Leaving North Carolina

We are packing away and will be leaving North Carolina in the morning. It's been a very eventful trip out here. Some how we managed to squeeze a lot out of 3 months. Feelings of sadness have not sunk in as of yet, however I was starting to feel some anxiety tonight. I think it mostly had to do with the fact that we didn't start packing til almost 9pm, but its coming along smoothly. Coming out here, we managed to fit everything in the car and on the roof, but we are coming back with a trailer. One reason being we have more things now, but we are also picking Nick's mom up in Arkansas and taking her back to Wichita with us. She hasn't been back in years so we are happy to help her get back.

Alright. So Goodbye Asheville! I love you. You really are an awesome place and I did good picking you. *tears

Everyone else... I'm comin' home. Have a great Thanksgiving and I'll see you soon.

ps. on the landlords website here ---> http://www.foxandfiddle.net/apartment/
the pictures were taken without our knowledge after we first moved in. Our stuff is even in the pictures.

Last weekend in Asheville

happy monday.

i had a good final weekend here in Asheville. we are leaving bright and early on thanksgiving day and should be back in kansas by friday night. i'll be in kansas for most of dec and then will head west. not 100% sure where we'll be after that, its still up in the air, but tahoe or colorado are the most likely possibilities. livin in the moment for now i guess.

sooooo.... friday i spent the day thrift shopping. i hadnt been in quite awhile. actually i hadnt had a day out of the house by myself in, well... hmmm i cant remember when. weeks atleast. any who. it was fun and i found lots of inspiration, especially from old books. love the colors and illustrations.





Saturday we went for a bike ride at bent creek. probably our last one :( . weather was beautiful. the trees were bare but oh so lovely.


we went on some new trails that i was nervous about previously because they are marked at medium difficulty and ive found that even easy trails can be hard so medium to me might be impossible. but they werent. they were really fun. it had been raining a few days prior so there were some muddy ruts but we charged through them. (ok so we took it pretty slow. no reason to be drenched unnecessarily, but a little mud is ok. fun even.

showing off a little mud on my shin.

i did, however, have a little mishap. the path had narrowed and was rooted so the margin of error was small. my tire caught a log that was poking out into the path and i went down. my knee hit the log and got pinned between it and the bike. nick was no where in site. he tends to ride faster therefore typically leads. i sat on the ground for a moment after kicking the bike off me with my free leg and admittedly started to cry. thoughts of "oh be tough and shake it off" went through my head and i got up. my knee hurt pretty bad but i was able to stand on it and knew i was ok. i literally "shook it off" and got back on my bike and finished the ride. it got iced when i got home because a couple welts had formed. it was really stiff yesterday but getting better. just some bruises now.

Yesterday, we were invited over to the farm house for games and music. there were a lot of people over there. we played all sorts of games. anyone ever heard of Birdy on a Perch? some cool chick declared us partners and nick had some boy as his. you roam around like musical chairs til the music stops and then the birdy has to get on his/her perch. i think there are some pretty funny pictures out there. later there was a jam session in the foyer. it was really fun. and some great people, too.

pizza and a movie

Asheville Pizza and Brewing Co is the bomb! Seriously, if you travel here, you should put it on your things to do list. It is of course a place to get pizza and beer. BUT they also have a fun theater that shows fairly recent movies for only $3 and really yummy pizza. check out their menu. We ate one of the gourmet pizzas and added a couple toppings. It was on Sesame seed crust with pesto, portobello mushrooms, spinach, pineapple, (i think they forgot the walnuts it was suppose to come with), and gorgonzola cheese. Yu-um! We got there supper early to get a good seat and we did (unlike our first attempt a month or so ago). We played cards while we waited for the movie to start.

so this is the restaurant part.

he he. they have those wacky mirrors that i use to play with as a child at carousel skating rink.

inside the bathroom.


yep. that's the toilet. aahhh, Matthew McConaughey was watching over me.

tickets

inside the theator

ordering pizza. they just yell out your name when its ready. even during the movie. it's pretty laid back, but not really all that destracting from the movie.

we saw "500 days of Summer". it was a good one.

catch up

im gonna play a little catch up on photos. i snatched these from nick's camera. most if not all were taken by him. alright. here are a few more pics from nyc.

parking is a BE- ach!

reading "the ugly duckling"

so many parks. i cant remember which one this is. one of the few pics of us together (that we didnt take)

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the road to our house/barn... more hot air balloons

goofin' around! what i do best

copy cat! he he

on a bike ride (same as the one above) around this pretty (and private) lake. probably my favorite "trail" out here, but we can't likely go back. :(

