The Challenge

Most people say I have a competitive nature. It’s not necessarily competing against other people, because in that category I really don’t stand a chance.  It’s more like competing with myself.  It’s about doing something when people say I can’t do something.

We had limited time in Asheville.  Upon arrival we enjoyed this great early dinner at Laughing Seed.  It is a vegetarian restaurant almost across from our hotel.  It is one of our favorite places to eat.  We also love the hotel we stayed at, The Haywood Park Hotel.  It is located in the heart of downtown Asheville and has some significant history.  It was Asheville’s first department store in the 1930′s, and still carries much of that flavor.  In 1985 it was converted to a hotel with only 33 rooms – large rooms.  I love large rooms because I always take my yoga mat.  At least 3 people could have done yoga easily in that room, and we got the smallest room.  We had stayed there a year ago, and had a great room with a great view.  Coincidentally, we were given the same room, without requesting it.  We were on second floor – men’s ware.  The voice in the elevator still says that.  We took some great pictures both years, so I will compile and post more about the hotel later.

We had contemplated The Grove Park Inn, but it would require some driving into and out of town, plus the fact it was much more expensive, and the room would have been much smaller.  Still yet we wanted the Grove Park Inn experience, at least a little part of it.  So, my idea was to walk from town, supposedly a 5 mile trek round trip, mostly steep uphill getting there.  We asked the waitress at Laughing Seed about walking it.  She strongly recommended driving.  Basically she said you can’t walk it.  I asked if there were sidewalks the whole way, to which she said yes, but still don’t attempt walking it.  We went back to the hotel and asked at the desk.  We got the same advice.  We left for Grove Park Inn, my husband following my determined lead.  We are notorious for getting lost.  I asked someone not too far into the trek if we were headed in the right direction.  This was a young guy who hiked.  Maybe it was our age.  He said, that way, but you can’t walk it.  At this point it was really a challenge.  Not too far out of town it began raining.  No umbrella.  It was a light rain, and we were supposedly closer to the hotel at this point than to town, and I wasn’t about to turn back.  But, we took a wrong turn, going through a long tunnel.  So, we had to back track.  The total trip instead of being a little over 5 miles registered  8.22 miles on my phone GPS.

Grove Park Inn Waterfall View

A Blurry Us at Grove Park Inn

 

A Step into Nature and What is Natural

Saturday was clean up day for our county.  So, we took advantage by doing some clean up around here.  A friend brought over a trailer, and my husband and he worked together on both our place and his.  There were people at the unloading spot to take advantage of other people’s discarded stuff.  I’m not sure ours would be of use to anyone, but hopefully so.

Tulips at the Aboretum

I fixed a pretty healthy late lunch for us, a salad and lentil soup.  I throw everything into soups and salads.  They are vegan and mostly organic, so overall healthy.  Since lunch was late we weren’t so hungry for another meal but wanted something else.  Did you ever notice how husbands and wives after being together for a while have the same thoughts?  Sadly, we were both thinking MacDonald’s fries.  It’s been years since we’ve eaten anything at MacDonald’s.   My husband had his Ipad handy, so I said look up the ingredients for their fries.  The list cried out total GMO to us.*  We came back to our senses.  I thought I have potatoes, organic ones.  So, I got off my lazy butt and went into the kitchen.  The fries I made turned out great.  I sprinkled olive oil, sea salt, freshly ground mixed peppercorns, chili powder, and nutritional yeast on them and baked.

My Own Baked Fries

On Sunday we went beyond the natural wonders in our own back woods and explored The Arboretum in Lexington, Kentucky.  http://www.ca.uky.edu/arboretum/index.php  We have done two weekend Lexington trips in a row now.  I think we’ve pretty much used up our tax return on Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods.  On both trips I’m happy to say we took the opportunity to explore walking paths in Lexington.  On the first trip we took the 2.5 mile hike at Shillito Park.  It was a nice walking trail, but I much preferred the beauty of the arboretum trail.  The Arboretum trail with it’s sights along the way made the walk seem like it went by so fast.

Visiting other trails are often an inspiration for us for ways we can improve our own trail and property.  We have piles of saved up old lumber, barn wood, etc, that hopefully we will have a use for.

Me, Walking the Trail

A Sculpture Along the Trail

Walkway, and Possibility for Our Own Trail

Carving, Another Possibility

 

*McDonalds FRIES are cooked in genetically engineered oil. Prepared in vegetable oil (Canola oil (85% gmo), corn oil (85% gmo), soybean oil (90% gmo), hydrogenated soybean oil.  From:  Millions Against Monsanto by OrganicConsumers.org

The North Trail and Rocks

View at the beginning of the hike

 

The North Trail, that is my name for one section of the trail.  It’s our newest section of trail, redone, with the tractor.  Trail work is a never ending job, so to make it easier, last year we rerouted one section of the trail where we could get the tractor through for easier maintenance.  Otherwise it is get out there with a weed eater at least a couple of times of year and a rake – it is slow going and hand blistering even with gloves.

