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April 1 to April 3

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The Flora – Flowers and Vegetation

The view of the valley from the deck (2nd floor level). The Cove is nestled among 1,200 acres of the Blue Ridge Mountains owned by the Billy Graham Association.

A view from the 3rd floor.

I found a better view from another room and with different lighting in the later afternoon. We were told that the valley below had a lot of flood and storm damage from the hurricane.

All the beauty around the exterior of the buildings made us feel that we had suddenly been placed in late spring.

Rhododendron or Azelea? I thought they were Azelea, but my flower ID said Rhododendron. The leaves are much larger than our Azelea.

Redbud

Daffodils and Hyacinth

Forsythia

I had never seen this. My flower ID app tells me it is Japanese Skimmia. I understand it will have pretty flowers later in the springtime.

The dogwood were in full bloom.

Azalea

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Now on to the fauna – the animals and birds.

We didn’t see many animals or birds. I saw deer next to the driveway when it was almost dark and wasn’t able to get a photo. A few others saw deer during their walk to the chapel.

My best shot was this male turkey strutting its stuff. We were in the shuttle – returning to the Training Center after visiting the Chapel. We figured there were females in the area.

In a few seconds we came upon them – running away from the shuttle.

It was beautiful and relaxing to walk around the well-kept grounds.