Are you home if you can’t get in it? We had driven 2,116 miles and returned five and a half days after we started. John opened the garage door with the clicker. We each took an armload of things, but we didn’t get very far. The door between the garage and house was locked. Our son was here while we were gone, and we had asked him to lock the house when he left. He did exactly what we wanted. The only problem was, we assumed all car keys had a house key with them. We failed to add them to the Honda sets when we bought the car a few months ago.
We checked with the neighbors to see if they had a key. We had talked about it, but we never followed through. An emergency call went out to John $, and luckily he was in Asheville, not at his place an hour away. He agreed to come rescue us. Waiting wasn’t bad. We were close enough to the house that our phones and computer could access the internet I sat in the sun on the front porch and read today’s newspaper, while John listened to one of his favorite streaming radio stations. Soon $ was here. We scurried in and turned up the heat. $ helped replace a smoke detector battery that would have driven us nuts if we hadn’t. That incessant chirping, which started after he left yesterday, was unbearable. It was good to be home and inside it.
Getting home was a bit of a gamble. We knew we were taking a chance going through the gorge. $ warned us to check before we came home that way, because many wildfires have made the Smoky Mountains more smoky than ever. We could see the thick haze from Tennessee. If the road had been threatened by fire, it would have been closed. As it was, we saw signs that the tunnels were closed. We could get through, but we had to go single file. It turned out that the tunnels were wide open, but we were following a huge wind turbine blade on a truck. It was a beautiful thing, sculpted in graceful curves. Ahead of the blade was half a house. Neither of those things could have gotten around the tunnel detours. Neighbor Shawn said she saw two blades on I-40, so she must have seen one that went through before or after ours.
Now that we are home, I’ll be putting out fires of a different sort. The computer has been unable to upgrade its operating system, and the phone declares it has no SIM card. If both refuse to operate at the same time, I may just crawl in bed and catch up on sleep. That would be a good idea, don’t you think?
Mehrling Muse 
You always have such great stories! Glad you were able to get in the house. Sorry you’re experiencing technical difficulties.😔
LikeLike
I think all people have great stories from time to time. Not many write them down. As to technical difficulties, I have one more idea for the computer. Maybe I’ll try it after Thanksgiving. The mother of the groom let me know another of her sons had the same ikind of trouble with his phone this weekend as I did. I don’t know yet if the phone will recover.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Sounds like a plan, Anne. Let’s hope things start coming together again soon.
xxx Gigantic Hugs xxx
LikeLike
Thank you, David. There is never a good time for a glitch, is there? Thanks for the hugs; I need all I can get.
xxx Timeless Hugs xxx
LikeLike
I’m glad you are home safe and sound, what an eventful trip! I was wondering if those fires were anywhere near you. And yes, sometimes the fix to modern technology requires a nap first! Best of luck!
LikeLike
I found out a brother of the groom has a similar problem with his phone. His started a week before mine, but he did not have a chance to work with it. We use the same carrier with phones from the same vendor.. The fires in the mountains are not close at the moment. We did not keep up with local news while on the road, but I think an arsonist was responsible for some of the fires. We haven’t had rain for months. Dry leaves and trees are looking for an excuse to explode in flames.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I worry about my cell phone dying as it is my only link to himself while he is on the road. I feel silly praying for my phone, but I do it anyway…
That’s horrible that someone would start a fire like that. What a shame. I hope all stays well for you and that it does not cross your path. Lots and lots of prayers for the area!
LikeLike
Many thanks for your prayers. I’ve prayed for my phone, but I need to keep on asking it to be blessed. I use it mostly to text relatives.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Glad to know you came home safe Anne.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Rest is always a good idea. Welcome home!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Your being locked out brought back memories. I remember when we lived on a different place we had storm windows. When we would lock ourselves out we would remove a storm window, slide the other window up and push a kid up through the window and into the house. They would then have to go unlock the door from the inside so we could get in. We always kept one window unlocked ….. just in case.
Glad it all turned out fine!
LikeLike
We have locked ourselves out of every place we ever lived, but ONLY ONCE at each house. I’m hoping this is over and done with for this place.
