It’s been a HOT summer, and with social distancing, we’ve been staying close to home. To wrap up June, Jay and Ansel took a trip to Conway. Jay gave Ansel a bike tour of Conway. For dinner, G-Daddy, Martha, Jay, and Ansel went to Rivertown Bistro. The next morning, Jay and Ansel took a trip over to the beach on what was a rough and rainy morning. Some other news is that we’ve been experimenting with a vegan diet. We’ve strayed at times, but have been pretty consistent. Here is a link to some of the recipes that we’ve tried and enjoyed including some non-vegan things we like. Note that there are just a few. That doesn’t mean that there aren’t more. Usually, Ansel comes up with undocumented ideas.
For the Fourth of July, we decided we would head to Roan Mountain for the weekend. We started off with our usual trip to Smokey Mountain Bakers for Pizza. Last year, we enjoyed hiking the entire section of the Appalachian Trail from Carver’s Gap to Highway 19E. This time, we decided to hike it southbound. If you are not familiar with that part of the trail, that means hiking up to Roan Mountain. Or, as I like to call it, the groan to the Roan! It was a great day.
The rest of the trip was spent recovering. Although Parker had enough energy to clear the backyard with a bush axe and swing blade. We took in some amazing sunsets. We wanted to do a hike that we had never done before and made the mistake of putting Ansel in charge. She took us to Twisting Falls on the Elk River. The steep descent to the river was hard, but the destination was worth it. Jay, Parker, and Ansel enjoyed swimming in the river. Luckily, none of them climbed up to the top and jumped off, but we enjoyed watching the daredevils that did.
Now I know I teased you with the title and you are probably screaming at your computer for me to get on with it. Obviously, to quote Arlo, “That’s not what I’m here to tell you about.” On our way back from Roan Mountain, we stopped off at Kerr Scott Lake for a quick mountain bike ride. This is significant for at this very spot, Ansel was able to develop and deliver the claim for why she needed a dog. Parker and Jay were riding ahead and when they stopped to take a break, heard Kristie and Ansel talking about “paws” as they approached. To this day, Jay is uncertain of what Ansel said. By the end of the weekend, Kristie had already picked out the dog for the family. This left us with about a two week wait. Jay woke up several nights wondering what we had done. We kept busy over that period. There was the trip to Roan Mountain that was previously discussed as well as getting things ready and making lists of names. At one point, Ansel had run up the Amazon cart to > $750. Jay was able to shave hundreds off of that before the order was placed.
On July 9, we went to pick up Lulu. If you know Kristie, you know that she has never been a dog person. We arrived at the Charlotte Dog Club bright and early. When they brought out our three pound ball of fluff with a pink bow in her hair, Kristie melted. We have enjoyed getting to know Lulu. The multiple trips to the bathroom each night and having to constantly be on alert around her, not as much. She enjoys going for walks, running around in the yard, playing fetch with her little stuffed doggie, and taking naps. For those wondering, she is an Aussiedoodle (part poodle/part Australian shepherd). Unfortunately, she isn’t very photogenic since her dark eyes blend with her dark hair. The pictures below are about the best we have.
