It's always something........

First , the pretty picture.............. We wandered around Transylvania County one glorious day and looked for waterfalls that required little effort to enjoy. We're not opposed to a hike but we were without adequate water and bug spray (essential in those woods). You can judge the size by the hiker in the red shirt at the base. Someone took a couple of pictures of us but they looked too much like reality so I won't post them.

We are home once more. Did the 600 mile trip in 11.5 hours again. Each time we say we aren't going to do that but it is an easy drive and we share the driving and snacking so it's not terrible.

The moving house preformed admirably again. There is always something that needs some attention but one just hopes its not a slide (done that already), or a tire or an engine or the refrigerator (again). This time it was the plumbing.

A short primer on RV toilets: given by a non-mechanical woman. The toilet is just a receptacle that drains into the black tank. It has a foot pedal at the base to 'flush ' it with water and a flapper thing that covers the hole with a rubber seal around it. We always keep an inch or so of water above the flapper to avoid having odors come up from the tank. We also use deodorizers in the tank and there is never any odor. Well, a few days ago, the flapper refused to close.......not good.
Plumber Paul did his best to fix it. We went searching for parts to no avail and ended up ordering the needed item. But what to do in the meantime.

Here's our solution.
Take a pink plastic glass, because pink works better than the green one we had, then add to it a small water bottle (left over from the 72 I accidently bought) filled with rocks for weight. After flushing the toilet, quickly place the new plumbing device into the opening and allow the last bit of water to make a seal. (No water in this picture). It worked very well except at night when one is not quite awake and the process needs to be repeated to get a seal.

We're home for awhile. We might try and slip away for a few days to one of Florida's lovely state park next month but now it's time to get to work on the golf game once more.

We'll be back............

Do those mountains make me look fat??? Never mind, it was a rhetorical question.We drove up to this chapel, in Dupont State Park on the NC/SC border as our neighbor here said we had to see this "Pretty Place". That's what it's called at the Visitors Center when we went in to get directions. It's also called Symm's Chapel
and has been there for many many years. It is popular for weddings. The views are extraordinary. We asked another visitor to take our picture with the view in the background. The first had no view and 2nd put us in the dark.

We did the Urban Trail yesterday in Asheville. It meanders about this lovely city, highlighting architecture and history.
Poor picture of a cat on this light pole. There were many scupltures, abstract, historical and parks and monuments. And the weather was amazing.
We wandered about the hills and lakes and artsy towns once again. I stopped by two yarn shops (so far, I have not added to my projects) and in two of the shops, there were men , happily knitting and answering the questions of their customers. One was elderly, wearing a tie dyed shirt with a beard and he knew everything about every type of yarn and pattern. The other guy was younger and grumpy but was doing cables !!

I finished reading "Freedom" by Franzen. A really good read about a disfunctional family. His earlier book, "Corrections" was also a favorite several years ago. I may have to rediscover it. I also finished "Empire of the Summer Moon" about the rise and fall of the Comanche tribe. It was excellent altho a bit text-bookish at times.

Despite wanting to escape the heat of Florida for a few more days, we'll be heading home soon. Even in retirement, there are responsibilities.

Where there's smoke......

This was the view from our door yesterday morning. A sobering wake up to be sure.The owners were gone for a few days and someone walking by noticed smoke, disconnected the electric and turned off the gas and called 911. The fire dept was there in quick time but by then, fire had burned thru the wall and smoke was thick.
The owners live in this full-time, meaning most everything they own is in there with no home to go back to. The campground was spellbound by the event and theories abound at the cause. Based on the burn marks, it was thought that it was related to the gas line and the refrigerator which had a recall due to previous fires. Ours is a later model and not included in the recall.

They owners came back in the evening. Between the fire in the kitchen, the overpowering smoke and the flood of water, it looks totaled. But maybe they could still salvage personal items.

It rained the rest of the day and stayed delightfully cool. I even wore a sweatshirt.

Views

Our favorite thing about this trip, so far, is the weather. It's the big reason we escaped from the Florida oppressive climate and headed north with hope. The Blue Ridge Mountains have delivered and we are grateful.

Wandering aimlessly seems to be as good as plan as any and we have been doing a good bit of that.
We happened by the homestead of Carl Sandburg and walked the winding trail to the top for a view of where his wife raised prize goats and he wrote enduring thoughts. We opted not to spend the $15 each for a guided tour of the house.....seemed a bit pricey to me. Only the Asian group seemed to partake.

Later in the day, we drove to Chimney Rock and drove up to the park and saw the views and again, wouldn't pay to walk over 200 ft straight up to see the distant views. I don't like heights and especially ones that just drop off into nowhere. I would want to be paid to stand up there. Lake Lure is in the upper Lt corner and seems to have
been a big draw in the early century. And now there are many summer places around the lake and in the hills. The 2006 HGTV house was built there and they have a picture of it in the Visitors Center. Of course, no one who actually wins can afford the taxes and upkeep so it was sold at a big profit.

I have especially enjoyed wandering the many galleries and well supplied yarn shops around the area. Each little community is well maintained, very artsy with enticing restaurants. Its a lovely area......especially the weather.

And here's one more gratuitous grandkid picture with the shirt his grandmother bought.

You can smell it in the air...........

After a long day of winding our way north for 520 miles, we have arrived in AUTUMN.We are in Flat Rock, NC, about 30 min from Asheville in a quiet campground. The temperatures are delightful, the views magnificent and we have no plans. We'll meander a bit but mostly, we'll just be happy doing nothing.

Hello again

Now, where were we when last we chatted......................??

