Relaxing in Kernersville

Today was a quiet day relaxing. After two days of driving it was nice to take it a little slower. We enjoyed a leisurely breakfast and then decided to drive to Mebane and check out the Outlet Mall. It was another beautiful day and we enjoyed walking outside. We immediately decided that this was a good place to get our footsteps in.

It was another beautiful day and when you were walking in the sun it was quite warm. We did a little shopping and snagged a few good deals before heading back towards our hotel to do a bit of grocery shopping.

We stopped for gas at this really cool station. We loved the signs.

Once that was done we went in search of a place for dinner. 4 restaurants later we settled on a Mexican Restaurant. The food was amazing and they made such a delicious guacamole by your table. It was the best we’ve had since Arizona with Lawrence and Teresa.

Kernersville- it feels like a beautiful spring day

I woke up early this morning and didn’t want to wake Ralph so I went exploring and in search of a coffee. I really enjoyed their Christmas displays so I took a picture thinking I might try something like this next year.

After enjoying a leisurely breakfast we left Morgantown, WV around 11.30 and arrived in Kernersville, NC by 5:00. The day was beautiful and perfect for driving. We finished our first audio book after about 10 hours of enjoyment and I’m almost finished a 2nd book as well. It sure feels like vacation.

Our bags are packed and we’re ready to go

After monitoring the weather for the last couple of days we have decided to leave today after the morning church service to get ahead of any freezing rain or possible snow. The next two days should be good for travel although they are calling for some rain. Our first night will be spent in Morgantown, West Virginia and from there we will move on to Kernersville, North Carolina. We will celebrate New Years there and then head to Myrtle Beach on New Years day.  This year we are away for about 9 weeks. It will be interesting to see if we enjoy being gone for such a long period of time. The long range forecast is looking good and we are planning our golf to start on Thursday. We’re certainly looking forward to that.

As we left church the rain started coming down. We were thankful that most of the truck was packed before church. Ralph did the final packing and even made the coffee. I cleaned up one last time and then we were on the road. The temperature is 3c and and it’s 14c in Pennsylvania and 16c in Morgantown. That’s pretty good. The rain continued for most of the drive and only stopped about 30 minutes before arriving in Morgantown. It was dark by 5:00 already. We were surprised at all the green grass we saw along the way. The rivers and streams were pretty high as well. We are so thankful it was rain and not snow as that would have made driving a bit challenging.

We packed a few extra things because of the length of time we are away.  Ralph envisions some football throws at the beach, reading lots of books and camera magazines. I hope to start learning some more about photography and look forward to putting what I have learned to practice (I can’t wait). 

We enjoyed a nice dinner at Primanti Brothers who specialize in “big” sandwiches filled with coleslaw, French fries, tomatoes, cheese and your choice of meat. It sounded exactly like something you would see on Diners, Drive-In’s and Dives. I was curious, so I gave it a try and it was amazing. Needless to say I could barely eat half, so I now have lunch for the next leg of our journey.   We were thankful that we could walk to the restaurant as it gave us an opportunity to enjoy the temperature and stretch our legs after the long drive. It certainly doesn’t feel like winter. 

Christmas dinner

After church today Ralph and I went home and enjoyed some time spent opening our stockings and had a nice light lunch.  Tonight we have a dinner planned and wanted to make sure that we didn't spoil that.  I really wanted to go back and see the Owl again so after lunch we drove back to Schomberg.  Oh man, I was so thankful that we went.  Ralph decided not to bring his camera but didn't mind bringing me to shoot a few pictures.

Once again there was quite a few photographers there.  The Owl was flying around but kept mostly in the same area.  It was really interesting to see what he did with his "dinner" which we were told was a "Vole".  He would fly into a tree and place it in the "v" of the tree and then proceed to try to eat it. Ralph was talking with someone who shared that they eat the head off the Vole and then leave it for a period of time in the tree (to age I guess and become more flavourful).  Apparently the Ravens have been eating the "Voles hidden in the tree's" so this owl was pretty particular about where it was "hid".

This was such an awesome experience and I feel blessed to have been able to witness this.