First stop - Charlotte and a very short visit with oldest and dearest friends, Sandy & Rich. Normally spend time with them and their entire family the week they are at the beach, but since that's next week and I will be over the mountain and heading West, we took my stopover to catch up and dine and drink a few of Rich's specialty - a Perfect Manhattan.
Up and going early the next morning, after at stop for more gas (Costco - $3.59 gal). As you might have guessed already, the Jeep gets terrible gas mileage (15 mpg) for a trip like this, but it's so much fun to drive. I love the wind in my hair and the grit in my teeth!
Next stop - Burnsville, NC, high atop the Blue Ridge Mountains. Two days to enjoy with good friends Karen & Don and staying in their beautifully furnished and elegant guest house while seeing old friends and enjoying the much cooler weather.
The best 'car guy' in the entire world lives and works in Bakersville (Geouge Automotive.) He worked on all my cars while I lived here and said no way was he going to allow me to continue across the country without him giving his okay to the Jeep reliability. While living here I got to know his entire family, including the matriarch (who informed me he was celebrating his 82nd year in great health!).
The Geouge garage is the place where you sit around and catch up with all the neighborhood gossip.
After a short stop visiting with friends, shopping and lunching in downtown Burnsville and running into more old friends, it was time to jump in the river! Don and Karen have purchased a lovely piece of waterfront (the Toe River) property. They plan to build sometime in the future, but for now it's the perfect place to cool off on a hot day. Don drove us over the weeds and through the woods in the 'mule.' We put a nice bottle of white wine in the water to cool down and wadded out to the middle and sat on big rock, jumping and splashing in the pools and eddies.
After a quick stop to take a picture of my favorite fallin' down house which everyone I know would love to have the money to save and restore
Today we are off to Asheville to do a little fabric touching, feeling and perhaps purchasing at House of Fabrics, then some drooling at Bellagio Everyday and lunching at Doc Cheys (Thai noodle shop) I head off to for a slow drive through The Great Smokie Mountains National Park before arriving tonight in Maryville, TN for a visit with my cousin Mary.
Until next time......
Just catching up on your travels ReAnn. It's fun reading about you connecting with the real people in Burnsville and the other towns you visited.
ReplyDeleteHope you found some great fabric and inspiration in those two customer friendly A-ville stores. No need to return to the W fabric store after the shabby treatment you and I got when you were in town last October. I haven't been back either.