All’s well that ends well. After working out the condo situation, Independence Day Lake Ozark Trip 2017 was on! The Land’s End condo we rented through Home Away was gorgeous beyond our wildest dreams. It had two master suites, another bedroom with twin beds, a pull-out sectional couch that also had a chaise lounge built in for sleeping. I’m not sure the homeowner will ever know how grateful we are for that rental, although I left a thank you in the guest book. It was huge and beautiful and more than adequate for our group! Contact me if you ever want to rent the place and I’ll give you more specifics.
We started off our weekend with a stop by the Osage Beach Outlet Marketplace for a pair of shoes (not for me) and then proceeded to Backwater Jack’s to wait for our friends to arrive. We walked around the newly remodeled and expanded complex which now features a ginormous pool with a swim up bar, and had a great dinner with our friends. I had a seafood pasta that was absolutely divine!
The next morning brought Captain Bill to the lake who was ready to take us out on the boat. We took a quick boat ride to a quiet cove to avoid all the holiday water traffic and hung out in the cove most of the day. We made a pit stop at Docknocker’s for some of the best peel and eat shrimp in Missouri and on our way back to the condo we stopped at Dierberg’s grocery and picked up dinners for the rest of the weekend. Hubby grilled some delish steaks and pork chops that night while we watched fireworks from our screened in balcony.
The next day, we all headed over to the boat docks again. Since Captain Bill has a pool adjacent to his dock, some of us stayed there and swam while the others went out on the boat for some serious tube time. Even though Captain Bill had forgotten his swim trunks, he tubed just as well in his cargo shorts.
We finished up that day with some grilled steaks and baked potatoes for the birthday girl’s dinner but we were so exhausted after that, we forgot to cut the birthday cake!
The next morning, Captain Bill and our other friends were due to depart, and other family friends were due to arrive. In the interim, since we had never been there, we headed over to Dog Days to check it out. It’s a very small waterfront bar/restaurant complex, but we ate some killer nachos on the pool deck and enjoyed their pool for a while before heading back to our condo pools–one adult and one kiddie.
We hung out at the adult condo pool until our friends arrived. The pool was beautiful, it overlooked the lake and had a waterfall feature that the kids had a blast playing in. Afterwards, we headed back up to the condo. Hubby grilled again, but it was chicken spedini and bratwurst this time. I’ve never had chicken spedini done on the grill before, but it was incredible. I only wish we had a Dierberg’s at home, so we could try some of the other ready-to-cook specialty meats they carry in their meat department. After dinner, we headed up to the kiddie pool, so the kids could play in the lazy river. Thankfully, no one else was at that pool at that hour so the kids played a fun game of shark.
The next morning was departure day. We loaded up all our clothes and leftover food, cleaned up the condo, and headed out. All the boys rode home, while the girls stopped at Bagnell Dam Strip. We ate ice cream, did some shopping, and even had time to kill at the arcade.
It’s been years since I’ve played skeeball and apparently I’m horribly out of practice.
We arrived home after a short, one hour drive. Exhausted, sunburnt, and happy, we enjoyed Chinese delivery for dinner and listened to the fireworks from our bed. What a great Independence Day!
Independence Day at Lake of the Ozarks–Part 2
We are all set! Yes, we are headed to the Lake of the Ozarks for the 4th of July! After receiving an email from Home Away, that there was no response from the homeowner so after our 24-hour wait our reservation was being released, we were heartbroken. Resolved to cram into any hotel we could still find available, we made one more attempt at a condo, but we were no longer optimistic. Minutes after I submitted our request, I get a text from a number I didn’t recognize saying “Hi Tracey, I am following up with you regarding rental of our Land’s End condo. I am worried that my emails through VRBO may not be getting through.” Can this be true?
I asked if the condo was still available, and it was! Wendy at Atlas Enterprises (who owns the condo) said yes, we could still rent it and even let us have an additional day for 1/2 price. We can also use the pool a couple of hours before the condo will actually be ready. I don’t think Wendy truly knows how much she made our day!
Now back to packing. Things to take to a rental condo:
- beach towels–not all condos provide them
- groceries–since we’ll have a full kitchen, we plan to eat in more than out
- a couple of coolers–one for transporting the food items that will need to be kept cold on the way there, and one for adult beverages in case we go coving
- inflatable mattress in case anyone sharing a room decides they can no longer share a room
- pool/lake floaties
- basketball in case there’s a court
- sunblock
And that’s really it. Everything else we’ll need should already be there. We’ve already gotten a round-p of friends that will be down there at the same time, so we can hopefully hang out a bit together. And, by the way, we still have 2-3 extra pillows in case anyone else wants to come along (you will not get your own room, but you WILL get your own pillow.) Happy 4th of July Everybody!
