The dead deer (click to enlarge, if you want)

Thursday morning dad was off to work outside while I slept in and mom did some computer work.  We had decided the night before to take a trip to Blowing Rock on Thursday for a little retail therapy.  Of course, mom & I knew that dad probably wouldn’t want to come along, but that was ok, it gave us a chance for some mother daughter time.  We didn’t get going until kind of late and chose to drive down the Blue Ridge Parkway to avoid traffic in Boone.  According to Google maps it would take about an hour to get there, which is what we expected.  As we drove along the Parkway there were hardly any cars, and as we got closer to Blowing Rock we noticed that there was a little more snow on the ground than we had back at the house.  That’s not to say that there was a ton of snow, it was really just a dusting.  We could tell though, that they had come through and salted/sanded the road in some places.  We ended up arriving in Blowing Rock in about 45 minutes, which was a pleasant surprise.  Our first order of business was to find someplace to eat.  I had done some internet research before we left and  had a couple of places in mind.  Apparently everyone had the same idea as we did, and there ended up being waits at a couple of places.  There was one more place I had on my list, which was not on Main Street, called Foggy Rock.  We were seated right away and eagerly looked over the menu.  We both ended up ordering sandwiches, mom venturing to try the Wasabi Salmon while I went for one of my favorite combinations, the Turkey Cranberry.  Both were outstanding and we were very glad we chose to eat there.  Once we were fueled up it was on to shopping!  We browsed the shops along Main Street and ended up coming across a cupcake shop, just off Main St called Oh La La Cupcakes, they had so many yummy looking flavors that we ended up taking home some for later.  On our way out of town we made a quick stop at the outlet center for a little clothes shopping, where I managed to find just a few things to take home.

While we were off shopping and eating, dad spent his day working outside.  You may remember from my last post that we built a bridge in the woods.  To get to the bridge you have to walk down a kind of steep hill, so we had decided that there needed to be some steps to make it easier to get down to the bottom.  Dad started working on this project, and set about finding the right diameter logs and cutting them to the right width for our steps.  He then dug out part of the hill and installed the logs, using rebar rods to hold them in place.  Don’t feel bad though that he was working while we were off shopping, he enjoys his outdoor therapy and didn’t work the whole time we were gone anyway.  He reported that he also took a long walk around our property and some of the adjoining properties.  We had another quiet night at home, relaxing with a movie I got at Redbox when we were in town the day before.

Dad and the steps leading to the bridge (click to enlarge)

Friday was my day to do some work outside.  Last time I wrote about our bridge building project.  After we got home from that trip, dad did a little research by looking at a similar bridge he had built here at home.  When he looked at bridge, he discovered that he had used 3 4×4 boards to support it rather than the 2 that we used in the mountains, so… in the interest of safety we found it necessary to fix our mountain bridge.  We wouldn’t want any deer to fall through and get stuck.  That meant pulling up all of the boards, placing the new 4×4 in the middle, and re nailing all of the boards.  Dad took on the task of pulling up the boards and placing the new support, while I, once again, was tasked with nailing all of the boards back down.  Now our bridge is officially finished and we’re already talking about where to build the next one    While I nailed the boards back down, dad finished working on the steps.  Once our work for the day was done we all went for a walk, since it was a nice, sunny day.  We ended up walking along the roads near the house, by the “big” creek.  It was a little on the windy side and chilly, but overall a great day for a walk.  Friday night we were invited out to dinner with some friends at J & J Chophouse in Jefferson.  Mom and Dad had been there a couple of times, but this was my first, and I was quite impressed.  Each entree came with not only a salad, but also two sides, and the prices were very reasonable.  The desserts were very good as well.  One of the cool parts was the fact that all the wine they served was made by one of the local wineries.  I’m sure we will be visiting them again, especially since they are also open for lunch and have some specials.

Bridge, new & improved (click to enlarge)

Saturday arrived and mom & I thought it was a good day for a little pampering, so we headed in to town for manicures and pedicures.  On a few previous trips, she had gone to one of the local nail salons that advertised in the church bulletin and had good experiences, so we decided to go back.  The hardest part is always deciding on a color, after a while of looking, we both found ours.  It is always nice to have someone take care of your feet as well as sit in the massage chair.  I always think to myself that I need to do this more often.  While we were getting pampered dad was finishing up  the second phase of his step project.  We chose go to church on Saturday night since we were leaving fairly early in the morning, so the after we got back from getting our nails done, we relaxed around the house until it was time to go.  After church we rang in the new year by making a dinner of shrimp scampi, vegetables, and garlic bread and watching an old movie on Netflix.

Mom & Dad and the second set of steps (click to enlarge)

We left earlier than usual on Sunday in order to make it back to Durham to go to Slow Food Triangle‘s Traditional New Year’s Dinner with my brother & sister-in-law.  In the interest of making it easy for ourselves to clean up and leave in a timely manor we went out for breakfast and paid a second visit to Woodhaven II.  They had a breakfast buffet, which had a pretty good variety of food and they would make omelets & french toast to order.  It was a good start to the new year and fueled us up for our day of travel.  We had a great end to 2011 and start to 2012 and look forward to sharing many more adventures throughout the year.

