It's often difficult to orchestrate Kim and my schedules to find a common weekend to get away, leave the kids to find their own entertainment (and their own meals) and leave the computer and junk mails to fester in their own spam juices. More difficult by multiples for two couples to do the same. But once again, my friend the Colonel and his wife Susan, Kim and I, managed to sneak away on a short road trip, this year to the mountains.

Loyal readers recall last year's trip to the outer banks where the slight matter of a broken ankle brought a truncated, yet still thoroughly enjoyable trip (well... three of us enjoyed it, one floated in the clouds on those wonderful white pills the doc prescribed).

So leaving little to chance, we headed in the opposite direction and attempted to do a little cloud floating for all four of us - and suceeded!

We'll leave the little detail about the signed rental contract showing that our reservation was for the prior week, and the threatening rain in the forecast, out of the discussion here. The rental company quickly switched gears when we showed up, and in the middle of the summer season in Blowing Rock, NC, found us an alternate accommodation - one far better than our original house, with a view we couldn't have hoped for... up in the clouds! The view above is from the hot tub on the back covered porch late our first evening, looking down on the canopy of trees covering the hilltops below, with the clouds tucked into the valleys they formed.

 
Earlier that same evening, the panorama you see above was taken as well, with my friends forced into the picture, kickin' and screaming. These are the ony two pictures you guys are gonna see from the trip, mostly due to the rain that fell the entire time we were up there. Here were were, rode all the way on the damned Interstate to get here by evening so we could enjoy it, and we had to sit around the living room with the above views, watching big screen TV's all day and night - fridge stocked with beer, vodka, wine and grapes and those soft cookies, microwave popcorn, frozen key lime pie and NO damned computers...doncha just feel really sorry for us?

Man, what a perfect day for the Hunt for Red October to come on TV, too. Ya gotta know, between the HotTub and whatever liquid refreshments we came up with, even the rain couldn't damper the enjoyment of the trip.

With little in the way of a trip journal to come up with - and no, I won't describe in detail what Kim was wearing in the HotTub - this is about all you're gonna get this trip... the camerabarely came out of it's case the entire time. Still - a good time was had by all.

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Muthuh