A Raleigh Good Time

Hello,
It's me.
I was wondering if all these weeks you'd like to read,
And go over
Everything.
They say that time's supposed to fade things,
And that's what I'm finding.
Here goes...

Straight out, I'll tell you that between the punny post title and the song parady opener, I'm not sure if I should allow myself to write anything at the moment!  I read the title to Jackson and he did a literal face-palm.  Like this:

🤦

I guess we just proceed with caution and see how it goes!

We're in South Carolina now, but I wanted to write about our trip to North Carolina.  We were only meant to spend a week in Four Oaks (just outside of Raleigh), but extended our stay to two.  It was pretty low-key as far as sight-seeing, but thanks to a phenomenal RV park, we really enjoyed ourselves!

Raleigh Oaks RV Resort was great!  We were content to stay at the park most of the time.  We swam, played with the dogs in their three dog parks, and worked out in the mornings as a family.  Most RV parks won't allow kids as young as Jackson to workout in their gym facilities, but this place gave him the okay as long as we were with him.  The kids enjoyed getting their hearts pumping before school each day!

Surprisingly, we found that there weren't many things to do in Raleigh.  Being North Carolina's capitol, I thought we would be busy with activities, but not so much.  To be fair, we drove right past three attractions because they were completely packed with crowds and we didn't want to fight for a parking spot.  So I guess you could say there weren't many Cato-friendly things to do in Raleigh.  :)  I think the busy-ness was mostly because the state fair was going on, but I'm not sure.

One very impressive attraction was the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences.  This is a free museum, though I am sure they are being funded well from some source!  The museum is gorgeous!  It's four stories high and filled with beautiful, interesting exhibits.  The kids were awe-struck.  After we finished each floor, they couldn't believe there was even more to see.

They had seahorses!  

Or is the plural still seahorse?  

Seahorsi?  

Seahorses's's's.  Final answer.

Life-size blue whale skeleton.  It was amazing to stand underneath and try to grasp how something so colossal could be swimming the oceans of our Earth.  I mean, we know it in our minds, but it's entirely different to stand next to one.

The museum is divided up into the different ecosystems found in North Carolina.  This is a seriously diverse state!

My friend, Grumpyface Magee.

We learned a lot here, including that North Carolina leads the country in salamander species, with 58.

We also celebrated Jeff's 36th birthday in North Carolina!  He had to work and doesn't like to make a big deal about his birthdays anyway, but I made him Zuppa Toscana and got a fantastic pie from a company in Raleigh.

We paid a visit to the North Carolina Museum of Art, and were greeted by a familiar friend when we arrived!  This is the twin of a sculpture that we saw at the art museum in St. Louis.  :)

This was Jackson's favorite piece in the museum.  I found him and Jordan standing in front of it, talking.  They told me that it made them think of the history of the world; how in the beginning (top tier), God created the heavens and Earth, and it was all good.  Everything was whole and beautiful.  Then sin crept into everything and the world has been on a decline into more brokenness and chaos since then.  And now we're in a big mess (bottom tier).  

I was taken aback that they were reading into the art.  We talked about the implications of all they said--the breaking that sin causes, the inevitable consequences, the inability to go back and fix what you've just shattered, and also how breaking one thing can lead to collateral damage and a lot more broken glass.

Thinking about these talks with my kids makes me shake my head in wonder.  Every day, I pray for opportunity to pour into my children.  That God will give me words that will penetrate their hearts and stick to their souls.  Words for them to have and keep for their whole lives.  But you can't schedule quality time.  You can't dictate the ah-ha moments.  Things that are holy and precious, are hidden in the most unexpected things.  In mundane things, or basic things.

That was a pretty cool thing that I don't want to forget.

After we left the Raleigh area, we dipped down into South Carolina for a few weeks of nearly free camping.  (More on that in another post.)  Next week's plan has us climbing back up into North Carolina, this time to visit the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.  Finding an RV park near GSMNP with a good Verizon signal proved to be a real challenge, but I was assured by one park owner that she could see a Verizon tower from her window and the service is great.  We've got our hiking packs and our bear spray, so we're all set to explore.  I've decided that it's time to face my Revenant-induced fear of bears, only I'm not brave enough to tackle Glacier NP or Yellowstone just yet.  Baby steps, right?  ;)

Until next time!