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It was the last day in Lake Lure so we hung around town. We did some “gem mining” in town, which was fun but didn’t really last very long. We ate lunch at Medina‘s and they are known for their cinnamon bun. Everything is homemade so you know I really love that! It was all delicious and the people were very nice. I wish we discovered this place sooner on our trip!

We stopped by the Flowering Bridge, gardens along a 150 foot bridge that is no longer used for cars. It was beautiful and so many butterflies! I tried so hard to capture some on my camera but wasn’t very successful. It was a real hot day so we decided to go in the lake. I was a little hesitant since it was kinda all gross and spider webby when we checked it out the other day. I’m glad we did! We spent about 2 hours in the lake when we saw the clouds descend. We made it back to the cabin in time before the downpour.

password is secret

The Lake from Lisa on Vimeo.

I’m not sure how long the downpour lasted but soon the sun came out! We wanted to go check out the town of Hendersonville, the woman at the Visitor’s Center told us it was similar to Asheville but not as spread out. By the time we got there, after a stop into Wal-Mart, most of the stores were closed so we couldn’t browse. They did have a bunch of painted bears along the street. We had dinner at Flat Rock Wood Fired Pizza. We got a little confused at first because the sign actually said West First Wood Fired Pizza. Oh my gosh, it was DELICIOUS!! We started off with this awesome spinach, goat cheese and artichoke dip. I filled up too much on that as they gave bread with the dip. I know bread makes sense since it is a pizza place. Sienna got a regular cheese pizza from the kid’s menu that was the same size as our pizza! I got a campari (roasted garlic olive oil base, tomato slices, garlic and fresh mozzarella-with balsamic vinegar reduction and fresh basil) and Yves got a prosciutto (aged parma ham, fresh mozzarella, & fresh arugula on crushed tomato sauce.) We were stuffed but Sienna had room for dessert! Homemade ice cream sandwich, which was actually ice cream between 2 brownies! Oh my!

So we headed back to the cabin with full bellies to get our things together to start the 2nd half of our vacation tomorrow! Myrtle Beach!

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Here are some shots we took while enjoying the boat ride around the Lake.

After the tour, we drove over to Asheville. The ride was a bit curvy and although Asheville wasn’t very far, it took longer because of that. During our stay, we have come to drive a bit on the same road. There is a town called Batcave and I kept meaning to take a photo of the sign but never did. Drat! Anyway, Asheville is a cute little college type, hippie like town. Very similar to Berkeley and Austin.

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We headed to Chimney Rock in the morning!

Pointing to the top of Chimney Rock. It doesn’t look that high. The elevator was broken but we weren’t even thinking of using the elevator!

The view!

It was a bit cloudy and that was a good thing. The sun had come out briefly and you felt the heat. That was rough!

Oh! The stairs!

Made it! It was beautiful. You can go up higher and that’s what I did to take this photo. Sienna and Yves are there on the rock.

Do you see the devil’s head in the background?

Taking an apple break. It was about lunch time and went back to the cabin to have some. Once you buy your ticket, you are able to come and go so decided not to rush it. We saw a deer when we got back to the cabin!

After lunch, we went back to the park and it began to rain. That’s ok! We have ponchos just for that!

We made it to the falls!

They have a total of 5 trails. We did the Great Woodland Adventure (kids trail-so easy), Outcroppings trail (the one that leads to the rock), the Skyline Trail (that leads to Devil’s Head and Exclamation Point, where we took the apple break) and Hickory Nut Falls Trail (waterfall). We didn’t do the Four Seasons Trail as it looked a bit steep.

For dinner, we went into the little town and ate at RiverWatch Grill (standard fare) and took a walk along the river afterwards.

After ice cream, we spent the rest of the evening relaxing in the cabin. I was enjoying the jacuzzi tub a lot! We really felt the hike in our legs the next day! And we picked a good day for the hike as the following days were really muggy and sunny.

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Heading down to North Carolina as part of a 2 week vacation down South! About 5 days in North Carolina and then a week at Myrtle Beach! We left on the 19th around 9:45 am. We didn’t rush since we were just going to stop in Virginia and stay in a hotel with a pool. I really wanted to stop in MD at this Butterfly Conservatory but found out it was closed for 2014 due to construction! Waaah! Then I discovered this Safari Park in VA that sounded like a ton of fun! (Six Flags Great Adventure used to have a drive thru safari but not anymore!) But nixed that idea because it was a long drive to get to for one night. And it was sort of out of the way. So it was a hotel and indoor pool for us! We stopped off for lunch in Swedesboro, NJ and ate at The Red Hen. A Yelp find and very tasty!