I will admit that this is my first time out on the trail this year.  When the weather got cold I hibernated inside, well not totally.  We traveled twice since the new year to see our grandson, and worked on two grandiose house projects which totally

Some big rocks

took every spare moment of time.

My muscles were sore afterward.  But, I decided that with the beginning of April that I would put in at least three miles of walking each day.  I found the trail to be in good shape after the winter rest.  There were only two trees down that had fallen across the trail, one of which will be nice firewood.  The weather was perfect for walking yesterday, and the sky was incredibly blue.  My picture taking skills are not the greatest.  My husband always reminds me that there is an editing feature.  The pictures taken here were done with an iphone, one of the older models.  I have resisted updating due to the cost.

Another outcropping of big rocks

Although I prefer lush greenness during a hike, this time of year is perfect for rock hunting.  I am rock crazy.  Luckily the supply never seems to end on our farm.  We have rocked a good portion of the house.  We use them for ponds.  We built a rock wall out front.  We still have two small buildings to rock.  And after that, possibly the barn.  We even rocked a floor for one section of the barn.  My uncle once asked if there were any rock left on Trough Camp.

While walking I was planning for our next rock gathering adventure which I hope we can fit in this weekend.  That involves hooking up the wagon to the tractor and loading it with as many as we can carry back.  And then there is garden preparation and planting also planned for this weekend.

Not far into the trail I grew tired of taking pictures.  That is my husband’s forte.

The following pictures will give you some idea of what we use the rocks for.

Around the front pond

Around the back yard pond

We decided to do a rock wall in front.

Rocks are not just for the outside

Rock work

For flower gardens

They are for steps and sidewalks

Close up

Resolutions

Our grandson, Wynn, 14 1/2 months, dressed for Easter.

Many people make resolutions at the beginning of the year….January 1st.  I’ve chosen March 1st as my own new year and a time for making resolutions, although I don’t make them all at once.  That would just be too overwhelming.  So, I’ve decided to try making a new one at the beginning of each month.

March seems like a good time.  It is nearing Spring when everything comes to life, hopefully myself as well.  And, I am just not a cold season person.

On March 1st I started with yoga.  I vowed to do it everyday, a full routine, as best as I could, and not worry about the actual time I spend doing it.  In other words if my full yoga session which for me is an array of various sitting and standing poses happens to result in 35 minutes or one hour, it is okay, as long as I do my best in the poses.  I would term this resolution successful thus far, even through various schedule changes in which I could have made excuses.  We began March 1st traveling to see our daughter, son-in-law and grandson, a glorious start to the month of March.  Traveling can make resolutions difficult.

Now, on April 1st, I vow to walk, hike or do the elliptical each day.  I haven’t really thought as of yet whether I should say I should walk 3 miles per day or for a certain time each day as of yet.  Later I will get out there and just follow my instinct.  If it should happen to rain I will get on the elliptical and follow my gut as well.  In the wintertime I neglect my trail.  I prefer to be enveloped by the lush greenness rather than be exposed through the barren tree limbs.  That probably says something psychologically about me.

April 1st also started out on a good note.  For Easter weekend our daughter, son-in-law, and grandson were here.  They left for home this morning.  Before leaving for work, my husband told me I was a good grandma!

My overall goal is balance in all things.

Baby, It’s Cold Outside

Only 12 degrees according to the weather report, which means it is probably about 5 degrees colder here since we are in a higher elevation area.  We don’t have a thermometer outside anymore but it always registered about 5 degrees colder here.

These pictures are from a hike on the farm on January 18, 2009.  Snow is in the forecast for tomorrow.

 

Barns

I think this is one of the best pictures that my husband has ever taken.  We had been hiking on the property, and nearing the end of the hike we were coming upon the back side of the barn.  It was taken in October a couple of years ago.

 

Hiking and Miguel’s Pizza

This past weekend we hiked in the Red River Gorge area.  My aching calf muscles and the stinky sweaty clothes I just today loaded into the washing machine attest to the hilly areas we climbed.  There was a time when hiking was one of our biggest pleasures, but sadly we had gotten away from it over the past few years.

There was no cell phone reception out in the wilderness, which was quite fine with me.  The second morning we started out very early – beating the crowds and found ourselves very alone out on the trail for almost two hours.

