Report on the girls' trip

Well, well, our "girl" time in the NC mountains is sadly over and I must say, for me, it was a fine trip:) Two 20 year olds traveling with a mom is a rare thing, and they were enjoyable to be around and great fun:)

Thursday:
The Appalachian State University tour scheduled in the early afternoon was a good one. We arrived in Boone with just enough time to grab a bite at Subway and meet the tour group. Led by Emma Rice of Fayetteville, the tour really sold the school to Skye and me:) The setting's a pretty mountainside campus with a central area of open lawn edged by trees, surrounded by brick classrooms and dorms. A rocky stream flows through the lower south side. The school is located right in the heart of this small town of 16,000 people, circled by the Blue Ridge mountains:)
Lora, Skye's dear friend, was such a sport to traipse along with us (she's an ECU student) as we low-landers did a little huffing and puffing up countless steps:)

Boone is full of unique shops and good restaurants. After the tour we ate an early supper at McAdoo's where you can order from about 100 types of sandwiches:) Later Skye & Lora enjoyed checking out the vintage clothing stores while I looked at the consignment shops filled with jewelry and pottery and Mast General Store.
Then we headed North to West Jefferson where the A.'s cabin is located. Mr. Star, the black cat, was waiting for us at the top of the stairway:) With his scratchy meow, he purred and rubbed our legs as if we were old friends:) We unloaded our stuff and settled in, watching the movie Rent, TV and giving Mr. Star lots of TLC:)

Friday:
Decided to drive the Blue Ridge Parkway from West Jefferson to Blowing Rock after breakfast at the cabin. It took at least an hour and a half to reach Blowing Rock via the Parkway. One of the reasons; we stopped at the Cascades trail head and hiked to the falls. It was a cool morning, perfect weather to get some exercise.

Blowing Rock was SO BUSY we eventually parked, had a delicious lunch at a "home cooking" kind of place, then left main street to see an old tourist attraction, the "blowing rock". The girls loved it. Very simple and the admission price is cheap; the winds blow up the mountain and are said to blow things back at you if you throw them out over the rock. There's an Indian legend too, but we won't go there on this blog:)

Skye wanted to get an App. t-shirt so we headed back to Boone, which only took 20 minutes via US 321:) We walked back onto campus, toured the bookstore, made a few purchases, then walked back to the shopping area to look a little more.

Finally we were more than ready to strike out for the cabin for the night. On our way we stopped at St. Mary's Episcopal Church, one of three tiny churches in the Jefferson area where Ben Long's beautiful fresco's are displayed; always awe inspiring to me!
After grabbing supper at Taco Bell we arrived at our sweet hide-away. Lora sacked out pretty early, probably with Mr. Star in her lap:) Skye & I watched some TV then turned in fairly early too.

Saturday:
After eating, showering, cleaning a bit and packing, we fed and said good-bye to Mr. Star, locked up the West Jefferson cabin, and began driving towards Asheville. It's always sad for me to leave that peaceful place--a serene abode.

Skye drove till we got to Asheville, then I took over with a little fear and trepidation. I'm not familiar with the town and it's much bigger than Boone. But I had checked out the maps, Skye wanted to eat at the original Mellow Mushroom and see downtown, so off we went. Well, unknown to us "Bele Chere" festival was in full swing. Streets were blocked off and there were folks EVERYWHERE! But, we asked where to go and where to park and it worked out great:)

The Mellow Mushroom was close by and after looking at all the people and food booths and kids' booths and a few pottery/jewelry/art booths, we decided to eat a mid-afternoon lunch/dinner. Thank goodness we did. It's not a fast food place, the people were very interesting to watch, there were LOTS of people, and by the time we were served and ate, it was getting late. The pizza and humus/pita bread were wonderful--yum!!

After finding out way out of the fair area, we struck out for the Folk Craft Center right off the Parkway and US 70, just a few miles from downtown. We stayed at the neat Appalachian crafts guild center for about an hour. (I admit I've been there a few times & really enjoy it:))It was quite calm and cool after being in the throng of Bele Chere:)

We checked into our motel in Black Mt., were tickled to find each room had Internet access, checked emails and vegged for a few hours, then drove a few blocks into the tiny town to a coffee shop, The Dripolator. We got some coffee and drinks, Lora snacked on an apple, and Skye & I shared a brownie:) Great coffee!

Sunday:
We slept late, after Lora and I were rudely awakened by the alarm clock at 6:30am, obviously set by the previous "tenant"! Got up, got ready, checked out by 10:30 and hit the road. We had wanted to try sweet potato pancakes at Tupelo's in Asheville, but the festival made that almost impossible, so we checked out a place in Black Mt. and it was closed:(! So we ended up at Cracker Barrel off US 40 on the West side of Asheville. We three love Cracker Barrel and it was tasty as usual:)

For our final few hours before traveling East and home, we opted to return to Black Mt. and checked out all the artsy shops that were closed the night before and Sunday morning. Fun:)
I found Christmas gifts and birthday gifts:)

Lora drove from Black Mt. to Winston Salem, then I drove to 751, and Skye finished the trip:) We were home by 7pm.

