Ahhhh . . . Vacation

It’s Monday afternoon, about 3:00. Lori’s sleeping, good time to do some writing. We’ve been on vacation for a couple of days now. It’s been a very enjoyable time so far.

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Thursday night we made it as far a Tifton GA. This is about half way to my brother’s house where we were going to stay on Friday. Friday morning we got on the road about 9:30. We arrived at Tim & Nancie’s house on Friday afternoon around 3:00. It is beautiful.

They recently moved in to their close to 5000 sq ft house. It sits on 8 acres of rolling meadows and mountains. Their 3 horses (and 1 mule) have a beautiful fenced in pasture to graze in. It has just the right amount of trees on it. Tim says the deer come across his property everyday around 3:00 pm. It was very serene and a great way to start the vacation. Lori got pretty tired walking around the property and house on Friday. She also stayed up too late that night talking. She felt she would be OK since we were just driving the next day.

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Saturday she was more wiped out and sore than she thought she would be. We sat on the porch and drank our coffee watching the horses. Around 11:00 Tim and Nancie took us to breakfast. We were on the road about 1:00 on our way to Beech Mountain NC. Before we left Tim and Nancie gave us the perfect gift for our trip. Thanks again guys!

The four hour trip to Banner Elk took over six hours! Lori took one of her diuretics earlier so we had to stop a lot for potty breaks. This was ok with me. With all the sitting in the car we didn’t want any water retention.

One of our stops was at the Nantahala River area. About seven years ago we stayed there with the boys and had a great time. It was fun to sit and reminisce. I think Lori got a bit too hot though. We were in the shade but the sun was very hot and it was 80+ degrees.

Once back on the road we hit a detour. We’re still not sure why but the road we were on was closed. They were diverting all traffic off of the highway onto some country road. Good thing Nancie gave us a map! We ended up going through Cherokee and Maggie Valley. There was some kind of motor cycle convention going on in Maggie valley. We passed hundreds and hundreds of motorcycles on the road. In Cherokee they were everywhere. Once we got to Maggie Valley we say what looked like thousands. Someday Lori and I would like to do the trip on a motorcycle. One of those big quiet ones with the super padded seats and helmets with built in intercoms.

We finally rolled up to the condo around 7:30 pm. Lori and I both were pretty tired so we unloaded everything and Lori and I went to the restaurant on site for supper. Shortly after, it was bed time. The Condo is laid out with two levels. The beds are upstairs. There is a spiral staircase to get to the upstairs. This was extremely hard for Lori to navigate. Her heart was racing by the time she got to the top.

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Sunday we went to Lori’s Uncle Ken (Bobo) and Aunt Kitten’s house in Tennessee. Our directions said it would take about two hours . . . so we gave ourselves three. On the way there we stopped “Birthplace of Davey Crockett.” Not much to see, but it was kinda cool. There was a nice park there with a real nice picnic area right next to a river. It also had a camp ground. Maybe someday we will return.

We arrived at Lori’s uncles around 12:15. Her cousin Kenneth, his wife and their youngest daughter were there to say hi. After a quick visit with them they left. We then had lunch with Lori’s aunt & uncle. Lunch was served out on their sunroom. We watched the birds eat while we ate. It is a very relaxing. They have a lovely home. It was a real nice visit.

Lori also got to talk to two of her other cousins on the phone while we were there. One of them, Michelle, was best friends with Lori while she was growing up. Lori said it was like they never skipped a beat in rekindling their friendship. They exchanged email and phone numbers. It really meant a lot to Lori to have that contact made once again.

Lori’s Aunt Kitten really fixed us up with leftovers. She gave us a whole cooler full of food to take back with us. She even gave us the cooler. Tonight we’re going to have pork chops, a slab of baby back ribs (the ribs were already cooked), corn bread, peas, and some fresh strawberries and grapes for dinner. All I had to get were the peas. I know it will be delicious.