On our way down we stopped at a gas station inquiring about any vegetarian restaurants that might be in the area.  The lady at the counter laughed.  To our surprise we found one of the best ever little eating establishments called Miguel’s Pizza just upon entering Natural Bridge State Park.  The pizza was fabulous and very reasonably priced.  You were given a piece of paper at the counter in which you checked off the ingredients you wanted.  There was a wide variety, including tofu, pesto, and roasted garlic as well as a variety of other vegetables.  The ones obtained locally were marked.  Plus, they recycled!  After you ate you distributed your garbage in the proper containers – metal, paper, plastic, etc.  I include what I found on youtube about them to give you some idea:

We are already planning our next trip – hiking and Miguel’s Pizza.

Trails

In January of 2008, Chris and I hiked two trails at Carter Caves State Park in Kentucky.  A friend and I were supposed to hike Carter Caves today, but we got rained out. We hiked the Raven Bridge Trail, which is 0.7 miles in length, and the Three Bridges Trail which is 3.5 miles in length. We hiked the Three Bridges Trail over nine years ago on our first date.

The Raven Bridge Trail leaves from the vicinity of the lodge and golf course and connects to the Three Bridges Trail giving us an approximate hike of five miles. The Raven Bridge Trail is named after the Raven Bridge which is also adjacent to the Three Bridges Trail connection point. At this point we crossed paths with other hikers. Noticing our camera one of them offered to take our picture.

Being a chilly day, plus the fact I’m cold natured, I’m heavily layered. Below is a picture of this bridge approaching it from the The Bridges Trail, on our return trip back towards the lodge.  I made my hat, but lost it one day while out running errands.  Still have the scarf.  I never could find any yarn to match to make another hat.

You will notice the blue marks on the trees. I have to give Carter Caves an excellent rating on marking their trails – not the case on other hiking trails we’ve been on. The Raven Trail is marked in blue. The Three Bridges Trail is marked in red, and is often simply called the red trail. The trail is named after the three natural rock bridges which lay along the path. Attractions along the trail include Smokey Bridge (the park’s largest), Raven Bridge, Fern Bridge and numerous vistas of the lake. This trail can be accessed at several points including the lodge, the welcome center, the cabins and the campgrounds.

The park’s largest natural bridge is the Smokey Bridge. Chris explored the underneath side while I hiked above.

This picture doesn’t do justice to the steepness of the steps winding down between these two rock formations. At the bottom you hike beneath another natural bridge – Fern Bridge. Here we met other hikers who where from Cleveland, OH. They were warning us about the ice covered bridge.

We made it across by stepping on the moss-covered rock on the other side.

This is another part of Three Bridges Trail.

Some of the trail overlooks the lake. This is a popular stop for many hikers.

The above picture is what we call our spot. On that first date, Chris and I stopped here to rest and must have sit on this rock overlook (he closer to the edge than me) for over an hour and just talked. While he kept talking I just thought, he’s the one. I’m going to marry this man. The oven cleaning (another story – Why I Can’t Look at Oreos) came the following week.

The last time I hiked here this tree was fully intact.

This is one of the seven wooden footbridges along the trail.

A doe peeks through the trees at us.

I would recommend this trail for all you hiking enthusiasts. The Three Bridges Trail, inspite of some hilly spots it’s really not hard, and can be done at a liesurely pace in about two hours. Or take a picnic lunch and spend more time out in nature. Add another thirty minutes for the Raven Trail.

I’m thankful we have gotten to hike so much during our nine years together.

Happy Trails,

Chris and Jerri

Postcard Picture

We have taken so many pictures of the farm area where we live.  This is one of my favorite pictures, taken from a section of the trail coming up to the back side of the barn.  I’m thankful to be living in such beauty.

Living in the Present

The Dalai Lama, when asked what surprised him most about humanity, answered “Man. Because he sacrifices his health in order to make money. Then he sacrifices money to recuperate his health. And then he is so anxious about the future that he does not enjoy the present; the result being that he does not live in the present or the future; he lives as if he is never going to die, and then dies having never really lived.”

It’s nearly 1 PM.  I’ve been filling up on chai, like most fill up on coffee – no breakfast, no lunch as of yet.  I’ve been bustling around trying to get somewhat organized in preparation for a trip.  My organizational skills have simply slumped since menopause.  Right now, though, I am trying to take some time to relax and be in the moment.

The upcoming trip shall certainly give me time to be in the moment.  The location is in the mountains.  We are expected to observe silence for the most part.  There will be hiking, meditation, yoga, and only vegetarian food cooked according to strict ayurvedic principles.  There will be no cell phone reception and only one spot with internet capability.  Therefore, blogging on a daily basis will more than likely not happen.

Right now I am thankful for this particular moment and will attempt to live only in the moment as much as possible for the continuations of the day.