Well Monday was another cold day that started somewhere in the 20's and never got out of the 40's despite plenty of sunshine. The clouds and breeze kept it chilly and the bare trees emphasized the winter like conditions. We are really going to miss our mountain friends but I'm getting ready for some warmer temps even if it calls for some a/c. The cabin is still cozy at 70 with the little gas heater but going outside in the cold air makes for adding extra clothing. The pesky bugs seemed to have disappeared so that makes it nice for hiking.
We slept in until 7'ish and despite it being an hour later it's nice to wake up with the daylight breaking. We have been staying up late due to football and Face Book. After our quiet times and a lite breakfast I headed down to the basement to put in some laundry and then eventually hung it on the clothesline. We then took a hike down the road to visit with neighbors Dan and Joyce who have their place up for sale. We noticed they were up and doing some mowing. Last week a strange truck came in our road and Gerald noticed it on his way out and alerted us to this strange vehicle; so I took off on the golf cart and spotted the truck at their place. Apparently they had tried to break into their storage shed and I just happened to pass by shortly after they had arrived. I passed by the drive several times looking down their driveway which must have scared them away as they left the area shortly afterwards. I think they must target places that have for sale signs out front as I spotted them shortly after Gerald alerted us by phone.
We headed back up the mountain along the back trail after our lengthy visit and then eventually called it our hike for the day. We saw lots of fresh deer signs along the way. We came back to the warm cabin and ate a lite lunch before getting ready to head out to Galax, then to Independence and finally to Sparta. We needed to dump trash, return some items at Wal-Mart and pickup a few things, then gas up before heading to Dr.K's office for Nancy's flu shot and then to Sparta to return some library books and pick up some Braggs apple cider vinegar from Katelyn who brought it with her from her store in Mt.Airy. It seems the health store in Sparta was out of the stuff and we could not find it anywhere in Galax. Nancy has found that mixing the vinegar(with mother) with unsweetened cranberry juice lessens her discomfort of gerd or acid reflex.
We were leaving Sparta and saw in one field along the highway at least 50 or more deer grazing like cattle and then in another field in town 4 large deer and one was a nice 4-6 point buck just about 100 feet or so from the highway in broad daylight grazing; yikes don't they know it's bow and arrow hunting season. We headed on out of town and got back to the cabin as darkness began setting in and the temps were dropping fast. It was down into the 30's as sunset occurred. I gathered the laundry off the line and they were ice cold so we let them set by the heater before folding them, yikes it's definitely time to head south.
We heated up the left over chili for supper which was awesome after sitting for a couple of days. Yeow did that ever hit the spot. After the cleanup we tuned into the Fox News channel and then I watched the last half of the Bears beating up on the Packers in a close game. It was late by the time we headed for those warm flannel sheets, LATER
