Mountain Trip

Thursday, October 15th, the kids and I, along with Kelly's best friend Renè and Sean's girlfriend Ashley, went to the mountains for the day. (Renè and Ashley go to the same church we go to.) I wish Charlie could've been with us, but he was in either Texas or Louisiana at the time. My mom couldn't go because she was working.

We left the house a few minutes before 9:00 AM (I wanted to leave earlier, but wasn't able to) and after picking up Ashley, who lives about 2 miles from us, we hit the road. (Renè had spent the night with us.) We drove west on I-40 to Winston-Salem, got on 52 north, and, after eating breakfast at Cracker Barrel in Mt. Airy (aka Mayberry), then got on the Blue Ridge Parkway soon after arriving in Fancy Gap, Virginia.

We took the Parkway south to Boone, stopping at several overlooks along the way and hiking a few trails. It was a gorgeous day. Not a cloud in the sky, temps around 60°. The wind was chilly at times, but we all had light jackets.

**Click on photos to enlarge them.

Renè, Kelly, Ashley, and Sean. Fox Hunters Paradise overlook.

Stone Mountain overlook.

Mahogany Rock overlook.

Brinegar Cabin

Renè, Kelly, Sean, & Ashley. Climbing the rocks at Alligator Back overlook. I went up there, too.

Taken from the top of the rocks at Alligator Back overlook.

Alligator Back overlook.

On the trail at Bluff Mountain overlook.

Renè and Kelly on the Bluff Mountain trail.

The Lump overlook. Tough climb, but doesn't take long.

View from the top of the big hill at The Lump overlook.

Another view from the top of the big hill. Christmas tree farm in the distance.

Mt. Jefferson

When we got to Boone, sometime between 4:00 and 5:00, we went to Dan'l Boone Inn Restaurant for dinner. My family and I have been going there for years. Love their food!

We were going to go to Mystery Hill House after eating, but they were closed. :-/


We had a really good day in the mountains. Charlie was hoping to go when he got home from Louisiana (he had started off in Georgia back in mid-September and from there had gone to Kansas, Texas, and Louisiana before finally coming home last week), but not only has it rained all week so far, but our dog Pippin got really sick with pancreatitis and had to stay at the emergency vet Friday night through Sunday (we picked him up around 10:00 PM Sun. night), costing us a lot  of money. So, we probably won't be going to the mountains this week. We were wanting to go straight to Boone and do some things in the area - Linville Caverns (my kids have never been), Blowing Rock, Mystery Hill House, Grandfather Mountain. I hope we can do that before it gets too cold.

This and That

I'm really looking forward to going to the mountains soon. I was going to go today, but when I called my mom last night (because I know she's going to want to go with me), she was already asleep. :-/ I'll call her about it later today.

Sean wants his girlfriend Ashley to go with us and Kelly wants her friend Rene to go with us. I can only fit five people in my car (including me), so if my mom goes, only Ashley will be able to go with us. (Sean asked first and I said yes before Kelly asked about Rene.) But if mom can't go, we'll bring Rene with us if she wants to go and is able to.

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Charlie left for Georgia a few weeks ago. After that, he was sent to Wichita, Kansas. And then Houston, Texas. He arrived there on Saturday. He should be home next week.

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Autumn is here (my favorite season, along with spring) and that means wearing my fall wardrobe. As much as I love clothes, I don't have nearly as much to wear in the fall and winter as I do in the spring and summer. (Just a few skirts and a few shirts.) I've been trying to fix that and was able to get a few things over the past few weeks.

Back in early August, I bought a plaid skirt ($14.99) at Forever 21. I was going to wear it a few days ago, but I didn't have anything to wear with it. I found something I think will look good with it at JC Penney.

I will probably wear this zipped most of the way up. I wish I'd found a picture of it zipped up.

Other items I've purchased over the past few weeks:

Purchased at Stein Mart for $34.99. Original price, $48. I wanted a vest that's shorter and cooler than the hip-length knitted vests I already have.

Ralph Lauren. I bought this at Belk. Originally $125, I paid $80 after tax. I took this picture in the fitting room. I'm trying to find some boots to wear with it. Black doesn't work.

Target. I just wear this around the house. It's really comfortable.

Stein Mart. Original price, $68. I paid $24.99. I was looking for a jacket to go with my brown skirt (I have a black denim jacket and a black leather jacket, but black doesn't go with brown) when I saw this one. 