LikeLiked by 1 person
There was a comment by susieshy45 that I don’t think will go to you. She said, to you and me “I love your stories. Both of you are wonderful storytellers. That is a talent I do not have and I admire anyone who has it.”
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you for passing that on Anne!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Anne and Faye,
I love your stories. Both of you are wonderful storytellers. That is a talent I do not have and I admire anyone who has it.
I am glad you got in and the fires haven’t reached near yet. You will most probably get a good rain soon. But how can a person be so that he/she wants to set forests on fire ?
Anne, you seem to be always on the road and through beautiful roads and beautiful sceneries. You are truly blessed.
Susie
LikeLike
Thank you Susie. I’m eager to know what you most like to do. We do tend to be on the road, mostly to visit relatives and friends. However, for 25 years I did not travel, because I was the organist/choir director at our church. i had two Sundays off a year. Maybe I’m just making up for lost time. I’m so glad this comment was in the right place!
LikeLiked by 2 people
Yes, I am so glad I gathered the guts and persevered to write in to you. Sometimes going like a dog after a scent brings rewards too.
I love travelling but am often hampered by lack of funds. I love being with my family ( husband and children). I often dread having visitors home as I am a poor housekeeper and even worse cook . If guests come, we tend to give them home made meals, and then the leftovers are all mine, and they go to my tummy and backside,which is why I am constantly on the upper side of obese in this life journey. I live in a desert and work at an office, so my opportunities for walking are limited. I don’t gym at all because of my work schedule. My younger daughter is 17 and preparing for her last Board exams which will get her out of school. Often times her school work keeps me occupied as I am given the task of helping her with grade 12 Math, Physics and sometimes Chemistry. I feel I am reliving all that I forgot in 1986,when I left high school. I remember some things and am sometimes surprised by the new information in her books. I love reading, animals, plants and crochet. I taught myself to crochet when I was 44, 3 years back, watching youtube. Now I do a bit of crochet on my own.
I am not a natural introvert but over the years I have come to love being alone and in the company of my books, my plants and the outdoor strays that I feed.
That is a lot of information in one reply. I will write you the rest in an email.
Susie
LikeLike
Age-wise, you are between my two daughters. I’m with you on housework — I loathe cleaning. I like being in the kitchen, though, and thus my downfall.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Omigosh what adventures!!! Not of a particularly wonderful kind, either. Yikes… Glad things are sorting themselves out bit by bit. BTW re the chirping of a battery-dead alarm, good thing there was no cat or dog in the house. They would’ve gone bonkers! Can you imagine? I remember when that chirping emanated from a neighbouring apartment of mine. The place was empty since a new tenant hadn’t moved in yet. It went on and on! Finally I got the superintendent to come up and change the battery! Sheesh. Take care, stay well; that’s the most important thing. And do keep blogging! 🙂
LikeLike
It wasn’t bad, Ellie. The temperature was moderate. Shawn and Bob came home while we were outside and invited us to stay in their house until our son came. We didn’t need to. We looked at an empty house before we bought this one, and alarms were chirping both times we went to see it. Most annoying! At least we didn’t have to live with it for hours or days, as you did.
Things are going to get busy around here when Lise comes from Denmark Saturday. She’s our oldest and will be here a week and a half. John’s sister and husband plan to be here one night, and John’s cousin and wife will be here for Thanksgiving but staying in a motel. We’ll have Lise for several days after everyone else leaves. I hope I can squeeze in time to write without losing too much sleep. I found out the hard way that I’d rather write than sleep.
LikeLike
Wow! Sounds like the Mehrling Hotel is doing well! 😂😂😂 Don’t work too hard; take time to smell the roses!
LikeLike
I smelled the roses all summer. It’s good you wrote of them, because I forgot I need to prune them now. It won’t take long, since we have only two small bushes. I’m starting early on the food. Today I made a large pumpkin cheesecake for a pre-Thanksgiving dinner with my brother and assorted relatives. It’s a fun time of year.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Mmmmm!!! Pumpkin cheesecake!! Sounds divine!
LikeLike
I’ve baked pumpkin cheesecake four or five times, and people like it. The flavor is rather delicate.
LikeLiked by 1 person