Our longest stay on the mountain

October 5

After leaving the Lantz's we came back to the Mountain House.  We're staying here until the end of the month - our longest stay on the mountain since we left here in 2001.

We've been considering selling the house because we just don't use it enough.  It sits here most of the year with no use and we've got to either sell it or figure out how to use it more.

We interviewed some Realtors to help us in determining what we may do.  After the interviews, we've realized that, like most of rural America, housing values have not recovered from the recession a few years back.  In fact, most homes in this area have actually depreciated.  And there is hardly any new construction because housing values are so low that you can't build a home for what you can buy one.  It's a problem everywhere it seems.  We're trying to sell two houses that my Dad owned in Nashville, and it's downright depressing to realize that values of home there are even further depressed.

So we've started looking at an alternative to selling and strongly considering vacation rental through Airbnb.

We've talked to a lady who will "host" the house for us and at this point we think we're going to do it.

But first, we need to get through some deferred maintenance.  So far, we've had the carpets cleaned, the garage floor painted, painted the decks, took bunches of stuff to the dump, cleaned up the garden areas  - and still a lot of work to do.

Over the weekend, we received the rain/wind of another hurricane that hit shore in Louisana.  It was interesting to observe that when we arrived on Thursday, all the leaves were green and there was no sign of fall.  However, after it rained all day Sunday, we found that the leaves had literally changed overnight.

October 13 - 15

Slade and family drove up to spend Slades "birthday weekend" with us.

Saturday afternoon we drove to Asheville and spent the afternoon at the Sierra Nevada brewery

Clara broke out a box of old Christmas decorations and Anna and Evan got the chance to each pick out decorations for them to keep for their future family Christmas

Sunday afternoon before they left, we went by the Orchard for little music and dancing.

Papa and Dad got the chance to dance with Anna. I don't believe I've ever seen such a smile on Anna's face.

Saturday October 21 turned out to be a real special treat.

First, we met a lot of new neighbors here on the mountain at our annual meeting in the morning and a party at a neighbors home for dinner.

However, most of the day was at the Buck Stove Factory, just down the  mountain from our house.  Buck Stove was hosting their first Bluegrass Music festival.

We went down around 1:30 and spent the afternoon listening to great music - not just good, but great.  We took a short break for dinner with our neighbors and then went back down for the evening show.

This is the first event of this nature that I have been to that 1) was held in a factory, and 2) we had the most comfortable chairs we've ever had at a music festival.

First, yes, inside a working factory.

We were surrounded by plywood, steel, machines of all kinds, while listening to great music

And the most comfortable rocking chairs.  We sat in one like this for several hours and never felt any discomfort.  They were so comfortable that we ended up buying two of them.

All the musicians in this group are 18 years old, or younger.  And they were fantastic.

The headliners of the show were Darin and Brooke Aldridge.  Brooke was selected by the International Bluegrass Music Association as female vocalist of the year for 2017.

Anna, how do you like these boots?  And she can really play that fiddle.

We know the owner of Buck Stove, Claudia.  She told us that this will be an annual event in the future.  We hope to bring Slade and family up next year for the show.  Fantastic.

After finishing all the chores, we decided to go ahead and see what might happen renting the house through Airbnb. 

So we packed up on Oct 29 and headed East.

Heading to the mountains

September 30

We left early this morning so as to be able to see Evan playing basketball.  He has three games today in a tournament.  Evan has grown much taller in such a short time.  He's at least 6'1" and still growing.

He's looking good.

It was great to spend a couple of days with all the kids before heading West.

October 2 - 12

We drove to the Lantz's home on Nantahala Lake.  They have a beautiful, very secluded home on the lake

Wendell and I went kayaking on a glassy lake.  It was beautiful every day.

We enjoyed an afternoon cocktail cruise every day

Wendell and I went for hike one day.  Thankfully, I took this picture of a map before we started off on our 5+ mile hike and trails that were very poorly marked.  There was no Internet service anywhere, so we could never tell where we were.  Turned out that we probably would not have made it without this map on my phone

On the way to Spruce Pine, we drove by the home we built in Haywood County in 1992 when I was the Area Manager for CP&L.  Great memories.

Elizabeth City

August 24 - 28

This weekend we're taking a 4 hour drive north to Elizabeth City to help celebrate Clara's cousins', Virginia Tunnell, 100th birthday.

Virginia is the daughter of Lula Provost Riggs, Clara's mother's sister.

