Saturday in Rolla

The Singletons have been such amazing hosts!  Their house has recently been remodeled and is beautiful.  They allowed our dogs and us to take over the basement when we weren’t hanging out in the camper.  The sliding glass doors were perfect for squirrel watching and the walk-out area to the backyard were so handy for all of us.  The laundry room got an afternoon workout, too!  

We learned a lot about the Rolla chapter of Lambda Chi this weekend  including that the founders started the fraternity as a healthy eating club in 1917.  The original house was built in the 50’s and this was the third major renovation.  I was really surprised by the dedication to faith and service that Lamda Chi instilled in its members.  Over the years, I have recognized that these guys are a special group and this weekend just reminded me how deep those bonds of brotherhood run.  

The house dedication was a packed ceremony in the “arts and crafts” room a.k.a. the party bunker. There were multiple speakers and a touching (and also hilarious) invocation that was followed with a formal tour of the remodeled house.    The space is impressive.  

Next, we spent a couple of hours having lunch at the Public House, a brewery that did it exist when Brad was at Rolla.  A trip to Family Center (like a Farm & Fleet or Rural King) was fruitful. Turns out these types of stores are really essential when you are living out of your camper.  

(These party favors were given out at the banquet.  They are really amazing challenge coins.) 

The evening was spent at the banquet where the formal celebration of the last 100 years took place.  Our friend Rob Sutton organized most of the weekend’s activities.  He MC’d the night and we are sure he was glad when the night was over.  The blazer that was purchased as part of the Thrift Store Challenge in Shelbyville (see older posts) came in handy tonight!  

All weekend long there has been a familiar face floating in and out of each of the events.  He is an older gentleman that Libby first noticed at the BBQ at the house on Friday.  She asked Brad if he knew him but Brad couldn’t recall.  He wasn’t anyone he immediately remembered.  Libby then asked a few other guys but nobody could place him.  Libby (and eventually Brad) were just sure that they recognized this guy and were determined to figure it out.  Again, Libby spotted him at the house dedication but was no closer to identifying the stranger.  We ended up sitting at the formal celebration one table over from him so when we were in the buffet line, Libby took him aside and said, “At some point tonight I’d love to figure out how I know you.”  The gentleman and his wife both looked puzzled.  He read my name tag and said that the name didn’t sound familiar.  I was about to walk away with my full plate of food, when Brad approached and said, “You guys wouldn’t happen to be from the Denver area would you?”  They both responded immediately, “YES! We live in Parker.” 

Right then it clicked for all four of us.  Turns out, we met Charlie (Alpha Delta #738 – Brad is #1151) at a Rockie’s game back in June of this year.  SAME Cafe  was gifted with a donation of tickets to a day game by the Ballpark Association.  We were able to sell most of the tickets as a fundraiser, but had two left over that didn’t sell. After our group picked up their tickets, I took the extras to the box office area in hopes of finding someone who could use them.  I found one young woman visiting CO for work who appreciated the gift.  That left me with one ticket to give away. I spotted this guy in line by himself who appeared to be waiting to buy a ticket.  (Turns out that guy was Charlie).  I asked if he was looking for a single ticket and he looked at me with skeptical eyes and said, “yes.”  I told him we had an extra that we couldn’t sell and asked if he’d  like a free ticket on the first base line.  I am prettty sure he thought I was crazy.  I was offering him a great seat for free. I did warn him that he would have to sit with my family but he didn’t seem too discouraged.  I gave him the ticket and proceeded into the game to meet up with our group. 

About 15 minutes into the game, Charlie joined us and we visited throughout. I learned a lot about him that day, I got to sit next to him.  I heard that he had recently retired, that was why he could go to a day game.  I learned he was volunteering at the zoo. We eventually shared with him about SAME and he promised to visit on one of his volunteer days since SAME is so close to the zoo.  He even bought us a beer for giving him the ticket. After the game was over, we parted ways and Charlie promised to stop in to SAME. 

