City Living

 This is the first time in our marriage that we have lived in the city since we married many years ago. Suburbia always worked for us. Good school districts, pretty and safe neighborhoods and lots of other families with children. We have no complaints about our choice to move into the city, but we have had to make some adjustments...

One difference is that our garage is not in front of our house but around back where the two car garages all share one alley.

That alley is open at both ends and anyone can drive through. We were not always  careful about closing our  garage door when we lived out in suburbia, and here we learned the hard way when we  accidentally left it open just one night and the next morning not only our 6ft. ladder missing, but Tom’s expensive golf clubs.

Recently we had some new...young..neighbors move in, and Tom noticed that their garage door was open day and night. So when he saw them outside one day, he nicely explained that wasn’t a good idea and shared the story of our theft. They do close it more often now but have left out their cooking grill. This is not just a common charcoal grill.

It is a Green Egg, which happens to be very expensive.

 

To give you and idea.

We don’t want to be the nosey old neighbors...So I guess that they will have to learn the hard way. Do you have a Big Green Egg for barbecuing? If not I know where you can get one...JUST KiDDING!

Venturing Into Blowing Rock

 We decided to shop for all of the food we would need while tucked away in the Blue Ridge Mountains,

and we are so happy that we did. The roads up to the cottage had one curve after another, so to go back to the store once we had arrived would have been a chore, and coming back after dark if we chose to eat dinner in town would have been terrifying!

We did venture into the cute town  of Blowing Rock, NC for lunch one day and to see the unusual geological formations that the town is famous for,

and has been for a very long time!

Seems there is a legend of an Indian girl praying to the gods that her love, and Indian boy from another tribe, would return. Sitting on one of the protruding rocks he was blown up into her arms from the river valley below.

Today there is a pretty park with a few hiking trails, 

, 

pretty flowers

and those unusual rock formations that you are welcome to climb on.

When I was reading about the town of Blowing Rock. I discovered that there use to be a magnificent lodge built in 1922 by a wealthy Charlotte, NC banker and developer who lived in Blowing Rock in the summer months. Sadly it was demolished in 1978, which really saddened me, since I am such a history buff. If you are ever in North Carolina this area is worth a stop. You will find it in northern part of the state just off of the Blue Ridge Parkway.

Activities

 So what did we do tucked away in the woods of the Blue Ridge Mountains other than enjoy the views from the ample outside decks?

Well, we discovered that down below the house there was a hiking trail all the way around the lake..

About halfway around there was a fun playground to our granddaughter’s delight.

There were also pedal  boats,  complete with life jackets, which we took out on the small lake.

The trail was short enough that the kids were able to hike too. Can you guess what we brought them back from our China trip?

Tom and I simply enjoyed that it was a place just to relax,

 be with our family and enjoy nature.

We did venture into

a nearby town one day.

More to follow.

The Mountain House

 We just got back to Texas from our get away to the Blue Ridge Mountains of Northern North Carolina.

My daughter actually reserved  the place for us, so we didn’t know exactly what to expect, we only knew it was very remote and on a small lake.

Driving up, it looked like a rather small gray log cabin in the woods.

The inside was a bit of a surprise with vaulted ceilings and lots of space.

It also had a cheery, well equipped kitchen.

One end of the living area had comfy recliners in front of a fireplace.

On another level there was a pool table and a media area with yet more recliners,

and to the children’s delight an electronic pac man game.

How did this all fit in that tiny cabin you say? Well, from the back, it was built down the hill and had three levels with two decks,

both of them looking out a colorful Falls leaves surrounding a small lake.

I need to go unpack and collect the mail...so more later..

Reflections

 We are in the Blue Ridge mountains in a house we have leased with my daughter and her girls. The house sits on a small lake,

and  the weather is perfect...though maybe a bit cool mornings and evenings...Janey

On The Road Again

 Fall is a beautiful time to get out of Texas, especially if you want to see some pretty Fall colors, and that is exactly what we have done.

We are headed east this week to visit our daughter Stacy and family who live in North Carolina. We took the northern route since we were also going to deliver some items left in Colorado by friends who winter in Tennessee.

Donna and Ed live just west of Knoxville, Tennessee .

Their beautiful home is on the banks of the Tennessee River with breathtaking views.

We were delighted when they suggested we go for a ride on their boat. The weather was perfect, although our  hosts were a bit disappointed that the leaves hadn’t quite turned yet...this boat ride on the Tennessee was certainly going to make up for it!

Donna even suggested that Ed navigate under the bridge into what she called the black lagoon. It was just a curving inlet with low hanging trees that had an eerie quietness about it. 

The Tennessee River starts just east of Knoxville and flows southwest toward Alabama before it heads back north up into the state of Kentucky with a series of dams and locks along the way forming lake after lake.

Click on map to enlarge

I put an x in the approximate area where they live on the river. I was surprised when Donna told us that she and Ed at one time had taken their boat downriver all the way to Alabama and back stopping along the way at marinas so they come trek into town and stay at hotels along the way. That sounds like such a fun adventure to me! We had a great visit and they were such gracious hosts, feeding us a delicious dinner and breakfast before we headed on down the road.....Thank you Donna and Ed!

More to come.....maybe even some Fall leaves, so stay tuned.

Is There Someone Watching Me ?

 The other day I was busy at the kitchen sink and I had a strange feeling that I was being watched.

Yep...there he is  again.

A nosey little squirrel staring at me through the window. I haven’t been feeding him, he seems to just be curious as to what I am doing. Maybe I need to give home a name....