My GREAT trip!

Sigh…

So back at work and back in the real world... it’s amazing to me that even if you’re only out of it for a few days that you kind of forget that you have a full time job and what your life is really like at home! There were a few times when I was with family and friends that I was like – shoot – I have to go back to work on Wednesday – what is that? Haha!

So things are about to get crazy, but before I get into that I’m going to talk about my vacation! It was jam-packed, so hang with me!

So I flew out on Wednesday night, arriving into North Carolina late and hanging out with my aunt, uncle, cousin and her new beau until about midnight-thirty and then hit the hay! The next morning I got up early to meet Tiffany in Charlotte – my aunt was very gracious in offering my cousin’s driving services so she and her friend drove me to the meeting point where Tiffany met us and we exchanged me! We had Bojangles for breakfast which was pretty yummy for a fast-food place that I had never heard of! So we met Tiffany with no events to speak of, and then she, her mom and myself had some snacks at TGI Friday’s and got on our way to Greenville! We got to her place and caught up, got ready and went downtown with her fiancé, Joe, and had great sushi as well as fried cheesecake (another first) for dessert (we shared)! Downtown Greenville is super adorable – we went walking around and took pictures by the footbridge, river, and falls and it’s just so cute… we also were hunting for the bronze mice that litter the main street – not litter really but there are 9 of them and we found 3! When we got home we watched some TV and crashed…

Friday we headed out to the Biltmore Mansion, which was INCREDIBLE!!! We took the dogs, Yoshi and Fancy who are Tiffany and Joe’s respectively, and left them in the car while we toured the inside of the “house” which is really 250 rooms and the largest “house” in America. It’s more like a small castle, people! It was so cool – built in the 1870’s I think by the Vanderbilt family and has so many gardens and rooms it’s unreal. The view alone was amazing… see corresponding pictures! So we spent all morning and a good bit of the afternoon here touring the house and then the gardens, topping off with our wine tasting where I bought my souvenir wines! Yum! Then we got on the road home as we had a bridal show to get to for her and Joe which was also awesome, and had dinner at a great little burger place and went home and watched The Island which we really liked! The next morning we got up and held a meeting which was awesome, then I got packed and we got on the road to go meet my aunt and fam at the Great Dane Gathering in Charlotte which was so cool! There were no female fawns to market Mav to, which is fine, but there were a ton of great danes there and it was so fun to see all the of differences in all colors, shapes and sizes!

That night we were pretty tuckered out, but Shannon called us as we were pulling into home and said we HAD to go check out the tallest cow ever, SO we dropped Uncle Randy off and Kelli and I headed out to see this freak of nature cow... she was right, it was enormous, but what was funnier is that we were in such a small town that some of Kelli's friends saw us (and in their head were wondering if I had ever seen a cow in Texas as I was on the side of the road taking pictures - lol - but for Uncle Randy) and turned around to come and chat... and THEN Brenda's Dad also stopped by and he's gotta be in his 70's or 80's, and he was a trip so we were having a party on the side of the road! So Brenda and Mike invited us to see the Lake House so we went home, got slightly cleaned up and headed back on out! I personally really enjoyed it, though it's probably a true chick flick! Then it was late, so off to bed from another packed day!!

So Sunday was time to exchange me with Katie, so Aunt Kelli drove me to the halfway point and we met Katie at a gas station late in the morning (thanks Aunt Kelli)! We hung out at her place after the very scenic and beautiful drive up to Blacksburg and then went to a cookout at her friends' house and spent the whole afternoon there! The group was majority vet students at VT so of course there were lots of dogs present and they were all having an awesome time playing while we were having an awesome time eating, chatting, drinking, etc. Met a lot of really great people and got a great glimpse into Dave and Katie's down time activities (when they have any)! At about 9 p.m. we headed out to Cabo Fish Taco for dinner where I had a yummy burrito and Dave, Katie, and I had good food and fun and then we went home and called it an early night (still 11:30 p.m. by the time I got to sleep)! Forrest (Dave's very cool beagle) decided it would be just fine to sleep with me, and I really enjoyed having him as my bed companion as he was so snuggly!!

The next morning I slept in - Hallelujah!! Forrest and I woke up at a leisurely 10 a.m. and we had a leisurely and yummy breakfast courtesy of Katie's culinary skills (biscuits and cinnamon rolls - double yum) and got on our way to have a fun day of hiking at the Cascades! So we got the dogs and ourselves ready, and Katie and Dave had two great Mule Camelbaks to accompany us to keep us hydrated, and then we got on the road! Forrest again in true form snuggled with me the whole way there, and we proceeded to hike a very nice 4-mile trail to the Cascade waterfalls. The day was overcast and cool in temperature (at least compared to what I am used to) so we were red and a little sweaty by the time we got to the falls, but it was very pleasant though not a super-easy hike so we were getting a great workout! Dave even decided to take a dip in the swimming hole beneath the falls which I'm sure was ridiculously cold, so Katie and I ate apples while we watched him! Then we hiked the 2 miles back, mostly downhill but still working the muscles and had a nice drive back... We got cleaned up and got ready for dinner - a nice night out to the Chinese Buffet where we ate ourselves silly! :-) We headed to Blockbuster afterwards (or maybe before?) and picked out two movies - The Ringer and Firewall - but of course we had to watch these later around Katie's current fave summer show, The Closer, much to Dave's chagrin as Kyra Sedgwick has a very fake southern accent - haha! So we watched most all of The Ringer which was kinda funny and kinda dumb, but watchable, paused it to watch The Closer, finished The Ringer, and then put in Firewall and then bed... So was an AWESOME relaxing night...

Then on to North Carolina the next morning to exchange me again, so Katie and I met Aunt Kelli at the same gast station, and I started to get sad as my trip was coming to a close... So Kelli and I went and said bye to Shae who was working at the vet clinic, went and hung out with her friend Kay and her daughter Kendall for a bit, then we went home for me to get packed up, and then on to the airport!

All in all it was a very quick and great trip... it was so great to see good family and friends, and now it's there turn to come see me! I love that... LOL!

Hope everyone is doing well...

xx