It wasn’t long before he came in and had lunch with us on one of his days at the zoo (he makes food for the bears and does some horticulture.) He had to reintroduce himself to us but it was great to see him again.  On another visit to SAME, he brought some flowers and plants for the front window.  Over the course of these visits, we never got around to discussing where he went to school – what a small world.  

We had a lovely conversation with him and his wife Marti at the banquet.  We told everyone the story of how we know Charlie.  It was such a fun connection for us once we figured out the identity of our mystery man.  

We ended the night with old friends (including Todd, Brad’s older brother who also went to Rolla and was a Lambda Chi.) Our stops consisted of old stomping grounds and new favorites.  Such fun!

We got up on Sunday and packed up everything from the Singleton’s house and hitched the trail back up.  Breakfast was at the infamous Tatter Patch with Todd and crew.  We then followed Todd to his new home near Jefferson City for a visit. 

On the way to Wardsville, the town where Todd, Linette and the girls now live, Brad swore he saw an armadillo dead on the side of the road.  I insisted that armadillos don’t live in MO.  We made a friendly wager and called Todd to verify.  I lost.  Apparently, I have a lot to learn about armadillos.  

We had a great family visit over dinner and played lots of games.  

Centennial celebration begins

The whole reason that Rolla, MO is a stop on our tour is because Brad’s fraternity is celebrating 100 years at Missouri S & T, formally know as Univeristy of Missouri at Rolla.  Brad is a Lambda Chi and was super excited to get to hang out with generations of guys who were Lambda Chis at Rolla.  Some of our best friends in life came from his living in this fraternity house, although this version is much nicer!

The day started with a golf tournament at Oak Meadow.  The terribly cold weather has followed us here!  The boys were freezing out there but had a blast!

I took Leo & Gemini out to Lane Springs for some hiking!  It’s been a few days since we were on a trail-they were excited to get back out there. I had never been to this park before but it’s beautiful.  It was about 20 minutes outside of Rolla.  Even though it was 40 degrees out, we wanted to get out in nature.  The trail wasn’t very well marked, which made me pretty nervous, but we managed to find our way.  

Once again, Leo & Gem did great!  I did find a crawling tick on Leo tonight – yikes!

After hiking, we hung out at the Singleton’s house.  They have been gracious enough to host the camper out front and allow us to use a bathroom.  We were so grateful for the warmth today.  

The evening culminated in a freezing cold BBQ at the house where tons of alumni gathered.  

Day 2 & 3 in Shelbyville

We had a busy morning doing some crafts while at Nel’s house.  Nel and I learned how much we hate Gorilla Glue!  My hands look like I have a second set of crazy skin.  I keep trying to peel it off.  

Angel’s Envy was our next adventure.  Driving to/through Louisville was a bit challenging but we arrived just in time.  The tour guide was amazing and the facility is pretty impressive, being fairly new.  They use two different distillation methods – stack and pot although they weren’t in production today.  We did get to see the bottling line and learn about their unique twist on bourbon production.  

Lunch was at Against the Grain, another brewery, right across the street.  We tasted their pumpkin beer and smoked porter.  Brad had a 1/2 pound of pork belly- it looked amazing although Nel and I were not big fans of the texture. I had a vegan sloppy jo which I will be making at home-yum!  We were introduced to Kentucky Burgoo – a hearty stew, much like an Irish stew, although spicy.  This appeared to have been cooked a long, long time.  It’s a combo of several meats and some veggies – maybe corn and Lima beans?  Another fun stop on this journey!  

Our evening was an exciting one!  Libby went to Jazzercise with Nel again and Brad kept Gizmo from killing her cousins.  Gemini actually seems scared of her and he isn’t usually scared of anything.  He goes out of his way to avoid her.  After Jazz,  we all (minus Mark) went to the Goodwill for the Thrift Store Challenge.  Caelin told us he wanted to play so we modified the rules he had explained to us to fit our evening.  