these two are from one of his many bike rides alone

this was a monumental day for me. not such a good pic but it's a reminder of what i can accomplish. we were on one of the many trails at Bent Creek, this one we had taken only once before. see, i typically don't take too many risks. period. ive been taking more risks lately in life, sometimes still in baby steps. i typically dont jump curbs even when it leaves me hopping off my bike in the middle of the street. but.... on this day, everything just lined up. i was flying down the trail behind nick (as i usually do follow him, maybe less pressure. not sure). i had just shortly before rode over (and through) a half eroded log that lay across the road. nothing too impressive, or anything i hadnt done before. but it was kind of a building up to this next step. so i was having a good time, mastered (ha ha) the "half log", had some speed built up coming down the decline, see another log (full/solid this time), think "am i gonna try it", see nick clear it, see 2 bikes heading towards us on the other side.... have only a sec to decide... do i brake really fast, jump off my bike and pull it over the log while (since the trails are narrow) the others wait and watch me... or ... do i go for it and try to clear the log, hoping i dont really make a fool of my self and get hurt in the process with this lovely audience. well, nick stopped to get over for the other bikers and is now also half watching me (he probably didnt think i was going to do it) but I DID! i came flying down, hopped over the log, caught a little air, felt the rush, realized i better keep control of the bike on the landing, hollard "shit!" and landed perfectly! very exciting. ... (if you look closely, i already had some small bruises on my shin where the petal got me in the air, but i got my foot back on it before landing, thank goodness). ill take the bruises! it was worth it!

so i frowned upon picture taking during this endeavor, but since its so far away... its ok. this was taken a couple weeks ago on our 2nd backpacking trip. we didnt realize the river we had to cross was soooo high. i pulled my pant legs up as high as i could, but unfortunately my arse still got wet. (and then it rained the rest of the trip. fun times)

good pic. taken before trying the 'aweful'...strong martini and being shut down on our card game. according to the bartender, it is illegal to play cards in an establishment that sells liquor. weird! i did a little researching and was unable to find any proof of such a law. (we continue to play cards in other bars.)

havin' fun

belaying in my nifty new helmet. safety first :)

the Devil Makes Three

we just got back from another concert. the Devil Makes Three. I know a slew of people that would have loved to have gone to this concert. they remind me of Split Lip in some aspects. definitely the same sort of crowd and fun sing-a-long songs and dancing. If you haven't heard of them, check them out!

Back Packing in the Pisgah National Forest

I went back packing for the very first time this weekend. It was beautiful. There are still lots of fall colors and the weather was perfect. I am still kicking myself for not remembering to put my memory card back into my camera (was still in my computer from my nyc post), so :( no pictures. I made sure to stop and look up and around, taking it all in so I can hopefully remember.

Friday, we went to a second chance gear shop and got some appropriate light weight clothing and a map. Then to Rei for my first back pack, thermorest, some dehydrated food, etc. Picking a back pack took forever. We were there 3 hrs! I ended up with a mens pack because it fit the best and the womens version was out of stock.

Saturday we drove to the spot (the Fish Hatchery in the Pisgah National Forest) where we parked and started our hike...oh probably about 1:30pm. It was originally suppose to rain, but not a sprinkle in sight... just the bluest sky you've ever seen. All the colors yellow, orange, red, green, over the blue sky background was just so beautiful. Maybe around 5 we found a really neat spot to camp. (We didn't bring a watch, phone etc so the rest of the trip we were just guessing on time.) It was right next to a stream and had an established fire ring. I LOVE camp fires. I love building them. I love the stoking/maintaining them, I love the warmth, and even love the smell of them. Ok, a little ahead of myself. After we found our spot we stashed our packs there and decided to do a little more exploring. We found a larger camping area not too far from us that had a father and son there. They invited us to stay, but we choose to be secluded instead. Their spot was really pretty, though, the trees were really tall and some spots opened up, letting in the sunshine. There were some big bolders and it all butted up against Cedar Rock Mountain (a very round, bare rock surface). Well, we had ample time to gather wood, pick a tree for the bear bag, set up the tent, build a fire, eat are pretty tasty dehydrated meal (vege lasagna) and cornbread, plus dehydrated dessert (berry cobbler), and enjoy the sounds of the crackling fire and running spring before bed. Sleeping. hmmm well. Not so bad. I slept in a mummy bag for the first time. A tad claustrophobic at first. I was warm though. (even though I had a dream I was in Alaska). Then there was the mental trip of "not falling off my raft (thermorest)" as I slept. Needless to say, I was up and out of the tent when the sun came up.

Sunday morning, we resurrected the fire, ate breakfast, packed up, and hung out til the fire died. We thought it was about 11:30 when we headed out. We went out a different way we came. I prefer loops. It's always more fun to see something new the whole way through the hike. We finished on a popular downhill mountain biking trail that criss crossed over rivers making it muddy and rutted in parts. We also got to see some amazing waterfalls. On most of them, we dropped our packs and climbed down to see them. Got our feet wet and all. This was the first one we saw. This one was nice, but I can't find a good, let alone fall, picture of it. And this last one was fun because we climbed down the mossy rocks you see here on the right. Then we jumped our way over to the rock here on the left.

Be sure to check out the links if you are itchin' for some pics. (if you click on the "amazing waterfalls" first, then all the links should work.)
Here is a view of Looking Glass Rock from a lookout we passed on our way to the Fish Hatchery. This is a view from the south side of Cedar Rock Mountain. Both of these were taken just over a week ago so the colors are pretty similar to now. This guy has some nice pictures.

Me after returning home from my first back packing trip. Nick said I was a real trooper :)

Random bike rides

These pics are from multiple bike rides we have taken over the last few weeks. Some are taken in or around the area Arboretum.

new helmet

................ leaving for NYC today!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! woohoo!!!