I've had a hard time wrapping my mind around the fact that Clara has a 100 year-old first cousin, and I haven't quite figured out how there can be almost thirty years difference in ages of 1st cousins.  But it's a fact.

We're staying at a small RV park on Elizabeth City Coast Guard Base.  This is the largest Coast Guard Base on the East Coast.  Search and Rescue operations are run out of here with C-130's and helicopters.  It's a nice little base.  There are only 10 spaces for RV's and they've been full the whole time we're here.

We arrived Thursday.  Friday we explored Elizabeth City.  It's a surprisingly large town.  Like a lot of Northeastern NC, it's apparent that the community has its challenges.  However, there is a university, Elizabeth City State University - a historically black college, and the Coast Guard.  It appears that these are the mainstays of the economy.

There is an incredible state museum, Museum of the Albemarle.  It really looks out of place here.

We found a  very nice restaurant on the waterfront - Cypress Creek Grill and enjoyed a delicious dinner here both Thursday and Saturday nights.

Saturday was Virginia's birthday and it was celebrated somewhat like we did Dad's 100th birthday - at the church.

There was a nice crowd of mostly family and friends and Clara renewed some relationships from many years ago.

Clara and her 100 year old cousin, Virginia Tunnell

The family

Descendents: children, grandchildren and great grandchildren

Children, Josh, Ginger and Sylvia

Sunday, I decided that I wanted to visit the Dismal Swamp State Park.  I've heard of it many times and had never been there.  It is well known among sailors who transit the ICW.

As Clara stressed, the name is "dismal".

The canal was dug in the early 1800's

Well, it's a ditch in a swamp.  And Clara hasn't stopped pointing out to me that the reason for the name is that it is a pretty Dismal place.  At least I've been there now.  Probably won't go back though.  Although we had a pleasant day and ended up in Chesapeake, Virginia for lunch

The Great North American Elipse

Monday, August 21, 2017

Well, today was the day, the Great Eclipse.

I figured things ought to be really interesting out on the water.  I could just see the fish getting confused and really hitting the hook.

So I took the boat out around 1 pm and started trolling.  Around 2:30, I started noticing things getting a little darker, so I checked my phone to see what time the eclipse is supposed to be - 2:50 pm.  "Boy, it's going to have to get dark quick".  Well, it didn't.

It was nothing more that a what a thin layer of clouds would have caused.

And the fish didn't even notice.

At least I caught 3 mackeral - and one was a record size for us.

And we had a great supper for two evenings.

So much for the Great Eclipse.

July Part 2

July 18

This morning Mimi and I packed up the beautiful china set from Grandpa's for me to get when I'm older... I can't wait! Just as we were finishing, Ada came over, so we chatted with her for a while.

THEN. Mimi came through as a totally amazing and outstanding hero. She called up Kay Salter, and asked if we could go visit. Of course, Ms. Salter said yes, and we got to go over and spend the afternoon with her. It turned out she was in Uncle Ronnie's social circle, and could remember Mimi from down the street! We got to talk about her books and I about died of happiness when I discovered there was a final book that I had been missing because it didn't show up in the used book store!! As soon as we got home I started reading it and kept reading until 11 that night, it was so satisfying to have a real end to the series that I thought was a cliffhanger for two years.

July 19

I spent pretty much the whole day at the library going through the Microfiche looking for old hurricane articles in the Carteret News. It was exhausting but also really cool going through and reading about how Beaufort was all the way back from the twenties til now. I still can't get over the personals, they would have things in the paper like "Susie is hosting a BBQ Monday afternoon at this address for all who are interested" or "Mary just returned from a 3 day trip to Morehead where she shopped for her fall wardrobe." It was absolutely crazy! Then we went back to the sailing program for freesail where I got to entertain a group of little kids while Maddie took Ms. Jean sailing.

July 20

Today I was back at the microfiche to wrap up the rest of the hurricanes I didn't get to yesterday. Luckily I was done by noon, so Papa took Evan and I out to Burger King... he said it was just cause, but I'm pretty sure he just wanted to wear the Burger King crown. :)

Then Allie and her boyfriend Cody came over to go out on the boat with us for the afternoon. I met Allie several summers ago and we meet up every time she comes back from Illinois. We tubed most of the time, and stopped at Shackleford to build sandcastles and float. That night we all went out to dinner at Clawsons before saying goodbye for another year.

July 21

This morning I went in for storytime at the museum where I got to help with games and crafts for the kids. I left pretty soon after to get home and hang out with the family before Mom and Dad arrived. Mimi and I watched Evan play basketball for a good three hours before the parents finally showed up around 9.