Planning for Independence Day at Lake of the Ozarks, MO
This weekend finds us celebrating Independence Day, which means it’s a long weekend! Since our original plans to go to Arkansas have fallen through due to high water levels on Bull Shoals Lake, we’ll have to make due with an almost-staycation at Lake of the Ozarks, which is only an hour away. Since we’re taking the kids, which brings our family total to 5, and we hope to have some friends join us, we’ll be renting a condo to stay in in the hopes that we can keep costs controlled, while still having enough beds and pillows for all.
Renting a condo creates some packing challenges of its own, but provides a lot of perks as well. If you have never booked a place to stay using a site like Home Away or VRBO, I can vouch for their value. Homeowners can place their properties up for short-term rent at fair prices. They are entitled to require a certain length minimum, but a lot don’t. You search through the properties located where you want to be, for the size of your group, the amenities you want, and plug in your dates. From there, you can look through photos of the abode, review comments about the place, and book the one you want. Most charge a refundable security deposit of sorts, that you get back as long as you clean up after your stay.
We went with a 3-bedroom condo that sleeps 11, on a part of the lake where we should be able to see the fireworks show. Additionally, it was important to find a place with a pool. Since we don’t have a boat to tool around the lake, a pool is good back up. And a BBQ grill is always a must for easy convenient cooking. The place we found is called the Palisades, and will easily accommodate our bunch for less than the cost of crowded hotel rooms.
Oops, scratch that. We are apparently still on the search…drat! The condo we thought WE rented, apparently was already rented by someone else. This morning we had an email that said they were not able to confirm, try again. The condo still came up in our search, making us think it was still available, but nope, not so. When we still didn’t have a response 12 hours later, we called Home Away only to be told the condo was already rented, but the owner hadn’t updated the calendar, which is apparently a big no-no. The rep from Home Away, asked if we wanted to file a complaint–no we did not– still on the hunt for a condo for the weekend. Maybe we’re having difficulties because we are close to the holiday weekend? This is giving me a headache!
We were turned down within 20 minutes for our next choice, and are now 17 hours in on a 24 hour response time for our 3rd choice. I guess by this evening we’ll know if we are headed to Lake of the Ozarks or not. This is a great example of why planning ahead is a good practice. To be continued…
Fun Things to Do While Visiting the Great Smoky Mountains
While visiting the Great Smoky Mountains in May, we found a lot of really fun things to do. While most of our activities were centered in Pigeon Forge, TN because that’s where we stayed, there are other surrounding areas that demand visits as well. Here’s a quick list of some highlights:
- Harpoon Harry’s Crab House–a seafood restaurant that also serves sushi and has some incredible woodworking in their dining rooms
- Boot Factory Outlet has every boot you can imagine and if you buy one pair, you get 2 pair free
- Margaritaville Island–see previous TLC Postcards post for details about Margaritaville Island <——by clicking here
- The Margaritaville Island Chill Bar next to the rooftop pool of the hotel
- Hatfield’s and McCoy’s Dinner Feud–hilarious dinner theater show
- Eat at one of the many pancake houses, Reagan’s, Smoky Mountain, Frizzled Chicken
- Hike the trails and see nature, wildlife, and waterfalls
- Check out the fishing or kayaking in the mountains
- Eat crab legs and other seafood, at Captain Jim’s Seafood Buffet
- Check out Clingman’s Dome
- Sample some moonshine at Ole Smoky Moonshine
- Eat at Dick’s Last Resort (or just order a beer which comes as a 40oz in it’s own bucket)
- Visit Dolly Parton’s hometown of Sevierville, TN
There’s tons of things to do in this area! This list will just occupy you for about 4 days, or you can do a little homework and find many other activities to make your own list. We plan to go back again someday to experience some more fun. Happy travels to the Smoky Mountains!
