Busy Days

Well our last few days have been busy ones. We have continued with our various activities, having a great time with bingo, happy hour and nickel bingo, dulcimer practice, etc. We went to the Hendersonville Apple Festival. It was cute. I think I'm spoiled because I'm so used to the wonderful Macintosh Festival, the Mt. Dora Arts Festival, the Micanopy Arts Festival, etc. this one was more along the lines of the Ocala Strawberry Festival. Much smaller but still fun. One of the girls at the campground entered a quilt she made in the apple craft and she won 3rd place. So that was terrific!!

While all of that was going on our dulcimer group got ready for another performance. Next year I need to suggest that donuts can be eaten in the afternoon too. We have to be there at 8:30AM. That's obscene!! It was another great time and everyone there is so gracious with their praise. You just can't ask for better than that.

We were told about some nice drives not too far from the campground. There were some waterfalls and scenery and white squirrels. Can you believe that? So we took a drive to Brevard in hopes of seeing white squirrels. Of course I wanted to see the Looking Glass Waterfalls, but I was really hoping we'd catch a glimpse of the squirrels. It was a beautiful drive out to the falls but don't you know while we have had wonderful weather almost the entire time we've been here, the day we take drive we get rain. We were able to get to the falls I took some photos, but no squirrels yet. We went to the Visitor's Center and while we are inside it starts to rain. GREAT we won't be spending a lot of time walking around looking for squirrels. It's OK, I'm not deterred. This will just have to be the first thing we do next summer. That's right, I can just shelve things till next year. All the pressure is off this way. Oh we didn't get to that restaurant, we'll go there next year. We didn't see that don't miss spot, no problem it will be the first thing we do next year. You get the idea here. So we drive from Brevard to Jumping Off Rock to check that out. That was a nice drive. The road wound around and up, up, up to a little park kind of area in the middle of a neighborhood. We did see a ground hog just walking right along not all that concerned with us at all. We got in the car to come back and we were enjoying the ride when damn if a WHITE squirrel didn't run along the side of the road. Now I've given this some thought and I figured these squirrels would be maybe a light gray color but these babies are really white. Not only white but starkly white. Of course the camera was put away and we were driving with nowhere to pull over and he ran off but I did get to see him. That's what really matters. 

Our last full day was a great way to end our trip. Sunday was the next meeting of the Western North Carolina Dulcumer Club and Lynn said if we were going to go she'd like to come too and then her friend Stan decided to join us and even offered to buy dinner. So we went and played with that group for a couple hours at the Folk Art Center on the Blue Ridge Parkway, afterward took a nice drive along the parkway to a Chinese buffet in Bervard and had a good dinner with good friends. It was just so perfect to end our trip on that note. (Get it, "that NOTE", a musical reference, WOW am I punny or what?)

So wrapping up, we are now driving through the great state of South Carolina. We'll make a stop in Savannah then home to Salt Springs. As always Steve and I had another wonderful adventure. We have met some really wonderful people, made some great friends, and thoroughly enjoyed our summer. Thanks for following along. I'll be talking with you again real soon. 

 

Almost Time To Head Home

I just can't get over how time flies. We will be driving away from North Carolina in just 12 days. I realize that is better than a week and a half but it seems like we just got here. We still have lots to do. . . Oh well there is always next year. We will probably make some stops on our way home. 

We have been doing pretty much the same things, we have dulcimers, crafts, happy hours, games, etc. I played bingo once. That was a lot of fun even though I had no idea what I was doing. Man, I always thought bingo was a simple little game, well hell no. There are shapes and it is very complicated and you have to have all sorts of gear. I was a fish out of water, but the girls took care of me. The last time I even thought about playing bingo I was with Kim and Catherine and we were all at a loss, so I didn't feel too bad, plus we were playing for meat. Come on, what could possibly be better than that? No meat this time and no winning either but at intermission we did have ice cream, so it's all good. Steve and I did get to the WNC Nature Center. It is a little local zoo. It wasn't really much of a zoo especially when you consider the fact that we have seen some of the best zoos the country has to offer, but it was a nice outing.  

This weekend is the apple festival. I'm so excited about that. It goes on all weekend and it seems like it's a big deal up here. I'm going to be on the look out for my Hang'm High Christmas ornament. You just never know where you'll find a good one. Steve and I are on our way to the movies. He wants to see "A Walk In The Woods". I wanted to see one with some blood and guts but hell he has to win sometimes.

OK, I miss judged. I figured the movie would be good but it was VERY good. Oh my gosh we laughed and at the end I was teary. Robert Redford and Nick Nolte were just hysterical. They got into predictable trouble of course, but there was stuff we didn't see coming that had us laughing out loud. Oh and at this big multi use shopping center where the movie theater is there is an REI store that we see every time we go and I keep saying I want to go check it out, but we haven't yet. Well today we had a few minutes to spare and we stopped and looked around before going to see the movie. This is a cool place and they have everything for the outdoor enthusiast (of course by outdoor enthusiast I mean the REAL enthusiast; camping in tents, real hiking with big packs, cooking over camp fires, not camping like we do it with all the luxuries of home), still it was a neat place to check out. Anyway, not more then two minutes into the movie don't you know they go to REI to outfit the hiking of the Appalachian Trail. That right there gave me a giggle. 

I almost forgot, we had another great craft day. I'm including a few photos. Well I guess that's about all I've got. We are on our way home, Steve is going to grill some chicken for dinner. God, I am blessed with a charmed life. Talk to you again soon.