Our version of the Thrift Store Challenge went something like this: Nel and I arrived early to find a trophy for the winner.  Then when all the boys arrived, we put names in a hat and picked for whom we would be shopping.  Next, we set a limit of $10, 3 articles that could be worn, and 20 mins.  The winner would be declared by who spent the least amount of money.  They are also awarded the privilege of deciding where the group would be having dinner in their new outfits. 

Joey bought Libby some brown velour pants, paired with a men’s dress shirt and suede hat that may or may not have contained head lice.  Brad bought Joey some Wildcat warm-up pants, Hawaiian style shirt, and a white mesh fadora. Caelin purchased for Nel Tweety Bird fleece hot pants, a bright floral shirt, and 4″ white patent leather high heel shoes.  Libby purchased for Brad a blue blazer, dress shirt, and pajama pants.  Nel purchased for Caelin a red t-shirt with a hilarious clown on it, a white puffy woman’s jacket, and a pair of khakis.  Joey won the inaugural event and was awarded the trophy.  We went to dinner in our new duds. What a memory!  We have so much fun with these guys!  

Libby could not shut her teacher side off so the way home was a brainstorming session on how to help Caelin get ready for school in the mornings.  Productive but not one of Caelin’s highs for the day.  

The night ended with a home version of a bourbon tasting. Mark treated us to an amazing Woodford Reserve special edition, a black bourbon, and a single barrel Knob Creek.  We tasted them neat and on the rocks.  Although, not a huge fan of bourbon, Libby had to admit they were tasty.  

After hitting another Jazzercise class this morning and having lunch at Caelin’s school, we hit the road once again!  Our next stop is STL to visit with Aly and Parker and then on to Rolla, MO with an extra car passenger we are picking up at the airport.  

By then end of today we will have traveled 3,600 miles, 75 hours in the car, 11 states, 8 community cafes, 11 breweries/distilleries, 15 stops for gas – it’s adding up!  

Shelbyville Shenanigans

For the first time since we left Denver we watched some TV last night.  But only because we were eating Pizza and it was Monday Night Football, which is almost required viewing around these parts.

This morning we woke up at our usual 8AM.  Libby and her sisters all went to Jazzercise class (Nel runs Jazzercise Shelbyville) and Brad stayed back to walk the dogs and make sure he had more than enough caffeine to get the day started. After they all returned from class and cleaned up, we loaded in the car and made the short drive to Louisville to have lunch at The Table Cafe.

The Table is located on Louisville’s somewhat notorious West Side, and has been in operation since 2015.  They serve a seasonal menu of soups, salads and sandwiches; most with a Southern twist, to approximately 100 customers each day.  It is a very clean and trendy looking space.  Nel, Joey and Katie all joined us, so we were able to try nearly everything on the menu.  We ordered soup of the day (a.k.a. the soup du jour!), the pumpkin chili, and lots of other delicious bites.  We ended the meal with an amazing piece of chocolate cake.  Each of us went to the counter to pay and were given the total suggested price.  Nel asked about volunteering and donating extra.  When it was our turn, I asked if the person running the register was a founder and he said he’d been there since the beginning and introduced us to Kathy.  She was gracious and visited with us for quite a while and then gave us a tour of the place.  We even got to see the enormous upstairs and heard some of their dreams of what they could do with the 20,000+ square feet.

 

This afternoon we each received much needed haircuts from the multi-talented Nel, and then went to Drake’s in Louisville for dinner and to try some local brews.  Shelbyville is a nice little city, but their dining choices are a little limited.  Drake’s is a sushi/burger place, which sounds like a strange combination but they did a pretty good job with all of the items we tried.

It’s still colder than normal here — the weather is mocking us!

Progress Update

This map shows our progress for the last 7 days. We’ve slowed things down quite a bit – only 560 miles this past week!

