June-Vacation

 

Due to crazy airfare, college decisions, and later than normal vacation time for us-we decided to rent a house in the NC mountains and take the dogs with us.  Back when the boys were very little, that was our "go-to" post tax season vacation plan.  At this point, neither of the boys have any memory of those trips, so late last spring we found a pet friendly rental with minimal stairs (for our Flopsy girl).  We loaded our stuff, and pups, and my buddy enjoyed another ride sitting up with me in the co-pilot seat.

We rolled in to our rental around 5pm, unloaded our stuff and the pups, then looked around the rental and began to notice a few things.  Like this:

I thought "ok, they ran out of time to make this bed.  Irritating, but no big deal."  Then Kieran told me the bedrooms upstairs looked nice, but "sketch."

So I went to check upstairs, called Kevin up to take photos, he went to call rental company, and I went to inspect the rest of the house.

Nothing had been cleaned.  Sheets were on beds, food still in fridge, trash in cans, counters were gross.  The other renters had checked out, and they were messy.  And no one had cleaned.

I began to wipe stuff down while Kevin talked to rental company, then after a belated offer from then to come clean it the following day (!!????!), Kevin found us a hotel, we repacked everything, unloaded it again, ate a late dinner, lined up a new rental, and called it a night.

The following morning we took our time at the hotel, repacked our stuff & the dogs, confirmed our refund from the "slop house", confirmed our new rental, then headed to the Parkway until we could check in.

Finally we got the text that the house was ready.  We headed there & unloaded again.

The dogs were rock stars & we were all happy to unload and relax.  Which is exactly what we did that evening & the following day.  Our house was perched up on a ridge with a wonderful view toward the Blue Ridge mountains and Mt. Mitchell.  The driveway was not for the faint of heart-six STEEP gravel switchbacks straight up.

Tuesday we woke up early & drove to the only thing we had lined up-Ziplining at The Gorge.  The boys all had a blast & I was just happy to complete the entire course (and touch the ground safely after).  Four hours, huge views (so I've been told), very long, fast lines, and three rappels.

The next day we lounged around & explore things around the little town we were staying near.  The "geyser" proved a bit of a disappointment (really a fountain), but it will be memorable. 

We spent another morning exploring Chimney Rock.  The boys have no memory of being there before-not surprising for Keenan since he spent that trip strapped in a sling on my hip.

The dogs all enjoyed lots of lounging, and snuggles.  We were happy to see Loch perk up and his appetite return.  Our views from the house were amazing.

Keenan & I are pretty sure we saw a bear dart down one switchback one afternoon, so we kept close tabs on the dogs whenever we took them out.

We spent another afternoon taking a tour of a goat farm, then sampling their many types of goat cheese, exploring a few stream side trails, and then enjoying a delicious German dinner.

The following morning, we packed up, and headed home.  Kevin & Kieran still had two more days off (thanks to the 4th being on a Monday).  Hard to believe June was a wrap.