(Usual) Keith and I drove down on Thursday and got ready for the rest of the family. He trimmed the yard, serviced the hot tub, and I cooked. Jeff arrived on Friday afternoon and we walked the Gatlinburg Trail after dinner.
(Unusual) This Memorial Day marks our four year anniversary as mountain home owners. During those four years we've seen bears, rabbits, groundhogs, turkeys, dogs, and spiders on our property, but never have we seen a bobcat until this weekend. I was standing at the sink, looking out the window when, out of the corner of my eye, I saw this animal walking behind Jeff's car. I thought it was a dog, but when it finally came into view I realized it was a cat - no! It's a wild cat! It's a bobcat and its walking across my driveway! I yelled for the guys and they saw it too, but none of us was quick enough to get a photo. You'll just have to take our word for it. Maybe he'll come visit again. We'll definitely be on the lookout!
(Usual) On Saturday we headed for the trail. We decided to go check out Chasteen Creek Cascades. It is near the Oconaluftee Visitors Center near Cherokee, NC. It's a horse trail so you know what that means! But that's okay because butterflies love horse manure so hiking the trail was like being in a butterfly garden. (Unusual) There were dozens of huge butterflies swarming. It was magical!
An added bonus- the laurel were blooming.
Our hike was relatively easy so we made it to the cascade pretty quickly. It was a great place to rest, have a snack and enjoy the peace and quiet.
I wish you could see the cascades live and in person because (usual) none of our photos does it justice!
We hiked back and headed to the Oconaluftee Visitors Center for (usual) a picnic.
We always eat out on Saturday night but instead of picking one of our usual haunts we chose a new (unusual) restaurant. We ate at The Alamo Steak House. It wasn't The Peddler, but it was okay. It was nice to eat outside on their patio.
(Usual) On Sunday Keith and Jeff hiked while I cooked for the holiday. Since the kids would be leaving on Monday, we had our big cookout on Sunday. They went to Metcalf Bottoms and hiked to the Little Greenbrier Schoolhouse and the Walker Sisters Cabin. They met a "student" at the school who didn't realize that school's out for summer!
He was hiding under the desk! He's harmless but it's still a startling experience to walk right up to him.
After their hike we all congregated on the lower deck to watch soccer. (We've become Orlando City soccer fans ever since we saw them back in January!)
We had our (usual) Sunday afternoon cookout of sliders, potatoes, fruit, corn on the cob, and red, white, and blue fruit pizza. What's unusual is the fact that I forgot to stop and take pictures! This is all I got.
(Unusual) instead of hiking or laying around the house or sightseeing, we spent our Memorial Day shopping at the outlets. We had a pretty good morning since there were some good sales (ladies, 70% off at Vera Bradley and Gap!!) and Jenny had Gap gift cards and I had Columbia rewards points. We all left carrying bags. We had lunch at (usual) The Chop House and then the kids headed home.
Keith and I stayed over a couple of days to get some things done. He had a guy come to trim and cut trees. Our (usual) view on the back has broadened and is once again quite magnificent!
Keith is always diligent about keeping the undergrowth away from the house (in case of forest fire) and was getting concerned about some trees in the side yard that were close to the house. So the man with the chainsaw came through and did a job on them. We now have a "yard" instead of our (usual) view of the woods!
Keith just created more space to trim. (That's gonna take some getting used to!)
Thus ends our usual/unusual holiday.
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