Week Sixteen, October 2009

This weekend was scheduled "off" from the beginning of my plan. It was the MOST WONDERFUL weekend! Jimmy and I left when I got off work last Wednesday night, and went to Winston Salem. Thursday morning we went to my parent's apartment, and Daddy cooked breakfast. (he actually let me help a little, which was probably the first time in history!!). We sat around and watched TV and visited until early afternoon. My brother had taken Mama for a doctor's appointment, and we were waiting to hear the results. It was not good news. Her fractured bone is not healing, and she has to be completely non-weight-bearing for 6 more weeks (which means she has to stay in the nursing home). We took Daddy over to visit Mama for awhile, and then took Daddy home, and had dinner with him in the dining room. It was "Oktoberfest", with German foods on the buffet. The rest of the evening I stood around being a nuisance while Pat and Joyce made sandwiches and gathered things together.

Friday morning we (meaning mostly Pat of course) got his truck loaded up, and we were on the road by 8:00. We made a quick McD breakfast stop, and then he took us to the Blue Ridge Parkway. It was a wonderful ride. The weather was very overcast and drippy at times; but a few times the clouds parted for glimpses of blue sky. We were told the color was not at it's best; but since I've never been up there before, it was glorious to me! I took a lot of pictures, and hopefully some of them will be good (will be posted in another message). There were also some times that we were riding right in the clouds ... no visibility at all! Spooky. :) Pat is an excellent driver, and while it was eerie, it was not scary. (yet! LOL!). We made a couple of stops. One was at the Mineral Museum; one was at a Craft Fair Shop (unfortunately, no pictures allowed) full of wonderful handmade things; and also a stop for a picnic lunch. We did have to take one detour off the Parkway, where a section was closed because of potential rock falls. Also, the highest peak - something over 6000 feet ... was one of the fogged in places, so no pictures.

We got to the Abbey Inn in Maggie Valley around 7:00. The rooms had been left unlocked for us, so we got the truck unloaded and everything into the rooms. Then, if was off to dinner at Arfs. We had a lovely dinner (shrimp linguini for me)! Since it was late, had been a long day, and was rainy, we called it an early night and went back to the hotel ... where Jimmy and I went to sleep way earlier than "normal"!

Saturday morning we didn't rush, and got a lazy start to the day. We went to The Mountaineer for breakfast (french toast), and enjoyed their "million dollar view". Pat then took us all into Ashville. We had thought about driving through the Biltmore grounds ... but .... at $55 a person just to go in the gates ... no way! What a disappointment. I've always wanated to go there, but with those ridiculous prices, I never will!! Instead, we went in to explore an "art shop" .. I think the name is New Morning Gallery. We spent hours in there, and yes! I took lots of pictures. They had the most wonderful (and extraordinarily expensive) things. It was still gray and drizzly; and we rode around a bit more. Pat was looking for a specific place for gas (diesel), plus a KFC. Personally, I just enjoyed the riding around and seeing Ashville! We did get what we needed, and headed for the Great Smokey Mountain National Park. We went to Cataloochee Valley, which meant riding up over a mountain ... at the top, only a very narrow dirt road! It was snowing at the top, but just rain (not steady) at the lower areas. We got to the valley, and got to see a lot of elk. We even had the rare treat of seeing/hearing one bugle, calling his harem together. We ate our KFC in the truck (too cold and wet to get out - which meant that poor Cindy got stuck in the (covered) truck bed until we finished!). It was absolutely fascinating watching the elk, as well as the whole area was picturesque! It was getting dark, so we headed out. By the time we got higher, it was snowing hard! It was very pretty, even though dangerous (dark and slick). The snow continued to a lower elevation, but it had stopped by the time we got back to the valley. We went on back to the motel, and had another early night (although I sat up a bit late watching NCIS reruns! LOL!).
Sunday morning we woke up to ... SNOW!!! OK, it wasn't a "lot"; but there was a clear layer on cars, tops of shrubs, porch railings. From the motel porch the view of the higher mountain tops showed a blanket of snow over the trees. It was cold, but not damp (mostly clear blue sky at that point). We gathered up all of our gear, Pat loaded the truck, and we were on the road before 9:00. Once we got out of the valley, we made a quick stop for breakfast at McD's (one more iced mocha "fix"!! Yum!!), then came on home. Sadly, no Parkway this time - we had places to be. We arrived back at Pat's house by shortly after noon, in plenty of time to unload the truck and change clothes.
We went over to Salemtowne, and met up with George & Ann, and Barbara and her girls (plus Kris). (OK, I admit to a bit of confusion now - don't remember who brought Daddy over!). We got Mama safely into her car, and a caravan of 4 vehicles went over to Golden Corrall. We supposedly had a "reserved" room, although it was opened up later. It really didn't matter, as we were pretty much together ... and ate ourselves silly of course! LOL!
After the meal, we went back to a living room at the nursing home where we took lots of pictures and just enjoyed visiting. We stayed until Barbara & the girls had to leave; so George & Ann took Daddy home; Barbara & the girls went back to Raleigh; and Jimmy & I went back home with Pat & Joyce.
It was still early, and we had a nice evening visiting. I wish Barbara could have stayed for that too. Still, it was especially nice getting to visit with George & Ann since I see them so rarely.
Monday morning Jimmy and I went with George & Ann, picked up Daddy, and went to Mayberry's for breakfast. We went back to the apartment and visited a bit. We went back to Pat's house and left Jimmy to have a nap, and I went with George & Ann. After a stop at Sam's Club (for party supplies), we went to play cards with Mama. When the nurse came to take Mama to her dinner, we said our (sad) good byes. We all went back to Homestead for dinner with Daddy. After dinner, George & Ann took Daddy back over to see Mama again. Pat & Joyce took Jimmy and I back to their house to gather our stuff.
We got everything loaded into the car, and were on the road by about 7:15 or so; and home by about 10:15. We only took what was most important out of the car, started a load of laundry ... and to bed! The house was very cold ... tonight I will get an extra quilt!
Today everything is "back to normal".