Catching Up On Our Rest

We are having some absolutely gorgeous spring weather this weekend.  A cold front pushed through and left clear blue skies with temperatures in the low 70s.  Can I say PERFECT?!!  It has been great to have the windows open instead of the AC running for a change.

We have spent our weekend relaxing.  We get up and do a chore occasionally so as not to feel too guilty about doing nothing.  Gene hosed down the Everest and the truck to get the pollen off.  He also changed the anode rod in the hot water heater.  I did a few light housekeeping chores.

Saturday morning we spent some time at Starbucks.  Haven’t done that in a while and really enjoyed it.  While in Maryville, we stopped by Hobby Lobby so I could pick up some yarn for the next baby afghan and then we went to Belks for a mini food processor.  I have been wanting one for a long time, but just didn’t feel like I had the space for a large kitchen appliance.  The little 3-cup Cuisinart was on sale so I managed to find enough room in the cabinet.  Wonder if I can find the space for a Kitchen-Aid Mixer.

We met our friends, Rich and Patti, for dinner and that made a perfect ending to a perfect day.

Today has been basically a repeat of yesterday--a lot of resting interspersed with a few chores.  We also had a SKYPE call with Ansley and Kayley.  That’s always fun.  Kayley is cutting teeth, so she had her mouth stuffed full of toy to chew on.  She is 6 months old today--getting to be a big girl.

We made a fantastic discovery Friday evening.  One of the reasons we are trying to hike so hard here in the Smokies is to prepare ourselves for a couple of really long hiking days on the AT in northern Virginia.  I think I mentioned a few months ago that we found a website which lists all the parking areas along the AT.  That was a great find for us, especially since we discovered that there are parking areas about every 12 miles in northern Virginia--the section we want to hike next--making it possible to day hike instead of backpack.  When we found that website, I immediately got out paper and pencil to make a tentative hiking plan.  It worked out well, with 8-12 mile hiking days, but there were 2 stretches that were longer--both over 15 miles.  So, we’ve been here in the Smokies working hard at climbing these mountains and hiking more and more miles to build up our strength and endurance for those couple of big days on the AT.  Friday, I got out the list of parking areas again to refresh my memory.  You can imagine my surprise (and excitement) when I realized I had missed a parking area on both of those long days.  Boy, what a relief.  Now we think we’re ready to head to Virginia.

We actually have a 15 mile day planned for tomorrow.  We’ll go ahead and do it just to be reminded of what it is like.  Besides, it is one of the trails I need to hike to color in on my “all of the trails in the Smokies” map.

That’s it for today.  Better get back to my resting.