To the Mountains, with Shelly

I figured I should probably post about one girls' trip before the next one takes place next week. Over the weekend of September 28–30, Shelly and I drove up to Kate and Tim's house to spend two nights. The only funny thing? Kate wasn't there—she was in Hawaii, visiting her grandfather with James and Baby Robert. Sharon was in Africa. And Tim was supposed to be in Africa, but his trip was delayed, so he was instead in Asheville for the weekend. So Shelly and I had their house to ourselves, which was nice, but there was also a certain strangeness, for sure, to not have Kate with us.

Regardless, we had a wonderful time. I was never concerned about the long drive versus the short amount of time we were going to be there because, quite frankly, I really love the drive once we hit the mountains (if I could only beam myself through the 85/boring part of 321 section). And that drive without kids hollering at me from the backseat? Chatting with one of my dearest friends instead? Stopping for Starbucks at will? That was a vacation in and of itself.

We left Saturday morning, and it took us awhile to get there, with a lunch stop, coffee breaks, gas stop, grocery shopping... and me passing two of our turns because of being engrossed in conversation (thankfully I caught my error rather quickly). But we made it to their house a bit before the dinner hour, settled in, and picked some veggies from their garden to go with our meal. We ended up partially grilling/partially pan searing (because I am dumb when it comes to grills, I feel, and could not seem to get it going enough to really cook it!) a steak, and had roasted potatoes and a kale salad on the side. Yum. We stayed up chatting, and called it a night.

I was so looking forward to not having to get out of bed those mornings, and it did not disappoint. I did not really sleep in much either morning, but it was so nice to be able to pick up my book, read, and just lay there.

On Sunday, after a leisurely breakfast, we packed up a lunch and headed to my little slice of heaven, Grayson Highlands. We sat in the large field at the base of the hiking trail, and had a little picnic lunch before heading up and hiking to Rhododendron Gap. It was a gorgeous day, a crispness of fall, but with a warming sun, and we saw many wild ponies, along with a new sight for that area—long-horned steer. The leaves were just starting to change, and the views from atop the mountains were just lovely.

On Sunday evening, we headed into town and had dinner at Boondocks Tap Room & Restaurant. They had Dogfish Head Punkin' Ale on draft—need I say more? (Yes, I cheated just a little with the gluten intake, but can you blame me?) Then it was back "home" for some more chatting and relaxation.

I was sad to have to leave Monday morning, but it was so beautiful outside, being able to enjoy a cup of coffee with a view made it a perfect ending to a great trip. And we had the added bonus of seeing Tim just before we were about to hop in the car and drive off.

Thank you, Tim and Kate, for being so hospitable, even in your absence! Love you guys.