Sienna was just happy to get to a hotel with a pool! It took a little longer to get there than we expected due to road construction. We stayed at the Hampton Inn in Woodstock, VA. It was your standard Hampton Inn and down the road was a Wal-Mart supercenter opened 24 hours! We also ate dinner at Cracker Barrel because it was right next door.

After having the breakfast at Hampton Inn, we continued our journey. We stopped off for lunch at Beamers 25 in Roanoke, VA, another Yelp find. O.M.G. DELICIOUS!! We ordered Frank’s fries, which include garlic and truffle oil. Yves got a Reuben burger (burgers are what they are known for) and it looked delicious. Regrettably, I ordered their chicken breast sandwich, which was ok but not as tasty as Yves’ burger (which I got to taste!)

And we finally made it to North Carolina!

We finally make it to the cabin around 6-6:30. The last couple of hours seemed forever since we weren’t driving on a major road. We got to our cabin and it was really cute. A 2 bedroom with a whirlpool in the main bedroom, a small kitchen and bathroom, a tiny table and a tiny tv. But there was a deck! More on the cabin in later posts.

We went to check out the little town, the lake and the beach. We probably had the worst meal of our trip there, at a Mexican Restaurant called El Lago. A bad meal was bound to happen!

After dinner, we went food shopping at a supermarket called Ingles. We were expecting a little grocery store (considering the small town) but it was a full fledged supermarket! We let Sienna pick out a breakfast cereal, since it was vacation, and of course she picked the worst (although they are all bad!)

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Coney Island fun!

Sienna scored the front row and I told her it was the best seat. No one wanted to sit up front with her so she sat alone. After the ride, they all ran to get in line again and they all wanted to ride the front row! They ran back on line about 3 times, each taking turns sitting in front.

I wouldn’t let Sienna ride on this but she certainly wanted to!

Sylvie and Nico did not want to ride this because it turned upside down. Sienna wanted to ride it and was surprised that she was willing to ride it on her own. I was so proud of her! It was funny that she ended up in the same car as a couple where the guy was terrified of the ride. His girlfriend and Sienna were laughing at him.

The Tickler!

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Went back to visit Governors Island and they added a whole new section. It was beautiful!

I didn’t take a photo but for lunch we ate from one of the food trucks. Fried fish from a Jamaican truck. So delish!

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Look who came to visit us!

Later on, we had some sparkler fun on the balcony!

Then it got dark!

And I was having fun with this open shutter app on my iphone! Set 1

Set 2

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2 months after losing Skippy, we lose Neo. He was close to 15 years old. I’ll always remember when we first got him, I think it was in 2000. We were supposed to get his sister too and was going to name her Trinity. We never ended up getting the sister (they lived in different places) because Yves got freaked out by Neo. He never grew up with cats so one day, when he came home from work, he found Neo on top of the refrigerator and he scared the shit out of him. LOL. Plus Neo slunked around so quietly and all of a sudden, he was right there, which also freaked Yves out. We put a bell on him for that reason. After awhile, he got used to Neo and we took the bell off. During his last months, he started losing weight. It seemed like all of a sudden he was all bones. When he started to poop outside his litter box, I knew it was time to get him to see the vet. We stopped taking him after the first couple of years because he needed tranquilizers before he could go. Even on tranquilizers he was still crazy. It said that in his chart! Crazy cat! So I made the appointment for a Tuesday (it was Saturday.) On Sunday afternoon, he was looking really bad, so I called the vet back to see if I could bring him in on Monday instead. I was able to change the date but then later that evening, he had what seemed like a seizure. The vet was closed at that point so I ended up taking him to the emergency animal hospital. It wasn’t very far away. While driving there, I could hear him breathing, albeit very shallow. I pulled right into the parking lot and as soon as I did that, I couldn’t hear his breathing anymore. It was as if he was saying “Fuck that shit, I ain’t seeing no stinking vet!”

I’ll miss him, especially during the cold months when he would actually act like a cuddly kitten and sit in my lap. Him and Skippy were never the best of friends but it seemed like he was tolerating him more and more during the last year or so. I wonder if he actually missed him. Now they are together.

Showing an interest in my food. He never gave a damn before! An indication of his downward spiral.

circa 2013 and now they are together again.

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Happy Father’s Day! Sienna got him a mug from her school sale!

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Hiking at Sterling Forest State Park . We’ve been here a few times. We tried a different trail this time and it was a lot more bushy. It was hot during this hike and I was whiney and getting bitten by bugs so there are not many photos. Sienna ended up with a tick but we found it in time! Whew! Thankfully, our friend Brian told us that there are a lot of ticks there, that is why we checked. Now we check after every hike, no matter what.

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