On to the South - Day 20

May 7, 2012

We both were up a little early today, a little after 7 or so.  We are excited, but nervous.  We are going to see my Aunt Betty, my mom's sister.  She lives about 2 hours from where we are staying in Ashville, NC.

We ate breakfast downstairs, and was on the road by 9.  It was a nice drive, lots of green and more green.  It rained a little on the way, but only made the car dirty.

We arrived at 11 and rang the door bell.  I was not sure we had the right place, but Vonna said it was Aunt Betty's place, the front door was open.  I rang the door bell again and she was in the garage.  She came out and was so glad to see us both.  She reminded us both so much of mom when we first saw her.

Aunt Betty's front yard

She took us through her house and showed us everything she had done.  It is a beautiful home.  She has done a great job remodeling it.  Everything looked great.  She said that she had been cleaning for two days, and to let her know sooner next time we come (we had called two days before we came).  Her yard looks great.  I wish I had the green thumb to make our yard look that good.

Directions from Aunt Betty

We sat and talked, talking about what was going on in her life and ours.  It was great to be able to spend time with her.  A lot of memories to take back with us.  A lot of childhood stories of me and Pam, stories of our other visits, and of Aunt Betty and Uncle Bill's travels.  It would have been great to spend more time with her.

Aunt Betty's new hat

Aunt Betty took us to a great lunch at the local hotel and golf course.  We sat on the deck overlooking the valley and hills in the distance.  The hotel is very old and made of stone.  It was a great place.  They tried to set us on the far side of the deck, and Aunt Betty wouldn't have it.  She made us sit in the place we could see everything.  It was a great time.  We walked through the hotel on our way out, and got lost.  We asked how to get out.  We drove around the grounds on the way out.

Time was too short, but we had to leave.  We will have more memories to try to remember.  We found out that Pam, Chad, Brad, and Vickie are coming next week.  It would have been great to stay and see them all.

The road on the way to hotel

As we drove home we found a Starbucks and stopped to get a couple of drinks.  As we got back on the road I made a wrong turn.  The GPS recalculated and off we went, down an alternate road.  Through the mountains, around a lake, and on beside a river.  It took us on and on, through towns that Vonna wanted to stop in, but it was late and stores were closed.  It was a nice trip.

We got back to the hotel.  We stopped for a fast dinner, read, watched TV, and laughed about the day and the stories that were told.  It was a great day.  So many memories.



Off to sleep, dreaming of making more memories tomorrow.