Weird, Cool, & Unusual Along the Way

So, as we wandered around various parts of the country, we saw a number of ... interesting things. Some were cute and funny...

Found in a Dollar General - yes, that's the freezer case of ice cream treats that Anna is sitting on.

Some were just bizarre and confusing... like this unidentified object seen on our way out of Buffalo, NY.

And then you get closer and it's all pink and wrinkly...

              

WTF is this thing on the side of the road?

Early in the trip we saw someone driving a rather large boot down the street (yes, some of you have already seen this)

 

And we can't forget the Kermit riding on the back of a motorcycle...

I feel like he should have a helmet or something. I worry.

This was an... interesting? piece of art at the Renn Faire. It came from Aradani Studios, in case anyone's interested. I liked some of their other stuff, but this one creeped me out (I really didn't like the IT clown, but who did?) so I had to share.

This one, well it was part of a whole collection of celebrity high school photos. I just had to share this because teenaged Helena Bonham Carter looks WAY more like Emma Watson than I ever imagined she would have.

In the Youth section of the Lynchburg, VA public library - Harley Quinn. :)

Heather had to come to the back deck and save me from this monster praying mantis. That's an entire wooden plank it's sitting on - like 4.5 inches, and it's at a diagonal. It was HUGE. I'm pretty sure in went off to take a substitute teaching job when she scared it away.

I had to text Heather because it wanted to eat Xander!!!

And last but not least, you've all seen this before, right?

Well Highway 100 in Vermont has an asphalt version ...     

James River & Fallingwater Cascades Trail

Well, we've been busy, and we've been not-busy... A week ago, I fell and was out of commission for a few days. Heather wouldn't let me do much of anything until the worst of the swelling went down and I quit making pain noises with every step. She's a good wife that way.

Just off the Blue Ridge Parkway - I do love waterfalls

When we decided my ankle was in good enough shape to try a little walking, we went out to see Fallingwater Cascades. The book we looked at said this was a mile out and back, and called the trail "easy." We disagree. It's more of a moderate trail, and possibly more than I would have attempted had I known what it looked like, but we did it. (It's also more than a mile total, but I skipped the last section of it and turned back early.)

Proof we were outside!

The views, however, were beautiful. We ran into a few other people here and there, got one person to take a photo for us, but mostly we were alone, just walking through the woods, listening to the waterfall and the wind in the trees and the birds and, well, you know, nature. :)

We saw several butterflies and a couple dragonflies while we were out there, but those guys are really hard to pin down for photos. Plus we actually only took our phones out to snap pics a couple different times. The pics we got, though - well here...

Google "auto-awesomed" this one for us

Heather went along part of the path while I rested and started back slowly. She got some gorgeous shots of the falls, and the old river crossing. On the way back, she stopped for a few photos of these bizarre trees that she's deemed "Seussian" - I can't say I disagree.

Anybody know what kind of trees these are?

The remnants of a long-ago bridge

At the top of the falls, there was a bridge that crossed over, and some rocks near the water that were perfect for resting on for a bit. We even took off our boots and put our feet in the (really COLD) running water! Here's a view from the rocks, and a one minute video of the "babbling brook" part before it hits the big fall seen above.

On the way there, we stopped at the James River Visitor Center to look around and use the restrooms. We walked partway across the foot bridge over the river and got some more beautiful views.

up-river

Ansel Adams stylings by Google

It was a lovely day. Oh, and our trail kisses pic - so goofy looking, but that's okay.

Apparently this is what you get when you're actually kissing, and not just pecking for the camera.

Madison Heights, VA

Our first stop is a small town called Madison Heights, just outside of Lynchburg, Virginia. We're renting a room in a house, and the owner, Tiffany is a hoot! We knew from her Airbnb profile that she'd be easy-going and fun, and we were right. Our room is nice, and the animals that live here are great. A couple of the cats seem to be particularly interested in napping on us, especially Opal.

Tiffany and her teenage daughter Astrid have been very welcoming to us, and have become fast friends. It's like spending time with family you don't see often - lots of storytelling and laughter and catching up, even though we never met before last week. I kinda love that, and I love the fact that the Airbnb places will give us a variety of experiences. This one is a family home, next month is a small inn run by a lady named Kathleen. I expect it will feel different in some ways, but I'm sure it will still be lovely.

In admiring a bunch of needlepoint art in her house, I discovered that she did most of them herself, and then got an offer to learn some new techniques from her! She's a crafter, with about as many interests as me, so there have been several conversations about patterns and yarns and quilts and more! It's kinda awesome. She's even going to let me use her sewing machine to work on a project I thought I would have to do at home (or completely by hand, which wasn't likely).

Heather and Tiffany have spent lots of time chatting over a shared love of travel, languages, and living in Europe, so I'm certainly not the only one feeling welcome here.

Completely unrelated to the people, the house is quite comfy, too. The back deck has become one of my favorite spots, and I've spent a lot of time out there, from early mornings to late afternoons to middle of the nights. It's so quiet and peaceful, the breeze blowing by, the trees all around the back yard, the butterflies fluttering past, the sounds of wind and birds in the trees. I love it.

All About that View

We explored today! We actually started our fun with a picnic at Explore Park in Roanoke.