Sunrise in the mountains, courtesy of Dad the early bird

We celebrated our second anniversary of moving in to the garattage over Thanksgiving weekend, and our third Thanksgiving dinner.  We were all so thankful that we have this amazing place to go to, especially when the weather is as perfect as it was that weekend.  Even though it was the end of November in the mountains it felt like early fall, with temperatures warm enough in the day time to be comfortable without a coat and cold enough at night to snuggle inside under warm blankets.  We all arrived on Wednesday so we could enjoy three full days of mountain time before heading back home on Sunday.  We decided to make this an easy Thanksgiving and limit the amount of work we would have to do for the feast by ordering some of our dinner and making some of our dinner from scratch.  After much debate we settled on ordering dinner from the Q Shack in Raleigh and making some additional sides and dessert.  Our dinner included a turkey breast, stuffing, gravy, cranberries, cornbread, green beans, collards & mac n’ cheese.  To that we added brussel sprouts, my mom’s awesome sweet potatoes, and of course her pecan and cherry pies for dessert.  I also ordered some ice cream from The Parlour in two very delicious flavors, salted butter caramel and snickerdoodle, which were the perfect accompaniment to the pies.  Everything was wonderful and we were all extremely satisfied with our dinner.

After a relaxing Thursday of food and family fun, we decided to make Friday a “town” day, and while we did do some shopping we were not up at 3 AM to do so.  Our first stop was the holiday market located where the farmer’s market usually is.  They are only open for a few weekends around Thanksgiving and feature more crafts and greenery for Christmas decorating.  We wandered through what have now become familiar booths: shiitake mushroom logs, jewelry, candles, knitted items, and garlic/honey.  Mom was the only one who made any purchases, but it was interesting as always to browse and talk to the people selling their things.  After a brief visit to the pawn shop across the street from the market we headed to Antiques on Main for some shopping.  They have almost anything you could imagine and you could spend a long time wandering through the whole place.  We weren’t necessarily looking for anything specific, but ended up making a few purchases anyway.  We followed up this shopping trip by stopping at a nearby yard sale, which is actually a weekly yard sale that has become a regular stop for Dan & Debi, the gentleman that runs it even knows them by name, and once again we managed to find a few items.  We made a final stop at Wal-Mart as we usually do to get a few more supplies before heading back to the house.  After dropping mom and I at home, dad headed back in to town to go to Lowe’s to get supplies for a construction project we had planned for Saturday.

Saturday morning found dad up early as usual and out working in the woods to prepare for our project.  What is this project you may be wondering.  Well, almost since we bought the property we realized that the path we follow that makes a loop through the woods technically crosses onto the property next to us.  No one lives there now, but when they do, it may be a problem to be walking on their property.  So…we decided that we needed to build a bridge across the creek on our property to have a way to cross and continue the loop through the woods.  This is the project that dad & I undertook this weekend.  We actually started it on Friday, mapping out exactly where the path would go, dad cleared out a bunch of brush and fallen trees to make it more accessible, and we cut the 2x6s in half to make a bridge about 3 feet wide.  Saturday morning he went about setting the 4x4s in place while I was still sleeping and then I joined him for the rest of the work.  Once the 4x4s were in place and level I began nailing down each board, all 20 of them…by hand…4 nails per board.  Yes, my arms were sore the next day, and my legs from squatting down to hammer so much.  The end result looked great and we look forward to getting lots of use out of it over the years.  Of course the deer may get a lot of use out of it too, while we’re not there, but that’s ok.  A little more work needs to be done to refine the trail leading to and from the bridge, but for the most part the project is complete.

Dad making sure everything is level. (click to enlarge thumbnails)

Me nailing down boards (note, orange vest is for safety during hunting season)

The finished product!

After a morning of hard work it was time for fun and relaxation.  Dan & Debi went over to Boone for the afternoon, while mom, dad & I headed off on an adventure of our own.  I wanted to take advantage of the nice weather and do some hiking, so we went to Mount Jefferson for a short hike to the tower at the top.  I was a little disappointed when we got there because the end of the trail was blocked off and we couldn’t quite go all the way to the top.  It was still nice to get out and enjoy the day and the view of the surrounding area though.

Mom & Dad after our short hike on Mt. Jefferson

On Friday I read about a new place that opened up just outside of town called the Buffalo General Store and wanted to go check it out, so after our hike we went searching for it.  It was a small building that originally housed a store a long time ago.  The new owners transformed it in to a place to buy locally made crafts and were also selling Christmas trees and greenery.  They had some really cool stuff and both mom & I ended up making some purchases.  Not surprisingly we also learned that one of the owners used to live outside Raleigh and was originally from Michigan near where my mom grew up.  It seems that we frequently run in to someone who has some connection to where we live or have lived, even in a place as small as Ashe County!

Hay Bale Rudolph outside the Buffalo General Store

Our final adventure of the weekend took us to a biker bar off the Blue Ridge Parkway.  My mom’s friends told us about it and said the food was really good.  So we made plans to all go on Saturday night for dinner and check it out.  It turns out the place is called Freeborne’s and not only do they serve food, but the have a lodge as well.  We were a bit disappointed when we pulled in the parking lot that there weren’t any motorcycles there, but it was the end of November so it was a bit chilly for motorcycle riding.  Since it is the off-season, only the bar area was open, there is a separate restaurant as well though.  There were a few people at the bar, and only a few tables to sit at, so we pulled two together and took our seats.  Once we took care of drink orders we began perusing the menu, which had quite a few choices, including one of our family favorites for an appetizer: pickle chips.  We ordered some to start with and they were quite good.  Everyone enjoyed their dinner, which for us included burgers, wings, and sandwiches.  There were lots of things that sounded good on the menu though.  Some of us saved room for dessert and were enticed by the waitress’ promise of homemade coconut cream pie, which was delicious and large enough to share with those who wanted a few bites.  We decided that we would definitely be going back in the summer, especially since it isn’t too far from the house.  After we dined there we did learn that they were featured in Our State magazine as part of their 100 foods you must eat in 100 counties story.  Since we didn’t try the recommended dish, it gives us yet another reason to go back!

