Well the morning started out much the usual except I rolled over and slept in until nearly 7 o'clock with isn't the norm for me. After the other usual routines of a few quiet moments and the posting of this ramble we had a mountain breakfast of soft boiled farm raised eggs in a bowl of grits and of course I diced up a jalapeno pepper and a small tomato with a splash of Crystal hot sauce for flavor, yeow was that ever a wake up for the gastric juices. We decided since we slept in to not try and make the 10 AM showing at the Mathews Farm but do some visiting before the 3 PM show. So I loaded up the propane tanks, the gas tanks and the garbage for dumping and we took off to meet at Kimberly's place to return the teething ring.
On the way we noticed someone outside the B&B which is just off the parkway at Hare Pond so I pulled in an introduced myself as being from Florida as we knew or heard they were from there as well. It turns out they are in south eastern Florida where they own a couple huge catamarans and rent cruises on them to the Bahamas. Scott invited us in to see the now no longer B&B and unique huge house built in the 1800's. Of course it's been renovated with now 4 bathrooms and 5 bedrooms with a parlor pool table and a separate room with a bar and lounge. The place is huge and they tried to keep as much of the original structure as possible. We chatted with Scott and his wife Cara for nearly an hour as they showed us around and we made plans to get together some time in October before we all go back to Florida for the winter. Sorry we didn't take any pictures but will next time as the house is awesome. Scott and I had a lot in common as he too served in the Army and was a local police officer before becoming medically retired after a severe leg injury while chasing a suspect on foot. We hit it right off as he showed me around the place.
We next stopped at Kimberly's for just a few minutes before stopping to see our dear friend who just recently lost her husband. She invites us every Sunday to stop by when we are out in her area of the county so we did. We sat on the porch an visited for nearly an hour as well. She showed us the house where she grew up as a young girl on the farm which is just across the road. She and Clayton came back to Alleghany County after marrying and started a dairy business where they milked 3 times a day for nearly 40 years until his health became to bad to carry on. They were both involved in the church and the community and we instantly took to them at Cornerstone. She gave us some ripe tomatoes which she doesn't eat but grew them for Clayton as well as a couple green ones which we fixed for supper when we got back to the cabin. We had fried rainbow trout that I caught from a local lake along with fried green tomatoes and they were excellent for supper.
After leaving Betty's we headed into the Galax area and stopped off at the Mathews Farm where a regiment from Kentucky was bivouaced reenacting the daily life of a Confederate soldier in 1861 in full regalia. The farm had old time music, sewing, blacksmith and even the type of photography from that era. It was as real as it got with the mismatch uniforms and weaponry. The women folk were in period dress as well as their kids and grand kids. The local women's auxiliary for the fire department had home cooked Brunswick stew, pinto beans, cornbread and slaw for sale so we ate lunch there as well. We mingled with the soldiers and I mentioned I was in Viet Nam and a couple of them came by and we chatted about the where we were and what we did and one fellow in particular was well aware of the C-141 aircraft that I was a loadmaster assigned on as he was with the air freight section in Saigon at Tan Son Nhut AFB. We had a nice chat and several others came by and then one in particular learned I was from the Winchester area of Va. and all of his people the Allamongs were originally from there as well. What a small world and Nancy just rolled her eyes as I usually find someone or something to have in common with folks wherever we go. I just love meeting and getting to know folks wherever.
We stopped and filled up both all three propane tanks as well as the gas can. It was down to 1.98 a gallon, yeow that is the first for under two bucks in awhile. Unbeknownst to us our old friends the Hampton's saw us gassing up and then followed us to the Lowes parking lot where they pulled in behind us. We haven't had a chance to visit them this summer so we had a small reunion in the parking lot. Nancy heard me speaking with someone as she got out of the truck and thought who has he(me) saw that he knows now. What a laugh we had and a good visit. Walt is till having health issues but seemed able to get about with ease except for his breathing and Theia looked great and was her usual self. After hugs and promised to call them in October when we get back from out West we shopped for a few items then headed home. It was going on 6'ish so we started supper which was excellent. After the cleanup we walked around in the yards until dusk started to settle then headed in where I had 2 football games in progress, LATER
