Z Inn Boone

Yeah, we woke up to no rain and partly cloudy skies! Our plan was to head to Beacon Heights on the first sunny day - so today was it. There were more cars in the parking area than normal - I guess because it is Saturday and the first sunny day in a couple of days. It was actually chilly when we got up so we were pretty bundled up when we started our hike. It's such a nice little hike to the Beacon Heights look-out. Just rocky and hilly enough for the kids ...

This morning I was sitting at the computer and, since it was mid-morning, was surprised to smell a skunk. The scent was fairly strong too. About a half hour later I saw our neighbor washing down her dog in tomato juice. Oh, oh. I guess it was second-hand skunk smell. Poor dog. It doesn't understand why it's been banished to the outdoors.

It's a cool day and looks like it may rain later. The creek is high from all the recent rains we've had.

It was another rainy day today, so we stayed in. The kids played downstairs a lot. There are bunches of toys that are all new to them, so they really enjoyed it. After lunch, we put Star Wars 2 in to watch with Caroline. We popped some popcorn too. A great way to spend a rainy afternoon.

Some work had to be done on the well pump ...

... the Thursday night concert at the Banner Elk park. We went to one last summer too and it was really nice. They have vendors with food for sale and the playground and stream and there too. We let the kids play first and then we had dinner and sat and listened to the music.

... Grandmama & Grandaddy bought while we were in NC last summer) for the kids to float in the water and have boat races. They had a great time and got pretty wet too!

The afternoon was spent relaxing at the cabin, we even got a couple of rain showers. We had leftover night for dinner and then roasted marshmallows for smores on a little grill we bought.

... kids their own fishing poles - Princess for Caroline and Lightning McQueen for David Andrew. The kids could hardly wait to start fishing. We had to remind them they needed bait first. We decided to fish in the pond with the smallest fish to make it easier for the kids. The ponds are really well stocked - once you get the hang of it, you WILL catch a fish. Caroline was scared of the worms at first but by the end she was ...

... on the hike. It drizzled a bit on us when we first got there, but then it cleared up and became sunny. The hike was very pretty and not too hard until you got close to the falls - that's where there were some pretty steep stone staircases. The falls were really beautiful. It was a little scary to me because they go so far down but we stayed on the trail and stayed safe. The hike ...

... hit him (or he would hit us) and we'd be dead. David made all the right decisions and was able to stop our car and miraculously, the other guys car spun in front of us and off the road without any incident. I still don't know how we escaped it after playing it over and over again in my mind. We were safe but that's when I started screaming and freaking out - but as soon as I heard Caroline ...

... amp; Cheese shop $15 2pm ~Wine Making 101 Seminar~ Chetola Resort $12 3pm ~Pairing Cheese and Wine Seminar~ Chetola Resort $18 ~Cooking Demonstration with Will Burrell~ Glidewell's Restaurant $25 3:30pm ~Values from Around the World Seminar~ Chetola Resort $15 5:30pm-8pm ~Gallery Stroll~ Downtown Blowing Rock and area Galleries Blue Ridge Wine & Food Festival Schedule of Events ...

... country, where most of the Volunteers are located, there are fewer phones and service is more sporadic. Typically, Volunteers plan to be in larger towns on a certain date to receive calls from home. The transit house (a.k.a. MEVA) is the place where Volunteers will stay while in Antananarivo on official business and where many Volunteers will receive calls from the States. The telephone number there is: (261)-20-24-246-70. This line is only available outside of normal ...