Asheville & SAFF 2006 - Part 1
So. I went off to the mountains of NC again, and never posted pictures. I don't think I even said much about the whole trip. And maybe, just a little bit, that's because some of it was rather traumatic. But for the most part, it was a wonderful trip, and I want to do it again next year. Just .. I want to rent a different .. nicer .. house. You know, one not off in the middle of freaking nowhere. Not that I disliked the waterfall in our backyard, but I think I prefer a paved road at least, and neighbors close enough to hear you scream .. just in case.
The trip started off with me and Brandon driving out early. Jason had to work till 6, and then had to pick Larissa up at the airport, and since it gets dark early, and we were driving in unfamiliar land, we figured we'd go early, pick up the keys, find the house and get settled before they arrived. Maybe even get food and such, and wood for the fireplace. You know, kinda make the house a home, if only for a few days.
So we drove. It wasn't a bad drive. We stopped at Sonic and saw a PT Cruiser painted in a Red Hat Lady theme .. purple and red, with beautiful line-art around the windows and such. (We have since seen the car again .. at Wal*Mart of all places!) Then we headed on, driving and singing and chatting, and sometimes being silent as we drove through the mountains more, enjoying the view of Autumn settling in through the countryside. We found the rental office with little trouble, though we did pass it and have to turn around, got the keys and directions, and headed on.
Now, I don't know about you, but when the directions mention 'old orchard on your right' and 'follow the gravel and keep taking rights' .. that should be a warning, right? I am not kidding you when I say that this place waves to the middle of nowhere on its way home. We actually took one wrong turn, and ended up almost driving up someone's driveway where we could see a bunch of dog outside, and a kid .. I kid you not .. in overalls sitting on an oil drum or something. Yeah. Creepy. Almost as creepy as the warning painted on the side of a crumbling outbuilding as we started towards the wrong turn that said 'Turn Back Noah'. Ummm .. yeah. But we escaped unscathed from that, and found the house. And I've got to say, on first blush, I was awed. A cozy little log cabin with a rushing stream and a small waterfall, surrounded by nothing but the forest in its Autumn splendor.
So we went inside, and started unpacking, and it hit me, just how small the place was. And how secluded. And I started to get a little freaked out. With Brandon downstairs, I collapsed on the bed and started to cry, but decided I was going to need a real sob-fest, and so I took my phone and my brand new camera, and went outside. And I sat in the middle of the stream on a rock (cos damn that water was icy!) and called Jason. And I cried. And I told him never ever again was I going to let him pick a house that was described as 'rustic' and 'cozy'. I admitted a big part of it was because he wasn't there. But I just felt small, and helpless, and it really bothered me. He did his best to reassure me .. as much as someone can on a cell phone - that had incredible signal for where we were, I might add - and I decided to go play with my camera. And play I did. I probably took 300 photos just in that time. I explored up the 'road' a little bit .. the road which is nothing more than a pig-path at that point, and led off into the woods over a foot bridge and then to the stream where a bridge used to be but no longer is. It was getting dark though, and I knew it was about to get cold, so I headed back to the house.
I should note, the only heat in the house was one working baseboard heater, a space heater in the main room, and a fireplace. And there was very little wood for the fireplace. So I grabbed knitting, grabbed a blanket, and sat in the main room with Brandon. We watched Legally Blonde, and then My Cousin Vinny while we waited for Jason and Larissa. We had them go get groceries, since they could do it on the way and I wasn't sure anyone could find their way to the house in the dark. It was scary enough in the daytime! As they got closer, I talked them through the directions .. again, amazing signal for being in the middle of nowhere. I only got them lost once, and that was because the directions were confusing to me when I wasn't seeing the landmarks, but we got them to the house safely. We ate ... they brought us food the darlings! ... and hung out, and knitted and talked, and finally went to bed. We had to get up decently early to make it to SAFF the next day after all, and with only one bathroom, that was going to be interesting.
The trip started off with me and Brandon driving out early. Jason had to work till 6, and then had to pick Larissa up at the airport, and since it gets dark early, and we were driving in unfamiliar land, we figured we'd go early, pick up the keys, find the house and get settled before they arrived. Maybe even get food and such, and wood for the fireplace. You know, kinda make the house a home, if only for a few days.
So we drove. It wasn't a bad drive. We stopped at Sonic and saw a PT Cruiser painted in a Red Hat Lady theme .. purple and red, with beautiful line-art around the windows and such. (We have since seen the car again .. at Wal*Mart of all places!) Then we headed on, driving and singing and chatting, and sometimes being silent as we drove through the mountains more, enjoying the view of Autumn settling in through the countryside. We found the rental office with little trouble, though we did pass it and have to turn around, got the keys and directions, and headed on.
Now, I don't know about you, but when the directions mention 'old orchard on your right' and 'follow the gravel and keep taking rights' .. that should be a warning, right? I am not kidding you when I say that this place waves to the middle of nowhere on its way home. We actually took one wrong turn, and ended up almost driving up someone's driveway where we could see a bunch of dog outside, and a kid .. I kid you not .. in overalls sitting on an oil drum or something. Yeah. Creepy. Almost as creepy as the warning painted on the side of a crumbling outbuilding as we started towards the wrong turn that said 'Turn Back Noah'. Ummm .. yeah. But we escaped unscathed from that, and found the house. And I've got to say, on first blush, I was awed. A cozy little log cabin with a rushing stream and a small waterfall, surrounded by nothing but the forest in its Autumn splendor.
So we went inside, and started unpacking, and it hit me, just how small the place was. And how secluded. And I started to get a little freaked out. With Brandon downstairs, I collapsed on the bed and started to cry, but decided I was going to need a real sob-fest, and so I took my phone and my brand new camera, and went outside. And I sat in the middle of the stream on a rock (cos damn that water was icy!) and called Jason. And I cried. And I told him never ever again was I going to let him pick a house that was described as 'rustic' and 'cozy'. I admitted a big part of it was because he wasn't there. But I just felt small, and helpless, and it really bothered me. He did his best to reassure me .. as much as someone can on a cell phone - that had incredible signal for where we were, I might add - and I decided to go play with my camera. And play I did. I probably took 300 photos just in that time. I explored up the 'road' a little bit .. the road which is nothing more than a pig-path at that point, and led off into the woods over a foot bridge and then to the stream where a bridge used to be but no longer is. It was getting dark though, and I knew it was about to get cold, so I headed back to the house.
I should note, the only heat in the house was one working baseboard heater, a space heater in the main room, and a fireplace. And there was very little wood for the fireplace. So I grabbed knitting, grabbed a blanket, and sat in the main room with Brandon. We watched Legally Blonde, and then My Cousin Vinny while we waited for Jason and Larissa. We had them go get groceries, since they could do it on the way and I wasn't sure anyone could find their way to the house in the dark. It was scary enough in the daytime! As they got closer, I talked them through the directions .. again, amazing signal for being in the middle of nowhere. I only got them lost once, and that was because the directions were confusing to me when I wasn't seeing the landmarks, but we got them to the house safely. We ate ... they brought us food the darlings! ... and hung out, and knitted and talked, and finally went to bed. We had to get up decently early to make it to SAFF the next day after all, and with only one bathroom, that was going to be interesting.