Home to HAZY, HUMID & HOT NJ

I arrived from the airport this afternoon around 4pm. My good friend Fran picked up my mom & dad, Stefan & I from the airport......after taking mom & dad home we were on our way back to Branchburg! Stefan needed a friend fix so he went to a friends house to swim for a few hours.....mine as well enjoy the swimming this is the weather for it! This gave me some time to water the flowers and vegetable gardens and run water into the pool.......when the weather gets really hot like this the sun evaporates the water too! Dippy has not left my side since I got home she is too cute....I guess she missed me! So let's see a recap of the trip.....when we arrived on Friday Bill & Fernando met us at the airport and we went to our favorite NC barbeque place. 12 Bones......poor Fernando was (I'm guessing) suffering the ill effects of an 8 hour flight from Spain and then 11 hours in the car to get to NC. The poor guy was green. We hung out at the house and then went into Waynesville for dinner. We all turned in early. On Saturday we took a ride on the Blue Ridge Parkway (for those of you that don't know) I have a very big fear of heights. Let's just say I spent a great deal of time with my head down not looking out the car window. I did get out of the car to take pictures at overlook points and the view was truly God's best work. Mountains as far as you can see and over 6,000 feet up in them! We then went to a town called Cherokee which is an Indian Reservation with a casino......we had dinner and them went to an outdoor theater to see a show about the Cherokee Indians and their struggles. It was also my mom's 85th birthday and what better a way to celebrate than to enjoy our beautiful USA? On Sunday morning we went to St. Margaret of Scotland Church on the mountain top. I was really looking forward to sharing the mass at this church with my mom and dad and they were not disappointed! We then went out to breakfast and Bill took Stefan and Fernando sky diving....they had a blast! In the afternoon we had our realtor who worked with us for the last 2 years come over for a barbeque. She came with her husband and 80 year old mother. It was our first time "entertaining" in our home and it was a great afternoon. Later in the evening Bill took Stefan & Fernando down into the valley to see the fireworks and I stayed home with mom & dad and watched them on TV. On Monday we went to Sliding Rock...which is a natural area in Pisagh National Forest that you can literally sit down on rocks and slide into a natural mountain fed pool of very cold water someone told us the water was 48 degrees! Then onto Biltmore Estate we toured the largest private home in North America and it is truly impressive to say the least. After touring the estate we went to the Biltmore Winery and of course shopped. The down side of the day was that my poor mom "left" her purse at the winery.......I won't say anymore as of tonight we still have not heard anything that it has been located. Once we got home and she realized that her purse was not with her the Estate was already closed and the phone # was obviously just an information # offsite from the Estate. Once Bill took us to the airport he went back to the Estate to at least talk to guest relations and to perhaps talk to someone at lost and found with no luck...and the winery was not open yet. So if you are reading this please say a prayer to St. Anthony (my lost & found buddy) that some kind hearted person found mom's purse and will get it back to her. She is truly heartbroken and embarassed. Getting mom through security with no ID was a whole story in itself.......but we got her through. Thankfully this happened in North Carolina and not New Jersey at Newark airport.....we's still be sitting there I'm sure! You know it's kind of funny....the more I go to our home in North Carolina the more I want to go back...............work & camp tomorrow! Looking forward to it believe it or not!