It was four days of no deadlines, the girls chose what to do each day, and the weather cooperated the majority of the time--it only rained once while were were shopping and once after we were snuggled in at the cabin. Skye and Lora's only regret was not getting to canoe or go tubing, but it was a little chilly/rainy for those activities this trip. I know Skye enjoyed seeing the towns of Boone and Asheville as well as taking the campus tour.

I'd do the trip again in a heartbeat:)
Bless you, Skye and Lora, for sharing a sweet, precious time!

A Girls' Weekend

Thursday morning Skye, her friend Lora, and I are heading to Boone, NC, for a few nights, then on to Asheville for a short visit. The primary goal of the trip is to tour Appalachian State University campus. The tour is scheduled for Thursday afternoon at 1:30. Skye has decided she wants to attend there Fall 2008 after graduating from Wake Tech.

We're planning to stay Thursday & Friday night at a friend's cabin near West Jefferson. It's a cozy comfy place, located down a winding unpaved road, perched on the side of a mountain and overlooking the New River:) A black cat Star is our host and always greets his guests. It'll be so good to see him again:)

Saturday we plan to travel to Asheville, scout out the area, spend that night in nearby in Black Mountain, and return home Sunday evening.

We are excited!

I'm a little familiar with Boone, but less so with Asheville. So I admit a bit of fear and trepidation. But I have 2 adventuresome girls with me and a cell phone, so we'll figure things out:)

Wish us well as we head West for "them there hills!"

The American Tobacco Trail

Today, on a rare mild July Sunday, Skye, riding her hybrid bike, Cameron & Holly & myself, walking the pups Wyatt & Three, ventured out to enjoy a section of the Tobacco Trail just outside Apex.

The trail is constructed over an old abandoned rail bed between New Hill & Durham.
Horses, walkers, dogs, and bikers are welcome.
It's a shady sandy walkway, pleasantly, comfortably, wide enough for 3+ walkers side by side or two large horses.

This afternoon we probably covered about 2 miles North (off Wimberly Road) and then back again (approximately 1 & 1/2 hours), but the overall distance of the trail from end to end extends more than 22 miles.

Along the way I ran into a sweet friend so that was an added treat:)

I would certainly recommend this trail to any walker or biker or families biking with young kids. It is fairly rural so I would suggest exploring with a friend or two. Do bring water (and dogie bags if your dog friend is in tow) plus a cell phone in case of an emergency.

So if you're yearning to breathe in some fresh air and get some exercise, go explore one of our local 'gems', the American Tobacco Trail.
For more info go to: www.triangletrails.org

July

July is:
hot
humid
sunny
thunderstorms
vacation time
Crepe Myrtles blooming
Mimosa's blooming
Gardenia blooms waning
Black-eyed Susan's blooming
grass turning brown/less mowing
tubing
swimming
Swim team time
beach breezes
biking
baseball season
air-conditioning on high
watermelon
fireflies
sweating doing anything outside
cranking ice cream
music concerts outside at night
iced tea
lemonade
garden lovers reap ripe vegetables
Gelato's ice cream
Goodberry's ice cream
treasured shade
PEACHES are ripe!

A Pet Peeve

One of my biggest irritations in the past few years is getting these emails that say "you know you're getting older when", or something to that affect:(
Or, "remember when..?"

I'm one of those people who don't mind telling my age, or mind getting older. Actually I'm very thankful for every day:)! But, at the same time, I don't 'feel' older than my 20 year old daughter (unless I've worked on my feet 5 days in a row!). I'm in better shape than I was years ago. I walk every day and having started running a little. Skye & I are on Weight Watcher's & losing weight & hopefully will keep at it.

I still find it strange to see a silver-haired lady staring back at me as I glance in a mirror in a department store. Will that ever go away?

Most ladies in mid life dye their hair. I toy with that idea, but haven't done it yet. I'm really going for the platinum look, like Marilyn Monroe's--ha, ha:) Seriously, I try to stay fashionably up to date but the hair color is time, fuss and expensive.

So, to those dear, sweet, friends who love to forward things, don't send me those emails:) I'll just delete them and thank the Lord I'm the age I am:)!

A sweet birthday

Today I spent a few hours with a dear friend, her two daughters, & her mom & mother in law, celebrating her upcoming birthday at the "local" tea room, The Pineapple Tea Room.

It's a tiny, comfy, shop filled with various & sundry items associated with tea. Towards the back a few intimate tables are set up to welcome tea partakers. We visited and chit-chatted for a time, then Lisa opened her gifts, as we waited for our own special orders of tea; apple mango, orange, light melon, strawberry, Earl Grey, pineapple, etc. After our tea arrived, delicate cucumber sandwiches, scones, and pastries soon followed, served on pretty white three-tiered platters:) Everything was delicious:)

I felt honored to share such a special time with three generations of Lisa's family:) She lives 24/7 with a chronic disease. Eating out with family and friends is one of her splurges/joys in life. This afternoon was a brief respite to savor a happy time together & to celebrate having Lisa in our lives:)

A sweet time, a sweet memory, a sweet birthday tea:)