Oh, another week with a couple of really important highlights. We stayed at Waterwood Townhouses at Fairfield Harbour near New Bern, North Carolina. It is about a 45 mile drive to the Atlantic from there. The drive from the mountains was mainly inter-state and was quick but not as quick as Coleen would like. We stayed in a pedestal type building again so Bob had to carry everything upstairs. He sure is getting his exercise and building muscles. The first couple of days it rained and we just chilled out. We left our picture print order at Wal-Mart on Sunday night and anxiously awaited the receipt of the pictures on Wednesday so that we could begin to scrapbook (1). Next to sewing that was the other thing that Coleen was really looking forward to doing. We did not have the supplies to scrapbook in Thailand. And so we did begin on Wednesday and are having lots of fun. It is going to take quite a long time to get three years worth into our scrapbooks but we will enjoy doing it.
I also really enjoyed the opportunity of baking (2) bread. Even though it is not exactly what we ought to be eating, we needed that after having no oven for three years. Actually it is a joy to cook again. With just a two burner electric hotplate my cooking was limited while we were overseas. Now I can really enjoy fixing a healthy meal as well as a few sweets now and then.
We took a trip to Morehead City stopping first at Fort Macon which is a North Carolina State Park now. The fort has been renovated and had excellent audio shows as well as dioramas. It was very educational. We then went into Morehead City for lunch and found a restaurant called Sanitary. We had eaten there about three years ago and ohhh what good seafood (3), something else we haven’t had for a long time. We had clam strips and scallops. They were cooked perfectly and just melted in your mouth.
The weather has been perfect the last part of the week, sun shining and in the 70’s. Friday night we went to the civic theater in New Bern and saw On Golden Pond. We have always enjoyed community theaters and have seen many good plays over the years. One day we walked around both of the large ponds at the timeshare. Each day Coleen’s ankle seems to improve and get a little stronger. No running yet though. We had purchased some DVD’s from The Teaching Company and are beginning to watch the second half of our lessons on A History of England from the Tudors to the Stuarts. We also each finished a small scrapbook and now are ready to start the big ones.
Monday, April 28, 2008
Monday, April 21, 2008
North Carolina Mountains
What a great fun week we have just had. We only had 121 miles to drive from Gatlinburg to Lake Lure, North Carolina so we went through the Great Smoky Mountain National Park into North Carolina. We stopped at the summit and state line for pictures. It was almost 20 degrees cooler at the top. The drive took us about 4 hours as it was hilly and windy roads but it was very pretty and fun. We are really enjoying the spring flowers.
We stayed in a resort area around Lake Lure in the mountains. Our unit was on three different levels and fun to be in. Coleen was so excited to actually have her sewing machine out and be able to sew once again. She did all of the mending and then on Tuesday made a quilted cover for a scrapbook tote bag. She and Debby purchased this tote at Sam’s in Nashville and it was full of items to scrapbook. It had no cover so on the way to Gatlinburg we had stopped at a quilt shop and bought fabric for the cover. In less than 12 hours the cover was made and is on the tote. I wonder what the next project will be.
On Wednesday we went to the Biltmore Estate. We have wanted to visit here for many years but just haven’t been close enough to do it. We left early and arrived right after they opened at 8:30. It was only about an hour’s drive. We rented the audio and thoroughly enjoyed the tour through 62 rooms of the house. I believe there are a total of 68 bedrooms. There is a swimming pool, bowling alley, library, pool room, smoking room and many others. We finished the house tour about 11:30 and then ate our lunch in the Stable Café. We had corn chowder and shared a sampler plate of roasted chicken, barbecued ribs and pulled pork barbecue. It was absolutely awesome. We toured the formal gardens which were full of tulips and listened to music by four harpists. The winery tour was simple and similar to many others.
We spent some time exploring the area. There was a nice big grocery close by and we ate a “birthday” lunch at a restaurant called Point of View. Bob’s birthday was on Thursday. We listened to a book tape, did cross-stitch and spent time on the internet getting all of our email addresses changed so that we can cancel our att emails. Saturday was an all day NCIS marathon so that was our restful day.