July 22

Today we took the boat cruising with the whole family, letting Evan show off his wakeboarding and new slalom skills for Mom and Dad. Then of course we went downtown just to enjoy all the greatness that is Beaufort. All the gaps in the day we filled with Mom doing work on the slips, me working on my research, or the rest of the fam either reading, working on the puzzle, or playing basketball.

We also had a Hobie day.  Papa rented a sailboat and standup paddleboard from Kitty Hawk Kites and we took them up where the new bridge is for a fun afternoon.

Mimi on the stand-up paddleboard

Dad and Papa

Evan on the stand-up paddleboard that is powered by foot pedals

Mom and Dad trying out the sailboat

July 23

Dad left this morning, leaving Mom, Evan, and Sophie here with us for another two days while he got back to work in Cary. Before he went he made sure we were left with all the picture equipment for the slips to make sure we made them look good. Mom, Dad, Mimi, Papa, and I spent a good part of the day taking pictures of the slips on and off the rack for possible business pictures. Then we sorta dressed up to head to El Zarape for dinner, and wrapped up the night with an evening cruise on the boat.

July 24

Today I got to take Mom and Papa to the Core Sound Waterfowl Museum to show them where I’ve been working and what I’ve done. It was super fun and definitely worth the drive to the end of the road. When we got back Papa and I moved the RV back into storage while Mom finished up work. Then when we were done with all the day’s priorities we went to the backyard to work on a couple more slip pictures for Mom’s big meeting tomorrow!!

July 25

Mom sold 18 slips today!! Island Proper loved her idea and we’re all thrilled for her!! On the high from making our first real sale we went to Beaufort Proper thinking they might be a good try- it ended up being a no go for the slips, but Mom bought a necklace and I got a skirt so I say it was a success. That afternoon Mom and Evan left, I gotta say, it was weird watching everyone go from the driveway. Usually I’m the one in the car and it felt pretty great to get to stay for another week!

July 26

Today I really buckled down on my hurricane research while Mimi got some stuff done around the house and Papa went to workout. I’ve finished 3 hurricanes, 9 more to go. Mimi and I continued working on our puzzle with small amounts of success. Then when the freesail rolled around, I met Evin at the sailing program to rush and get an FJ to sail for the night before the crowds came. We had a great time on the boat and catching up again. Afterwards we went downtown to get some ice cream at the General Store and went to watch the sunset from the turntable.

July 27

Again I spent a good part of the morning doing hurricane work, stopping only to bake with Mimi (because who can turn that down?!) Then Papa and I went to Morehead for lunch with his friend Shirley who he caught up with before heading to their old offices to get information on MSEP for something going on with the Maritime Museum. It was hard to really catch on to what they were doing, but whatever it is, Papa is an important dude in and he’s doing great.

When we got home, Evin came over to go on the boat with me and Maddie. We tubed pretty much the whole time we were out there. The only time we stopped was to search for conch and sand dollars on Sand Dollar Island. When everyone but Maddie was worn out we docked at Finz to have dinner and eventually made our way home for a good night’s sleep.

July 28

We finally made monkey bread!! I’d been wanting to make this amazing treat all month and we finally did it! (It was delicious) After having a huge portion for breakfast, I made my way down to the museum for my last day there! I did storytime with the kids in the morning, and then spent the afternoon in their library wrapping up my hurricane work for the time being. When I got home I was dead tired from all the reading, so I took a power nap while Mimi made another fantastic dinner. Then we got all dressed up and headed over to Morehead for the Carteret Community Theater’s production of Rent. There were some amazing singers, and outstanding actors among the cast. (Papa - our second time going to a live show that we did not check out beforehand. Although there was good acting and singing, the show was entirely inappropriate, glorifying a way of life (LBGT) that we do not approve of).

July 29

Today is my last full day in Beaufort, and of course, it rained. All day. Mimi and I made the most of it, reading on the front porch, going downtown to Clawsons for lunch, and hitting up the stores to make a camp care package for Evan (he’s getting ready to ship out to Don Lee for 2 weeks!) We also managed to finish the puzzle we had been working on all week, spray paint some headboards for Evan’s room, and take an evening bike ride when the rain finally cleared up.

July 30

We met Mom and Dad in New Bern after they dropped Evan off at Camp Don Lee for his two week stay.

We took one last ride for the week on the boat, heading out to the inlet and fishing. We caught two nice mackerel in very rough water.