First, about Ella - we had thought there was a possibility of "boarding" Ella here in Maine with a guy a friend told me about. He "boards" dogs in his home with his own dogs and that sounded like a neat idea. No crate, no kennel. But my friend was out of town for 3 weeks and I couldn't reach her until just before we were to leave town. When I did, I learned that she ended up not boarding her dog with this guy because she didn't like how he addressed the dogs getting along together. So she didn't recommend him after all.
My cousin Melissa (same cousin who, with her husband and son, visited us last year for a delightful few days) offered to keep Ella at her home in NC - where we had planned to stop on our way to Atlanta - while we went on to Atlanta. This seemed like a great plan as it would allow us to do things in Atlanta with Sam, Corinne and the boys without having a dog with us. So we left for the South, David, Ella and me.
First day we drove about almost 600 miles to just past Harrisburg, PA, and stayed at a Motel 6 (dog friendly). Turned out to be inexpensive, clean, cable TV, friendly staff, near 24-hour diner - a good choice. Next day we drove the rest of the way to Melissa, John and Austin's in Etowah, NC (just outside Asheville). Melissa and family have 2 dogs - a 9 pound Chigle (cross between Chihuaua and Beagle) named Rex and a 16 year old Golden Retriever mix named Daisy. Unfortunately the first thing that happened was Ella tried to take a drink from Daisy's water dish and that pissed off Daisy royally. That started the two ladies down a very bad path. But Ella and Rex got along just fine; in fact they were hysterical to watch:
Melissa, John and Austin took us on a drive up the Blue Ridge Parkway to Mount Mitchell, which we learned is the highest mountain east of the Rockies (higher than Mount Washington up here in New Hampshire). We had a lovely picnic lunch, hiked a bit up to a heath. Here's the view:
The next day we visited the Biltmore Estate in Asheville, built by George (I think) Vanderbilt. It is the largest privately owned house in the U.S. Apart from the 2 master (his and hers) bedroom suites, there are 33 guest bedrooms, 60+ staff bedrooms and 43 bathrooms. The home includes an indoor bowling alley and swimming pool. The kitchens, pantries and laundry facilities were particularly amazing. (They used a wood drying rack like the one we still use in our own basement!)
David took more photos than I, but here are a few. First a lovely long outside corridor. Must be a lovely place to sit in the cool evening breeze and watch fireflies.
Here's one David took of my cousin, Melissa, and me in front of one of 2 stone lions in front of the mansion:
Among my favorite rooms was the "Halloween Room" down in the basement level. Apparently a party was held there on Halloween and the guests all took to painting the walls of the room. I love the paintings; here's one sample:
And of course, there are the gardens designed by Olmsted (who also designed Central Park in New York and, I learned, also Piedmont Park in Atlanta, which we visited later with Sam). We only had time to visit the "Walled Garden" and walk quickly through the Conservatory (wonderful tropical plants including orchids). Here's one photo of the garden:
In the end, we couldn't leave Ella with Melissa. The night before we left for Atlanta, Ella and Daisy got into it again and Daisy's nose was scratched, giving her a bloody nose. It was superficial, but after that I couldn't leave Melissa to deal with keeping the two girls apart for 4 days at the start of what should be Melissa's summer vacation (she's an 8th grade teacher!).
So off to Atlanta we went, the 3 of us. Ella's presence put constraints on what we could do with the kiddos, but we still enjoyed ourselves. While Cachao worked with Corinne on a workshop she was teaching on Saturday and Sunday, Sam, Cello, David, Ella and I walked the "Beltway" - an abandoned train track that has been turned into a greenway/walking path in various parts of the city. We walked to Piedmont Park where Cello enjoyed himself on a playground:
Ella got to make a quick visit to a fenced in "dog park" as well. One day we visited the pool at an apartment complex owned by Sam's landlord that Sam's family can use:
Another day we managed to do a round of miniature golf (they let Ella sit with one of us under a canopy in the shade, while the rest of us played golf - Cachao won!) Afterwards the boys had ice cream. It was a HOT day!
We had a good visit, notwithstanding Ella! We played board games - Yahtzee, Trouble and a new game we learned about from Melissa called Apples to Apples. We had dinner one evening, all of us including Corinne and a friend (who surprised us delightfully by treating us all to dinner) at a Mexican restaurant near Sam's place. We sat on the patio and Ella was able to be just outside a small fence. The restaurant had water bowls placed strategically around the outside of the fence so it was clear that Ella wasn't the first canine dinner guest. We were able to make a quick visit to my brother, John, the night before we left.
Then back to NC for one more night with Melissa and family and then back on the road again.
We spent the last night at a Motel 6 in Frackville, PA, which we picked based on how many miles it would leave us to drive the second day. Turned out to be a weird motel - 3 different buildings, ours with no signage actually indicating it was a motel - in a weirder town. I took this photo to remind us (and you, too) of the following advice:
"Do not stay overnight in Frackville, PA."
Finally, last day of the trip. Here is how Ella did most of the journey on her new Orvis dog "hammock" - supposed to protect the backseat from dog fur. I guess it worked - at least a little bit. (I only spent an hour vacuuming the car after we got home, and was successful at sucking up at least 90% of the dog hair.) Yes, that's a pillow under her head!
Now, finally, home again, and very glad to be here. Our neighbor Melissa watered our tomatoes and cucumbers, which appear to have thrived in our absence. Our other neighbor Lee mowed our lawn the day before we got home. How about those neighbors! Now Ella and I are back to our morning walks, this morning we saw a newly built and launched, very pretty little red row boat:
I think if everyone could see a pretty little red boat peacefully resting in the water early on a cool summer morning, the world would be a far better place. I'm happy to be home.
Peace, peace, far and near.