Grace & bourbon

Woke up to a rain soaked South.  When asking Alexa what the weather was like in all the cities that we were planning to visit,  she had the same report – rain.  Brad, Emory & I hung out in the kitchen while Mary took a shower.  We had a kitchen jam party.  After filling the water bottles and coffee cups,  we ran to the car with a puppy under each arm and Mary’s raincoat to cover us, to avoid getting soaked to head off for Danville, KY.  We left Mary & Emory in a hurry and discovered we also forgot to lock the back of the camper and we left without our portable Aeropress coffee maker.  Mary is so sweetly going to mail it on ahead so that we didn’t have to go back.

On our drive through the pouring rain, we realized that GPS lies to us a lot.  We are really giving our navigational skills a workout these days.  I am grateful that reading maps is a skill I was taught when I was young.

Arriving at Grace Cafe, we were greeted by Rochelle who gave a tour of their amazing space.  They operate out of an old large home turned restaurant.

The operation and some behind the scenes action was followed by a visit with some cafe regulars.  The art hanging in the space is professional photography of Puerto Rico that is for sale as a fundraiser for PR relief efforts.  This cafe has suggested donations for each menu item and they use a POS system with Square that was really interesting to see in action.

Lunch was delicious once again, highlighting many local farms and producers.  We had a little bit of everything ordering each soup, salad, and sandwich so we could try it all.  The cafe seemed full to us but she said Monday is her slowest day.  We got visit with regular customers and staff.

Rochelle was sweet enough to allow us to use the wifi so we could research the next steps of our trip.  We found out we were less than an hour (according to GPS) from Makers Mark distillery.  They closed in 1.5 hours, so we bolted as fast as we could in order to make it before they closed.

GPS took us on the craziest back roads that were pretty much single lane.  Due to the gray weather and road conditions we were starting to have flashbacks to our creepy mountain drive the other day.  We pulled in to the parking lot, found the first available spot, and bee lined it for the tour office.  We bought our tickets and found out there was a bonus Chihuly glass exhibit!!  The walking tour was leaving in 5 mins and the rain had just stopped! Talk about perfect timing!

Tour lasted about an hour and took us all around the beautiful property.   The all black barn buildings with red shutters made the property stand out from the rest  of the surrounding farm country and rolling hills.  We saw 7 Chihuly glass sculptures spread out throughout the tour, the last of which is a permanent exhibit leading to the gift shop.  Although we didn’t get to see the production line hand dipping bottles, we got to dip our own!

 

After we finished the tour we headed an hour north to Shelbyville, KY where we will be visiting and staying with the Grin clan for a few days. Gizmo is doing great adjusting to her dog cousins visiting.  

Take it to the House Mountain

We had a leisurely morning at Mary’s house with coffee and pancakes.  Our plan for the day was to check out the hike up House Mountain and go to the Fall Festival at the Botanic Gardens.  After some trial and error with Emory’s carrier, we headed out for what we imagined was a nice afternoon hike.  It was labeled moderate but we’d been on the AT so what could moderate mean in comparison?  

These photos are of us walking to the trail from the parking lot–seems like this will be easy enough.

This trail lived up to its classification!  We worried about the rocky terrain and the incline but knew we were going to make it work.  It is a well traveled trail.  We met lots of others on the way up and down who were excited to see Leo & Gemini & Emory making the journey.  We even saw one gentleman who was hiking barefoot!  

We did get some advice early on to hike the Blue trail, not the Red.  We were told that the scenery was prettier (which it was pretty) and that the pathway was easier (a little hard to believe).  There were trail markers that suggested the blue trail was 1 mile long. We thought that would be a piece of cake.  It ended up taking us 1.5 hours to get up to the vista.  Brads GPS watch (which is still working despite me dropping it and cracking the screen) said 3.5 miles up.  We aren’t even sure it was the top but was counted it as such!  