I Didn't Get to Meet Paula Deen
For those who know me, I’m not a very good TV watcher, however, I used to love watching Paula Deen’s cooking shows over and over. Not really watching, watching but I’d have her show on all day on the weekends and occasionally something she was cooking would catch my eye. One afternoon I remember her whipping up something called Lady’s Fried Mac. First, she made Lady’s Cheesy Mac, which I remember thinking, “just macaroni and cheese with a couple extra ingredients.” But after baking it she put it in the fridge overnight–which caught my attention. Why did she do that? When she pulled it out of the fridge, she sliced the Cheesy Mac into 15 squares, wrapped each square with a slice of bacon, dredged it in flour, then egg, then bread crumbs AND DEEP FRIED IT. Obviously, this was before she starting lightening up her recipes. Even though it wasn’t a recipe I would ever make, I thought it was absolutely delish looking!
Fast forward a few years, and Paula Deen has opened numerous restaurants, put out tons of cookbooks, written some autobiographical books, now has another cooking show and can even be found on ROKU. At the height of her popularity, I read her autobiography,” Paula Deen: It Ain’t All About the Cookin’.” Talk about an interesting story.
Needless to say, I’ve always thought the food she cooked looked amazing. While in Pigeon Forge, TN, I finally got to try some. Her restaurant, Paula Deen’s Family Kitchen was located right across the way from our hotel.
Boy, we didn’t know what we were in for, which was quite a feast. Going in, we knew that all meals here are served family style, including breakfast, and we knew it was only $15 per person which was right on target for us. We didn’t have to wait for a table, which was surprising. Every day we could see a lot of people waiting for a table, but I think we timed our visit right–close to the end of breakfast.
Our server promptly came over and greeted us. She apologetically explained that they had run out of complimentary biscuits, but another batch was cooking. She said she would bring ours out as soon as it was ready, along with some orange juice. In the meantime, we looked over the menu to try to decide what breakfast would be.
We had a lot of options to choose from. We went with the Sweet Piggies in a Blanket, Alrighty Then Scrambled Eggs, Everyday Breakfast Casserole, Applewood Smoked Center Cut Bacon, Creamy Hashbrown Casserole, and Biscuits and Sausage. It didn’t really sound like a lot at the time.
When our server returned to take our order. She had our biscuit and juice. Now, I don’t know about you, but when I think about biscuits, what comes to mind are the crumbly, white bread biscuits, with a golden brown top, like the kind that comes with your gravy. This is what Paula Deen’s complimentary biscuits are:
That’s one ginormous Cinnamon Roll! The picture doesn’t do it justice, it was almost the size of my head! Well, starting with that, who really needs the rest of breakfast? We couldn’t even finish it even though it was absolutely delish! Paula sure does know how to do biscuits!
After that little starter, the rest of our food was served. Talk about a spread! Like I’ve said before, I’m more of a bacon and eggs kind of girl. My favorite? Surprisingly, it wasn’t the eggs. And while the bacon was incredible, that wasn’t even it either. 
My favorite was the Creamy Hashbrown Casserole–it almost melted in my mouth. The Everyday Breakfast Casserole was a close second. This rest of this feast was so unbelievably good, it should be against the law. Even though I didn’t get to meet Paula Deen, I believe I had a pretty good sampling of her cooking and it is just as innovative as that Lady’s Fried Mac looked on TV that one afternoon. If you get the chance to check out one of her places, don’t pass it up!
Hitting the Trails
Don’t fool yourself, I’m not a great hiker. As a matter of fact, if it wasn’t necessary to hike in order to see some pretty neat stuff, I can assure you, I likely wouldn’t hike. Now, when I talk about hiking, I don’t mean walking–I’m a great walker. I can walk for miles! On flat ground, slight hills. When I want to. Hiking? Hiking to me combines walking with large hills or mountains. I’m not a fan of walking large hills and mountains. But that’s where you find the neat stuff. While in the Great Smoky Mountains, we HIKED! Not far, but up big hills and steep inclines. AND we saw some neat stuff!
We started our long weekend by working our way through my list of places I HAD to see. First up, Clingman’s Dome. Even though it was only 27 miles from our hotel, the drive took us over an hour (we stopped frequently). Driving into the mountains yields incredible views, pull-offs for you to snap a shot, and lots of small waterfalls.
We made numerous stops while driving higher and higher up. At one point, the road went upwards like a corkscrew. The first thing I noticed when we got out of the car in the parking lot was that it was windy. And a lot colder. With Clingman’s Dome being the highest point in the Smoky Mountains at 6,642 feet, it tends to be 10-20 degrees cooler than the lowlands. It’s a good thing I had my down jacket. Although the trail up to the observation tower is only a half mile long, it’s a long, steep half mile.
