Vacation Finale

We didn’t intend for daughter Kate’s last day to be crammed with activities, but we had to take advantage of David’s day off. One of our favorite places to go is the Vanderbilt estate, Biltmore. Kate had never been there, and the special exhibit of the season featured trains, the garden railway size. [Note: the estate is now requiring visitors to have reservations.] After reading our shirts, a visitor offered to take our photo near the entrance.

We have always been fascinated with the swimming pool, amazed that George Vanderbilt included one in his house that was finished in 1895. The pool had underwater lighting, as well!! One of the docents remarked that they filled the pool for only a few days at a time, since it would begin to get a bit rank with no chemicals added. How cold the water must have been, since it was filled with mountain water! Correction: John said there was a steam hose that warmed the water, and that was why it became unfit for swimming in a matter of days.

My favorite shot in the walled garden was of Kate and David. Former neighbor Amy and I saw the garden filled with tulips one year. I was happy to see the space filled with summery plants this time.

Kate and David in the Biltmore walled garden

I saved eight photos taken in the conservatory. All featured David and Kate with the trains amid exotic plants. I liked one with a model of the village church, where a train was running between the church and the backs of David and Kate.

A second favorite shows a train on a high trestle, going from one glass house to another. I didn’t look at how it was done, but David said windows had been taken out to give the trains access at that level.

The entrance to the outdoor garden railway had a cute engine at the entrance. David climbed in it at Kate’s request.

My favorite photo there was of Kate and David with two trains running behind them.

Despite some lightning in the distance and rain on the windshield, we drove to Hot Springs for lunch at the Iron Horse. The weather began to clear as we drove on a graveled road to Tennessee, where there was a stream to swim in. Unfortunately, heavy rain had swollen and muddied the stream, making it too dangerous to swim in.

Across the road was a small waterfall where David waded and Kate climbed on the rocks.

Both climbed up to a pool above the falls and posed for me.

Our scenic drive home across three mountain ridges was lovely. We had been gone for 12 fun-packed hours, leaving enough time in the day for ice cream before going to bed.

The next morning, while the mist was still hanging in our mountains, Kate hugged her dad goodbye. She expected her drive to New Jersey to take 14 hours.

Peaches on the Porch

Daughter Kate and I went to an antique mall in Asheville with Nathaniel while David was working. Nathaniel knew the place, having spent a couple of hours there when I had an appointment nearby. We enjoyed poking about, and I knew the bench to sit on when my back protested. They made two purchases, a jacket and a London Fog raincoat. I wish I had taken Nate’s picture when he modeled the raincoat at home. On him it looked elegant. He wore the jacket when he served us the peach cobbler he had baked.

David and Kate responded when we called out that it was time for the mirror ritual. Nathaniel put the mirror back to its normal position before we went to church.

We ate lunch in Asheville, after which John drove Nate to Charlotte. They took our wash with them, and Nate texted his three roommates to ask them to be through with the machine by 4:30. Our washing machine died, and the new one wouldn’t be delivered for a week. John met the roommates for the first time, as well as the mother of one of them. The mother had cooked for the four boys, freezing about ten meals ahead. Normally the fellows shop for food, share the cost, and cook dinner together. John said it appears that Nathaniel does a great deal of the cooking, since he works from 1 to 6 most days. John came home with one load of dry clothes and two others that went in our dryer.

David and Kate planned to hike to the top of Purchase Knob, a mountain we see from our house, but the weather looked threatening. I took a nap as they sat on the front porch and saw two lightning strikes in front of them. Both were less than two miles away. They obviously made the right decision to stay home. I wondered how loud Kate may have screamed. A few days before, I was in the kitchen while others were in the dining room. They saw the flash of lightning and were not surprised at the thunder. I told Kate I didn’t know which startled me most, the boom of thunder or her scream. It’s an instinctive thing she cannot control, this being a warning to those who scream at the sight of a spider not to criticize her. The same goes for those who can’t deal with mice.

We’re back to six in the house, feeling a large empty space where Nathaniel had been for the long weekend.

Low Key Day after the Fourth

After grandson David went to work, grandson Nathaniel helped Grandpa work on the waterfall in the garden. We didn’t run it last year because it leaked, and they thought they could find the trouble by digging up the hoses. They couldn’t find the leak, but I took a photo of Nate with our glads. A few hours later, heavy rain knocked down five stalks.