Sunday arrived once again before we knew it and it was little easier leaving knowing that the clouds were rolling in and rain was coming.  We had such a good time together and had so much to be thankful for.  Stay tuned for our next adventure, hopefully coming soon after Christmas!

Look, it works!

Believe it or not I actually made it up to the mountains two weekends in a row!  After my girls’ weekend I made the trek once again, this time with 2 of my friends from here in Raleigh.  It was Labor Day weekend, which for me wouldn’t be quite the same without a trip to the mountains, since we’ve been going up there for the last 4 years or so on that weekend.  We had to wait until a little later on Friday afternoon to leave, which meant we didn’t arrive at the house until after dark.  It worked out pretty well though, since we didn’t run in to any traffic, guess everyone else left work early!  By the time we got to the Blue Ridge Parkway the fog had started rolling in and we drove through some pretty good patches.  After making it to the house and getting everything turned on we spent some time relaxing and fixed a little something to eat before heading to bed.

Saturday morning rolled around and the fog was lingering over the mountains.  We took our time getting going in the morning having a leisurely breakfast of pancakes, fresh peaches and bacon.  Since it was such a nice day we decided to head out for a hike.  There were several options, but we decided to head somewhere none of us had hiked before and settled on a drive down the Parkway to the Moses Cone Park.

Perfect start to a day in the mountains! (click to enlarge)

Moses Cone Manor (click to enlarge)

There are several options for hiking trails at the park as well as Flat Top Manor, which has been turned in to a craft center.  We chose the Flat Top Mountain trail and after consulting the map found the beginning of the trail and headed off down the wide gravel path.  It’s always interesting to hike somewhere new, since you don’t really know what you will see or where the path will lead you and you don’t really even know how long the hike will take you.  As we started up the trail we soon discovered that it was a winding series of switchbacks, and according to the various signs we saw would be about 2 miles to the top of the mountain.  After hiking through a wooded area we emerged out in a field that had recently been cut and big, round bales of hay were scattered about.

Hay! (click to enlarge)

There was a sign for the Cone Cemetery but we decided to save that side trip for the way down.  After crossing the field, we were once again in the woods and keep going up and up and up and up until finally we reached the top of the mountain.  At the top we found a lookout tower and climbed to the very top to take in the view.  It was a pretty amazing view, even though it was kind of hazy we could see Boone in the distance and hear the train whistle from Tweetsie Railroad as well.  After some time taking in the view and snapping pictures we made our way down.  It’s here that the real adventure began.

We made it to the top of the tower! (click to enlarge)

View of Boone from the top of the tower (click to enlarge)

So on our way up we saw signs that said horseback riders couldn’t take shortcuts and had to stay on the trail.  We assumed then that it was okay for people to take shortcuts and we decided to save some time on the way down we would take some.  We found the first one just beyond the lookout tower and single file found our way down to the gravel trail.  From then on we took turns spotting the shortcuts and leading each other down the narrow paths.  All was going well and we cut off a significant amount of time.  Before we knew it we were back to the open field and decided to cut across it as well to visit the cemetery.  After a brief stop at the cemetery, which was really just one huge tombstone surrounded by a fence we continued along the trail to our final shortcut, or what we thought was our final shortcut.  As we made our way down at some point we started hearing cars going by and  saw the parkway below us.  This was decidedly not the way we had come, but figuring that it was uphill to go back and we could see the parkway so we couldn’t get too lost, we decided to forge ahead.  It wasn’t too bad until we got to the end and the drop was pretty steep and only a few feet to the road.  We all made it down in one piece, although there were some scratches, but otherwise we were fine and discovered we weren’t really too far from where the trail had started.  After a visit to the craft center at the Manor we headed back to West Jefferson for a grocery store run and some refreshments at Black Jack’s before going back to the house to make dinner.

Smart phones are handy for finding where you are on a map... (click to enlarge)

Dinner became another adventure as we decided to use the charcoal grill, which was a bit reluctant to get going for us.  The food eventually was cooked, for the most part.  We decided to also light a fire in the fire pit and make s’mores, which we enjoyed during the long time it took our dinner to cook.  We spent Sunday morning relaxing around the house before going to another favorite place to eat, Blue Ridge Bakery & Cafe, which did not disappoint as usual.  We had decided to leave sometime on Sunday since the weather wasn’t supposed to be too good on Monday and we had some things to do back home.  After doing a little mowing (I couldn’t leave without doing at least a little bit of work) we cleaned, packed and left for our journey back to Raleigh.  Another fun weekend in the mountains came to an end too quickly.

