Rest and Relaxation in the Blue Ridge Mountains!!!

I am packing this morning to get ready to leave for a week in the Blue Ridge Mountains to visit my parents, my sister, brother-in-law, niece and other family and friends. My youngest daughter, Adelaide will be going too, but hubby will stay home and hold the fort down, as we say!
I am babysitting my Grand dog Chi-Chi, so she and our dog, Holly, will join us, as well. They love it up there. They get to visit their "cousin dogs", Allie, Sampson and Trixie.

It will be a fun-filled week of sitting on the front porch (at both my parent's house and my sister's house). Adelaide and I love to sit on the porch, especially on the porch swing, and read!!!
There will be lots of good food, as my Mom is a wonderful cook. We also have lots of favorite places that we love to eat out, as well.

I'm sure the week will find us shopping too. There are also options of hiking, kayaking, tubing in the river, riding along the Blue Ridge Parkway, etc. In other words, there is as much or as little to do as we want to. Whatever the mood strikes us! Sometimes when we go up, we are more energetic and we go and go and go. Other times, we just love to loaf and sit on the porch most of the time and relax.

That is the beauty of going up there; we know we will rest. At home I am always doing something... cooking, cleaning, etc., but up there we just take it easy and enjoy time spent with our family.

The house that my parents live in is the home that my Father grew up in as a child. It is a farmhouse with a beautiful front porch on it that overlooks a creek and a lovely mountain covered in Christmas trees. There are cows on the mountain behind the house. I have some wonderful memories of times spent in that house as a child visiting my Grandparents. When I was real young, the house did not have a bathroom and we had to use the outhouse. There was a woodstove in the kitchen and we took a bath in there in a metal tub. In later years, my Grandparents put in a bathroom, but I still remember "the good old days" without the bathroom. It sure makes us appreciate our modern conveniences, doesn't it? My Grandparents died many years ago.

My parents live in the same city that I do, but they spend their spring, summer and fall in this house in the mountains. We love going up to visit them. I can drive up there in a little less than 2 hours, so it is an easy trip for a weekend.

My sister lives in a house next to my parents, but there is a big field between the 2 houses. She and her husband had their house as a vacation get-a-way house many years ago, but after they retired, decided to live there permanently. They restored their farmhouse and gutted the inside. It is an awesome house!! It looks old on the outside, but the inside has been modernized and they added on to the house to make it larger to accommodate company and make it more spacious. My sister's house has a great front porch too.

My niece also lives up there and she has an adorable log cabin house that is just precious!! She loves to work in the yard and her yard is full of the most gorgeous perennials. It looks like a picture postcard!!! Her house has a great front porch, as well and a lovely screened in porch and deck on the back of the house.

I went to the Farmer's Market yesterday and loaded up on lots of fresh vegetables to take up with me to have to eat during the week. Where I live the fresh veggies are in, but up in the mountains the gardens are not in yet. We will love all the fresh vegetables. Mom has a big dinner planned for tonight. I can't wait. She is a great cook!!! My father loves soup for lunch, so I made 2 kinds of soup to take to share for the week. (Chicken corn chowder with sweet potato chunks and broccoli cheddar). I also made a double recipe of my famous Sandtart cookies that my whole family loves. Needless to say, we will eat well this week!!! What is a vacation without good food?

Although our summer weather has not been terribly hot this year, it will be really nice to get up to the mountains and enjoy the cool mountain breezes. The temperature up there is usually 10 to 20 degrees cooler than it is where I live. In fact, at night during the summer, we generally always need a light jacket or sweater. My parents home is not air conditioned, but with the windows open and the ceiling fans on, it can still get chilly at night.

My sister has a computer, so I will get on some while I am there and see how all of you are doing. I hope everyone has a wonderful week! Love & blessings to you all.