A quick Visit to Nashville

We needed to do a trip to Nashville and it was not easy to find the right time on our calendar. We drove Sunday 10/11 the whole 600 miles this time with few stops. The weather was not nice. Rain and/or fog most of the way. 

As soon as we were closer to Nashville the weather had improved greatly and it was very nice the whole time we were there. 

This time we slept in our townhouse there which we had bought in 2008 when we came back from Singapore and James had retired. We had always said that we would want to move to Virginia and wanted it as a second home to be close to Helen. But about that story another time. It was time to take a look at it and get it ready to sell. We do not need it any longer. Helen and William have a guestroom for us. 

As soon as we had arrived a cat appeared at the door to the deck really wanting to come in. Sorry, Cat, don't really have time for you right now. But she was so cute.

Monday we met with a realtor but about that later too.

We decided that we needed "curb appeal", bought two pots of yellow mums and planted them in Helen's excisting flower pots. 

The back deck had always been a favorite place to sit and enjoy the look and sound of the creek behind the house and the trees there. On the other side of the trees is a golf course and sometimes you could here the sound when a ball was hit and comments of the players.

It was grandson William's fall break from school but he was with his father. On Tuesday the two went for a hike and Ben texted us several photos of it. William is such a nice handsome young men. We four met that evening in Mt Juliet for dinner and I can't believe that I totally forgot to take any photos. At least I have this one.

Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday we were very busy with odd jobs inside the house, driving to hardware stores, etc etc. 

By Thursday we felt that we really couldn't do much more. After lunch we left and it was dark by the time we reached Bristol, Virginia, Welcome Center. We had never seen it in the dark like this. We stopped to make a call for a room reservation in Abingdon for the night.

Short after 8 pm we were checked into a Spark by Hilton and on our way to dinner. 

We were not in a hurry the next day. Continental breakfast was included in the hotel. Soon we were on our way though. The weather was so nice and we kept admiring how pretty everything looked. In the few days  since we had driven the other way the trees had become much more colorful. The sun was shining and fog was in the valleys between the hills. It was gorgeous.

Sarah likes to know about our progress of driving and when we were passing the exit from the highway which is close to where her in-laws live, I asked Siri "text to Sarah" and dictated. Well, Siri misunderstood. Or AI decided what I was saying? Warning! Warning! Be careful when dictating. I was horrified when after a while I could see what actually was written.

I was reluctant to report this. But yes, it is a warning. How quickly could somebody misunderstand what you are texting and you could be loosing friends.

This time driving home we stopped more often because we enjoy little walks. This is a rest stop on Highway 81 in Elliston.

I admired the metall benches with the shape of Virginia in the back. I had quite a job to figure out how to take a photo that it actually shows.

There was also a historic bridge which was moved from somewhere else. I found this on the internet about it (https://www.dhr.virginia.gov/historic-registers/060-5066/)

The Bowstring Truss Bridge, fabricated by the King Iron Bridge and Manufacturing Company of Cleveland, Ohio, was originally erected over Stony Fork in Bedford County in 1878, after flooding destroyed an earlier structure in 1877. Bedford County officials contracted with the manufacturer to replace six bridges destroyed by that flood with the “latest improved patent of Wrought Iron arch bridges.” Of those six bridges, all of the same tubular arch truss design, only this one survives. By the 1930s, the bridge was relocated approximately 10 miles away from its original location.  The Bowstring Truss Bridge was moved again in the 1970s by the Virginia Department of Transportation to its current location at the Ironto rest stop on Interstate 81, in Montgomery County.

Perfect timing. We reached the Staunton area just around lunch time. We had been to the Edelweiss Restaurant before. They serve German food and it was nice, even though it was not like my mother cooked. 

We could sit outside which was lovely.

The sign on the table had advertised genuine German dessert: Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte and Strawberry/Rhubarb Cake. As I just had made a Kirschtorte for James' birthday "totally from scratch" and can't pass anything rhubarb we took one piece of each "to go" to share at home.

We enjoyed the dessert of cause when home but I was happy to see that I don't need to change my recipes.

Last but not least a photo of our camelia which is one of our two "before winter" ones. It was gorgeous then but got even better now. Every time we look it seems more red.

As always, if you enjoy reading we are happy if you like to comment ... positive or negative.