Admiring the view during our hike (click to enlarge)

We spent Friday night catching up with what had been going on in everyone’s lives and didn’t end up going to bed until almost 3 in the morning, which is certain to be one of the latest nights the garattage has seen, if not the latest.  Saturday morning we took our time getting up and lounged around the house for awhile.  Despite it being extremely windy due to Hurricane Irene off the NC coast, it was still a nice day so we decided to go hiking in the afternoon.  My friend Jenny stayed behind with her daughter Ansley since she was too little to accompany us on the hike.  The rest of us loaded up in one of the cars and headed down the Blue Ridge Parkway to the Cascades.  I had given the girls a couple of choices about where to hike and they thought the Cascades hike sounded good, in hind sight it was probably the best choice since one of the other places I suggested was Mt. Jefferson where we would have been hiking on the ridge of the mountain.  As windy as it was we may have been blown right off the mountain!  We all enjoyed the hike, especially hanging out at the falls and taking pictures.  I did notice that there seemed to be less water flowing over the falls than the last time I was there.  After some time admiring the falls and the surroundings we made our way back up to the car and then back to the house before heading off on our next adventure.

The Girls at the Cascades (click to enlarge)

The Cascades (click to enlarge)

I mentioned to the girls that there was a roller skating rink in town and we thought it would be a lot of fun to go roller skating since we were going in to town anyway for dinner.  It was decided that our best bet was to go before dinner, so we showered, changed from our hiking clothes,  packed socks and loaded up the car for the trip to town.  Now, the last time I went roller skating was on my 21st birthday when I was kidnapped and taken blindfolded to a roller rink, I think all of these same girls were present that time too.  I wasn’t too nervous about going again, but there were some concerns about falling among the group.  We arrived at the Skate Zone to a pretty empty parking lot.  Inside we paid our 7.00, laced up our skates and hit the floor.  The woman working at the desk told us to let her know what songs we wanted to hear and we had lots of fun skating to some of our favorite songs.  Before long we were tired and getting hungry so we called it a night and left for dinner.  I am happy to report there was only one minor falling incident involving 2 of the girls, nothing too serious though.  I decided the best place to take the girls for dinner is another one of our family favorites in West Jefferson, Brick Stone Pizza.  It was delicious as usual and everyone left stuffed full of good food and several of us carried to go boxes with leftovers.  We got back to the house and spent more time talking, the fun of the day eventually caught up to us and we headed to bed a little earlier than the night before, around midnight.

Wofford Roller Girls!

Sunday morning arrived too soon and after a filling brunch we gathered together one last time, took our annual group photo, and everyone headed off in their separate directions.  It was a great weekend catching up with friends and I enjoyed getting a chance to show off a little piece of the NC mountains.

The Girls 2011

A view of the Friday night concert crowd (click to enlarge)

Saturday morning rolled around and it was time once again to go in to town for the weekend festivities.  We started out at the farmer’s market area and mom quickly found one of the items she was looking for: tart cherries.  Normally she has to rely on the canned version for pie making, but recently discovered that one of the market vendors had fresh ones, so she jumped on the chance to buy some.  We continued our festival exploration by wandering through the various craft vendor booths, making a few purchases along the way.  Before going back home though we decided to make a stop at a local store that was having a sale (and that I hadn’t been to yet) called Libby’s.  After browsing through the sale items and the rest of the store I ended up finding a really cute dress and mom found some jewelry.  Since Dad isn’t much of a shopper he left us there and went to Lowes for some stuff.  We were finished before he came back so we decided to wander over to a nearby place called the Dairy House, which I had not been to either and as you might guess has ice cream as its main focus.  We treated ourselves to some ice cream while we waited for dad to return.

We returned home to have some lunch and then dad and I drove to Mt. Jefferson for a ranger led hike that focused on medicinal plants.  It was a really informative talk and we learned that most plants are used for treating upset stomachs.  I took some notes and pictures of plants I wanted to remember and to see if we had any of them on our property.  One that we knew for sure that we have is a birch tree, whose branches can be used as toothbrushes and also can be made in to a tea that’s supposed to help with arthritis.  The hike took a little longer than we anticipated since we stopped a lot to talk about the various plants, but we learned a lot of information and were glad to have gone.  After the hike we went back home and mom made some dinner.  It was such a nice night that we decided to make a fire in the fire pit, especially since we have plenty of wood laying around waiting to be burned.  After a little bit of work we got the fire going and enjoyed sitting outside watching the fireflies in the meadow and were even surprised to see some fireworks across the mountain.

St. John's Wort-one of the medicinal plants we learned about (click to enlarge)

Sunday morning arrived which meant it was time for church and breakfast somewhere.  We had read a little while back that the original owner of one of our favorite places to eat the Blue Ridge Bakery and Cafe had returned so we wanted to go check it out.  The food was very good and we left very happy with our choices.  The rest of the day we spent relaxing around the house and completing our various projects.  My project for the weekend was to finish painting the wooden bench we keep outside.  The last time we were up there I scraped, sanded and primed it and my dad sprayed on the first coat of paint.  I had to put the second coat on and touch up some spots that got messed up when a tarp had to be put over it rather quickly because of a rainstorm.  Of course I also did some more of the required mowing, as did my dad.  When I was mowing I noticed that some of our Rhododendrons along the creek had bloomed, which we hadn’t seen before this year.   We ended up going out to dinner that night at one of the few places that’s actually open on Sundays, Mountain Aire Steak & Seafood, which has the added benefit of being close to the house and has really good sweet potato fries.  Later we were watching a movie when dad saw more fireworks over the mountains.  He went outside to see them and noticed that not only were there fireworks over the mountains in one direction, there was lightning over the mountains in the opposite direction.  It was pretty neat to watch, especially not knowing exactly where the fireworks were coming from.