Once you are at the top, you have a 360 degree view of the Smoky Mountains. Supposedly, on a clear day, you can see 200 miles in any direction and yes, we were up above some of the clouds.
The next trail we hiked was called Laurel Falls. All I knew going in was that this trail was known for the abundance of laurels growing along it, May is the season for laurels to be in full bloom, and that the trail ended at a waterfall. It sounded like a good one for us to tackle.
Since I didn’t know what a laurel flower looked like, we were able to pop into the Sugarlands Visitor Center, which, in addition to having a gift shop and National Parks info, had a museum that contained a branch of laurels. (You could also watch a short film about the Smoky Mountains while there, but we skipped that.) Once on the trail, I found the laurels! They were everywhere and beautiful.
The distance to the waterfall was 1.3 miles and the trail was considered moderate in difficulty. It was a paved trail though, which made it seem a little easier. Once at the falls, I was overwhelmed at the beauty. It was absolutely gorgeous and the sound of the water falling was so relaxing.
The next day we set off for Grotto Falls. This was another HAD to see because there was a waterfall that we could walk behind. There were actually a few waterfalls along the way, which was even better. We knew this trail was 1.4 mile to the falls, but we missed the part about it being “moderate” in difficulty.
I wouldn’t even rate it as moderate–this trail was the roughest one we hiked and we were walking on tree roots and rocks for the majority of it. The climb seemed to go on forever, and in my “in my head voice” I kept asking myself, “why?” along with murmuring the occasional curse word under my breath (I was trying not to poke my bear of a husband into using his “outloud” voice.) We knew we were close when we could hear thunder of running water.
bottom Grotto fall
Once we arrived at the top fall, easy conclusion, the work to get there was all worth the effort. There were large rocks to sit on and rest a bit, and the cold water of the falls made the air seem like it was air-conditioned. The only thing missing was a picnic lunch and a cocktail. The really neat part of the Grotto Falls was that we could actually walk behind the waterfall without being IN the waterfall. (That water is COLD!)
In hindsight, while I’ll never be a great hiker, there IS a pot of gold at the end of that rainbow–or hike–and hard work usually has a payoff in the end. The hike was well worth the waterfall and if you get the chance to go to the Smoky Mountains and hike some of the trails, do it!
Margaritaville Island
For four days in the Smoky Mountains, Margaritaville Island in Pigeon Forge, TN was our home. More specifically, the Margaritaville Island Hotel–you know, one of Jimmy Buffett‘s places. If you’ve never checked out a Jimmy Buffett place: Margaritaville Cafe, Margaritaville Hotel, Margaritaville Casino, or Cheeseburger in Paradise, you should. He can really put you in that 5 o’clock-somewhere-frame-of-mind. My husband has even bought a pair of Margaritaville Boat Shoes and I hear Jimmy Buffett may be opening retirement homes next. I’ll need to check that out!
The Margaritaville Island Hotel was awesome. Our room was tastefully decorated and had a comfy king-sized bed, fireplace, hot tub, and frozen concoction maker. The front desk actually had concoction mixes and recipes available for sale . We didn’t actually get around to making any concoctions, but the recipes looked good, like the Blackberry Moonshine Margarita. Each room also has a copy of Jimmy Buffett’s book, “Tales From Margaritaville“, which I made a dent in reading while relaxing in our hot tub. Our balcony overlooked the Little Pigeon River and came complete with a blue heron who hung out there every evening.
Outside of the hotel, there were a lot of options for eating, shopping and entertainment. We really didn’t need to leave the Island for anything. Aside from Paula Deen’s Family Kitchen, we stopped in at Dick’s Last Resort which is where your food is served with an attitude and they are known for their “crappy hour”. The atmosphere was hilarious, and came with free, insulting hats made by the servers.
Other restaurants that we didn’t have time to try but will be a priority on our next visit there include Timberwood Grill, and Paula Deen’s The Bag Lady.
We ventured in to Bootleggers Winery because of the sign below the bar that says, “High Class My Ass”. They were hosting tastings of their wines which had names like Mountain Muscat and Scuppernong. It sounded like a place with a sense of humor. After sampling 10 varieties, we took a bottle of tasty Strawberry Wine back to our room. If you are a fan of sweet wines, this one is for you.
