Camera Crazy: A Different Sort of Trip

For the most part, our trips involve going to see Matt and Tom every now and again, but that's about it when it comes to sharing trips with other folks. This trip was so wonderful because it was so different, seeing folks and enjoying time with some whom we have not seen in years. Let's get into it, shall we?

If seeing something like this does not make your heart leap with joy, well, I just don't know what to say.

May I introduce you to the famous Taco Bell tree in Murphy, North Carolina? Shown to us by our tour guides Karen and Jim, even in person, it hardly seems as if it could be real.

But, I'm getting ahead of myself, so let's try doing this in order.

Actually I want to backtrack a bit in order to show you some flowers that kept capturing my attention alongside the roads.

Finally we came to a place where Bruce could pull over so I might get a closer look and as fate would have it, a Monarch butterfly was also having a close encounter.

Aren't they cute as a button?

Back in Murphy, while Hank had to go to a medical appointment, we went to another part of the area where our neighbor Gayle's brother has a house on a lake and what a house it is! What a view it has!

Oh my it was lovely! Connie (who lives upstairs from us) and Gayle had been in Murphy for a few days before our arrival, welcomed us to Ron's house for a visit. We didn't stay too long though because Sandy needed picking up in yet another part of Murphy. Yup, Sandy is one of our neighbors as well. Connie did the driving as she is used to the roads, or as used to them as a Florida gal can be!

Sandy bought her place about two years ago and has been urging us to visit, however until now it has not worked out. That said, we were thrilled to see her place that is cute, cute, cute! And Connie is an excellent driver navigating the steep winding road to get there!

A toast was in order! Perhaps you are wondering why she needed picking up? Sadly, about six weeks ago, while heading to the Asheville airport to pick up a few other LPV girlfriends, a deer ran in front of her BMW, wreaking havoc with both her mind and her vehicle. Finally, after all this time, the car was slated to be finished and staying with Connie and Gail was the first step in retrieving it from the shop.

An entire post could be dedicated to how cute her place is, however, I will never get through this trip and back to the here and now should I do so. Suffice it to say, I was oohing and ahhing everywhere I looked. So that was our third house in Murphy that we visited and all of them had both wildly different settings and styles making it so fun!

Back to Ron's house and a quick photo shoot before returning to Hank's house for the night.

I will say that it is kind of hard writing only Hank's house, having been used to Hank and Carol for so many years. Alas, she is no longer suffering and Hank is thriving after three years alone. Embarking on a whole new way of life at 81 is something to be admired!

Downtown Murphy is pretty cute.

As is our custom, we ate lunch at the bar,

a very interesting experience indeed. Our bartender, whose name I swore I would not forget but now have, when asked if she was from Murphy replied not only in the affirmative, but added a detail that, frankly, took me by surprise. She said she was the youngest of six girls in her family and the only one to graduate high school without getting pregnant. "You don't say" seems like a good response, right? The food was yummy and she was not only entertaining, but efficient as well.

Lots of flowers around the square.

We played pickleball, ya'll! Yup, showed up bright and early on a very chilly morning, say high 30's and joined the locals. Adjacent to the courts was a playground that had some very impressive fall color.

The folks, many of them from Florida, were all as nice as can be. Super fun time, followed by another great time and that was visiting with our old church friends, Karen and Jim, who have lived in Murphy for more than ten years now.

Their home, custom built to fit their tastes, is just fantastic! There are things to delight the eye everywhere you look, including countless displayed quilts. Karen is a fellow tea drinker and showed me not only her teapot collection, but served me a cuppa as well. I also learned a few popcorn tips while there. They toured us around their expansive home including Karen's hobby room where not only her sewing machine resides, but countless other awesome goodies. Of course this crewel banner, made by Karen in the 80's, caught my eye.

Jim, before his stroke, made so very many beautiful and useful objects for their home in his amazing wood shop.

Jim was a high school physics teacher, but seeing his shop makes me wonder if he shouldn't have also been teaching wood working. Oh wait, they don't teach practical skills anymore, do they? They took us to lunch at a local hot spot that serves homestyle cooking, Julie's, which was delicious. Plus they toured us around the area, including the above pictured Taco Bell tree that Karen claimed as one of her favorites. I rode along with her to their church where she dropped off a cake for the next day's Fall Festival. We enjoyed ourselves so much, only wishing our visit could have been longer!

One other neat thing about Karen is that she has been reading my blog for, perhaps a decade by now? Aside from Matt, she is probably the longest supporter I've had and she actually came across it by accident. One of her sons discovered it and there you go. Imagine that...I am at a decade and a half of writing what I want rather than what a teacher tells me to!!

The following morning, while trying to find a place to stay for that night, I was scanning the map on the iPad, looking for places that had rooms we felt not as terrible about paying for. Seriously, leaf season is no time not to have reservations anywhere! Okie dokie, here's a place honey...only $270 a night! Dilsboro, NC.

Skeptical at my choice but willing to give it a go, we began driving that way. Holy Cow...look at that cool cloud in the sky!!

Can you tell that it is a circle? Do you see it? Extremely cool in person!

May I just tell you that the drive was tremendous...gorgeous leaves everywhere one looked. We stopped as one is wont to do when the scenery is spectacular. Look who took a selfie alongside a gorgeous river!

I most definitely could have used some lipstick! Bruce has been on a selfie kick of late, so what can I say?

More..

and even more.

We saw this too.

Perhaps another visit we can actually ride that railroad! Dillsboro is only a little over 60 miles from Murphy, and very much smaller, but it turned out to be super cute. When we arrived a "fall festival" was the order of the day.

As it was lunch time, I asked Siri for some recommendations on where to eat. Imagine that! She sent us to the Foragers Canteen which turned out to be absolutely delicious, so much so that we went back later for dinner! Don't you just know that these small towns live for this time of year?

We, too, did a little shopping in this place.

Where I bought this super cool tile that now is residing above my cooktop. $15!!!!

The night's accommodation far exceeded our expectations although having said that, I was pretty sure when I booked a room at the Dillsboro Inn, that it was going to be great, especially once we arrived, parking under that gorgeous tree!