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| The Idiots plus one in the Great Smokey Mountain National Park |
We're still standing and still speaking to one another after close to two months of "sheltering in place". In a strange way we were probably somewhat prepared for some aspects of what we've all been going through. Not having a permanent home and spending so much time traveling, especially the past four years, we understand the importance of liking to spend time with one another. There hasn't been too much time when we haven't been together. The challenging part for us has been being in one place for an extended period of time. By my best calculation, we woke up in the same bed for 93 straight mornings. That's some kind of record that would date way back to when the kids were at home. Another record that I'm equally proud of is that I went 57 days without putting on underwear. Nope, I'm not a nudist or anything like that (try to erase those horrible images from your mind). I'd just put on a pair of workout shorts in the morning and the next thing I knew it was the end of the day. It kept happening over and over and over and over!
We've taken this pandemic seriously and our hearts break for the suffering and isolation that everyone has gone through. Hopefully there are better days ahead, although in my mind there's going to forever be a new normal. Like everyone, I'm just wondering what it's going to look like. Travel will most likely continue to be a big part of who we are and what we do, but it's going to be different. It really makes us appreciate even more the places we've visited around the world.
We do the socially responsible things to protect others and ourselves. We only grocery shop when necessary, which for us is about every two weeks. When we do grocery shop, buy gas or run into CVS it is with masks, gloves, hand sanitizer and sanitizing wipes. We maintain our social distancing from family and friends. I have so few friends it was pretty easy for me! All in all I think we've earned an A when it comes to following the CDC Guidelines. Our A grade pales in comparison to Beth's sister Debbie who in my mind has earned an A+. If there was such an award, I'd nominate her for the Donald J. Trump Social Distancing Champions Award.
As things have gradually opened up over the past couple of weeks, we've continued to respect the guidelines, but slowly and cautiously merged Debbie into our bubble of two, making it a bubble of three.
Looking for a change of scenery but not wanting much additional risk, we decided on a road trip. Our destination was the cool mountain air of North Carolina. We found an Airbnb in Franklin, North Carolina and booked an eight night stay. Our bubble of three left Holmes Beach at 4:00 AM on Monday, May 11 on a nine hour drive to a complete change of scenery. We were armed with our own groceries so we could prepare every meal at the cabin. We also had enough masks, gloves, hand sanitizer, sanitizing wipes and bleach to sterilize a suite of operating rooms at a major hospital.
On the drive up, being the socially responsible citizens that we are, we stopped just one time. Our stop was for the holy trinity of road trips; gas, bathroom and a chick-fil-biscuit (drive through). We made great time in reaching what we thought was going to be our humble abode for the next eight nights.
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| Debbie, with mask in place gives the thumbs up sign from our stop on the drive up. Beth was waiting at the car with the hand sanitizer and wipes. |
The cabin in the woods we had booked looked great. However, the poorly maintained road with numerous washouts made it hard to reach even in an all wheel drive SUV. The broken hot tub, which we had been assured was working, had us changing our minds. Thankfully Beth went right to work and within a couple of hours we had booked another place in nearby Highlands.
Highlands, North Carolina
The place we've called home this past week is awesome. Debbie has her own floor with two bedrooms and a large game/living room and we have the upstairs master bedroom, with a wonderful kitchen and large gathering area. There's also an outdoor firepit that we've enjoyed nightly for both relaxing and cooking our evening meals (more on this in the pictures below) Oh yeah, the narrow, hilly mountain road to the place is nicely paved and the hot tub works perfectly! If you're ever looking for a place to stay in this area, message me and I'll send you a link. By the way, after a little fussing we received a full refund from Airbnb for the first place, but I'm not sure we're going to be on that particular host's Christmas card list.
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| Our Cozy Lodge in Highlands! |
We've had a great week relaxing, soaking in the hot tub and taking in the spectacular scenery of Western North Carolina, Northern Georgia and even a little bit of Tennessee.
Below are some of the images of a few of the places we've seen and things we've done.........all while maintaining proper social distancing!
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| Sunset Rock overlooking downtown Highlands |
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One of the many small churches in Highlands
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My criteria for a good Boiled P-Nut Stand:
1. Sign must be hand painted on a piece of plywood, old door, or section of a tin roof.
2. P-Nuts is the proper spelling.........NOT Peanuts!
3. There must be smoke billowing from a fire
This one met all the criteria. It also got bonus points because the owner was a Vietnam Vet and Pork Rinds were also on the menu.
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There are over 1000 waterfalls in this area. We missed a few but saw some spectacular ones.
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| Debbie proudly showing off the treasures she found at the Old Cardinal Gem Mine. A nice mix of real gems and a few rocks she just couldn't part with. |
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| The Blue Ridge Parkway is 469 miles long. We only did a couple of miles of it on this trip before turning around and exploring more of the Great Smoky Mountain National Park. |
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| I was going to hike the 1972 miles of the Appalachian Trail to Maine. I quickly realized I forgot my backpack, tent and water bottle..........maybe next time. |
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| Along an uncrowded trail in the Great Smoky Mountain National Park. |
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| Picnic in the Great Smoky Mountain National Park |
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| Soaking our feet in the chilly water near the Old Iron Bridge just outside Highlands |
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| Another of the many spectacular waterfalls we enjoyed. This one was near the Old Iron Bridge. |
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| We saw three black bear near Unicoi State Park (Northern Georgia) |
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| Along the trail around Lake Trahlyta in Vogel State Park (Northern Georgia). We spent two weeks here every summer when I was a kid. That was a long time ago. It hasn't changed much and the great memories always come flooding back. |
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Why cook on a gas grill when you can cook over an open fire pit? One night I was a little too impatient. I put the bacon cheeseburger patty melts on before the fire had properly burned down. I probably set a record for the fastest cooked bacon cheeseburger patty melts ever cooked! I burnt a few hairs, toasted a few fingers and said a few choice words in the 90 seconds it took to cook everything.
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