(Edited one more time to say that the Book Club book that I finished was What The Dead Know. Didn't like it at all! Good story, but I didn't like the author's style of writing at all! I am reading Holmes on the Range next.)
(Edited One Last Time to tell my SIL that I expect frequent updates and cruise photos next week when she's travelling! Ahem.....It's time for more than just cookies at that blog of yours!)
Today started really early as we made our way to our flight (hooray for the nice man driving the shuttle with a lead foot) at an unrighteous hour. The lines were already long when we arrived, but we made it through without a hitch. Oh, and I met some nice people while we waited in line. On of them was a sixth grade teacher on her way to Mexico. I wonder if she plans on coming back.....
So after the whole process to ensure that we're not carrying weapons of mass destruction in our flip flops, or carrying explosive agents in our hair gel tubes, or running a fever/cough/sore throat and carrying H1N1 to parts unknown, and proving that PDaddy's collarbone is indeed infused with metal and not bomb making parts, we had some time to wander around and grab PDad a Starbucks and a yogurt parfait and time enough to find a vending machine to get me a V8 and some Cheezits.
Our first flight was nice, although the plane was surely the one that Orville and Wilbur made their first flight in. Jeepers, it was an old clunker. Didn't do much to make me feel better, but the flight went quickly enough. I finished one of our Book Club books (total waste of paper that one was) while PDad watched movies on his iPod, laughing like an insane man & alarming those sitting near us. A rather uneventful flight, thankfully.
We made it to Atlanta in time for lunch and then loaded onto our next bird (thankfully a much YOUNGER bird) to connect to Asheville. Sadly, our second flight was marred by the fact that some Korean chic spent the entire flight tossing up her cookies. Uh-huh, it was as fun as it sounds. I wish I could report that barfing in Korean is more pleasant than barfing in English. Uhm, no. Uh, it's not. If anything, there is more moaning and spitting. We can only hope her ailment was due to motion issues and not actually related to the aforementioned H1N1 or any other mutant strain thereof.
I must take a minute to comment on our flight attendant from Atlanta to Asheville. Her name was Trudy. Trudy Baird. The sheer fact that I know her first and last name should clue you in rather quickly to the fact that Trudy was an interesting individual. Have you ever noticed how you can never forget the things you want to forget?
That is very much how I feel about Trudy.
Trudy Baird.
Trudy whose call sign is "Turdy." No, I'm not mispelling that. She told us her call sign was Turdy. She also informed us that it was in her genetic make-up to be "perky." Trudy was about 65 years old...and in dire need of an audience.
The flight was only 30 minutes long, but Turdy didn't let that deter her from using every one of her spare minutes (and there seemed to be lots of them) to detail her definition of 'hospitality', 'humor', and 'personality.' Somewhere during one of her knock-knock joke segments, Miss Korea started hurling. I totally sympathized with her for the most part. Well, I sympathized with her when I wasn't trying to send her "I'm going to cut you if I catch that" vibes. Miss Korea's brother almost launched when his sister started up. He sat clutching his mouth and gagging behind his hand. Oh, it was the finest 30 minutes I could've ever spent, lemme tell ya.
So between Turdy and The Vomiting Koreans, we had an interesting second half of our trip. Honestly, if the flight had been longer from Atlanta to Asheville, I don't think we could've survived.
So, with that biz out of the way, we obtained our rental car and headed out to find Chimney Rock which is totally cool, I might add. I'm not sure if we enjoyed the vistas or the drive to the vistas more. The river valley and ascent up the foothills looked like something off of the Hidden Valley Ranch bottle. Plus, there were these cute little gardens EVERYWHERE where you could stop and pick your own produce. Obviously, I live in the wrong part of the country. North Carolina is calling my name. (Interesting side note: North Carolina is apparently the day lilly capitol of the world. Every corner, right of way, easement, curb, hill, embankment and berm is covered in them. And if you've not seen what I'm talking about, you'll think I'm exaggerating. I assure you, I am not. I've seen some lovely gardens with day lillies on the drive to Winston-Salem today, and I intend to figure out how to manage one when I get home. Write it down. It's gonna happen.
So, we're in Winston-Salem (home of WFU), and we're staying at the Brookstown Inn. We made the reservations some time ago and planned to go to the Old Salem village. Manda Jan seconded that it was a good visit, so I'm excited about seeing that tomorrow. Other than that, I'm not sure what is on tap for tomorrow. Probably just some walking and exploring, I'd guess.
So, with that biz out of the way, we obtained our rental car and headed out to find Chimney Rock which is totally cool, I might add. I'm not sure if we enjoyed the vistas or the drive to the vistas more. The river valley and ascent up the foothills looked like something off of the Hidden Valley Ranch bottle. Plus, there were these cute little gardens EVERYWHERE where you could stop and pick your own produce. Obviously, I live in the wrong part of the country. North Carolina is calling my name. (Interesting side note: North Carolina is apparently the day lilly capitol of the world. Every corner, right of way, easement, curb, hill, embankment and berm is covered in them. And if you've not seen what I'm talking about, you'll think I'm exaggerating. I assure you, I am not. I've seen some lovely gardens with day lillies on the drive to Winston-Salem today, and I intend to figure out how to manage one when I get home. Write it down. It's gonna happen.
So, we're in Winston-Salem (home of WFU), and we're staying at the Brookstown Inn. We made the reservations some time ago and planned to go to the Old Salem village. Manda Jan seconded that it was a good visit, so I'm excited about seeing that tomorrow. Other than that, I'm not sure what is on tap for tomorrow. Probably just some walking and exploring, I'd guess.
This is the view from Chimney Rock. The lake you see in the distance is Lake Lure. If I'm not mistaken, it and the community surrounding it are where Dirty Dancing was filmed. I took this photo in honor of Rachel...who made me watch Dirty Dancing 4, 289 times when we were in HS.
In order to reach the pinnacle of Chimney Rock, you first had to take a 35-40 minute stairway trek. You read that correctly. Of course, there is an elevator for pansies...which I am not. We conquered the stairs, and I'm not ashamed to say that we had to stop and rest about 3 times. The thighs they are a burnin'. Last week, it was the Stairs O' Despair at our cabin, now this. I am enforcing a no stair policy for the rest of the summer.
I've been very interested in the flora and fauna of this area. It's very much like home and so different in many other ways. As we made our way up the mountain, we noticed this growing everywhere. It has pretty pink and white blossoms and resembles a Magnolia tree. You'll be pleased to know that it is a Carolina Rhododendron. 
And now we come to the end of it. Where the Koreans and the vomit and Turdy were just too much, and DaddyP contemplated tossing himself over the edge of Chimney Rock. Don't do it!
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