The finished bench (click to enlarge)

Close up of one of the "rhodies" in bloom + an insect (click to enlarge)

The 4th rolled around and we had a pretty quiet day.  We started the morning finishing up some work on the property.  The apple orchard needed some pruning, weeding and fertilizing so we all helped out with that.  I put a third (and final) coat of paint on the bench.  In the afternoon the rain and storms rolled in and we spent some time driving along the Blue Ridge Parkway before going over to some friends’ house to celebrate the holiday.  We also spent part of our afternoon cleaning up the house because we were planning on leaving pretty early Tuesday morning since mom had to be back for a meeting at work in the early afternoon.  We were treated to a wildlife sighting when we returned from our drive: 16 baby wild turkeys and two mamas were hanging out by the house.  They walked away when we pulled up, but a little while later they reappeared in the front of the house and I tried to sneak up close to them but they spotted me too soon and all flew away.

Turkey mamas and babies (click to enlarge)

One of the mama turkeys, looks yummy to me! (click to enlarge)

And so another fun weekend in the mountains came to a close, and we returned reluctantly to the heat and humidity of Raleigh.

Aside from doing some meadow mowing I completed one project during the week and started on a second project.  In my last post I wrote that we had started digging a fire pit.  My project for the week was to finish the fire pit so we could use it while we were up there.  On Tuesday I was able to complete this project.  I started gathering large rocks from both the meadow area and the woods.  After carrying a few loads though my arms were pretty tired and I needed to find another solution.  Dad had a DR Power Wagon, which had gathered quite a bit of water in it, but once he had bailed it all out, it started up and made the gathering and transporting of rocks much easier!  Once all the rocks had been collected I was in charge of design and laying them out.  It took me just a little while to place all the rocks in just the right spots and our fire pit was done.  You can see the end result here:

Fire pit project completed!

One interesting discovery I made while searching for rocks is that we have some cherry trees on the property.  I was walking through the woods when I looked down and saw what looked like cherries on the ground.  When I looked up I saw some still hanging from the trees.  I went back up to the house to show mom & to get my phone so I could identify what kind of cherry trees we had.  My dad had sent me an article just a few days before we left about a new iPhone app called Leafsnap, which helps identify unknown trees.  I took a picture of one of the leaves and soon found out that we had Pin Cherry trees!

After dinner that night we all headed outside for a fire and s’more making.  The moon was just about full that night and was really neat to see over the trees.  It took a little while to get the  fire going, but once it did it was nice and warm and perfect for s’mores.

Dan using a little hot air to get the fire going

The blazing fire!

On Wednesday we took a break from the rest and relaxation of the house and headed in to town.  Dan & Debi started their day fishing, their second attempt and catching some fish, as they had also gone on Tuesday afternoon but had no luck.  On this day they were again unsuccessful, but had fun and even Jake got to go and have a little adventure of his own when he took a little fall in the New River (he was ok).  After they finished their fishing adventure they met up with us in town.  We had a couple of places that we planned to visit, which of course included Lowe’s since no visit to the mountains is complete without at least 1 trip there.  This time we were looking for paint to repaint our outside bench & rocking chair, a screen door, and a new cushion for the chaise lounge dad had brought up with him.  We were able to find everything we needed and headed back to the house for a little while.  This was actually our first trip to town of the day.  We ended up going back later to watch Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals.  We only have basic TV at the house with an antenna, and get a few channels.  One of the channels we don’t get is NBC, and that was a problem this night because the game was only on NBC.  We knew there was a sports bar in town that stays open late so we decided to go there for dinner and to watch the game.  We arrived just a few minutes before the game started and we pretty much had the place to ourselves, so Debi took charge and asked the bartender to put the game on one of the TVs.  We ordered food and drinks and then settled in for the game.  Mom and Dad were planning on leaving before the end of the game so we had taken two cars.  However to our surprise they were closing at 9:30, which was only halfway through the game.  We were somewhat surprised and disappointed, but what could we do?  We paid our bill and headed home with the score 1-0 in favor of Boston.  After a bit of online searching Dan finally found a radio broadcast of the game from Boston, so we listened to the rest of it, using our imaginations to picture what was happening, although I offered to act it out, no one took me up on the offer.

Thursday brought time for working on my second project.  I started the process of repainting the bench, which ended up being a lot more work than I expected.  Since it sits out in the open, the paint had begun peeling off and so it had to be scraped first, then sanded before it could be painted.  I worked for a couple of hours scraping and sanding and was ready for a break.  It was such a nice day out that I wanted to go hiking and enjoy the beautiful weather before I had to head home on Friday.  Dan & Debi had gone fishing again and mom had some work to do, so it was just Dad and I for a hike.  After a little debate about where to go, we settled on hiking a dirt road near the house that wasn’t used by vehicles very much and connected to another road.  The plan was for us to hike the road and for mom to pick us up at the other end at a set time.  We gave ourselves 2 hours to complete the hike since we hadn’t done the whole thing before.  We filled our water bottles, packed the camera & binoculars, I put my phone in my pocket and started my pedometer app so we could determine how far we hiked.  Even though it was a little warm out, the hike was pretty pleasant since it was mostly shaded.  We noticed that some work had been done on the road since the last time we had hiked it, and it was actually almost drivable.  Along the way we ran in to a couple of people out on an ATV and had the chance to chat with them for a little bit.  We decided that next summer we need an ATV to drive around.  We ended up reaching our initial destination a lot sooner than we expected so we decided to keep on walking down the road before calling mom to come get us.  This part of the hike was a little warm because there was no shade and the sun was beating down on us.  When we finally reached the end of the road I checked the pedometer and we had gone 4 miles in about an hour and a half.  The road back to the house is a pretty busy one, by mountain standards, and I didn’t think we should hike it, so we found a shady spot to sit and called mom to come get us.  Soon she arrived and we were on our way back home.  Once we got home, I rested for a little bit, but really wanted to get as much done on the bench as I could.  I was able to get most of it primed, but someone else was going to have to finish the job after I left.