I was in need of new flats and was able to find a few pairs. Most shoes are not comfortable to me; including shoes I already own. And especially closed toe shoes. I was looking for soft, flexable shoes. These three pairs of shoes were comfortable in the store. I hope they will still feel comfortable when I wear them for more than a couple minutes.

Macy's. Rocket Dog. Originally $49, but I got them on sale. I can't remember how much.

Macy's. American Rag. Originally $39.50. I got them on sale.

Shoe Carnival. Rocket Dog. Originally $44.99. I paid $24.98.

Calvin Klein. I bought this for my mom at Macy's. Purple is her favorite color. (This is aubergine.) She loved it.

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I normally have a few umbrellas in my car. That way each of us (me, Charlie, the kids) have an umbrella to use if we need one. Though I'm the only one who ever uses one. lol 

It was a chilly, rainy day on Saturday. The kids and I and Sean's girlfriend Ashley were on our way to Great Clips so Sean could get a haircut when we passed by a lady walking somewhere without an umbrella. So I turned around and gave her one of mine. She was really grateful and seemed sweet.

I also vacuumed the church sanctuary on Saturday (as I do pretty much every Saturday) and after doing a little shopping (vest & jacket for me; 3 shirts & a sweater for Kelly), the kids, Ashley, and I went to Red Robin for supper.

Sunday was church and it was really good.

This is one of the songs we sang:

We also sang "I Can't Hold My Love Back From You" and "Oceans". And something else, but I can't remember what.

I came home after church, made French toast (using French bread) and bacon, took a nap, and then watched a little TV. Including the premiere of season six of The Walking Dead. I was excited, but also nervous. I don't want any of my people (Rick's group; except Gabriel) to die. Especially Daryl, Carol, Michonne, and Glenn.

Hagan Stone Park and Too Much Rain

The kids and I went to Hagan Stone Park last Thursday. It was overcast, but the radar showed that the rain was passing south of us and the local weather said that it would start raining that night. So, we went, hoping that the rain would hold off as predicted. And it did for the most part. Kelly and I felt a few tiny drops while walking the trails and then there was a very brief shower/misting as we were getting ready to go to the car.

Anyway, Sean went fishing from the pier on the lake while Kelly and I walked. We took a few turns we'd never taken before and then wondered how to get back. lol I got my phone out and turned on the GPS. We were practically on the far northern/northeastern reaches of the park and heading further out. lol But we eventually saw a tree we'd seen before (it stands in the middle of the trail) and knew we were finally going the right way.

Kelly and I walked for about 2 hours or so. I love the trails at Hagan Stone. You're basically walking in a forest. Tons of trees. And spiders. Ick. I almost walked into a web at one point. It was then I grabbed a stick to wave in front of me whenever we came to low-hanging branches or narrow areas where a spider could easily make a web across the path.

After about an hour and a half or so, Sean texted me, asking where we were and saying that he was hungry. I told him we were on the trail and trying to get back. When we finally got back to the pier, he was trying to untangle his line and said that he didn't catch anything.

The kids wanted to swing on the swings (which are at the far end of the park, not near the lake), even at their ages (18 and 15), so we went to the swings after we left the pier. We didn't stay at the swings for long. I was hungry and ready to go home.

I didn't bring my camera with me, so the pictures I took aren't the greatest quality. I'll take my camera when the leaves are at their peak.

Sean going fishing. The man on the right caught some catfish.

Kelly.

Saw this deer on the way to the swings.

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It did start raining that night. And it's rained almost constantly since. We got a bit of a break yesterday. We even saw the sun for awhile. But then it started raining again last night. We've gotten about 5 or 6 inches so far I think and we're supposed to get another 5-7 inches by Sunday. Part of that rain will be from Hurricane Joaquin, which is supposed to make landfall on the Outer Banks on Sunday night and then go through Washington, D.C. 

I told my kids that it'd be nice if the hurricane blew away all the bad politicians. D.C. would be empty. Hurricane apocalypse. I was kidding, of course. :-)

Some areas are already flooding from the rain we've had since last week and some people have lost their power. They're calling for more flooding and possibly more power outages (due to trees falling because of the wet ground and the wind that may come) over the next few days. I don't know when the rain will finally stop. Maybe next week sometime.