Right next door was the Ole Smoky Moonshine Distillery which is where we then sampled the shines. The first flavor was Ole Smoky White Lightnin’ Moonshine which almost convinced me I could grow hair on my chest. I know where they get the name White Lightnin’–it was burning hot on the way down. We had other flavors like Blackberry and Raspberry (this is about the time I decided the Island was a really fun place!), and my favorite wound up being Snow Cream Moonshine which would have been incredible poured over vanilla ice cream or in coffee. Our server also gave us some pretty novel ideas of how to incorporate shine into our everyday life!
Whew! After all that moonshine, we intended to take a break from the sampling and do some shopping around for a while. We came across a store called the Village Idiot which was a MUST SEE on my list just because of the name. They had really unique gift ideas (did a little Christmas shopping) and some cute clothing. Next, we discovered what would become our favorite shop on the Island, The Beef Jerky Outlet.
If you have ever met my husband, you know he LOVES beef jerky. This shop let us sample any flavor we wanted to try, which was right on time after all the wine and moonshine samples. We tried some Slap Ya Mama, Teriyaki Smoked Beef, Blazin’ Cajun (which WAS Blazin’), and Prime Rib. We ended up buying 2 lbs of the Prime Rib and getting another 1/2 lb free of Blazin’ Cajun, which we took hiking with us the next day. We also picked up a Wild Game Sample Pack which has jerky made from 9 different animals including Alligator, Ostrich, and Kangaroo. I wonder what special occasion we’ll break those out for?
Beyond the eating, shopping, and sampling, there are other activities too. You can take a ride on the Great Smoky Mountain Wheel, which is an incredibly large ferris wheel with gondola seats, or there’s the Island Ropes Course, which had ziplines. You could also go in a Mirror Maze, Bungee Jump, or pan for Gems at the Island Miner’s Gems, which really looked pretty fun. The Miner’s Gems hostess assured us EVERYONE finds a gem, so I’ll be giving that a whirl next trip.
We also spent a few hours at the Alcatraz East Crime Museum, which was very entertaining and educational. We did the VIP tour, which gained us access to the interactive exhibits, audio tour, and participation in “The Heist” (which we solved). The museum features a tour through American crime history beginning in the pirate days, includes mobster times, and continues through modern day crime and crime scene investigation. They had a huge collection of crime related artifacts (think OJ Simpson’s white bronco and Ted Bundy’s VW Beetle) and lots of other fun, interactive activities. I learned there that I am a very accurate aim with a machine gun.
After all the activity of the Island, you can always find a rocking chair to sit in to watch the Dancing Fountains, or you can find a chair, poolside and have a frozen concoction. Regardless of your age or idea of fun, there’s a little something of everything for everyone at Margaritaville Island!
Smoky Mountain Pancaking
I don’t know what it is about the towns of Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg, TN, but they sure love their pancakes. While visiting there over the weekend, I noticed that there seemed to be a lot of pancake restaurants in the very short distance of the 5 miles of of the Parkway strip.
For instance, Pigeon Forge, whose population is 5,800, came in with at least 15 different pancake houses. And that’s a loose estimate–I’m pretty sure I didn’t count them all and I didn’t count places like Shoney’s or Cracker Barrel as pancake houses. There were restaurants with quirky names like the Frizzled Chicken and Reagan’s Broken Egg Pancake House and some whose names got straight to the point such as: Log Cabin Pancake House, River Road Pancake House, Parkway Pancake House.
We stopped in one morning at Reagan’s House of Pancakes. We scientifically decided on this place because it was the third pancake house on our right, while travelling south down the Pigeon Forge Parkway. We were trying to beat the crowds out to Clingman’s Dome so we were there by 7:30 and in a hurry for breakfast. Luckily, Reagan’s (which was voted Best Pancake House 3 years in a row) hadn’t yet hit their breakfast rush and had a buffet complete with pancakes and French toast. Now, I’m more of a bacon and eggs kind of girl, but I decided that “when in Rome” I had to eat the pancakes. I did not regret this decision as the pancakes were excellent and the French toast was even better.
The next morning we started out a little later because we were only hiking one trail–only half the day. We stopped at the Smoky Mountain Pancake House, and just beat the droves of incoming “pancakers” by minutes. Luckily, we got in just in time to get a wonderfully prompt and excellent breakfast. I had the French toast–still close to pancakes…
After finishing hiking the Grotto Falls trail, we cruised around Gatlinburg (which is only 7 miles south of Pigeon Forge and has 4,180 people) and noticed they had almost as many pancake houses as Pigeon Forge. We counted 8 on their 1 mile long strip with some names we’d already seen in PF and some new names such as The River Road Pancake House and Atrium Pancakes. If you’re averaging pancake houses per mile, Gatlinburg is the winner here.
