February 15th – February 25th – Visiting Kelley and Casey and other friends and family in North Carolina
I spent several nights in Knoxville TN, one extra night because I wasn’t feeling well. Then I proceeded to Lenoir NC on Saturday Feb 17th so I could park my trailer at Joan’s house (Casey’s step-mom). We had a nice visit and went out to dinner. Sunday I headed back to Asheville and went to Kelley and Casey’s house. They bought it last summer, after only seeing photos, of it and have done a lot of finishing and upgrades. It’s looking great. Their big project while I was there was creating stone pathways in front and behind the house.
Busy day on Sunday. We drove to Black Mountain a little NE from Asheville. Kelley and Casey were running, so I walked around town. Casey’s mom Vicki arrived and joined me. Then we all met up and went to a pub in Black Mountain for lunch. Kelley has been training for a 55K race (34.5 miles!) on March 23rd and ran 15 miles on Saturday, 10 miles on Sunday. Casey runs with her when he can. We went back to their house and later Joan arrived and we all went out to dinner. So nice to see their new house and reconnect with Casey’s relatives! On Monday, Kelley’s last day off for awhile, she and I went to the Folk Art Center. She hiked 6 miles and I walked easier trails. The rest of the week Kelley worked 3 12-hour shifts with one day off and Casey was busy with his job (working at REI) and studying to enter nursing school (classes, tests, clinical experience, etc.).
So I headed east to Clemmons to visit Danny and Julie Gilbreath, who have lived on Lopez for at least 8 years and have become very good friends. Danny’s daughter, grandchildren, and great grand children all live near there so I understand why they want to spend more time there. Noah (grandson) and his wife Teya and their daughter Cora all live with Danny and Julie, they have the upstairs to themselves. I got to stay in the basement apartment. They have 4 dogs (2 standard poodles and 2 small dogs), so I took them all for walks when I could. Sunna used to go to their house on Lopez when I needed a dog sitter. Yes, I miss her a lot but it was wonderful to hang out with family, friends and dogs!
On Thursday Feb. 22st, I met one of my college roommates, Robin Lane who now lives in Greensboro, in Winston-Salem. We had lunch at Mozelle’s restaurant, and then we went to Reynolda Gardens. We picked that so we could have more time to chat even though almost nothing was blooming yet! I saw her and her husband in 2016 when I was in NC for Casey’s brother Chris’s wedding. It’s amazing that we’re still connected and we had a great time together, never ran out of things to talk about. After Robin left, I did some more exploring in W-S: college campus, old cemetery, downtown buildings. On Friday, I went back to Asheville, Casey and I met Kelley at a Thai restaurant in Black Mountain for dinner. After 2 12-hour days, she was exhausted.
Kelley’s weekends are geared around her running/training and Casey works weekends. When they were busy, I did what I could to explore Asheville. My first adventure was the French Broad River and Artist District.
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