Lori got a chance to visit with both her aunt and uncle together and individually. It was really good for her to talk to them. She has always felt very close to both of them and talks about them quite often. They really seem to understand what Lori goes through. This was good for Lori since so many of the people we know just don’t seem to get it. One of the things her aunt said was, Lori and she had a lot of the same things going on, but Lori was much too young to have to go through what she deals with every day. Lori was touched. Her uncle said something that got to me as well. He told me that reading this blog has given him a better understanding of what his mother went through on a daily basis. For those of you that did not know it Lori’s Paternal Grandmother had lupus too. It was a factor in her passing years ago.

It was a good day for all of us. We left around 4:00. Aunt Kitten could see the energy leaving Lori as the afternoon went on. She described it as wilting. It was a great description that I’m sure I will use again. I know she was as tired as Lori was. I hope she didn’t over do it entertaining us. Thanks again Uncle Ken and Aunt Kitten. You really made the visit special for both of us.

The trip back to the condo seemed very short. When we got back to the mountain we found a little park with a whole bunch of ducks and some geese. We parked and sat there for about a half hour watching the ducks chase each other. It was a great ending to a great day. After a nice dinner we called it a night.

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Today we went to Blowing Rock. It is such a quaint little town. A lot of the areas have changed here since our last visit but this one seems to have stayed the same. I pushed her around the shops on Main Street and we called it a day. We never made it to the “Rock” so we decided to come back later in the week. Lori was really tired so we headed back to the condo so she could rest.

Lori’s waking up. It’s time to cook dinner. We’ll be staying in tonight.

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It’s Thursday evening. Lori’s sleeping so while I have a chance I’ll recap as much as I can of the week so far.

Tuesday morning we changed rooms. The split level condo was just too much for Lori. We moved into a one room suite. No stairs. It is much nicer for us. The room is on the front of the building so our view is actually much nicer. We decided to not do anything on Tuesday at all. We stayed in the room and finished watching 24 season three on DVD. We did drive off the mountain to get some dinner.

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Wednesday was our big day. After an early breakfast at “Fred’s Mercantile” we headed to Grandfather Mountain. We spent about 4 ½ hours there. It was going to be a tough day for Lori based on the stairs we had to climb at the top of the mountain to get to the swinging bridge. It was beautiful and Lori said it was worth the climb.

After the swinging bridge we headed down the mountain to the animal habitats. They have 7 bear, including 1 10 month old cub. We sat and watched them for a long time. It was pretty rough pushing Lori around in her chair up and down the paths but there was no way she could walk it.

We had lunch at the snack bar and sat and watched the birds for about an hour. They had about 9 different feeders with an assortment of seed in each one. It was really cool and attracted a lot of birds (and squirrels of course). After lunch we went back for another visit with the bears and deer. Around 1:00 we were on the road. Next stop, Linville Falls.

Lori slept in the car on the way to the falls. When we got there, there was nothing we could do with the wheel chair. The sign said it was a 4/10 of a mile walk to the falls. Lori said let’s go. After some “discussion” we headed down the trail toward the falls. Going there wasn’t bad. It was mostly downhill. Coming back would be another story.

When we got to the falls I fell flat on my face. Banged up my knee pretty good. I was so worried about Lori I wasn’t watching where I was going. Fell right on to a 1.5 million year old rock face. OUCH! After I brushed off and got the bleeding to stop a bit we were able to enjoy the falls. Absolutely gorgeous. We were not able to get to the spot to view the bottom of the falls due to the long walk involved, but what we saw was worth it. We sat for about a half hour and enjoyed the view. Then we started the hike back up the trail.

The 4/10 of a mile took over 45 minutes to walk back to the car. When Lori finally made it she said her legs were numb. Her heart was beating so fast you could hardly read it. I felt really bad. I know she did the walk for me, so I could go to the falls. She really shouldn’t have done it. I know she is really paying for it today, and she will tomorrow and the next day as well.

We came back to the room and she took a nap before we went to dinner. We just went to the pizza place just up the street. She looked so tired. She perked up a bit after we ate so we went for a drive down the “other” side of the mountain. Almost at the bottom we saw three deer on the side of the road. It was quite a sight. We we’re both very glad we took the drive.

