The End and the Beginning

Although I have far more photos of our wonderful time spent with the family celebrating our 50th anniversary, after today's post, it will be the end of that chapter of our lives and going forward I will concentrate on the beginning of our next 50 years of marriage!! Wouldn't that be something?  Unlikely for sure, but one thing I do know is that it will not only be joyful but full of surprises somewhat like the photo below that I was looking at this morning.

When I begin a blog post, usually I go through my photos, choose ones that will fit a narrative and off I go. Obviously, at first glance,  the one above was about the big fat bumble bee until I discovered another living creature in the frame! Do you see it? But of course you do! Looks like a Damselfly to me.

We did spend lots of time at Deerwoode, but when we ventured off property it was either to a store to buy supplies, or something water related as was the case when we went to Dupont State National Forest to see, you guessed it, a waterfall! 

The younger folks climbed over the rocks, us old folks did not. I did, however, take my shoes off and stand in the nice refreshingly cool water.

Wonder what this dog was thinking? 

Getting to the falls required a small hike up and down with Nancy leading the pack; unlike her sister she did not take any rest breaks! Of course she is four years younger so there's that! The young folk took breaks only to help their parents which was very nice indeed. A nearby forest canteen provided welcome shade and victuals.

A highlight for me was when we drove by this place on our way to the falls,

and stopping in on our way back. Holy cow, the dahlias!

More dahlias up close.

And do I see a huge field of sunflowers behind them? Why yes I do!

Obviously I was in heaven and the only thing that would have made it better is if it were during prime time for taking photographs instead of underneath a blazing sun!

Some of the sunflowers were absolutely huge, the size of a dinner plate! There was a sizable track of multicolored zinnias attracting butterflies,

and bees. BTW, I took a photo with my phone of the flower below and the identification was a red dahlia. Now we both know!

The following day we decided to go tubing, something most of us had never done before. We were in downtown Brevard where we saw this fun display in front of an outdoor store.

After a yummy lunch at Sully's Steamers, we headed home to regroup. Water shoes--check! Towels--check! Hats--check! Sunscreen, double check! Deciding to go with Brevard Tubing, after a little faux pas on my part we met there to tube down the Davidson River.

Should you have clicked on the link you might have noted that their tagline reads: Just Sit Back and Relax. Ha ha! While there was a bit of relaxing on some folks part, I freely admit that for me it was far more about working than relaxing! This is one of the few adventures in my recent lifetime that I took not one photograph because my camera was left behind. Fortunately, Alissa, as well as some of the others, purchased cases for their mobile phones. She shared the photo below with me.

Because this blog is for memory purposes, I have to recap what happened so if it bores you, feel free to move on. In a nutshell, at about the halfway point I was getting out of the tube to cool off by the shoreline, and somehow it did not go as planned. The next thing I know Matt and Jonathan are hanging onto their mom for dear life before she is swept into the current. No rapids so I won't get overly dramatic, but there was decent water flow. So you might be tempted to think that when a second run was suggested that your favorite blogger would say, "no thanks", I will stay back with Alissa. Instead, on this trip down the river, while things started well for me, I ended up kind of stuck and Tom was kind enough to get out of his raft, ford the current coming against him and push me out of the mess I was in. I am using the term "ford" somewhat loosely. Another mishap on this second run was Bruce's favorite hat was stuck on a tree and much against our urgings, Matthew went back to get it. Whew!! Will I go tubing again anytime soon? Maybe, but at least this time I will already know that it is a "participation sport"!

A couple more before we leave Deerwoode, one more spider web hung from one of the freshly-painted Tree Swallow boxes.

And lookee here:

With everything tidied and all items packed, we went back to downtown Brevard, which if I failed to mention it, is only a few miles away, gathering for one last meal together at Morning Social, a delicious brunch where this photo was taken.

Gosh I love seeing this again in spite of the fact that I look pretty goofy! 

From there, Jonathan and Alissa drove North to Asheville where they were tourists for a day. Nancy drove Matt and Tom, who got to see the curves for themselves, while Bruce drove me. It is only about 120 miles but with mountain roads, all bets are off on how long it will really take. 

Rocks on both sides!

Lovely farms here and there with this one having exceptional flower gardens.

