My blog is definitely going to take a turn and become more of a photo journal of our life as I finally get back to posting the last six months of memories, and much less to read.
Our destination was Lake Powhaten National Forest Campground for the middle week of June. Fortunately for us, that week became a three month stay as park volunteers for July, August and October; talk about being in the right place at the right time!!
Once we checked into our campsite, getting the last one in the park that Monday, we were off to visit Sierra Nevada Brewery about 20 minutes south of us. The brewery had just opened and was absolutely gorgeous! It became our "go to" afternoon stop during our longer stay at Lake Powhaten
The outdoor patios are so comfortable as well as beautiful.
Beer bottle chandelier!
From our campground it was only a 3 mile drive to reach the Blue Ridge Parkway. We took a full day to explore a southern part of the roadway.
The rhododendrons were losing their last blooms but we did catch a couple of pinks.
Stopping at The Cradle Of Forestry Visitor Center gave us a look at the very beginning of forestry in America and it's relationship with the Biltmore Estate.
After the walking tour of the historic buildings at the Cradle of Forestry we stopped for an ice cream at this very popular spot.
Thinking we'd only have these 5 days in Asheville, we tried visiting all the highlights of the area. So, of course, we went into town and visited the Asheville Art Museum right downtown.
And, right next door was the French Broad Chocolate Lounge. A wonderful find, chocolate of every kind, coffee and wine. Perfect combo for PK and me.
Back at the park, relaxing after running pretty hard each day.
Up early again to spend the next full day at the Biltmore Estate and Gardens only 20 minutes from us. A beautiful day, warm and as was typical, the afternoon rain clouds moved in and soaked everything before moving on.
I guess this was also the time I finally took photos of the new interior colors we'd done during the last few weeks. Gone were the red walls in the living room, now changed to a softer mocha brown with an added teal blue accent all around. I love it!
Before leaving the campground we spoke with Manager Bill and told him we'd love to return to the park as volunteers. He contacted us the next day with the necessary online application to complete and in just 5 days we were returning to Lake Powhaten as Campground Hosts. How lucky for us to be spending the next two months in a gorgeous park with so much more to see and do!
But in the mean time, I had flights back to CA for my annual getaway with my teacher friends. So, we moved east, dropped out of the mountains and PK and Foster spent a week outside of Rutherforton at 4 Paws RV Park. We had met the couple who own it several years before and knew they were Corgi lovers, and we'd always wanted to stay. They offer doggie activities and training, so while I was in CA Paul and Fsoter tried some new tricks.
After a crazy couple of flights, over 30+ hours of planes, hotels, shuttles etc, I arrived in SLO, exhausted.
Diane picked me up, we gathered things from her place and headed for Paso Robles and our beautiful rental for the 12 of us.
Every year there is always a special reason for a party/celebration and this year, Diane was to become a Grandma for the first time, so we had a surprise Grandma Shower.
Also spent an afternoon wine tasting at a wonderful winery in west Paso. Such a fun afternoon.
I love these eleven wonderful women!! We've been going away together each summer for over 20 years! Something that started out as an end of the school year celebration when we were all teaching, has become a yearly time to reconnect and enjoy time together. Now nine of us have retired and some moved away, leaving just the three youngest still in education. Our ages span from the mid forties to mid eighties!
The week in San Luis went by so quickly but wouldn't have been complete without spending time with my sweet friend, Sheri. We enjoyed an evening in our old hometown of Arroyo Grande, things had sure changed in the years we've been traveling.
I also had a chance to celebrate another Los Ranchos School Retirement, this one for Marty Warde. So fun spending the afternoon with wonderful friends and colleagues.
Even ran into old friends I hadn't seen in many, many years, Don and Joyce Wells.
I squeezed so much into that one week, including annual doctor visits but soon it was time to return to the airport and my life back in NC.
Flights home were defintiey smoother and easier taking a red eye back to the east coast. PK picked me up in Charlotte, NC. It was still early in the day so we spent a couple hours at the Daniel Stow Botanical Gardens. Beautiful, but a very hot day.
In addition to walking the gardens we also saw the special exhibit of sculptures from Zimbabwe.
A perfect afternoon at the gardens before making the climb back up to Asheville. We now were ready to begin our next two months volunteering at Lake Powhaten Campground.
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