Weekend Fun (Pisgah Forest, NC)

Saturday morning began at 8:30 when we joined our new friends Debbie and  Mike for a trip down the mountain to Brevard for breakfast.  We ate at a local joint named Julie's.  Nothing fancy (just our style) and great food with a great price.  After that we went to a local farmer's market.  It's the kind that sets up every Saturday morning across the country with local produce, baked goods and a few crafts.  We bought fresh tomatoes, green beans and local apples.  We then went to a small town bakery and bought a fresh, large baguette.  We then headed home.  Debbie and I spent the afternoon goofing off.  I finished off most of the daylight with a robust, one hour walk with me and the boys.  We had tomato sandwiches for dinner, viewed the tube and had a great sleep.
Sunday was destined to be a productive day.  We had decided to accomplish a more substantial hike.  Thus far any reference to hiking really meant a glorified stroll.  Today we broke sweat.  It was warm.  We left the house at 10:30am and returned at 3pm.  In between we covered, I'd guess, 5-6 miles most of it up and down.  Some of the grades were quite steep.  We were on 4 different trails ranging from easy to difficult.  We had a lot of company - GNATS!  The in your eyes, up your nose, buzzing in your ears gnats.  They came and went a bit and eventually departed. They were far more attracted to Debbie.  She's sweeter.  Guess what we'll carry next time.  But even with the unpleasant companions the hike was great.  Often we were on the ridge of the mountain and the view was quite large. But more consistently then the view was the ever present woods.  Plus wildflowers!  Periodically we'd come upon clusters of yellow or purple or red or daisy like flowers.  It just struck me as a festive splash of color.  Very nice!

In addition to the flowers we had great mushrooms.  Or were they toadstools?  We don't know the difference but I'm confident that Debbie will research the subject.  None the less, they were cool.  Worthy of pictures.

And what are mountains without mountain streams.  Residential folks are often striving to create water features at their homes to resemble those streams we see in the mountains.  Rarely do we succeed.  Mountain streams have character.  They carve their way along the path of least resistance, polishing their stones for our enjoyment.  The streams we saw today were small.  I did tell Debbie that I felt a fair description of the streams would include the word "precious." 

The hike was a bit challenging for Debbie so early in our hiking career but she hung tough! She was not pleased with the gnats.  She may be able to walk tomorrow.

I chilled the rest of the afternoon.  Debbie prepared a great meal including a seasoned pork loin, fresh green beans and some form of wild rice.  We then had ice cream sandwiches.  Again I say Deelish!!  I cleaned up the kitchen.

We work the next 3 days.

Duane