Dad and I at the end of our hike

We had decided that on Friday morning we would go out for breakfast at a place called Shatley Springs, which we had been to many years ago but not since we bought the property and built the house.  They serve a family style breakfast, but we chose to order off the menu.  Everyone enjoyed their food, I had pancakes that were absolutely wonderful, really buttery and melt in your mouth.  After browsing in the small shop attached to the restaurant we loaded back in to the car and made our way back home.  I unfortunately had to pack my stuff and head home that day, while the rest of the family was staying until Sunday.

I can’t say for certain what they did after I left but I heard rumors of another fishing trip where fish were actually caught, the bench getting its first coat of red paint, and the screen door being put up.  Other than that I’m sure dad continued working outside, and everyone else spent a lot of time sitting outside reading and enjoying the nice weather.  Of course I know that Jake probably spent quite a bit of time playing ball, his favorite pastime both at home & in the mountains.

Jake keeping an eye on the ball

When I arrived around lunch time on Sunday one of the first things I noticed was the umbrella that mom & dad purchased and added to the picnic table.  It made for quite a pleasant place to sit out of the hot sun, especially since the temperatures this weekend were in the 80s.  Mom and Dad said they even ate breakfast out there Sunday morning before I arrived.

New umbrella!

After hanging around the house for a little bit dad and I decided to go for a hike.  Mom stayed behind to relax and rest at the house.  We decided to try someplace new for hiking and went to the New River State Park area off Hwy 221.  Since I had driven up separately in mom’s car, we decided to take that and it was such a nice day that we cruised with the top down.  It took us about 30 minutes to reach the park, and we soon found the hiking trail.  I had read on the park’s website that it would give us “spectacular” views of the river.  This may be true in the fall/winter/early spring, but was not the case this weekend as we couldn’t see the river from the trail.  It was still a really nice hike, about 1 mile that took us around 40 minutes through forests and even through some meadows (a lot like our property).  It was pretty hot by this time, but the trail was mostly shaded so that was good.  After we finished we walked down to see the river, which looked very inviting.  We then stopped by the visitor’s center near the park entrance, which had a neat display of the river as well as a small exhibit area.  We drove back home, cleaned up, then headed off for dinner with some friends that have a house nearby.

Mountain Laurel flowers along our hike

Monday morning was time to do a little work as usual.  This time I told dad I would use the riding mower to cut the grass.  I started up by the house and did the flat area.  Once that was done, dad asked if I wanted to do some “fun stuff” so we took off down the hill to cut a trail through the meadow that followed along the property line.  Dad had gone through and made a few passes but wanted to widen it a bit.  It was pretty fun riding down the hill and cutting the trail, although it got a little bumpy in places.  I rode back up to the house and we planned to walk the new trail and find out exactly how long of a trail we had made.  Mom wasn’t quite ready so I got a chance to do more mowing, this time up on the hill around the new landscaping.  This area was a bit trickier as there were a few more holes to watch out for.  I did get stuck a couple of times, but dad was there to give me a push.  And I did slide off the seat once too, since the ground was a little uneven and I’m too short to reach the pedal sitting all the way back on the seat.  Even mom took a turn on the mower, although she used it for its other purpose, quick transportation to the bottom of the meadow and back to the house    Once we finished the mowing the three of us walked the new trail to see how it was and determine how far it actually was to do the loop.

Hi mom!

Mowing the grass

We also took the opportunity to start digging out a fire pit, something that we’ve talked about for awhile but hadn’t gotten around to yet.  We bought a fire pit last year at Lowe’s but really wanted the feel of a traditional campfire.  Dad and I dug down through the red dirt, which surprisingly was pretty easy, aside from the fact that we were in the sun and it was 80 some degrees out.  We dug far enough to place the original fire pit down in the hole and decided since it was smaller than the hole that we would fill in the space with rocks and then build up rocks around it to give it that natural look and give the pit some structure.  We didn’t quite get it finished on this trip, but will have it done soon so we can enjoy some s’mores all summer long!

Phase 1 of fire pit digging

Before mom and I headed back home Monday afternoon we had a visit from some old friends of my parents who also have a house in Ashe County.  It was fun showing off the house and sharing all the things we had done.  Soon after they left it was time for mom & I to make our way home, the weekend had come to an end and we had to get back to work on Tuesday.