After taking a rest, we headed back down.  What had worries us going up, seemed much easier on the way down.  We had some theories about why that is but not sure any of them are valid.  We’d need a larger test subject pool to validate.  

Geminia Jedidiah Turdsniffer and Wheezy Trickleton IV Y’all are the southern names that we christened the dogs with on the way down the mountain.  

As we descended, Emory was a little tired and started to fuss a bit.  This kid’s magic soothing button is song.  The three of us sang to Emory and he fell asleep in the carrier.  Our songs of choice were hilarious.  For the life of me, I couldn’t remember the words to many songs.  We got a few verses in of a couple of Indigo Girls tunes but what eventually soothed him most were Christmas carols.  I am sure it was entertaining for the other hikers!  It was awesome to see Mary hiking down the mountain with a sleeping babe on her back.  This woman is amazing!  This is Emory on his way back to the car after a good nap.  By the time we got back to the car, Libby realized she’d hiked her way right out of a pair of shoes.

Our next stop was the Fall Festival at the Botanic Gardens.  There were food trucks and vendor booths and some music playing.  The weather today was incredible!  It was nice to just be hanging outside some more.  After a delicious reward for our hiking efforts, french fries, we headed home to regroup with showers and a change of clothes. 

On the way home Mary spotted a woodchuck and commented on it like it was no big deal.  Brad and I immediately made her turn around for the opportunity to catch a glimpse.  I thought for sure it would be gone but sure enough it was still right where she spotted it before in all of its woodchucky glory.  It took off before we could get a picture.  We had never seen a woodchuck run.  It was like watching a really fat ferret.  Add that animal to the list!  

We ended the night at Lakeside Tavern with a beautiful sunset, great conversation, and a yummy meal! 

Good-bye Boone

Our estimated time of departure was 9:00 a.m.  We were trying to get out early because of the Wooly Worm festival that would cause traffic.  While we were intrigued by this unique event, we didn’t plan on stopping.  We didn’t end up leaving Kim’s until about 9:25 which put us in Wooly worm territory right in time for a traffic jam.  This must be the most fun thing around because everyone was there!  As we crept through town, there was a huge line for fried pretzels and kids carrying those clear plastic containers filled with wooly worms, we expect.  We heard there are races but not sure if we believe the rumors.  

Once past the worm fest, we made progress towards our goal for the day, which was another stretch of the AT.  Katie, a friend of Rene’s, wrote some tips on a napkin and we planned to follow them to a B&B where we were supposed to be able to get on the trail.  While we had great advice, we thought we saw on the map a spot where we could get on the trail without going to the B&b.  We followed google maps up the side of this mountain for about 4 miles on a one lane gravel road.  We got some weird looks from the folks who live in this neck of the woods.  It was a little backwoods and creepy – especially the one truck we “passed” who gave us the stare down.  We knew we were not in the right location but thought we could make it work – based on the map.  We pushed on, only to find this road dead end at a cemetery.  It was a tight turn around and we were both feeling a little defeated.  While turning around, Leo & Gemini decided that there was something a little sinister out there and started growling and barking.  We were totally spooked and beelined it out of there- back the exact way we came.  

Once back down the scary mountain, we pulled in to the B&b to try and find the trail.  The general store there wasn’t open yet – it opened at 1:00 and there weren’t a whole lot of people around to ask although the parking lot was fairly full.  Feeling a little defeated again, we left without any direction.  Libby got out her cell phone, which hasn’t been working much, and found what she thought might be the trail.  We’ve both tried several time to read maps on this trip and use the compass in our car, but often we find we have to do a u-turn or two before we finally figure it out.  After a few of those and a couple of missteps, we finally set foot again on the AT.  

