This post is for the #wednesdaywalk challenge and the #makemesmile challenge collaboration. This collaboration initially took place once a month, but due to its popularity, @tattoodjay (of the #wednesdaywalk) and @elizacheng (of #makemesmile) decided to make it a weekly thing.
If you want to know more about the rules, visit last week's post by @tattoodjay where you will find all the rules at the bottom of his post after you've enjoyed his beautiful photos from his walk.
You may have noticed that I wasn't active on Hive over the last few weeks. As a family, we were dealing with a crisis.
Over the last few years, my mother-in-law's health has deteriorated after she was diagnosed with dementia.
Then, about three weeks ago, she ended up in I.C.U. due to heart failure. We packed and started the 6-hour journey to Johannesburg with no immediate flights available.
We spent some time in Johannesburg. When it looked like there was improvement and her situation stabilized, we returned to Durban since we left in such a hurry and had a lot to attend to.
We were only back for a few days when the news came through that things made a turn for the worse again. Shortly after that call, we received the terrible news that my mother-in-law had passed away.
So, we made our second trip to Johannesburg in less than 13 days.
We only returned home toward the end of last week.
On the way back, my wife and I decided to take turns driving. My wife prefers driving on flat, straight roads, while I like to drive once we get to the more winding roads going through the more mountainous areas from about the halfway mark.
While my wife was driving, I started looking for something to do and I took my mobile phone and started playing around by taking some shots while driving on the freeway.
For the next shot, I was just relaxed and took this photo while sitting back, not expecting much from this shot. Yet, when looking at it, I like the way it came out.
I noticed the beautiful clouds in the rearview mirror. I decided to start playing around and see if I could capture the effect of the reflections in the mirror and windows. You can see it in the next two shots.
Three hours into the trip, we pulled over at Harrismith. I would take over the driving from here.
But before I got behind the wheel, I took a short walk and took some photos of the area.
We stopped at the Engen Bergview One Stop, which is a popular place to stop over, and it is halfway between Durban and Johannesburg.
There is a service station to fill up the vehicle and do all the necessary checks. There are also some nice curio shops, one antique dealer, restaurants, etc...
I liked the SEATTLE COFFEE Co., which is next to The Guinea Fowl, where they sell various homemade products. One of the main attractions in the product lines is biltong, something South Africa is popular for!
I walked around to the back of these buildings where I found a SPUR outlet with a nice play area for the little ones.
If you look at the photo of the SEATTLE COFFEE Co. again, you can see a mountain in the background.
Standing in the parking area of the SPUR, at the furthest end on the outskirts of the venue, I had a nice view of this mountain.
Changing my position, I got this view where I could include these two beautiful trees to complete the picture.
And that's it for today, folks.
Thank you for reading my post! I do appreciate it!
Sending prayers and my deepest sympathies for your family. I'm glad you managed to capture nice photos along the way. I hope you are all doing well now. Weekend is coming.. yay!
Made in Canva
!ALIVE
_
This post has been curated by the Alive And Thriving Team, we curate good content in the We Are Alive Tribe that is on topic for #aliveandthriving, and it's included in our daily curation report on @aliveandthriving, plus @youarealive is following our Curation Trail. - @iamraincrystal - Moderator/Alive Video Master
The family is doing well under the circumstances, but as you know, it will take time to work through this.Thank you for your kind words, @iamraincrystal! I really do appreciate it!
You must have a great week!
Sorry to hear about your Mother-in-law, condolences to the family.
Harrismith is normally the stop off point, we used it many times to take photos and explore the town. Montrose another lovely place to stop, this we used before freeway even ran between Durban and Johannesburg.
Nice captures through the car window and rear view mirror!
!LUV
!PIZZA
Thank you, @joanstewart.
Yes, we always stop at either Harrismith or Montrose too! We normally do Montrose on the way up and Harrismith on the way down.
Thank you for your feedback, I do appreciate it. I'm glad you enjoyed the photos through the window in the rearview mirror👍!
!ALIVE
Montrose used to sell Rose wine my Mom loved, I purchased many cotton hand crafted knitwear from Lesotho there that have always been excellent quality.
Montrose was actually a farm/hotel in early years with my parents, for other places of interest in old Natal.
!WINEX
I didn't know about the Rose wine they sold there... That's interesting.
Thank you for the old Natal link! Some awesome places there!!!
Hopefully they still sell both Rose Petal Wine and Orange Wine, on looking up if this is still available I think I hit the jackpot Zandfliet a little of all....
That's awesome👏👍!
The photos in the rearview mirror are beautiful, the others too, but these are great. Thank goodness they leave the lady in better shape. When these events happen in the family, everything changes. I hope she recovers.
Excellent entrance .
I wish you a happy day.
I am glad you enjoyed the photos in the rearview mirrors! I appreciate your feedback, thank you.
Thank you for your kind and uplifting words!
Unfortunately my mother-in-law didn't survive this and she passed away...
I am very sorry for your loss, a situation like this is complicated, we learn to live with it but we do not forget, my mother died several years ago and I never forget, but I think that she is close to GOD and this makes me feel better
Yes, it is true what you are saying!
Sorry to hear about your mother-in-law, I hope your family is holding up well. May you have enough strength to go through this period.
Magnificent shots you got there. I love the one with the mountain and two trees. You got the essence of the landscape.
Great shot!
Thank you for your kind words, @zitalove! As a family, we appreciate it.
I am glad you enjoyed my photos. Thank you so much for your feedback and what you said about the photo with the mountain and the trees.
Thank you, @qurator, for your support by manually curating my post! I do appreciate it!
$PIZZA slices delivered:
(1/10) @joanstewart tipped @jacoalberts