Trailhead Selfies - should they be a tradition? Discuss.

That Forestry Education Trail was going to be our first hike here, but just a few minutes into it I realized I really didn't have the spoons for it, especially with today being the hottest of the week (still cooler than Murfreesboro, but not by much). My amazingly supportive beloved helped me get back to the car safely, made sure I had water, and turned on the AC as quickly as possible. Then we adjusted our plans to come back and check this out more later, and to take a nice relaxing drive along the Blue Ridge Parkway today instead.

As you can see, the views totally sucked up there.

We stopped at several of the scenic overlooks, sometimes just to pause and take in the view from the car, sometimes to get out and take pictures, stretch our legs, or walk a couple minutes of the Appalachian Trail when we ran across it once. :)  We've now hit parts of it in Georgia, Tennessee, and Virginia.

And among the beautiful mountain views...

              ... there were also beautiful smaller and closer views...

There's a couple mountains here called the Peaks of Otter (more about them later after we visit them for real) but we drove past them today, and checked out the welcome center and hiking info. The hikes to the top of either one are "strenuous" and therefore not something I'm prepared for, but one has a shuttle bus that goes almost to the top. The area also has a winery and fruit farm, a lodge, a restaurant (where the head chef came to speak to me personally when I asked about gluten free options for future reference), and of course, gorgeous views.

On the way back, we also stopped at Thunder Ridge parking area, which is a small lot, maybe a dozen cars long. Each end of the lot is one end of a 10 minute loop. Why stop for a 10 minute loop, you ask?

Here's why.

Yes, this was the perfect time to break out the panorama mode. :)

Sitting on the wall at the edge of the observation platform

Heather did a lot of smiling at the view. (Not that I didn't.)

 I think one of the most interesting things is that even today, on the way back to our temporary home (which I will post more about in the next few days, but it's pretty awesome) we were still saying to each other "we're really doing this. We're on the road, doing our thing, seeing new places. It's really happening." Like that moment a week or a month or so after you get married when you make a reference to your spouse or something, and suddenly it hits you, "holy crap, I'm really married." Why does it take our brains so long to adjust to these kinds of changes? (Hell for that matter, we're still trying to wrap our brains fully around Heather's book release and that was in March.)

Okay, here's a sneak peak of the airbnb - the view from the back deck where I've spent many hours already just listening to the sounds of nature and a quiet country road.

I think we'll be making use of this grill sometime during the month.

It was a fairly low-key kind of day, but still an excursion and lots of fun. I will say I'm learning things with every trip we've taken recently and every activity I want to do - and how to adjust to them with my health limitations. I have a list of health issues that all cause low energy and chronic problems, but I've decided they won't take over my life and keep me from the things I want to do. Hence, this walkabout. So far, so good.

Readjusting

So its, (checks calendar to be sure) Tuesday evening. We got here Saturday night, which means we've had 3 full days here now. Sadly, due to exhaustion and fibro, these 3 days have been mostly in bed for me. I know this is a thing that happens, fibro flares are just an aspect of being me, and the best I can do is listen to my body and take care of myself. This has meant lots of sleep, Heather being amazing and getting food for my picky stomach, and really very little else. We've organized our belongings a bit more, and looked at a few books on waterfalls and weirdness in Virginia that our host has on hand.

Our host - We're staying with a lovely lady named Tiffany. She's got a boyfriend I haven't actually met yet, and a daughter (16 years old) who I've seen briefly, but is currently staying with her dad. There's another tenant in the house - a guy who mostly keeps to himself. It's a nice place, lovely trees, away from a lot of city and traffic, so it's nice and quiet out here. I've spent many hours already just sitting on the back deck and looking out at the trees. Definitely not a bad start if that's all I've got the energy to do. :D

Heather mentioned the animals here - they're all very sweet, but Opal is definitely the one who pays the most attention to us.

We've Moved... to the other end of the house

Today was moving day, when Heather, Katie, Justin, and I swapped bedrooms. It may not seem like a big deal, but if Hogwarts were addressing letters to us, they would have to direct it to a slightly new location. The kids are very excited about having a larger space, a larger bed, a larger bathroom, separate closets... and Heather and I are adjusting to our drastically pared down "stuff" in a much smaller bedroom.

As we travel on this Walkabout, we'll be in a variety of different rooms - probably of different sizes, and with different features (good and bad), so this is a good transition-stage for us, I think. Still, it's new, and smaller, and wow is our HVAC unit loud!!!

We're getting closer and closer, 15 days and we'll be on the road for real. We've been collecting links and posts and notes about all sorts of interesting and fun things to do in Virginia, beautiful trails to hike, waterfalls to picnic near, giant pencils to visit, and more. I'm not sure how, exactly, we'll narrow it down to an actual, reasonable list for the measly little 31 days we'll have there, but at least we know we have options. Once we get there, we'll also be picking our next location and booking our Airbnb spot for September.

I would have included photos of the debris left in the wake of packing/moving/sorting/selling, just in my studio alone, but my phone is in another room, and really, if you've seen one messy room, you've seen them all, right? And if you haven't seen one messy room, who the hell are you and how did you manage that?