We made it!

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Well, we have arrived to London in one piece! We did have an interesting experience in customs after landing as we wrote on the custom forms we were going to be in the country for 61 days.  The customs officer was nice, but very thorough in his questioning and wanted to see proof we were not planning to stay in the country longer.   He asked to see our flight information from London to Portugal, which I could not locate on my phone, so instead showed him our rental car reservation and all our Airbnb confirmations in Portugal.  This seemed to satisfy him as he stamped our passports and we were free to collect our bags.  

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Blackberry Farm (Part I)

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Over Easter weekend, Alex and I headed to Tennessee to stay at Blackberry Farm.  Alex's former colleague told us about Blackberry Farm several years ago and since then, it has been on our bucket list to visit.  We drove down Friday and stopped in Asheville for lunch at Buxton Hall, one of our favorite BBQ places.  It's about a 4+ hour drive from Charlotte to the farm, so it was nice to break it up a bit. 

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Lake Norman

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This past weekend, Alex and I headed north of Charlotte to visit Lake Norman State Park.  It had rained pretty heavily the day before so several of the trails were closed; but we were able to do the Lake Shore Trail which we've done in the past and really enjoyed.  It's about a three-mile hike and follows the shore along Lake Norman.  The weather was cooler than weekends previously, so it was really nice to get out and explore. 

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An Attempt at Camping...

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A couple of weeks ago, Alex and I decided we wanted to go camping as the last time we camped was back in 2003!  We made a run to Target where we purchased a tent, a cooler, lighters, and food.  We spent last week looking for places in North Carolina where we could go for the weekend.  We were hoping to go north around the Asheville area, but all the campsites were reserved and when I called to see about "first come, first serve" availability, the park ranger informed me those campsites typically fill up by Wednesday and Thursday.  As we were leaving after Alex got off work Friday, we did not want to risk driving over two hours only to find out there were no campsites available.  So, we decided to head to Morrow Mountain State Park. Lucky for us, they had plenty of sites available to reserve.  

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