On our way out for a drive, we checked on Jonathan Creek. John and I saw it in the morning when it was clear and a bit low. After heavy rain, it was muddy and about six inches higher.

Nathaniel pulled a money tree plant for me near the bridge. I see those plants there every year and wanted a few seeds for our garden.

We went on the Blue Ridge Parkway where the 8s, Kate and Nate, took photos of the mountains. Circling around, we drove through touristy Cherokee, and stopped at Soco Falls. The younger set quickly hiked down the mountain, where they took some lovely shots of the falls. Nathaniel said he wanted new pictures for his computer desktop. Kate got some to take home, too. I was content to look at theirs, knowing I had many similar ones at home.

Gearing up for the 4th of July

Daughter Kate posed with her son Nathaniel as we picked him up from his dorm. He wore all his name tags to show us, but normally he wears only one at a time.

We went through the mirror ritual where Nathaniel hangs the mirror on a higher hook.

There was a happy reunion when David came home from work.

I wanted a photo of our first meal with all seven of us together. Yes, there is often a clown in every group. Friend Rose laughed when she saw what John $pencer had done.

We began our holiday much earlier than expected when a smoke alarm pierced the silence shortly after 4 am. I got the full story hours later. The alarm in Rose’s and $’s room began to chirp, and they couldn’t sleep. To keep from disturbing the whole household, Rose ran out to her car where she knew there was a 9-volt battery. I didn’t know that when alarms are hard-wired into the electrical system, ALL the units shriek when a battery is changed. All of ours worked perfectly and loudly. I woke, grabbed my phone and began frantically stabbing at it to stop the noise. It did stop, but not because I turned anything off. The installation was complete. Everyone was standing up except David and me. We listened from our beds and lay back down when the hubbub subsided.

Kate watched Nathaniel tie a special knot, using his phone for directions. He can tie several knots from memory, but the Eldredge Knot is complicated. He used a special tie, one with the small end different from the wide end.

A close-up shows the stars in the blue field over the stripes.

We all laughed when I pulled up a video from the previous evening. Nathaniel talked about ties as he began putting one on. I didn’t catch it all, but I began recording as he talked. You can probably see when he noticed the camera. While words were coming out of his mouth, he was asking himself if the camera was on. To find out, he stopped and posed. I don’t know of anyone who is pleased with a recording of himself, but he knew I wanted to use it and gave his permission for it to be published. Thank you, Nate.

The family knew I wanted a photo of them in their holiday clothes. We took it early, because David wouldn’t be home from work until after dark.

Thanks to blogger Ron Walker, I was able to put photos mostly where I wanted them. The spacing isn’t right around two of them, but this is better than it was.

Munchkin in the Supermarket

You see all kinds of unusual things in our supermarket. This woman coughed violently and suddenly leaned against the Crunch ‘n Munch display. I had to ask why, and the answer was, “It’s to relax my lungs so that I won’t cough.”

I didn’t think there was anything to suggest relaxation in her arching pose, but she talked easily and gave me permission to take her photograph. I’d like to nominate her to be the poster child for the Lung-Lean Organization of North Carolina. Would you be inclined to vote for her?

The Swimmin’ Hole

A local place to swim is on a fork of the Pigeon River. I don’t know what the locals call it, but I’m calling it the Swimmin’ Hole. In past years, John and I noticed cars parked there as we drove to Sunburst Falls. Grandson David put it on his list of places to go swimming with his mother. John was our chauffeur, and I was the photographer for the excursion. The chauffeur stayed in the car, reading train magazines. I traipsed along, standing on the shore to record the progress. As I shifted from foot to foot, I remembered it took daughter Kate and David forever to get in the water last year. I have no idea how long it took for them to get their feet wet this time, but from the first photo to the last took 26 minutes. It was a fun-filled time, as they waded over slippery rocks near the rapids and shrieked when almost falling. I was a target for flying insects, flapping my arms from time to time. There was more unrecorded action on shore than in the water. I was retreating to the car in the shade when I took the last shot. Both swam across the deep water several times after I left.

From the swimming hole, we drove to Looking Glass Falls via the Blue Ridge Parkway. It’s the easiest waterfall to see near our house, because it’s right beside the highway. David waded there, but Kate just watched because she was cold from the previous dip. I waited for them to come up the long set of stairs to take their photo.

