Sunday, October 26

So lovely to be on vacation and have no alarm clock going off to wake you up, therefore being able to sleep in.  I LOVE that!!  Sleep in, we did, then, as Kathi and I have been known to do because we are such nerds, we both get on our computers almost immediately and start checking e-mails and browsing the internet and whatever other mindless activities one gets up to on one's computer on a lazy morning, while drinking coffee and smelling the bacon that one of us put in the oven a bit earlier.  Life is good!!

The sisters come over from their cabin after a bit to visit with us before they hit the road back to Raleigh.  Then Kathi and I shower and get ready to spend the day doing some shopping in downtown Asheville.  (Have I mentioned the weather? The weather is, once again, amazing.  We have had 70 degree, sunny days so far.  Much warmer than I was expecting!) Asheville is a cute little town with a thriving art colony, lots of nice restaurants, art galleries and quirky, one of a kind clothing shops as well as bars and brewpubs.  It is exactly the kind of small town that Kathi and I love to visit and explore.  We browsed all kinds of interesting places, beginning with a old-fashioned mercantile store that had everything from candy and greeting cards to the latest high tech outdoor footwear and camping gear, to an old Woolworth's store that still had its soda fountain up and running with pictures from the 1960 Greensboro, NC lunch counter sit-ins held to end racial segregation at Woolworth's lunch counters and their counterparts throughout the country. Kathi and I each ordered a milkshake and sat down together at a table to enjoy them and realized that we were able to do this because of those brave folks back in 1960 who dared to stand up (or sit down, in this case) against the establishment and insist on doing away with segregation.

This Woolworth's store was no longer operating as a Woolworth's, but held booths of local artists' work.  Paintings, handmade bound books, jewelry and photographs.  Our favorite display here was of photographs taken in abandoned places.  Haunting and spooky, yet beautiful.  Unfortunately, I did not write down the photographer's name, but they were truly amazing photographs.

Just outside of the Woolworth's was a guy spray-painted all in while standing atop a pedestal with a black and while electric guitar strapped on.  (You can see him in the background of the photo at the top of this post).  He stood statue-still until someone dropped some money in one of his money boxes, then he would begin to play the guitar, and sometimes sing, sometimes not, for a few minutes before resuming his statue-like pose.  He was really quite good and seemed to be playing more than standing still, so I am assuming he made a decent amount of money by the end of the day.

Kathi and I continued to wander around downtown and we each found something we like enough to buy (Kathi, a skirt and a top for me), as well as eating lunch at Salsa's,  a small restaurant that served up Mexican and Caribbean food.  We shared a butternut squash and carrot enchilada dish that came with rice and beans that was quite delicious, although a little spicy for Kathi's taste.  Kathi had also been on the hunt today for some orange earrings to take the place of a pair that she had lost at home.  Once again, success was hers!!

Since it was Sunday, the shops closed up at 5 pm, so we headed back to the cabin for an evening in.  I made dinner (baked chicken coated in a delicious rub, pasta with a garlic & lemon juice "sauce" and broccoli) while Kathi worked on some home work.  After eating and cleaning up, I sat down to load pictures onto the computer and work a bit on this blog.  Kathi had plans to work late into the night on her homework, but after dinner and a glass of wine became sleepy and was in bed and snoozing by 10pm. I did manage to stay up until about 12:30 working on the blog before turning in.  Just as I was about to drop off into sleep, however, I was startled back to full wakefulness by a knocking sound.  I laid in bed and listened for a while trying to figure out what it could be.  It wasn't anyone knocking on the door to the cabin.  Of this I was certain, because the cabin is very small and is basically one room, with the door being at the foot of the bed.  So, what the heck is this sound??  I get up and wander around the room in an attempt to try to see if maybe someone is knocking on one of the outside walls of the cabin. At this point, Kathi has been awakened by the sound, too and asks "what the heck is that noise?"  Now that Kathi is awake, I open the front door and we both come to the realization that this rhythmic, knocking sound is coming from the cabin next door, which is, maybe, 15 feet away from our cabin.  The cabin where we had seen a young couple sitting out on their front porch earlier in the evening.  Kathi and I look at each other and burst out laughing as we both come to the same conclusion at the same time.  We are pretty sure we had figured out what was "up" as well as what the source of the knocking was.  It wasn't too long before all was quiet again and we both fell asleep.

Tomorrow, we hike.