year to come. I'll revel in the time with family. I'll enjoy reunions with friends. I'll kiss my wife goodnight and wake up somewhere that I'll be happy to be.

As Michigan's victorious football coach says; "Who has it better than us? NOBODY!

Edisto Island Sunset