We stayed in a resort area around Lake Lure in the mountains. Our unit was on three different levels and fun to be in. Coleen was so excited to actually have her sewing machine out and be able to sew once again. She did all of the mending and then on Tuesday made a quilted cover for a scrapbook tote bag. She and Debby purchased this tote at Sam’s in Nashville and it was full of items to scrapbook. It had no cover so on the way to Gatlinburg we had stopped at a quilt shop and bought fabric for the cover. In less than 12 hours the cover was made and is on the tote. I wonder what the next project will be.
On Wednesday we went to the Biltmore Estate. We have wanted to visit here for many years but just haven’t been close enough to do it. We left early and arrived right after they opened at 8:30. It was only about an hour’s drive. We rented the audio and thoroughly enjoyed the tour through 62 rooms of the house. I believe there are a total of 68 bedrooms. There is a swimming pool, bowling alley, library, pool room, smoking room and many others. We finished the house tour about 11:30 and then ate our lunch in the Stable Café. We had corn chowder and shared a sampler plate of roasted chicken, barbecued ribs and pulled pork barbecue. It was absolutely awesome. We toured the formal gardens which were full of tulips and listened to music by four harpists. The winery tour was simple and similar to many others.
We spent some time exploring the area. There was a nice big grocery close by and we ate a “birthday” lunch at a restaurant called Point of View. Bob’s birthday was on Thursday. We listened to a book tape, did cross-stitch and spent time on the internet getting all of our email addresses changed so that we can cancel our att emails. Saturday was an all day NCIS marathon so that was our restful day.
Thursday, April 10, 2008
News from Gatlinburg
Well we made it to Nashville to see Debby on March 29. We were able to spend the evening with our good friends and tell them about our experiences and see the kids. On Sunday we spoke at Deb’s Sunday school class and really enjoyed that. She made us a lamb roast with sweet potatoes and parsnips, something we haven’t had for a long time. Debby has been storing items for us while we were overseas so we went through some of them and added them to the van. She will have to keep the rest until we come back through Nashville at the beginning of June.
We flew back to Dallas on Monday, March 31 so that Bob could have a test done on Tuesday. We spent most of the day at the hospital. The coolest thing was our rental car was a PT Cruiser and it was a canary yellow color but not as bright as a taxi. We flew back to Nashville on Wednesday. Thursday and Friday we spent with Deb and also had a visit from Coleen’s cousin and her husband. On April 5 we came to a resort in Gatlinburg, Tennessee. Deb came with us until Tuesday. We had a great time and did lots of sorting and rearranging of our items in the van. We even managed to play a few games of Stack. We did some shopping for scrapbook items and organized all of the treasures we brought home from overseas to put in our scrapbook. We couldn’t get pictures printed yet so we are continuing to sort and choose. We got a call from the doctor and praise the Lord, Bob has a clear bill of health. Coleen’s ankle is still sore but continues to improve.
We actually cooked some meals this week and unpacked our suitcases. That is a first since we came back from Thailand. I even made bread for dinner tonight. The weather has been great this week. It is warm and comfortable. We are still trying to get our email organized and switch addresses but that is taking a bit of time. We just continue to praise and thank the Lord for safety, health and protection.
We flew back to Dallas on Monday, March 31 so that Bob could have a test done on Tuesday. We spent most of the day at the hospital. The coolest thing was our rental car was a PT Cruiser and it was a canary yellow color but not as bright as a taxi. We flew back to Nashville on Wednesday. Thursday and Friday we spent with Deb and also had a visit from Coleen’s cousin and her husband. On April 5 we came to a resort in Gatlinburg, Tennessee. Deb came with us until Tuesday. We had a great time and did lots of sorting and rearranging of our items in the van. We even managed to play a few games of Stack. We did some shopping for scrapbook items and organized all of the treasures we brought home from overseas to put in our scrapbook. We couldn’t get pictures printed yet so we are continuing to sort and choose. We got a call from the doctor and praise the Lord, Bob has a clear bill of health. Coleen’s ankle is still sore but continues to improve.
We actually cooked some meals this week and unpacked our suitcases. That is a first since we came back from Thailand. I even made bread for dinner tonight. The weather has been great this week. It is warm and comfortable. We are still trying to get our email organized and switch addresses but that is taking a bit of time. We just continue to praise and thank the Lord for safety, health and protection.
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