the essence

Beautiful

Yesterday was spent driving the Blue Ridge Parkway through North Carolina, a favorite pastime of ours.

First I had to stop for some breakfast & coffee. Starbucks is right outside the entrance to the Biltmore Estate. So close, yet so far away. I can't wait to go visit again.



The Blueridge driving was SLOW going. Expected on the Blueridge, right? I just didn't expect it to be this slow. Apparently road repairs are down before the Autumn rush & on a little two-lane-winding-road through the mountains you have nothing to do but wait. Long enough waits that we'd end up turning the van off.

We also made some stops - bathrooms, nursing, sights, food. We left out hotel at 10am & got to our next hotel at midnight. That's how you turn a 6-hour drive into 14-hours.

One of the sights was a hike up to the tallest peak east of the Mississippi.





There are also no restaurants along the parkway & very few places to get off & we didn't get lunch until 3pm at a little restaurant called "The Shepherds Table." Something about it reminded me of being at camp. The place was completely empty except for us. I loved that the menu said something about grace before meals being encouraged & there was sign on the wall that Tuesday is "Pastor's Day" & that pastors & their wives get 10% off. I was so hungry that I ate my ENTIRE 1/2 pound hamburger - food tastes so much better when you're really hungry!

Kate has a thing of leaning into the camera when you try to take her picture. A little sinister looking, isn't it?




Depending on free Internet locations I may not have any access for the next couple of days. (I still haven't been able to talk Ray into paying for mobile Internet!)