Well Tuesday turned out to be one of summers most beautiful days which we are accustomed to here in the mountains, yikes was it ever nice with warm temps(enough to wear short pants), blue skies, bright sunshine, very little humidity and a gentle breeze. Wow was it ever a gorgeous day. We even got two loads of laundry outside on the line to dry. Our guests Jerry and Becky were leaving after lunch to head south to Tampa. We had an awesome time with them and they taught us a great new card game called Euchre. We had stayed up the night before playing until the wee hours of the morning and then once again after breakfast we played another hour or so.
Nancy made her famous buckwheat pancakes with a banana and fresh blueberries in the batter along with cackleberries(eggs) on top to start the gastric juices flowing. While our breakfast settled we got into another round of Euchre and played the best 2 out of 3 games with the guys once more prevailing with a win. We decided to take another hike to the top of the mountain and we learned from his neighbor Rex that Norm was still in the hospital in Elkin. He finally agreed he needed to be cared for by medical staff due to his health issues. We were thrilled to hear that news. We saw no one else as we hiked back down to the cabin.
We had a lite lunch of salad and left over pizza eaten outside on the picnic table. The ambiance was just fantastic with the birds singing in the sunshine, clothes drying on the line in the warm breeze and overhead blue skies. After eating they got ready and packed up for their return trip home. It was close to 2:30 before they pulled out and we once again went into the cleaning mode. We were to meet up with The Tracy's at their cabin on the other side of Sparta at 5'ish for supper along with Patrick's sister Meg and her husband Jim as well as with Sam and Marsha. I loaded up the corn toss boards and the Sequence game for before and after eating entertainment.
We had a marvelous visit with Patrick's family quests from Reno, Nevada and Kathryn put on a fantastic delicious spread that started with cheeses, dips and fresh veggies then we settled into a meal of chicken picatta with linguine and a layered salad and for dessert another homemade cheesecake with berries on top. Yikes everything was just delicious. We shared a little vino as well. The guys played a couple rounds of corn toss while the gals chatted up inside and then afterwards for the first time this year the guys won 3 games in a row to knock the gals out of the Sequence game. It was going on 9 and Meg and Jim had to be in Raleigh for a 9 AM flight back home so it was a 4AM wake up for them to make their flight.
We thoroughly enjoyed their company and of course Patrick and Kathryn are such complete and gracious hosts. We will visit Sam and Marsha's home for the first time on Thursday for a late lunch in Elk Creek, Va. along with Patrick and Kathryn. We then head out for northern Virginia for the week-end while The Tracy's make ready for their move back to Florida for the winter. We have made some great new friends this summer while in the mountains and it will be difficult to leave them and we ask ourselves where did the last 4 months go, LATER
