Here's Freida (closest to the larger than life hunk )and her friend Vicki, enjoying the scenery. 
We've been looking for statuary for the pool..............what do you think???
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. 
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. 
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 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.
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 !!
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. 
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.
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. 
And here's one more gratuitous grandkid picture with the shirt his grandmother bought. 
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.
Next, I suppose he'll shoot his age !!!
Life is good in The Villages.................
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. 
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. 
They're reroofing it, thus the scaffolding. The stones cover everything.
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. 
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.
