Girls' Mountain Weekend

First off, I want to thank all of you who read for your comments on my last post.  I definitely feel a little better than last week.  You guys made me not feel like I'm not alone, which is nice because sometimes I do feel alone in this.  I also think the process, in general, of blogging just helps and is therapeutic.  I've always been a journal writer and I know from past experience that when something is bothering me, writing it out and getting it out of my head (well at least a little), helps. 

Another thing that helped was getting away this weekend.  A while back my friends Kelly and Candace had brought up doing a girls' mountain trip and it seemed like a fun idea.  I have to admit that after my meltdown last week it wasn't sounding as appealing to me as staying home, sitting in pajamas, eating ice cream, and watching Twilight, but I'm glad I went, because it really did take my mind off things a lot, and Kelly and Candace were great company.

Friday night after work we set out on our adventure to the mountains of West Jefferson, NC, which is a pretty long drive from Charlotte.  I had thought that our cabin in Tennessee was kind of remote, but this took it to another level.  We're talking dirt roads, over the river and through the woods, to get to this location!  Kelly was a champ and drove us all the way there.  We had a couple mishaps with our GPS, but eventually found our way and arrived around 11pm Friday night. 

We had stopped at a grocery store on the way up for the essentials.  You know, wine and popcorn...

We got other stuff too, but this hit the spot after our long drive.  :)  I somehow managed to stay awake til about 1am chatting with the girls, which is waaaaaaaaaaaay past my usual bedtime these days.

Saturday morning, we got up and made breakfast.  I had scrambled eggs, toast with apple butter, half a banana, and some decaf Chai tea.

The cabin was nice and rustic but still new :)

We had a minor issue with the water heater when we realized the cabin had no hot water, but after a call to Candace's grandfather the issue was resolved (which involved driving to a neighbor's house since we had no cell phone reception!). 

 The scenery from the cabin was absolutely gorgeous.  It's peak season in the mountains right now.

Kelly also participated in the photo shoot :)

And Clyde explored the deck.

We got ready and headed to West Jefferson to explore.

Our first stop was Ashe County Cheese, where they make their own cheese.

They had every different cheese combination imaginable, and some cute novelty cheeses, including Dachshunds!

And planes!

Kelly and I had each got a Dachshund cheese, and I also got some pecan syrup and pumpkin butter.

We explored a bunch of shops after our cheese adventure.

I was tempted to get some of these fun Doxie figurines, but held myself back.  Kelly joked that we could have cabinets full of them.  Yikes!

I ended up getting this cute piece of pottery, which is an apple baker.

We headed to lunch at a place called Frasers Pub with a huge menu.

I went with a chicken pesto sandwich.

After a little more browsing we went to Bohemia, a cute coffee shop.

I ordered a pumpkin pie latte.  I can't get enough pumpkin lately.  I admit it...

We hung around the shop for a while and drank our coffees while chatting.

Then we headed out of town and back to the cabin to check on Clyde.

We took him for a walk down the dirt drive, had a sample of some mango habero cheese (from Ashe County cheese), with apple, and relaxed for while.

Eventually, we headed to J&J's Chophouse to get some dinner.  I ended up having a Shock Top to start.

And then a sirloin with baked sweet potato and sauteed green beans and red pepper.  I haven't had a steak out in a long time.  It kind of hit the spot.

We headed back to the cabin and I didn't last much past 10pm.  I was tired!

Sunday we got up and Kelly made us french toast, which went unpictured.  We cleaned up the cabin and hit the road for Boone.

We just walked around a little so I could see it, since I've never been, but soon headed out to the outlets in Blowing Rock.  I ended up with two shirts from J Crew and a pair of jeans from the Gap. 

And that concludes my great girly mountain journey.  Thank you to Kelly and Candace for having me!  It was just what I needed to get my mind off everything!