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Today, Thursday, we went back to Blowing Rock. More shopping (browsing is more like it). After lunch we headed to the actual Blowing Rock Park. They told us it was a 1200 ft walk with stairs involved. No rock for us! It was not worth it. Lori said I could go alone and she would wait . . . what fun is that! We headed out of town and jumped on the Blue Ridge Parkway.

The Parkway was really nice. We pulled over at a couple of the parks and sat. It was so much fun we decided to check out of the condo a day early and drive to Ashville via the Blue Ridge Parkway.

Tonight we will pack up and get out early tomorrow. It is going to be a really enjoyable ride. I can’t wait.

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Friday Evening Update:

Well, things didn’t go quite as planned. But we’re used to that. Last night Lori never really woke up. She got out of bed for dinner, but went right back to bed afterward. Needless to say we didn’t get packed up last night. I packed up as much as I could without waking up Lori.

About 3:00 am I woke up and saw Lori sitting on the couch. She had just taken some medicine. She said she had a migraine. It was pretty warm in the room, that didn’t help. She drank a bunch of water with her meds and went back to bed. I turned the alarm off so she wouldn’t wake up early. We decided then that whenever we got up and got packed would be good enough.

Lori woke up around 8:00. Her migraine was gone but she still had the foggy head. We went “Fred’s” for breakfast and came back to the room. Lori was too wiped out to do anything so she went back to sleep while I packed the car. Around 11:00 we had checked out and were on the road. Lori was feeling a bit better but her hips were really hurting her.

The trip from Ashville to Banner Elk took just under 2 hours last week. Today the trip back to Ashville from Banner Elk took 6 hours. The trip down the Blue Ridge Parkway was really stunning. We stopped at almost every overlook and / or picnic area. We both really enjoyed it.

We arrived in Ashville right at 5:00 this evening and got a room at the Holiday Inn Express. AIR CONDITIONING, WIRELESS INTERNET, AND AN AVAILABLE CELL FOR OUR CELL PHONE. It was like being back in civilization. We planned on going out for dinner but decided to just stay in instead. Lori took a bath and fell asleep almost right away. Tomorrow we’re going to play it by ear. I have the alarm set, but we may just sleep through it. Again we’re in no real rush to do anything. If we get going early enough we’ll finish the Parkway. I believe it ends near Cherokee. If we don’t get going early we’ll just go the direct route to Tim’s. We’re supposed to be there around 3:00, it’s 2 hours away. I think we can make it.

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Sunday Night Update:

On Saturday we didn’t make it to Tim’s house by three. It was closer to 4:00. We really took our time getting there from Ashville. The Blue Ridge Parkway was really nice. I am so glad we took the trip.

Nancie was still working when we arrived. So I grabbed my drawings from Tim and we decided to head to Nancie’s new office to say goodbye. Once there we started talking and next thing you know it was 8:00 and we were finishing dinner. We said our goodbyes and started home.

Lori was pretty uncomfortable in the car. We wanted to go as far as we could. I talked to Ricky earlier on the phone and he wanted Lori and me to be home to watch the Buccaneer’s Football game with them Sunday at 1:00. That meant we had to get to at least Tifton on Saturday night. We pulled in to Tifton around midnight. Lori stretched out and went right back to sleep (she had been sleeping in the car for quite some time). 7:30 in the morning we were on the road again. We got home today right around 1:00 pm. As great as vacation was it was really good to be home.

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The previous week was really rough on Lori. She really over did it. There are so many things we do that you take for granted that Lori is not able to do at this time. She really tried hard so “we” could do things while we were on the road. Hopefully she will be able to do some of those things someday and we can go back. We are already planning our return trip. We’re going to do it on a Honda Goldwing Motorcycle. It’s got to be a purple one though.

We talked on the last leg of our trip about how we are rejuvenated again. It has really been a rough year and a half for both of us. So many Doctors and so many obstacles we have overcome. Hopefully the next year will be better. If not, together we are stronger from everything we have been through and we will get through it together.

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Oh yeah, when we got home there was a letter from Social Security. Lori was denied her disability claim. Our first hurdle is already here. Maybe the adjuster should have read this blog.