The next morning we were slated to check out the Frizzled Chicken, just because the name is so fun to say. Unfortunately, we were too frizzled ourselves to make it before the “pancakers” and we had a fabulous breakfast, skipping pancakes and French toast altogether, for a family style breakfast at Paula Deen’s Family Kitchen. Watch for more about the complimentary biscuits we had there.
Resiliency of Nature
It’s time for re-entry to regular life after our mini-vacay in the Great Smoky Mountains. It’s always the time for catching up on the routine of life. Catching up on laundry, picking work back up where it was left when I left, getting back to the mundane. As is always the case with “re-entry” I just hope I can hold on to a few more moments and a few life lessons that I learned on this trip. The big take-away is the awe I have developed for the resiliency of nature, the resiliency of life.
From the destruction of the evergreens by the woolly adelgid to the wildfires of 2016 and 2017 comes renewed beauty and life. In one stretch of mountain road, you could see the devastation but drive just a couple of miles more and back to beautiful. Many thanks should go to the forest conservation folks who are attempting to revive the forests, mainly the hemlocks, from those woolly adelgids. Whoever figured out that soap and water would destroy those pests is a winner in my book! And even when you are hiking through the areas of fire ravage, while the tree trunks are still scorched and smelling burnt, the majority of the tree tops are leafing out and the undergrowth of the forest floor is a brilliant green hue of new growth and life.
If that isn’t the truth of the Circle of Life, I don’t know what is. I take it as proof that we all can handle a lot of blows and damage from life, yet still persevere and stand strong.
Enough of my philosophical ramblings of the Smokys. Up next, more fun observations.
Packing for the Smoky Mountains
We’re headed to Pigeon Forge, TN to check out the Great Smoky Mountains
Getting down to business: weather forecasts show the highs for next week should be in the mid-70s while nightly lows should be around 55. Knowing that it’s going to be a little cooler there next week helps. And there’s a chance of rain everyday we’ll be there. Looks like I’ll be bringing Big Red (that’s the name of my favorite suitcase) up from the basement to sit in my room for the next few days so I can add to my packing as I think of more necessities.
So far, I’ve been rounding up the clothing and toiletries a little bit at a time. I’ve got a couple of lightweight sweaters, jeans–one dressy pair and one hiking pair. I’ll be also be taking my rain repellent, down filled jacket. Luckily, it’s black, very versatile, has a hood and should look kind of cute while being functional. I’ve got my hiking boots and a couple of pairs of extra socks and band-aids in case my feet don’t feel like hiking as far as I do. A pair of black capris and a couple of tops to choose from will work if we go out to a dinner show or shopping. Comfy clothes for the spa and for lounging in our room if that actually happens. I’m also trying to color coordinate the clothing items to cut down on the numbers of pairs of shoes I’ll need to pack. I’m really trying to just pack everything I’ll need, NOT everything.
Update: I’m almost done packing, I think. But earlier today, a good friend of mine who goes on extreme hiking trips in the National Parks–at least I consider them extreme–think 8 days hiking/camping in the Grand Canyon with everything you need for the week packed on your back. I think I’d better stick to my half day hikes here and there. Anyway, she begins telling me about a program she was watching on TV about hiking the Smoky Mountains and the wildlife we might encounter. My take-aways are that there are a lot of snakes (some poisonous), thank goodness I’ve packed my hiking boots. There’s a toxic flower that grows in this part of the country that can cause crazy medical issues. Now I’ll have to research what that flower is. Because of all the flowers that flourish there this time of year, there’s a lot of bees. I’ll need to remind myself to pack some Benedryl. And the kicker is: Bears! Black Bears. She said we’ll need to be aware of them and probably take along some bear repellent. Is there really such a thing and where do I get it? I guess I’ll need to pack some. Or maybe we’ll just hang out at the spa and drink frozen concoctions. That will make my packing much easier!
Packing is done! We are ready to go, which is good because we leave first thing in the morning. I did decide against bear repellent after my husband told me his bear plan. He says if we do encounter a bear, he’s pushing someone towards the bear and running away as fast as he can. I pointed out that it was likely I would be the closest person for him to push towards the bear. He assured me he wouldn’t do that to me, he’ll find stranger to push. That makes me feel confident enough to leave the bear repellant behind I guess. Please send us good ju-ju that we don’t encounter any bears.