The views cannot be beat!

My goodness, once we were home we discovered that it was Third Thursday in Murphy, a perfect time for our family to see the life we have been living. Food trucks!

Entertainment!

Because there is an entrance to the River Walk behind the Depot where this was all happening, Matt and Tom took the opportunity to see what the heck I have been talking about for all of these months! 

While Nancy went to spend the night at Hank's house, Matt and Tom used the sofa bed in the living room with mixed results. At 7am, Road Warrior Nancy met us at the fire station where she took on her passengers and they drove like mad, making it to Orlando that evening. Who do you think was most tired after this week? Had to be Nancy who drove 1,500 miles or something like that! Without her help this trip might have been very different indeed.

I would be remiss if I did not mention the very special themed gifts from our family,  a beautiful gold bowl from Matt and Tom and a personalized 50th anniversary sundial from Jonathan and Alissa. (yet to be put on the accompanying stand)

We also brought home a bottle of champagne from J & A which we very much enjoyed at home. What a delightful surprise that it was from Biltmore Estates.

Nancy brought wine from both herself and a few of our dear lady friends at LPV.  Returning home after pickleball on that Friday, we were greeted by Laura bringing over a massive floral arrangement sent by Michelle and David. 

Whew! Long post, but it isn't everyday that a milestone anniversary rolls around, right? We never take for granted both the love of one another or our family. Or our friends for that matter.

Let the beginning of another half-century begin!!

your friend,

Gail

Four Days of Family Fun

When I made the suggestion that what I really wanted for our anniversary, in lieu of a party, was for the family to get together at one of my favorite places, Deerwoode Reserve,  it was met with mixed reactions. Two sons were in and two sons were out due to work obligations. At the time I had no idea that we would ultimately be spending the summer in western North Carolina so with those who could come and those who could not blessings, I reserved Coyote Lodge for four days. Turns out that even though I was booking early, our actual anniversary was unavailable, so having learned in my 69 years that it pays to be flexible, I booked the lodge.  

How could we actually pull it off was the next burning question? Ingenuity is how.

Here's how it all came together thanks to everyone's flexibility:

I invited Nancy to join us as we would have an extra bedroom and that turned out to be a huge blessing! My sister Nancy, the driving queen, drove to Murphy first, drove to Brevard, drove both Matt and Tom back to Murphy, followed by driving them to Orlando where they were to spend a week in our condo!!  None of the driving, btw, is easy, but I will get to that in a bit. We were ever so grateful for her help.

Matt and Tom flew to Asheville from London, via another airport I've forgotten. At the same time, Jonathan and Alissa were doing their best to fly into Asheville from Austin but it was not easy with delays and whatnot. Nonentheless, in the end, the two parties met and Jonathan subsequently drove them all to the lodge. 

Whew! Bruce drove us to Brevard and what a drive it turned out to be! 

But I am getting ahead of myself.

Nancy arrived on Friday afternoon after making the long drive from Orlando. Whew! It seems like a long time ago now but as I recall we took her to our favorite wine shop hangout where she got to meet Jen while relaxing after the long drive. The next morning we were invited to Curt and Nancy's mountain top pickleball court where we had a lot of fun.

On the way up the mountain, this little one ran across the road, much to our delight.

Talk about some fog! When we began play it looked like this, however, after a few hours we were once again able to see all of the mountains. It is really extraordinary to this Floridian!

I took a small walk in their adjacent woods while the other four were playing and I came across this which reminded me of a compact disc. Remember how revolutionary they were at the time? I still remember our first one;  Annie Lennox singing Why? While I haven't heard that song in ages, having just done so, wow, what a voice!! Bruce asked me how in the world I remembered this and my only explanation is because, at the time, the sound from a cd seemed just remarkable, filling the room with her gorgeous voice.

What still seems remarkable to us is the presence of deer, one of which I spotted while on this little walk. It seems almost magical to see such a beautiful creature appear out of nowhere.

Nancy spent the night at Hank's house and we were all going to meet up at the rodeo in Andrews, however, a big storm came up, nixing that plan. Instead, Bruce and I went to see Barbie, leaving with mixed reviews. 

