8 years & change since my December 2004 visit (link), which was done on my father's dime (we flew from DFW to RDU) and during which we used his vehicle to get around and stayed in his house, this time we did it of our own ability & more on our own terms. We drove from Texas in our own 2002 Saturn and stayed in the Quality Inn Hotel in Kinston NC (across from Hardee's near 70, ½ a mile from King's where I used to work) and paid for the hotel ourselves--almost everything, really. Also, whereas the last trip was mostly "just because," this one was for a specific reason--because my father had flirted with mortality not long prior to this trip, but I was unable to make it then, and because he has never seen any of his grandchildren, not even these 2 and even though we have no opposition to him knowing them. We wanted our kids (his grandkids) and he to meet so they could meet & know each other, his spirits could be lifted, & any pain/bitterness from the past could be washed away once & for all.

As there are a lot of photos uploaded (about 190 out of the 2500 or so which were taken), I divided them up into days, within each day, there's a "trip log" of what we did that day. Also, you have the option of viewing all of them at once, there also is a "highlights" section where about 70 of the 190 were chosen for a more "summary" type of presentation. Then under "best" you see about 25 of them which I felt were the best, basically it's like "highlights" only narrowed down even much further.

Tips:
* If you press F11 it enters "full-screen" mode which showcases everything better (press F11 again to return back to the normal view)

* Once you click on an image thumbnail, you can navigate image-to-image much easier by pressing the right-arrow key instead of having to click "next" with your mouse, also left-arrow instead of having to click "previous" (it will take a few seconds for each photo to load)

* Underneath each photo you will see size options (small, medium, large, original) once you click on whatever it remembers that preference until you change it again

* Near the top-right of each page (NOT on the "main" page) you will see options for viewing as a slideshow if you wish, and if you do, then there are options on the bottom for varying how long of a duration there is between photos