Almost June

Where has the time gone by? I can't believe it is almost June and we will be leaving NC in a little over a month..what a great experience this has been.

Busy weekend over Memorial Day ...campground was full and we were quite busy selling candy to kids, helping campers get settled etc. the place was a glow with campfires every night.

Mary Brumo and me at their house in Marshall, NC:

So Sophie immediately visited their cow pasture!

 

A lovely field of flowers in the woods:

At Dry Falls , off of the Waterfalls highway

 

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Great friends and fun

I am winding down from a fun time with friends Deanna and Ski. Not very day we get visitors here! I missed home after they left.

Over the weekend we met up with them in Asheville at their friends house for a pot luck...unfortunately we arrived a day early and only their friends who we never met were around...great impression, yes? But we returned the next day and had a great time with the crew. Yesterday they arrived by their BMW bike and we all went off to eat southern barbecue and did the last part of the Blue Ridge together. good food and campfire at night and our first breakfast outside!

Tomorrow we are visiting my long time friends Mary and Gary and will explore some of the Blue Ridge above Asheville.

I feel blessed to have such long term friends in my life.

Unexpected horses on a trail we hiked off the Blue Ridge

Me on Deanna and Ski's BMW

 

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Glorious hikes

I cannot believe how beautiful the hikes are in this area. Views at every turn...no bugs, just early spring flowers. Sunday we did Frying Pan Mt, close to and a little higher than Mt Pisgua and not too far from Asheville. afterwards we stopped by the Arboretum and finally got to see some azaleas and rhododendrons in bloom. Yesterday we did a section of the AT from Newfound Gap to Charlie's Bunion. glorious.

Slept well despite the fact I forgot it was going to be cold...I left the windows and the top vent open in the camper and it got into the 30's...still wearing my down jacket now, but it is going back up to the 70s soon.

Us on Charlie's Bunion

 

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Sun, glorious sun

The sun is out and I am now relaxing after a walk, thinking about this beautiful area and how lucky I am. It was particularly wonderful to come back to the campground and find chocolate covered strawberries in my mailbox for Mother's Day! thanks girls, so much.

Earlier this week we got into a routine of a morning trip to the Waynesville library, early afternoon read and nap time at "home",the 4-8pm shift at work and then dinner and relax time starting at 8! Perfect for a rainy week.

Yesterday it was glorious out so we hit the Blue Ridge Parkway and headed out for a 3.6 mile hike on top of a " bald" with great views. The maps here are not great and our sense of direction isn't either and somehow we got lost...luckily on a lovely creek trail with lots of waterfalls. The hike ended up being around 9 miles, so we are recouping today! Joints just aren't the same as they used to be. On the way home we got take out, and had a fire last night with our new neighbors with our beers and wine and all we had to do at 10pm was walk a few feet and crash.

 

 

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New neighbors

so our Sophie is not so sure about our new work camper neighbors, who include Sophie the cat. the cat isn't so sure either...

But we are enjoying them...unfortunately we don't have as much space to spread out in, but ah well.

We are finally seeing some sun after a long haul of rain and near by flooding. I can't wait for everything to dry out. Yesterday we drove in the rain to see the John Campbell Folk School in Brasstown...what I would do to take a week off and take classes there. grounds are beautiful and they have 10 differènt classes each week and weekend on everything from black smithing, jewelry making, wood turning, painting, to local history, and banjo making.

We celebrated Cinco de Mayo at a little Mexican restaurant , then mid day found a local joint for coffee and dessert. I succumbed to something I would never think I would try: deep fried Orios! everything once, right? For the sake of understanding the Southern culture and food? right?

Today the hours at the campground expand to evenings. we are on from 4-8pm. I am gearing up for my next 3 days of "work"

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so when will it get warm again?

This past week it has been abnormally cold and rainy. putting us to the test. yesterday we attempted to hike on a trail off the Blue Ridge Parkway but it was so fogged in, we could hardly see the road. we ended up taking our restless Sophie to a dog park in town to deal with all her frustrated energy.

I also caved and saw Ironman 3...now a chick flick is due:) Last night was great though as we wandered through Waynesville at their Art After Dark celebration. so many artists and crafts people in the area. If I had money and space I would be supporting these artists in all sorts of ways.

A funny thing happened after our dinner there in town. When we got to our car to go home, this VERY large woman called out to us from her car packed FULL with boxes of Krispy Kreme donuts ( really, in every nook and cranny of the car) apparently she was doing a fund raiser for her husband who just had a heart attack. she wanted us to support her effort by buying a few boxes ( honestly I was a little tempted...but refrained) We laughed all the home!

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