The Colossal, Super-Fabulous Trip, Part 1

This post is extremely late, in the tradition of last August, when I was too busy to do so. I don't know how long this will be, but whatever the case, I hope you can keep reading... as long as my fingers can keep typing...

My sister and I have traversed eight states this August, and will be landing briefly in a ninth before getting back home to the tenth. NC, SC, GA, AL, MS, AR, OK, MO, (UT), WA

North Carolina:
On the morning of the 30th, I never heard my alarm. Got to work an hour and a half late, worked through lunch, and stayed a bit later to make it up... never did get to eat... got home at 6. Oh, yeah! Time to start packing! So I packed in an hour, had a brief dinner of leftovers to clean out the fridge, mailed my visa bill, watered the plants, and finally left at 10 minutes past eight with my Aunt and our dog, who she was going to take care of. Spiffy was a little surprised when we didn't get back in the car at the airport, but we heard he did fine.

Didn't get much of a rest on the flight; we tried all sorts of ways to try and get comfortable, but all we got was extremely intermittent sleep. We arrived in Atlanta on Friday the 31st, but it still felt like Thursday to us... had an hour layover or so, and had a little airport food. After a delay (we had to de-board our plane and, after a wait, board a different one - because they needed to "replace a panel" on the first one). So we ended up getting there a couple hours later than expected - all I can say is thank goodness for cell phones.

We dropped our stuff off at the Grandparent's house (they came to pick us up), had a snack, then went to our Aunt Vicki & Uncle Chunk's place about 15 minutes away. This was where we spent most of the visit, since there were so many people. After all the greetings, and a little visiting, and some lunch, two of our aunts and Meg and I went and picked blueberries off their bushes. We ended up with a couple gallons and had become quite sticky in the heat. So after putting them away, we all went for a swim in their pond (it's about 100 yds. across). Gosh, that was refreshing! And then dinner was pizza and salad with blueberry cobbler for dessert. I took various naps during the day, but after dinner I succumbed again on the porch swing overlooking the pond. The sun was golden, going down behind the ridge of trees beyond their property. It made the trees brilliantly green as they were sharply reflected in the motionless water. My parents dropped us at the grandparents house as the grandparents had Cousin Bob and his wife and kid in their car. They had arrived just a few hours after we did. We went right to sleep after a game of Phase 10.

Sat. Aug. 1:
Woke up at 9:20 with a call from Grandma... we both were dead to the world, but the family had come and it was nearing time to go to the Aunt & Uncle's place again. Had a muffin, took a shower and we were off. This day was nice and relaxing. Sat on the porch and visited for a while, went exploring in the woods a little, had sandwiches and leftover pizza for lunch, met and talked with my Aunt Beth and Uncle Kerry's friends that had come by from Virginia for a short time, took a nap, watched my niece and nephew fish on the dock, took some more pictures of deer and a heron, read in Animal Farm, visited some more, went and shucked the corn with Meg, had dinner down on the lawn (hot dogs, baked beans, corn-on-the-cob) and s'mores for dessert. Afterwords, Bob and Meg were fishing, so I joined them. She caught three bluegill; one big (10 in.), one regular (6 in.), and one tiny (two inches with purply scales!). I only had a bite on my lure once. It rained for a bit while we were out there - rain is always fun on a lake - especially if you're on a covered dock. After the rain there were lots of cute little bats and fireflies flitting around in the dark blue sky. Back at the grandparents, Meg and I played Phase 10 again and then watched 'The Mouse That Roared' on my laptop in our room downstairs. Oh, gosh! So funny!

Sun. Aug 2:
Woke up again from above... this time I was on the mat and Meg had the bed. Cereal and blueberries for breakfast, and the family (mom, dad, sister, niece & nephew) came over and we all packed up and went back to Chunk and Vicki's. I think we sat and visited for a while, but soon it was time to put lunch out... I was starved for some reason. We had to get it going though, because half of us had to leave at 1pm for the play we were seeing... Seven Brides for Seven Brothers at the Flatrock Playhouse. Although the storyline is ridiculous, I loved it. The actors had incredible voices (the lead actress was in 'Curtains' on Broadway) and they danced up a storm on stage. It was around 4pm when we got back to the house. Preparation was underway for dinner, but there were too many hands; so Meg and I went out to pick blueberries and got another gallon and a half. It was simply wonderful... under the blueberry tree, reaching up for the ones hiding underneath, the afternoon sun spilling onto me through the leaves, the doves and the crickets sounding in the background with otherwise peaceful quiet around us. Simply marvelous! Dinner was so good too! Tender pork chops, spicy wild rice, stuffed sole and veggies! Wow! And then there was strawberry shortcake! Whoa! Afterwords I read a little and took a few pictures of the deer that had returned and the near-to-full moon that was out. And then to celebrate Grandpa's 80th birthday this day, Chunk, Vicki and I set off fireworks down by the pond. It was so fun! The stars were out with a very clear sky as we drove back. Went right to bed.

