We picked up Dad and Idalene, his "older" sister, to celebrate their 95th and 98th birthday at the mountain house. They both celebrate their birthdays in October.
We took them to the Orchard on Thursday because I knew that our friend, Terry McKinney was playing music that afternoon. Terry welcomed all of us and played "Happy Birthday" and the audience sang. Terry did a great job of welcoming them and making them feel special. In the photo above, Terry has commented on the fact that he is with the "oldest barber in NC" and he has the "longest pony tail in NC" - maybe they ought to get together.
Saturday, my cousin Catheryn and Dad's neighbor came to stay a few days. We immediately took off for the Orchard. However, we found that everybody else on the Blue Ridge Parkway had decided to come at the same time - I've never seen as many people at the Orchard. We did find parking and listened to music for a while.
The highlight of the trip was probably the trip to Grandfather Mountain. Dad and Idalene just may be the oldest brother/sister to ever walk across the swinging bridge. They "led" the way, never hesitating for a second to cross the bridge, while many much younger senior citizens wouldn't take the step. They were both mighty proud of their accomplishment.
On the day before we left, we met Slade, Candace, Evan and Anna at the Orchard. They were staying in Blowing Rock for a few days. Bill Carson took the whole family on a personal hayride through the orchard.
The leaves reached their peak while we were there.