Here's a little funny story illustrating small town life. We actually thought Nancy was coming into town to join us at the movie, so I waited on the sidewalk for her while Bruce bought the tickets and secured our back row seats. Turns out there was a little miscommunication and she was not coming after all.  So I went inside, finding Bruce settled down into our seats in the back row. While watching the scenes unfolding on the screen I noticed Bruce getting up and acting a little strange. As it turns out, he was suffering a huge leg cramp, something that happens on occasion and is most unwelcome. Swallowing mustard works like magic, so after I asked the theater workers if there was mustard in the house and receiving no for an answer, I explained the situation, walked out the front door and crossed the main street to retrieve the emergency mustard from the car. Because everything is so small this was accomplished with ease and soon Bruce was, once again, settled comfortably in his seat. Not making this stuff up friends!

Leaving the next morning, we decided against following one another, but we would keep in touch.  As we rounded one of hundreds of curves we were greeted by a phenom, or at least it is to me. 

Naturally I asked Bruce to stop at this viewpoint to see what I could see. I saw a lot, including these beautiful butterflies near the railing in the photo above.

Mostly we stayed on US 64 except for a bit, far longer than anyone had hoped for, which took us on a two- lane road that had so many curves, when we met up with Nancy in the town of Cashiers, even she, who you already know is a road warrior, was catching her breath. Whew! 

Finally we arrived and it was as beautiful as I remembered. Rustic beautiful is maybe the descriptor that some folks might use. It is not only the history of the place but the peacefulness and expansiveness that appeals to me. This is our third stay, each time in a different cabin. The Coyote Lodge is the grandest of the ten.

Rocking chairs both upstairs and down, we spent a lot of time on them in the morning and evening. The swings too, were great.

Here's one view taken from that big porch.

Before everyone arrived Nancy and I took a walk to the Bamboo Forest. Plus we walked through it, the heavy cover was welcome shade on that super hot afternoon.

We walked around the big lake,

where those big pink blooms were, as well as loads of Goldenrod all over the property.

Finally, after Jonathan and Alissa's flight snags, everyone arrived after a short drive from the Asheville airport and rooms were chosen, leaving the stairs to the younger folk. 

They were bemused by the rustic decorations, none more so than upon seeing the lodge namesake.

The above was taken a few days into our stay with the coyote sharing space with all manner of our hats, bags, and very much appreciated bug spray! 

From the upper level it looks like this.

It was so comfortable with multiple couches, large and I do mean large chairs with big ottomans, and not just the bar for eating, but four picnic tables as well. Honestly should you care to do something like this, we cannot recommend it enough. 

Four bedrooms and four bathrooms along with seating on the upper and lower level porches as well as a what I believe would be labeled a mezzanine with these super comfy rocking chairs.

So now what? We have an awesome place to stay, what do we do now? Because we have been here before we made the suggestion that we go to see the nearby Looking Glass falls in Pisgah National Forest.  Situated alongside the road going through the forest, it was an easy first choice.

Lush would be one way to describe things here in North Carolina at this time of year. While Jonathan is on the rocks in the hat and blue shirt, Nancy is making her way back up the stairs.

Meanwhile Matt and Tom were going from rock to rock with Jonathan joining them.

For those of you new to this space, that would be our eldest, Matt on the left, and Jonathan, our youngest, on the right. 

What happened with the rest of that day, for the life of me I am drawing a blank, at least for now anyway. I do remember some stargazing and firefly spotting from the front porch ,as well as some very good laughs when I tried to use the hula hoop. Nancy had brought one and it lit up when used. As it turned out, even our master hula hooper struggled to get it going, but that was rectified a few days later when a standard one was purchased at WalMart. Let the hooping begin!

And really, anything else that strikes our fancy, because as all of you know, should you have been following this blog for very long, now that our children are all safe and secure, we are "doing all that we can, while we can." Having lost two sisters, one of whom died while we were staying at Deerwoode, how precious life and good health are becomes something we no longer take for granted.  

We stayed in another cabin when Maureen died which I wrote about here. 

We had some adventures that I will write about next time, but for now we were so grateful to be able to spend the time with part of our family. Plus, I was happy to see the birdhouses which have all had a fresh coat of paint.

Now, if only I had seen more birds!!

your friend,

Gail