Mon. Aug. 3:
A break in the routine... Aunt Beth came over and picked Jess, James, Meg and I up in order to go visit the Biltmore Estate just east of Asheville. I had been here once before, in 2004, on my first visit to NC. It was very nice going back... they had a few new rooms that had been restored and we took a long walk through the gardens and the conservatory and around the Bass Pond. It was rather hot out though... good thing most of the gardens were in the shade. I had sufficiently cooled off with the car's AC when we got back to my Aunt & Uncle's at 4:00. Before dinner, I took some pictures of the baby, played a tournament of Backgammon with dad (gee, I won seven times in a row...). The main course was steak and it was really good! After dinner and dessert, I finished reading Animal Farm while watching the group of five deer feeding down by the pond. Uncle Chunk puts something out for them.

Tue. Aug. 4:
Today the family was going to go on a drive on the Blue Ridge Parkway, but as Meg and I have done it many times, we opted to hang out at our Aunt & Uncle's and read and relax. I downloaded pictures and wrote a few notes for posting before the Grandparents came with Cousin Bob and family. Bob and I did a bit of fishing off the dock together; we talked and I caught a couple bluegill. We had a very quiet lunch (with much fewer people - Bob and family had just left) and I stayed on the porch afterwords to read. While engrossed about the events that led to Bismark taking power in Germany, the cloudy (and barely raining) sky let loose with a huge lightning bolt on the ridge across from the house. Suddenly pelting rain swept across the pond (I could see it come) and a torrential downpour began. I just stared for a while, but then the wind started up and the porch was soon to be enveloped by what my Grandpa calls "crooked rain", or rain coming in at an angle... so I dashed inside. While we were still watching out the window, the family returned from the Blue Ridge and we watched a bit of a family movie from when mom was a kid. By then it was time for leftovers for dinner, and my sister's kids were ready for bed so they packed up and went back to their hotel. While cleaning up dinner, we saw 9 deer out the window... with a couple of baby fauns, still with spots! How adorable! They were all so little. It started to pour again, so the Grandparents took Meg and I back to their house. Downstairs we played Phase 10 again, and watched a rather entertaining episode of Mission:Impossible.

Wed. Aug. 5:
Aunt Vicki came by at 9:30 and picked Meg and I up in the morning to go to Tractor Supply. Meg had something to get for one of our friends saddles, and it's pretty fun to look around in as well. Everyone else was going shopping at the fabric store so we just went back to her house with her. I read more German history, picked blueberries with Meg and Vicki, and then we ate a leftovers lunch, and Aunt Vicki taught Meg and I how to play Cribbage while the just returned family ate as well. The three of us had to start early because we were heading off to a Jazzercise class that evening. Vicki teaches, and in fact, it was visiting here last March that made me join a group near me. Right after freshening up a bit, we headed off to meet my parents and grandparents at 'Papas and Beer', our favorite Mexican restaurant. I had that camerones (shrimp) and veggies dish that Grandpa usually has, and it was fabulous! When we got back home, Meg consented to play ping pong with me for one round and then we did the usual Phase 10. We went upstairs though, watched a bunch of the Cubs game with Grandpa, checked a little email and then "went to bed" by watching another Mission:Impossible episode. Heh.

Thurs. Aug. 6:
A day of goodbyes. We stayed at the grandparent's house today. Woke up early and didn't really feel like going back to sleep. Got a bit of laundry going... mostly shirts and socks. Grandpa fixed pancakes for breakfast and we had a lovely time talking with just them for a long while. The family came over for the afternoon... they were leaving that afternoon. I read some more in that history book on the deck (warm sun, with a breeze... exactly perfect - and quiet!). I then challenged dad to a tournament of ping-pong, and I got away with 2 out of 3 games. After a little lunch and more reading, Chunk and Vicki came over to say goodbye and left, the family left, and Vicki came back to pick us up for another Jazzercise session... hard on the thighs... :) When dropping us back, Vicki visited with the grandparents and us girls for a while longer, and we really had a nice conversation. It was then time to put things in bags and take a shower and get ready to leave in the morning...

Jp