A Nine Day Adventure...Part Four: a relaxing day for just the two of us.

Andy and Ellie and the boys left the Love Shack on Tuesday morning after helping to tidy things up. We stayed a little longer to wash and dry the sheets and towels we had used. We had no idea how to thank our benefactors for allowing us the use of their home for three days, so I wrote them a thank you note and left it on the kitchen counter with a bottle of Rodeo Red, our favorite Ohio wine.

So, we said "good-bye" to the Love Shack, but before we drove the two hours to Andy's and Ellie's home in Rock Hill, SC, we spent some time at the home of Carl Sandburg in Flat Rock, NC near Hendersonville, which is a National Historic Site. Among other things Sandburg is known for, he was a Pulitzer prize winning biographer of Abraham Lincoln.

This photo was taken from quite a distance away, as the home is located on 30 acres and while only 1/3 mile up the road, has an elevation of 110 feet. And we walked it. Here are some of the views along the way:

We signed up for a tour, and while we waited we planned to walk around the grounds. That's when I saw THIS sign:

Thankfully, we didn't see any black bears, but we were surprised to see these:

We learned that Mrs. Sandburg, whose name was Lillian, raised champion dairy goats. Descendants of her prized herds live on the farm today. I really never knew there were so many breeds of goats! Some more of my favorite shots are these:

By the time we finished visiting the goats, we were ready for the house tour. I'm not sure what we were expecting, but we were pretty amazed at what we saw! Not only was every room in the house filled with hundreds of books, old typewriters, and magazines, things were on display pretty much as they were when the Sandburg's lived there, and everything was quite unpretentious...

The kitchen actually reminded us of our own childhoods!

The Sandburg's lived in this home from 1945 until 1967 when he died...and he wrote about a third of his works while living here. It was interesting.

After stopping in the gift shop, where I bought (what else?) a couple books, we left the Sandburg home and stopped to eat a late lunch, then headed to our real destination of this whole trip! Andy and Ellie would be leaving that night, and we would be on our own with the two boys for the next four days!

Next ~~ A very special time with two very special grandchildren!

(Note: Five Aspects of Woman Series in progress at my other blog, www.mistressofmydomain.blogspot.com Scroll back to Aug. 29 and read forward)

A Nine Day Adventure...Part Three: All play on Labor Day...

The main reason for this particular trip south was so that we could lend childcare for Deacon (4 1/2) and Owen (2 1/2) while our son and daughter-in-law went for a 4 day pastoral assessment in Greenville, NC, two hours from their home. On Monday, Andy really needed some time alone to do some preparations for it as they would be there from Wednesday through Saturday. So he took off for a local coffee shop, and Ellie and the rest of us went apple picking! Ellie knew of a place closeby called Skytop Orchard, which is literally at the top of a mountain!

Here are some of my favorite photos from that day:

I kid you not...this is the view we could see as we looked out across the apple orchard!

Granpda pulling the kids in the wagon as we head for the trees...

There were plenty apples within easy reach for the kids...this is Deacon...

I think Owen must have eaten three or four of them...

Deacon has no idea I caught him doing THIS!

Deacon snapped this picture of me!

It's so cute the way they were holding onto our loot while being pulled on the bumpy path...

I later turned some of these apples into a delicious pie!

The apple orchard also had a small barnyard for the kids to enjoy...

We caught up with Andy for a late lunch at this cute little place called Hubba Hubba in Flat Rock, NC, and had barbeque outside on a picnic table before returning to the Love Shack to do some relaxing.

In the evening, we all took a 1/2 mile walk around this pretty lake that is on the Bonclarken Conference Center grounds.

Next ~~ We take some time for ourselves before the 24/7 child care begins, and enjoy a visit to Carl Sandburg's home.

(Note: Five Aspects of Woman Series in progress at my other blog,www.mistressofmydomain.blogspot.comScroll back to Aug. 29 and read forward)

A nine day adventure...part one: The Love Shack

We'd been planning a trip to South Carolina to visit our kids and grandkids there...but we had no agenda other than being with them...and we knew we would be watching the two kids and the dog for four of those days as their parents went away to a church-related event. Our son, being a new but very personable pastor, has a lot of connections, and he asked a church member if we could use his little "love shack" in the mountains for the Labor Day weekend. Apparently he loans it out frequently and Andy and Ellie have used it before. Now what are the chances it would be available for the last summer holiday of the year? But it was, and the owner graciously loaned it to us!

The private property we would use is located on the grounds of a conference center that is owned by our son's denomination. It is called "Bonclarken," which, according to Andy, is a "made up" Latin compound word: Bon (good) clar (clear) ken (vision). It is located in Flat Rock, N.C. (Apparently there are two "Flat Rocks" in N.C. -- this one is up in the Blue Ridge Mountains and it took us 10 hours to drive there.) We depended on Dora, our faithful GPS, to get us there, and she did!

We turned onto the road and saw this inviting view...

And then we saw this beautiful sign:

It really was quite a "treasure hunt" as we were told the key to the house would be in an envelope with our name on it, tacked to a bulletin board in a hallway outside the offices of the conference center.

We found it with no problem, and to our surprise, tucked inside was a map of the grounds, and two tickets that our son had provided for us for Sunday morning breakfast at the conference center dining room. There were a couple of retreats going on, and and so there was a buffet available.

We had no idea what to expect, and we were on our own Saturday night as Andy and his family would meet up with us on Sunday afternoon. (It is a two hour drive from their home in Rock Hill, S.C.) We certainly didn't expect to open the door and see such a beautiful, immaculate place that was graciously loaned to us, strangers, for three nights!

I fell in love with this antique bed as soon as I saw it, so this was the bedroom we choose to use. There was also a loft with a queen bed, and a finished basement with bunk beds for the kids.

So after the long drive and getting our things into the house, we drove out to a fast food place to get some supper and got back before it was totally dark. It was all pretty surreal.

Next ~ Sunday morning breakfast & church, Andy's family arrives, and the Hendersonville Apple Festival!

(Note: Five Aspects of Woman Series in progress at my other blog, www.mistressofmydomain.blogspot.com. Scroll back to Aug. 29 and read forward)