The Professor and I set out this morning with plans to "do something fun", but we didn't know what it would be. We headed north because north is where the fall color is, and eventually we thought of Brasstown Bald in the mountains.
We wound up the steep mountains, enjoying the beautiful colors, sparkling against the sunny sky. At Brasstown Bald we had a choice of hiking the 1/2 mile to the visitor center at the top of the mountain, or taking the shuttle. Not feeling particularly lazy today, we opted for the very steep hike. We saw more color that way.
We heard rumors that someone famous was also hiking today.
If you go, you can skip the movie in the theater. Take our word for it.
Later, as the afternoon waned, we looked for someplace interesting to eat dinner. We stopped at an apple orchard, but they only had a deli. Next to the deli I spied a tourist brochure rack, where a riverside restaurant was advertised. Off we went, following the brochure's directions. On and on we drove, deeper into the forest. It was beginning to look a little hopeless, when suddenly we saw cars parked all over both sides of the narrow road. It must be trailhead parking, I thought, but no, there was a a funky old mountain building on the side of the road. It turned out to be a very good restaurant specializing in mountain trout. Sadly, it was beginning to get dark and cold, so we didn't sit on the deck overlooking the river. Next time maybe.
The Professor and I scoped out the various sources for cut trees before we dragged the entire family out on the hunt. Surprisingly, we found the best trees at the best price at the local garden center. The bargain bin had wonkier trees still bundled in rope, but we found a reasonable tree that is quite narrow, perfect for our narrow corner.
And to all a good night!
Patrick entertains us with peek-a-boo
Luke entertains us with the beach ball game.
Oops! Too much pie, Jared?
We had an early St. Lucia celebration when Diane and Paul were in town last week. Greta claimed this will be her last year to play Lucia, so she took the opportunity to train Luke as Star Boy. He thought it was great fun to wear the candle crown and serve the bread.
I wouldn't want to be the one pouring and forming concrete today, but I'm glad someone is interested in doing it. We are very happy to finally be getting a concrete pad poured on the side of our house, with a sidewalk connecting it to the driveway.
Papa and Patrick check out the BIG truck on our driveway.
Soon after this area was troweled it started to rain. They quickly pulled tarps over the wet concrete but some pits formed regardless.
All done!
The Professor and I set out this morning with plans to "do something fun", but we didn't know what it would be. We headed north because north is where the fall color is, and eventually we thought of Brasstown Bald in the mountains.
We heard rumors that someone famous was also hiking today.
If you go, you can skip the movie in the theater. Take our word for it.
The Professor and I decided to get into the holiday spirit last night by doing our shopping for Operation Christmas Child. Our tradition is to begin the season this way. This year we put together four boxes (four, because we already had four stuffed animals, four packages of pencils, and four bandanna scarves for wrapping.) We crawled the aisles at Wally World and we had so much fun buying toys, caps and sunglasses, school supplies, and hair fancies.