Since getting home, we've been sort of busy, well as busy as one can be without going to work everyday. And one of us, in the pursuit of attaining the near impossible, actually did achieve that goal. And he escaped without spending a dime on drinks since it was an early tee time and the other guys had committments and passed on breakfast.Next, I suppose he'll shoot his age !!!

Meanwhile, the youngest grandkids came down for a few days of sun and swim before school started. They have turned into little fish and we are envious of their endless energy.
Life is good in The Villages.................

And then they went home and started school......this was from Mason's first day at kindergarten.....(yes, I know it's sideways ....I'm basically lazy)
And then, because they worked so hard those first couple of days, they had more days off (Jewish holidays) and flights were not full so everyone flew west and ended up at this fun place.

With the iPhone and sending pictures with a text message , they take us along on their adventures. It's the next best thing.

Home

We didn't know when to stop so we didn't. What should have been a two day leisurely drive south, turned into a long 600+ mile jaunt to the front door. We had planned a stop in Georgia around 3 pm but got to that point earlier and it was only 5-6 hrs further so we just keep moving. Normally, about 350 miles a day is a nice drive although we have slogged on for longer periods but rarely after dark.

We managed to get home minutes before the heaven's opened up with all their fire power and torrential downpours.

The moving house is clean and tidy once more and waiting for the next escapade. Soon.

We 'heart' Asheville

We are camped at Creekside Farm , a small but lovely RV resort. There is a barn behind us with silo and 4 kittens......the thought only lasted a second...!!This morning, I did some laundry. This is a very efficient European all -in-one unit that washes and then dries. So nice to have along.
We had a full day yesterday but I have no pictures since I left the camera battery behind. We went to a local festival, explored more of the Parkway, ATE PANCAKES WITH BUTTER and left a lot to explore at a future date.

Today we hopped on and off a trolley with narration. We got an excellent overview of the area. It is rich with the culture of the Arts and Crafts and Art Noveau era. We even saw the Sears houses that were ordered from the catalog in the early century. We stopped at the expansive Grove Park Inn, built in the early 1900's. It has housed many celebrities and 10 presidents. It reminded us of the National Park hotels a bit.
They're reroofing it, thus the scaffolding. The stones cover everything.
We enjoyed a delightful lunch on the large stone porch overlooking the golf course and the city. There were two of these massive fireplaces in the lobby and a row of rocking chairs to savor the warmth in the winter.
This is a terrible picture of the complex but it was all I could find.

Reluctantly, we will head home tomorrow. We explored several options for extending but there are committments waiting (excuse me....I thought we were retired ! ) so we will take two days to get home and then look forward to another trip in a couple of weeks. Our return to the open road has been long overdue and we hope to make up for some lost time.

And now, it is wine time in the refreshing evening air....................wish you could join us.

Disappointment

All I wanted was a pancake......We headed out towards the Blue Ridge Parkway yesterday but decided we needed fortification before the climb upwards. We stopped at a local place advertising "all you can eat breakfast". We didn't want unlimited eggs and sausage and bacon and grits and biscuits and gravy and ham. One of us just wanted a pancake. Which they did have..........but they didn't have BUTTER. !! Now, the pancake is an important part of the 'pancake with syrup and butter' order but the most important thing is the BUTTER. Not 'pure vegetable spread' or 'lite pure vegetable spread' of some unknown brand. The pancake is just the vehicle for transporting the BUTTER to your mouth. I'd have even skipped the syrup if they would have had just the BUTTER. After eating a few bites of a naked pancake with very imitation syrup in a squirt bottle, I gave up. So much for the local establishments. Next time it's straight to Cracker Barrel where the syrup is warm in little pitchers and the butter is.......butter.

We entered the Parkway at the southern end with plans to drive the 80+ miles to Asheville. The countryside was beautiful and we made frequent stops to view the Smokey Mountains. We were in no hurry.
There were many tunnels but most were not as blurry as this one.
As we climbed, the clouds settled in.
And soon, above about 4000 feet, the view became non-existent. We managed to get up to a visitors center above 5000 feet before the rain mixed with the fog and driving was hazardous. We crawled back down below the clouds and gave up on our scenic drive.
We headed to Asheville by a more direct route and enjoyed a stroll around the Biltmore Village. And we had gelato.

Savannah

We had been here many many years ago....when we were just kids, escaping from our kids on our anniversary. It was a brief stay but I remembered the beauty of the downtown area and the squares. Savannah has been through a bit of changes since we were there. The squares, (there are 22) seem a bit ratty altho I did not see any homeless in the ones we saw. The mighty oaks are massive and still dripping with Spanish moss. There are statues and fountains and plaques to read and commemorative rocks and it is a nice respite from the heat of the day. I remember the lovely row houses and larger mansions.....well, now they are interspersed with large ugly without character buildings for important functions like offices and parking garages. They demolished the lovely homes to make way for progress. An historical society was formed

and now it is the largest historical district in the country. Many of the homes have been refurbished to their grandeur.

We did a lovely trolley tour around the district. I took a few pictures but it is hard to capture the settings.
Jeff, this is the police dept and their fleet of cars in front. And you thought your dept had budget issues !
This lovely doll house is the oldest house in Savannah...I missed the date.
And this is the oldest building, currently a bar.
Savannah was lovely in areas but I think Charleston has a more genteel quality.

We stayed in an uncrowded State Park nearby. The mighty oaks dominated altho the 'chiggers' made us avoid being outside. (The Ranger warned us about them and then I had to google chiggers to find out what they were.......I was glad I hadn't planned to hike).

We are currently in the coooooool mountains of North Carolina. It is heavenly. Pictures at 11......or sometime when I get around to it.