Well Thursday was a travel day from the beautiful Shenandoah Valley which needs as much or more rain than we do here in the mountains. Just an update as I write this post I hear the soft rain on the tin roof and fog has the cabin shrouded. We traveled up the valley on Monday then to Pennsylvania on Tuesday back to the valley on Wednesday and now back here on Thursday. I'm traveled out for awhile but we leave Monday for Florida. I'm basically a home body but you would never know that by our itinerary these last four days and then again for the first of the week.
We left sister Dee's beautiful place in Woodstock around 9'ish and headed south on I-81. The temps had dropped a little over night and the heavy dew looked as if it had rained overnight. We fed Bonnie their pet Jack Russell and loaded up the truck after a lite breakfast. Both Mike and Dee were away from the house in the wee hours of the morning as she had a flight out to their daughter place in New Mexico. The trip down the valley showed lots of corn fields that were just burnt up from the heat and lack of rain. I'm sure the vineyards love this weather which have now become prevalent through out the valley. We made a couple stops to walk every hour and half at the rest stops along the way and there is no shortage of travelers on the highways. The big trucks still dominate the interstate but in the mountains the roads have been improved to three lanes giving the trucks an extra lane while traveling at lower speeds. We were back in Galax a little after noon despite a construction slow down for about 20 minutes on I-77.
We stopped in Galax for haircut for me then headed over to Macadoo's for a delicious lunch and finally to gas up at $1.78 a gallon. That was the cheapest we saw on the trip in any state. We were back on the mountain around 3'ish and the temps had dropped nearly 10 degrees to a pleasant 74. We did see signs of some rain in the area while we were gone but the rain barrel didn't look any fuller. The gardens survived the lack of hand watering and ripe tomato's were hanging on the vine. I had picked the cucumbers very close before leaving and only found a couple ready to harvest. The recently planted half runner and October beans were climbing the fences so it looks as if they will produce while we are gone. Everything looked great as we had left it. The power must have been interrupted as the alarm clock was flashing. Neighbor George saw us as we came in the road and said he loss control of tree he had been sawing and it struck the power line. We saw a large truck from the power company in the road near his overhead electrical lines but we had power at the cabin.
Well we skipped supper after a large lunch except for some home made pop corn around 7'ish. We were both so tired from traveling we decided to skip the much needed hike to the top of the mountain. I did hand water all of the gardens and Zinnias in the circle drive. The rest of the flower beds are on their way out except for the fall daisies which should start blooming any day. We will start getting ready for our trip on Monday except for a fun day on Saturday at the Fall Festival in Sparta. The town closes down with street vendors. Lots of music, food and folks showing their wares.
Just an update on Nancy's Aunt Daryl we visited in Lancaster, Pa. There has been no change in her condition as of right now but she is resting comfortably. Paw Paw is doing much better and we spoke to him for a few minutes. I think he will be in the hospital for awhile as they have found some additional issues related to dehydration. His heart has return to normal functioning and he is getting some much needed rest and therapy on his knee and shoulder.
We tuned into the TNF after the Fox cable Channel and watched the first half of the game then Nancy preceded me to the sack. When that happens I know she is whipped. It was good to get back to the cabin and get a good nights rest however my internal alarm had me awake just after 6 this AM, LATER
