Friday, May 31, 2013
A special treat this weekend. Jill and Levi decided to join us on our trip to visit Grandmother Ginny to celebrate her 93rd birthday. The good husband that he is, Josh drove the dynamic duo to the 109/I40 exit to meet us and to have breakfast at McDonald’s before we arrived. Once there I also took advantage of our stop and grabbed an Egg McMuffin,my fave, while Terry filled the car with gas. After transferring luggage from one car to the other, we were on our way. The weather was nice and traffic was light so we made really great time stopping only once to get a quick bite to eat at Chili’s. Jill and I shared a Margherita Flatbread Pizza that was truly outstanding while Terry had a combo platter of chicken tenders, potato skins and chicken wings which he shared with Levi. For dessert, we shared an iron skillet chocolate chip cookie with vanilla ice cream that I have been dreaming about ever since.
We arrived in Elizabethton around four o’clock and Grandmother was super excited. I took Levi on a tour of the house and showed him the playroom in the attic which he soon fell in love with and let his imagination run wild. Dad and Janice arrived around 45 minutes later from Highlands, NC where they had spent a few days enjoying some R&R and celebrating Dad’s birthday.
The backyard was beautiful and looked like an English garden. Grandmother showed us all the improvements to her landscaping and then showed us the one thing she was most excited about, her new car. She pulled her new dark blue Lexus out of the garage so we could all take turns sitting in it, reveling in the buttery softness of the leather seats while inhaling the new car smell.
Phyllis stopped by after work and she, Dad and Grandmother prepped our dinner of Ridgewood barbeque, baked beans, potato salad, slaw and chips. After dinner, we piled into several cars and drove down to the historic covered bridge. Levi loved feeding the ducks and geese and running through the bridge. After relaxing at the park, we returned to Grandmother’s and dove into a pound cake topped with strawberries and homemade whipped cream and coffee. Everyone was tired from a day of traveling so Dad and Janice retired to their hotel in Johnson City while Jill and Levi crashed in the yellow bedroom while Terry and I slumbered in the office.
Saturday, June 1, 2013
Instead of cooking a big breakfast and messing up the kitchen, Dad and Janice picked us all up goodies from Hardee’s… yummy biscuits loaded with sausage, egg, cheese, bacon and of course, gravy. On the agenda today was a hike on the Appalachian Trail. As Dad did with Lily a few weeks ago, he was excited to take Levi to Dennis Cove to see Laurel Falls. Levi did an amazing job for a little guy, climbing over rocks, finding squiggly bugs and throwing rocks into the babbling brooks.
As tradition dictates, a drive through Sammon’s hot dogs after a long hike is a must. By the time we drove back to Elizabethton, Levi was out like a light and didn’t awaken until Jill carried him into the house.
After cleaning up a bit we picked up Phyllis and headed into Johnson City for a birthday dinner at Cafe Lola. Our meal was delicious. It started with small puff pastries stuffed with cream cheese and artichokes which were perfect bite sized portions. For entrees, Dad and Phyllis had roast beef paninis with caramelized onions and Provolone cheese, Grandmother Ginny had sautéed seasonal vegetables over rice in a spicy red Thai sauce, Jill had an amazing four cheese lasagna with pesto and roasted red pepper sauce, Terry had baked salmon with a smoked paprika rub with sautéed spinach and wild rice, Levi had a delicious cheese and bacon pizza while Janice and I both had the special which was sweet pea stuffed ravioli in a sweet cream corn sauce. For dessert, Jill and Phyllis had profiteroles, puff pastries filed with vanilla ice cream and topped with a warm chocolate sauce, while Dad and Grandmother both had warm apple and pear streusel pie with butter pecan ice cream and homemade butterscotch sauce. Satiated and full it was time for part of our crew to hit the road. To get a head start on the coming week, Dad, Janice, Jill and Levi decided to head home after dinner so that they would get home before midnight and have all day Sunday to catch up on house work, laundry and errands. With hugs and kisses all around, they hit the highway while we headed back to Grandmother’s dropping Phyllis at her home so she could finish her Sunday school lesson for tomorrow.
It was such a long full day that we all put on our comfy pj’s and were in bed by 8pm. And if you were wondering, yes, it was still light outside.
Sunday, June 2, 2013
Sunday arose dark and overcast with the promise of rain. We sat on the screened in porch this morning and had a leisurely cup of coffee and then as Grandmother readied for church we packed and loaded the car. Having not had the opportunity to take a ride in her new car, Grandmother drove me around the monument a few times and then headed to the church parking lot where we met up with Terry. After walking Grandmother into church and sharing hugs and kisses, we headed home. The rain met us as we hit Johnson City and to allay the dreary doldrums we took a spin through Dunkin’ Doughnuts for some super charged carbs and sugary smiles. We arrived home around 2:30pm tired from out trip but happy that we were able to spend time with family surrounded by the beautiful rolling hills and mountains of East Tennessee.