Today’s stretch felt even more remote than yesterday’s.  We came quickly to a bridge that Leo did not enjoy crossing.  We hiked for a good long time enjoying the terrain and wondering about the markings on this stretch of the trail.  There were still the small white rectangles but on some trees there were two rectangles.  We both commented that if we were serious thru hikers, we’d have to do tons more research to feel confident out there. It’s hard to imagine someone sleeping out on these portions of trail.  We know the trial is over 2,000 miles from start to finish and we only covered a tiny portion but we saw no clearings where one might camp, if tired.  It is so densely covered and extremely narrow filled with trees and brush.  

Back at the car, we decided to try and find the Blue Ridge Parkway and use it to get back to Asheville.  While traveling, we stumbled upon the perfect after hiking spot.  Blind Squirrel Brewery made some excellent beer and food.  Anything would have tasted good after getting off the trail but this was especially tasty!  Lib had a beet burger and Brad a  trout po’boy with buffalo blue cheese tots. Too bad we don’t live closer to here!

We knew the rest of the drive would be slow going but totally worth it and it was – once we finally found it! Today was a navigationally challenging day!  This route is well traveled with tons of overlooks to stop and enjoy the view.  We kept taking all these pictures but we know they aren’t translating the beauty of what we are seeing daily.  This area is SO beautiful.  Almost as pretty as Colorado.  

We pulled into Asheville hoping to hit some more breweries and exchange some shoes Brad purchased on our way through the first time that turned out to be too big.  We thought Asheville was busy the last time we came through-yikes!  This town was juiced.  We got out as quickly as we could and headed towards Sierra Nevada brewery a little outside of town.  It is huge!  Tommy (our friend from Boone) described it as Disneyland for beer lovers and I can see why.  It’s is immaculate and enormous with a huge backyard area.  It was also just as crowded as Asheville.  We did taste a beer that is named after our car!  We realized we are gettin old – we are heading back to Knoxville to hang out with our friends Mary and Emory.  They are a little more our speed these days.  If we could have our way, we would share the same bedtime as Emory.  😜

At the end of week two: 2,900 miles, 61 hours in the car, 8 states, 6 community cafes, 8 breweries, 13 stops for gas – whew!  

Jeepers Creepers the A.T. at last!

We started the day off at F.A.R.M. Cafe and finding rockstar parking.  Boone is a popular place and parking can be a bitch.  We were greeted by Courtney, a young lady with Down syndrome, who has been a volunteer there for four years.  We had catfish, grits, sautéed greens, salad, clam chowder and peanut butter pie!!!  We have no pictures of food because we ate it all so fast!  This by far has been the best food of our trip! We even got to throw an apron on and help for a bit!

(This photo is from the other day but I couldn’t get it to upload on that day’s post)

We hopped in the car and made a pitstop at Lowes Food for groceries (we are making dinner tonight for our host) and headed up to Damascus to bike the Creeper Trail and possibly find the Appalachian Trail.  We don’t have a lot of cell phone coverage in this part of the world so before we leave wifi we always check out the maps and take screen shots of directions.  This particular trip, google decided to send us on a dirt/gravel mountain pass for four miles.  We were SURE we were lost and going to run out of gas.  We eventually came over Rich Mountain and found ourselves suddenly in Tennessee.  We found a gas station and were feeling much better about the rest of our trip.  We followed signs for Damascus.  

This little town is adorable.  It is based around the Creeper Trail, which was a train route for logging that they have converted to a bike path.  There are multiple businesses in town that will rent bikes and shuttle you to the top of a nearby hill so you can just creep on back down to Damascus.  

Since we brought our own bikes and we aren’t scared of a little incline, we decided we just needed a place to park.  Upon entering town, we saw the sign for the AT and decided to hike first to wear the dogs out and then bike.  

The trail was all that we hoped for and more!  It is totally rugged and pretty much a single path through overgrown trees that reminded me of the rubber tree that my mom had in a large pot in the living room growing up.  There were tons of spiderwebs and insect galore.  The trail is marked by a small white rectangle usually painted on a tree about 6′ off the ground.  This part of the AT was mostly straight up.  By the time we decided to turned around,  we hadn’t seen a single soul but we did see this cooler!  Hilarious – we didn’t open the lid because we were afraid to let out the magic.   There were lots of rocks steps and downed trees and beautiful forest at which to look.  We made our way back down some the same crazy steps we walked up and decided we had enough energy to try biking the Creeper Trail.  

