August 23 - September 5

Spruce Pine

Clara and I left early Thursday, stopped by Nashville to check on Dad (He's doing real well), and headed up the mountain for a couple of weeks of relaxing and enjoying the cool climate.

The temperature at night is generally in the 50's.  We've even had to close the windows and doors in the early morning hours because it is so cool.  Great sleeping!

Most mornings, we woke up to clouds in the valley

We've worked on the yard and cleaned the basement, throwing away a lot of stuff that should have been discarded years ago.

Friday, we enjoyed visiting The Orchard and listening to Bonnie Schmink's band.

Saturday evening, we visited with our neighbors, the Holtzclaws.  They live near the bottom of the mountain.  Keith recently retired as the CEO of the Spruce Pine Hospital and was on my EDC board when I worked in Mitchell County from 1998 to 2001.  It was a good chance to catch up on what is happening here in the county - Keith is now a County Commissioner.

Sunday afternoon, Brian Gurl played at The Orchard and that evening we had a nice dinner outside at the Grassy Creek Country Club and listened to "Three Phase" playing some good music



Kit Truby and Clara

 Monday, we were invited to Bonnie's for ribs on the grill.  I ate entirely too much, but they were great.

Tuesday was a lay day, with nothing scheduled and we enjoyed our mountain home.

Wednesday, we invited our hosts in St. John, USVI, Pat and Dave over for dinner.  We added to the list Kit, Will and Bonnie.  They brought with them Pat's daughter, Karen.  We had a delightful evening of discussions about our trip to St. John this past April, sharing photos and stories.  It was really great to see Pat and Dave, and we hope to be able to visit them again in St. John.

Brian Gurl

A small group gathers in Brian's studio to listen and enjoy his great music.

Thursday evening we were in for a very special treat.  Brian and Joey Gurl had invited us, along with 9 other guest to their home for champagne and the ivories.  We met a lot of new people, most from Mountain Air Golf and Country Club.  Kit rode over with us.

It was an amazing evening of world-class music by Brian, playing his piano and singing.

Friday morning, we had Ray's Tree Service start up at 8 am, clearing our view.  Over the years, the area that had been cleared when we built the home in 2000 has rapidly grown up into 30+ foot trees that are beginning to obscure some of our beautiful views of the mountains, and we had always wanted to clear a little further South so we could have a clear view of the Black Mountain Range about 30 miles away.  Working in a thick fog, Ray's crew had the work done in a couple of hours opening up a beautiful view.

Brandon Ray working in the fog clearing our mountain view

The view after clearing

Just about every morning, the clouds lay in the valleys until the sun burns them off.

Friday evening, we picked up Kit and drove over to Burnsville's Downtown theater to listen to Judy Alexander's "Country Kickin" show.  A great evening of fun entertainment.

Judy Alexander

Bonnie and Will 

Terry McKinney (We were made honorary members of the McKinney Clan several years ago 

Eddie Graham, who once played drum for Elvis, plays around the room, showcasing that anything can be a drum. 

Kit and Linney Ski

Saturday, we went over to Asheville to see Keith and Diane Howell.  Diane and Clara worked together at Memorial Mission Hospital for years.  They were having a family reunion this afternoon and we got to meet a large part of the family.  We had visited Diane's sister and brother-in-law in Missouri a couple years ago on the way out west in the motorhome.

Sunday night Kit invited us to her home for fresh (frozen) Maine lobster, which are fantastic.  Bubba and Susan Crutchfield and Bill and Judy Carson also were there.  We really enjoyed the evening and especially catching up on Bubba and Susan's extensive volunteer work in Western NC.

Monday we relaxed around the house enjoying the beautiful views.

Tuesday, we got a late morning start and drove to Cary to see Slade and the kids and Wednesday we drove back to Beaufort