Halloween is Coming!!

Just having fun preparing for Halloween!!

Fire

Just playing with a picture of the fire that I took at the Man Cave this weekend. Pretty cool, eh?

This is what it really looked like but isn't it fun to play with it??

I woke up cold in bed this morning. We need another blanket. I guess fall and cold weather are coming no matter how hard I try to keep it away! At least we have pretty scenes like this to cheer us when it is cold!

The Smokey Mountains

Kirby and I needed a weekend away and had never been to the North Carolina Appalachian Mountains. Kirby did some research and found a train we could take to explore the mountains - a 4 hour ride out of Bryson City, North Carolina. I did some research and found that it was high season and the lovely little cabins with the great views and hot tubs were way out of our price limit for this trip! I found us a cute little motel room right in town where we could not only walk everywhere we wanted to go but also could sit on our little balcony and watch the river roll by. It was a "quaint" little room with pick curtains and a pink bed cover. I will admit that it was one of the cleanest rooms I have ever stayed in with a good mattress and clean fresh bedding. The bathroom also was the cleanest ever - and the smallest. As you can see from the picture, it could be challenging to use! The toilet is closer than it looks in the picture to the sink!! But there was a window that opened to the river! And everything that should shine, did.

This is our view from the little balcony. It was a lovely place to hang and enjoy the late afternoon and a glass of wine.
We really enjoyed being able to walk everywhere we went. It was about 4-5 blocks to the other end of town - or at least as far as we wanted to go. We were at one end and the pub with the brewery next to it were at the other end. We were up before the sun on the first morning (comes with age - can't help it!) and hoped to get coffee at the Cork and Bean but they didn't open until 8:30! Late! We found a bakery and got muffins and returned to our room and had our coffee in our room. We were just too early! Kirby was a sport and posed for this picture for me!
Then it was off to the train station and our excursion into the forest!

We met really nice people from Vermont on the train. The layout was four seats facing each other so we didn't know who would be sitting with us. We lucked out! They were nice and interesting and fun to be with. I had a mimosa first thing as I was on vacation! We also had lunch on board and lots of entertainment from our serving person. I think she wanted to be an actress and did a great job of entertaining everyone!
We made a stop along the way and everyone got off the train and wandered around the area. I am not sure what the area was as we didn't even know we were going to be deboarding. I think they called it a Welcome Center. There was food, drink, shopping and lots of kayaks and rafting. The river was pretty low and very cold - about 45 degrees so there were not too many partakers of the water sports. But we enjoyed our time walking around and watching the 300 plus people who got off the train with us!


We were excited to see the Appalachian Trail!! After hiking the Pacific Crest Trail so many times when we lived in California, this was a treat for us so we took each others picture. Some of us didn't want to do that and made a funny face. Can you tell which one that was??


Here is a picture of the Appalachian Trail! Oh, it was tempting. So different than the Pacific Crest Trail!
The water was so cold, but kids just don't know the difference, do they?

Jake

I decided it was time for some "Jake" pictures. Jake is a good boy and great company. Isn't it amazing how we each love our pets so much? They give so much and ask nothing in return. Well now, that really isn't true as Jake wants cookies and tummy rubs and he will also ask for a walk. But that just isn't much is it?

Tourists

(Click on picture to enlarge)

Kirby, John, Lynn, Suzie

I finally got this picture off my little point and shoot. I had forgotten that I did a timed self portrait. We were at Middleton Plantation in Charleston and stopped for a lite lunch. They didn't have a light lunch so we just drank our lunch!

Garage Sale Treasures

Our whole community had garage sales this morning beginning at 8 AM. The streets were packed with cars, there were people everywhere and even poor Rocky, the mailman was having trouble driving his route and delivering the mail. Kirby and I don't have much "stuff" so we just wandered around visiting with our neighbors as we enjoyed Bloody Mary's and Mimosas. I had a field day with my camera. It is cheaper than buying "stuff"!

Fresh Produce

I manage to get in trouble more than any lady my age should. I get in trouble at work for using a remote mouse when I should have a plug in mouse. Now they have to replace that mouse...who let me have it anyway? I should not have an open flame at my desk...ok, I got rid of it. And all I wanted to do was take pictures of the pretty colors and great displays at Fresh Produce in downtown Charleston. Now, don't you think it was worth getting in trouble over? Just look at these luxurious colors! But they made me quit taking pictures. At least they couldn't force me to hand over my exposed film!!

Let's Buy a Boat

When John and Lynn were here we went to look at a boat - a sailboat! But not for Kirby and I. John and Lynn are sort of interested in getting another boat. And one here in Charleston sounded interesting enough to warrant a drive to Johns Island.

Even if it is the wrong boat, it is always nice to sit in the cockpit and enjoy the sun and the feel of it all.

And of course I had to take a "cutsey" picture.

Boating is still so much in our blood that just walking the dock is a wonderful thing to do. The sights and the smells will never leave us.

Charleston

I have been promising pictures so here we go.

(Click on any picture to enlarge)
Perfect Charleston - Black hurricane shutters, grill work, crepe myrtle tree - all viewed from a horse draw carriage.

One of the many lovely old homes in the downtown area of Charleston. Unbelievable detail!

A narrow alleyway.

This was our view from our carriage as we started out! Fun! We all lined up to see which area we were going to get to tour. It is a lottery with about 4 -5 tours available. You never know which one you will get and I think that this time we drew the loser. But you never know! It was worth the $20!

The best tours go right in front of Tommy Condon's - our favorite pub in downtown Charleston. We ended up there later for a nice lunch on the patio. Great weather!

I love the brickwork and the wonderful windows in these old buildings.

Everyone takes a carriage ride!

There will be more to come! I think I have taken about 800 pictures in the last 8 days.