Now to the special item that took center stage for the weekend.  It all started with a trip to Lowe’s the last time mom and dad were in West Jefferson.  Mom had been wanting a picnic table for awhile and especially now that the weather was getting nice enough to spend more time outside knew that we could get a lot of use out of it.  They saw picnic tables for sale for $88 and my dad said he could build a better one, so…to the internet he went and found plans for a picnic table.  This was not your typical rectangular table though, he chose a hexagonal plan and soon set to work building.  He decided the best plan was to cut the pieces at home, mark them, and then assemble them up at the house.  He made sure to bring a few extra pieces of wood, just in case the pieces didn’t quite fit together as planned.  Thus the additional need for the trailer.  Dad, as usual, was up early Saturday morning and after mowing some of the meadow started working on assembling the seat portion of the table, trying to line up all the angles and get everything assembled just right.  Once the seat was assembled it was time to put together the top.  Fortunately he had labeled most of the pieces and it was pretty easy to identify which ones went where.  After awhile it was time for some lunch and a break to enjoy our surroundings.  The table turned out really nice, it’s definitely better than any table that could be found at Lowe’s, and certainly won’t blow over anytime soon!

Beginning the table assembly

Adding the legs!

Finished! and it even supports people sitting & standing

While we were outside watching and helping dad put the table together we noticed the bluebirds were hanging around one of their houses and bringing food back, which meant we had babies!  We could hear them chirping when the parents returned with food.  At one point when both the mom & dad were gone I took a peek in the house ans sure enough there were babies, but it was hard to tell exactly how many.

Papa Bluebird brings lunch to his babies.

The weather was very nice on Saturday so we decided it would be a good time for a hike.  We headed over to the Cascades (which dad & I visited in March) since it was a pretty easy hike and we knew Mom and Debi would enjoy it.  Even Jake got to come along!  We hopped in the convertible and cruised down the Parkway with the top down.  There were quite a few people at the parking area, and along the trail, but it wasn’t too crowded.  The hike did not disappoint, the falls were amazing, and it was nice to finally see some leaves on the trees and a few flowers starting to come out.  After hiking we were driving back home when we spotted these really cool looking cows along the Parkway.  I made mom pull over so I could get out and take some pictures (I wasn’t the only one with that idea as 2 other cars stopped as well)

After snapping a few photos, we continued home and then made our way to town for church and dinner at one of our favorite places, Brickstone Pizza & Pasta, which we followed up with a visit to Good Old Days for some ice cream.  By the time we got back home we were all a little on the tired side, we tried to watch a movie but soon all of us were sleepy and had to call it a night.

Isn't he cute? But where are his eyes...

Sunday morning arrived and it started kind of rainy but soon cleared up and the sun came out.  We celebrated Mother’s Day with a homemade brunch before we got to work finishing the picnic table since it was mom’s present.  All in all it was another fun weekend in the mountains, and as usual we would’ve liked to stay longer but it was back to work on Monday.  Soon though we will be able to stay longer, because it’ll be summer time!  We’re even expecting our first way out of town guests, as some of our family from Michigan will be joining us in June.

Jake enjoys a little drink from the creek along our hike

The orchard before our work (with dad too)

The orchard after, much better!

After a few hours of work it was time for a little relaxation and fun.  The weather was pretty nice, although a bit on the cool side as I mentioned before, so we decided to go for a hike somewhere.  We debated a little about where we should go, since we have been hiking at a few places around the area and decided to try someplace new.  We’re very close to the Blue Ridge Parkway so I thought we should try some trails off of it.  Previously we had driven north on the parkway and visited Doughton Park but I thought we should go south and I found the Cascades Trail that’s part of Jeffress Park.  On our way we saw an overlook that had a really nice view of the surrounding mountains so we decided to stop and take a look as well as some pictures.  Dad was working on some new camera techniques he had learned and I was as usual just taking pictures.  There was also a big hill that we climbed up to get an even better view.  After some more pictures we got back to the car and continued to the Cascades.  There were a few other cars in the parking lot when we pulled in.  We soon found the sign for the trail and started on our way.  The sign said it was about a 30 minute round trip hike.  Along the way there were signs pointing out different trees, although it was a bit hard to tell which was which since they still didn’t have any leaves.  The trail was very easy, there were even steps made of rock along the down slopes, which made it easy to get down.  We came to a small creek and a wooden bridge across it where we paused to take some pictures, not sure if this was our final destination or not, but soon saw the trail continued, so we went on.  Soon we came to more stairs that were a bit steeper and then were at the Cascades!  It was definitely worth the hike as the view of the waterfall was amazing, and got even better as we hiked down a little further to get another view.

Dad practicing his photography skills at the overlook

View looking up the Cascades

View looking down the Cascades

After returning to the parking lot, we weren’t quite ready to call it a day, so we decided to walk to the other end of the parking lot and see what else there was.  We discovered another trail that was only half a mile, so we decided to check that out too.  It was a pretty flat trail and wound through the woods.  Along the way we spotted a few birds, and some unknown animal up ahead that moved too fast for either dad or I to positively identify.  We made it to the end of the trail to find an old building used as a church, and an old settler’s cabin.  After pausing for a few minutes we made the return trip down the trail to the car.

Old cabin at the end of our hike

It was getting close to dinner time, so we headed back down the parkway and into to town.  It wasn’t quite 5:00, and I have a rule against eating before 5 when you are under a certain age.  We killed a little bit of time by visiting a couple of the stores in downtown West Jefferson (before they closed at 5), including Mountain Outfitters and McNeill’s Department Store.