Leo & Gemi had loved the hike, again showing off their hiking skills.  However, biking was a little less successful.  Leo was on Brad’s back in the pack and Gem on mine.  We felt confident heading out although this is only their 4th time in the packs.  About 1/4 mile into the journey, Brad started to holler at me.  When I stopped my bike and pulled over, I discovered that Leo had figured out a way to climb out of his pack and was riding bareback.  After a bit of panic, I helped Brad get him back in the pack and we continued on.  Leo and Brad had to lead.  As long as they were leading Leo stayed put in his pack.  It was a stressful ride and not exactly what we were aiming for but it was an adventure for sure.

While heading back to Kim’s house, after stopping and finding a 6 pack to pull a Tom Whalen, we realized we had been in three different states today.  Our dinner was Libby’s chicken enchiladas with rice and beans and cilantro.  Rene and Kim were awesome company.  We just love these people and hate the thought of leaving tomorrow.  

Elk Knob

8AM Eastern Time. We woke up to a cool and almost frosty morning here in rural Boone. Even though no light comes through the fleece curtains that Libby sewed – it seems like we always wake up right around the same time. On our agenda today was taking the dogs on a morning hike up Elk Knob in the State Park of the same name, followed by lunch at F.A.R.M. Cafe.

We made it to the trailhead by 9AM and were glad to see the temps had already climbed to nearly 50 from the low 30’s that we had experienced overnight.

The overlook trail is a 2 mile winding trail up to the peak of the Knob where you can see mountains from several different ranges and into the neighboring states of Tennessee and Virginia. It took us nearly an hour to make  it to the peak, and we only saw a few people on their way back down after their morning ascents.  The pups did a great job of leaving their version of breadcrumbs along the sides of the trail, just in case we got lost. The fall colors were vibrant and beautiful along the way. Once  near the top, the tree lined path gave way to a dense scrub brush for the last bit, and the winds picked up considerably. We met a few other hikers and dogs but mostly we had this trail to ourselves.   The dogs continue to amaze us with their hiking and climbing abilities.  They are such troopers. At the top you can look out to the North and South and see for miles and miles.

Upon returning to the house, we did a load of laundry and headed in to town for patty melt reubens at F.A.R.M. Cafe.

We got a chance to consult with Kim on a nearby restaurant space that has recently closed.  She wants to open a pizza-by-the-slice space in downtown Boone, not far from F.A.R.M.  We thought the space was going to horrible right off the bat but it was pleasantly surprising, although, there are lots of unanswered questions.  It is a very skinny and long space – only about 500 square feet with an interesting entrance to the basement which made us worry later on.  Also, there is no gas to the space.  All the equipment is electric. Kim is going to consult with her contractor, health department, and fire marshal to see what potential is in the space.

Beer was next on the agenda, as it seems to be a theme with us.  We tried Appalachian Mountain Brewery with Rene and Tommy once all the work was wrapped up at F.A.R.M.  They have a brewery right on a creek and we were able to sit outside with the dogs and enjoy some good and crazy beers (Libby tried a cucumber one-interesting!)  Having time to visit with these two amazing people is energizing.  We solved all of the worlds problems right there at the picnic table.

Habitat for Humanity was having a fundraiser in town so we decided to hang out with the gang while they supported another amazing organization.  It was fun to see a different fundraising event than what we have traditionally done at SAME and exciting to get to see how much money they raised.

After another fun day, we all piled into the teardrop and thought about what’s on the agenda for tomorrow.  We want to get on the Appalachian Trail at some point – keeping my fingers crossed that it is tomorrow.