Waterfalls and Mountain Laurel

Sunday 14 May
The day dawned bright and sunny, and we enjoyed our breakfast outside. Today we went hiking within the state park to a couple of waterfalls, Rainbow Falls (top left) and Turtleback Falls (lower left and right from different angles). In the right light conditions, you will often see a rainbow at Rainbow Falls, hence the name, but unfortunately we weren’t in luck today. It was a moderately strenuous hike, with plenty of ups and downs and steps, but well worth the effort. Lots of Mountain Laurel bordered the trail, in different stages, some still in tight bud, and others with fully open flowers. I love the buds on the mountain Laurel - they look like piped roses on a cake! As the day progressed the clouds moved in but it stayed dry for our hike. We returned to our camper around 3.30, and had some tea and cake to tide us over till dinner time. We hadn’t been back very long before it started to rain, so that was good timing! Since it was American Mothers Day today, Jen had booked dinner out for us at an Italian restaurant in nearby Sapphire. Fortunately, the rain had virtually stopped by the time we went out. We enjoyed a delicious dinner, which Jen kindly paid for. I have added two photos in extras.