Unfortunately the Ashe County Cheese Store was already closed by the time we got there, so no free cheese curds or cheese samples were to be had.  Since it was Friday during Lent our food choices were a bit limited, so we decided on Mountain Aire Steak and Seafood which we have been to several times before and we knew they would have many choices for us.  After dinner it was back home for some NCAA Basketball Tournament watching.

Saturday morning arrived cold, gray, and cloudy.  Dad was again up early and out working before the rain came in.  I joined him once I woke up and had a little bit to eat.   He suggested we go get some breakfast before continuing our work, and of course I agreed.  We decided to visit a new place, but one we have passed many times on highway 16, Rodie’s Parkway Restaurant.  The parking lot was full and as we stepped inside, we discovered just how small this little place was.  There were 8 tables, all but 2 were occupied, so we found one in the corner and checked out the menu.  They have the standard breakfast fare (as well as lunch & dinner) and the prices were very, very reasonable.  We placed our order and soon the food arrived.  Everything we delicious, especially the bacon, which was cooked to perfection.  We will definitely be making a return trip, especially to try their lunch and dinner!

We returned to the house and finished stacking the wood Dad had cut the day before and cut a little bit more.  He promised we didn’t have to work long and it was true, we only worked a little bit and then it was back to the house.  We were debating what to do the rest of the day when we talked to my mom who said they were calling for possible freezing rain that night into Sunday morning.  Dad checked the forecast again and saw they had issued a Winter Weather Advisory (which was kind of funny to me, since it was technically Spring), so we decided it was best to pack up, clean up and head home.

The upside of this early departure is that we stopped to eat in Yadkinville at Little Richard’s BBQ.  My brother and sister-in-law had stopped there before and said it was really good.  I have to agree, and the portions were huge.  I had enough food for that meal, plus two more the next day!  It was an excellent end to a fun weekend, and I can’t wait for our next visit.

The milestone I refer to in the title happened over Thanksgiving weekend.  It was our one year anniversary of moving in to the garattage!  We have definitely made improvements to the landscaping around the house and rearranged some furniture inside.  We have enjoyed being able to spend time at the house, of course every time we go up the time seems to pass too quickly.

We headed up to the mountains on the day before Thanksgiving looking forward to enjoying some good food and relaxation.  Mom, Dad and I arrived just before lunch time and after getting things settled inside made our way in to town for some lunch and grocery shopping.  We decided to visit one of our favorite spots, Sweet Aromas.  They make everything from scratch and you always get a little bite of dessert with your lunch, in this case it was pumpkin cake with cream cheese frosting, perfect for the day before Thanksgiving.  After hitting the grocery store for some items we didn’t have or bring from home, we headed back to the house to wait for the arrival of Dan, Debi and Jake.  Once they arrived and we ate some dinner, preparations started for Thanksgiving.  Dan was responsible for cooking the turkey and the process began with making a brine and submerging the turkey overnight.  This year when Thanksgiving rolled around we weren’t moving furniture, but baking, cooking, and eating  lots of yummy food.  We did take a break before dinner and had target practice courtesy of Dan and his assortment of firearms.  We were able to set up a little shooting range with a wide variety of targets to try and hit (bottles, pine cones, cans).

Dan begins carving the turkey (he's concentrating very hard)

On Friday, Dan, Debi and Jake headed out in search of some bargains at thrift stores in Boone, but after not being very successful found their way to a grist mill in Trade, Tennessee, where they took a tour and purchased several items to bring home.  Mom, Dad, and I hung around the house for awhile then made our way in to town to visit the farmer’s market and get a few items for projects we planned to do over the weekend.  We also took a drive down one of the mountain roads to check out a place my mom had heard about through a friend.  On our way back to town, Dad decided he wanted to stop at the Museum of Ashe County History which is located in the old county courthouse.  We were met by two enthusiastic women who took us through the exhibits and explained quite a lot of the history.  It was really neat to see some of the pieces they had acquired and they were making also constructing a cool replica of the Virginia Creeper Railroad.

Saturday brought a chance for a little work and an educational outing for myself and my dad.  Work came first of course.  My dad decided it was a good time to build another water bar, which we had done almost 3 years ago (See Choosing a Builder part 1 post from March 2008 for details).  The same road was being eroded further up by water coming down from the adjacent property, so we added a second water bar, which didn’t take too long since we had some experience.  Apparently right after we were there it rained quite a bit so hopefully our work held up, although it may be hard to tell since they have had snow since then too.  After putting in the required work, it was time for the educational part of the day.  I had read that the New River State Park was having a program on Saturday afternoon about animal signs.  Since we have seen some animal tracks and scat around the property I thought it would be interesting to go and see what we could learn.  It was a very informative program, starting with a park ranger going through a presentation on different signs that animals leave behind, followed by a short hike outside to put some of our newly acquired skills to test.  We saw many different signs that animals had been along the path we were walking, but the most interesting was the trees that had been newly cut down by beavers and the dam that they had begun building across the river.  We returned home to meet up with the rest of the family and decided to go out for dinner to a local pizza place called Pie on the Mountain where we enjoyed two great pizzas.

The dam the beavers had begun to build across the New River

Freshly cut tree courtesy of a beaver

Water bar #2

Sunday seemed to arrive too soon as it always does and it was time to clean, pack up and head home.  Another mountain adventure had come to an end, when the next one would take place we were unsure, hopefully after Christmas we’ll be able to make our way back up to enjoy the winter wonderland that awaits!