Son John $pencer had been under the weather with a bum knee. Thankfully, he was a quiet patient, not inflicting his pain on us. After a meal, he teased David at the table and had everyone joking. When we commented on it, Rose said, “It shows he is feeling better.” Everyone laughed, because we realized Rose knows him well and has him pegged. It was wonderful to have the old $ back.

Excursions Begin

Daughter Kate took a day off after driving 14 hours to get here. We visited together at home on decompression day. The next day she, John, and I drove on the Blue Ridge Parkway, something we all like to do. The weather was threatening, which is the time we love to go there. Clouds and gusty breezes are much more exciting than a day with full sun and no clouds. As we drove up the mountain, two flashes of lightning added drama to the day. Kate is not a fan of lightning and thunder, so she was glad that stopped. Rain was a bit heavy for a little while. Soon we had some amazing scenes which my camera struggled to record. I hate to admit her phone did a better job.

The weather cleared before we stopped at my favorite place, Sunburst Falls. Kate and I stood there admiring the water, and I asked her to pose with the falls. I laughed when I saw the photo. It looks like it could have been taken in a photographer’s studio, the subject on a stone bench before an impressive backdrop. She took a video with thundering sound to prove she was there in person.

Kate was frightened of dogs as a child, and she works hard to be at ease around them now. She played with Sadie outside and inside that day, ending with a tug-of-war. It might not appear special, but this is a victory photo. You’ll notice she did not climb onto my shoulders or perch on the back of a sofa while screeching bloody murder.

That evening five of us sat around the table laughing and telling stories on ourselves. As often happens, it got out of hand, and we sounded like a bunch of laughing hyenas. I should apologize to neighbor Joyce in case we disturbed her sleep. We were inside, not on the porch, but the noise must have been awful. [I’m sorry, Joyce.]

Talking People In

Daughter Kate began driving from New Jersey at 7:00 am. I talked to her for a while, and she called back as grandson David came in from work. At that point she was going through the last third of Virginia. John was on his way home from the train club in Tennessee. He called David’s phone, and we had a four-way conversation. David held the phones together so that we could all hear each other, but I did the holding as he took our selfie. I figured we began to visit early, so we wouldn’t have to stay up late when they got here.

David got comfortable as we continued to chat. He was holding Kate in one hand, playing a game with the other, letting John rest on his chest, and watching the muted TV. Believe it or not, he was more tuned to the conversation than I was while taking the photo.

Hours with Logan

Neighbor Logan (9 tomorrow) spent time with us after we got home from our trip. I love his sense of humor. He posed, showing off his muscles, with great help from a tennis ball.

There had been several heavy downpours, so we drove to see how high the creek was.

He reminded us that we didn’t have batteries for the radio controlled cars, and Dollar General was on the way home. The right batteries were not in stock, but Logan showed me where Pokemon cards would be. He explained that with cards costing only $1, the display was always empty. He dropped down flat on the floor and looked under the rack. There was always the chance someone might have dropped a pack out of sight. No luck that day.

When Rose and John $pencer came home, Logan enjoyed playing with Sadie. He loves dogs, so he didn’t mind that Sadie kept licking him.

After Sadie settled down, he had a tug-of-war with her.

We didn’t need a reminder that it was good to be home.

Excitement Continues

In the midst of our homecoming from the trip out West, someone asked a question about schedules. I was enjoying the moment and not ready to look even one minute ahead. I said, “All my planning ended with this trip, so I might as well be dead. Just think, that makes this heaven!”

I’m glad the assembled company laughed instead of going out to dig my grave.

We saw many people on our trip, and finally we had someone come to see us! (Brother of brother-in-law Thom) Russ and Elizabeth met us for lunch at the Jukebox Junction. We love this annual visit, time they carve out of a conference to spend with us. Hours spent with family are priceless!

In the middle of the night, I heard someone walking in my room. Being surrounded by family, I assumed the footsteps were friendly. They were. Lightning lit up the room as grandson David stepped in from the deck. He carried my solar stars and walked them into the bathroom. He knew one star had already been damaged by wind and that I often bring the hanging stars inside when it is windy. I was able to get enough words together to thank him before I fell asleep again. John and I were impressed at the debris on the roads this morning, evidence of high winds. Everything was dripping wet, and the creek was high and muddy.

I laughed when I went in the bathroom, seeing where David had hung the wet stars. They were still trying to shine, giving their best effort in the dim light.