Category Archives: animals

Altitude Sickness?

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Is It Really Altitude Sickness???

Altitude Sickness is the real deal! My first day (not counting travel day) and unlike my usual go go go self, my go go has gone gone. I’m headachy and tired in spite of going to bed at 5 pm yesterday. I dragged myself out of bed for a shower and went in search of breakfast. The restaurant in the lodge is only open for the Happy Hour and the dinner crowd.  Maybe I’m just hungry.

Wendy’s Again

I drove through downtown Breckenridge but didn’t see any open restaurants. I retraced my steps from the drive in and located another Wendy’s. A bacon, egg and cheese biscuit later and I still didn’t feel any better.  Maybe I did have a touch of Altitude Sickness. The little convenience store next to Wendy’s was advertising oxygen so maybe this is common for us sea level types.

City Market

I don’t want to have to search for breakfast every day, so I stopped at City Market in Downtown Breckenridge to pick up some basics. I made sure to get a 12 pack of bottled water while I was at it. Then I returned to the condo and went back to bed.

Bullwinkle

When I finally started moving again around 1:30 it was still hard to catch my breath, but the headache was subsiding. I decided to drive down to check out the gondola. It goes right over the road when it swings up the mountain. I plan to ride it before I leave but I’m waiting for my system to acclimate before I add another 2000 ft to my altitude. I never got there.

As I rounded a corner, I saw a couple of cars pulled over and the occupants trying to cross the road.  Being the nosey type and having seen this behavior before I pulled over too. Sure enough, this was sure to be the start of a critter jam. There were moose in the field and not just one. At least 2 males with impressive antlers, one juvenile male and a female. Of course, I didn’t have the camera with me. Just my ancient cell phone.

Seeing those moose was the best boost I could have gotten.  You can be sure that my good camera & lens will be in the car the rest of the week!

The Road to Sapphire

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The Road to SapphireAshville to Sapphire

Once I got headed in the right direction I left the road construction by the airport behind. RT 280 was a wide , well maintained highway. There was plenty of room for the crazy local drivers to pass. I could take my time and get acclimated to the drive. I felt pretty protected along this stretch because there was a church every mile or so.  Baptist, Methodist, 7 day Adventist, they were all there but not so many Catholic. All of the churches were large and well cared for. I knew I was in the “Bible Belt” but I had to wonder how a rural area like this could support so many churches so well. I guess the business of religion is very successful here. 

The Halfway Point- Brevard

My map said it was 45 miles from Ashville Airport to Sapphire but I felt like I had been driving a long time before I got to Brevard. Brevard was when the drive began to change to what I came to think of  as the half way point. Brevard is a little college town. It’s pretty and it’s loaded with fast food restaurants. There’s Wendy’s, Micky D’s, Bojangles and even a drive through BBQ place. Brevard is where I picked up RT 64. Rt 64 was to become my most traveled route while I was in North Carolina. It would take me to the waterfalls and the Blue Ridge parkway. It would also scare the pants off me until I got used to it. 

The Road to Sapphire

Rt 64 to Sapphire

I was relieved to see signs for Sapphire Valley as I was leaving Brevard. At least I was on the right track. I made a mental note to make a return trip to Brevard before my trip was over. I wanted to see a White Squirrel.

As I left Brevard, RT  64 began to narrow from a multi lane road to two lanes, no shoulders. That was ok but then I got to the mountain. I have no idea what the name of the mountain is but the locals just refer to “The Mountain”. They tell you that you’ll go down the mountain, around the mountain, over the mountain but they never name the mountain. 

Brevard to Sapphire Valley

The drive up the mountain to Sapphire Valley took about 45 minutes to an hour. Much of the road was made up of hairpin turns and switchbacks. The signs showed twisty turns with 15- 25 mile speed limits. There was no cutting corners either because there was always a car coming the other way. I began to wish I had a passenger who could take a video or at the least pictures. There was no place to pull over so I couldn’t do it. I had both hands glued to the wheel! 

The Road to Sapphire

This kind of driving is an adrenaline rush. It’s fun but I enjoy it only when I’m not being tailgated and that was going to be the bane of my trip. The locals, who are the nicest people face to face, are demanding, crazy drivers. They know the road and it’s twists and turns and they don’t pay any attention to the speed limit. I became quite adept at locating the narrowest of pull offs so they could go around me. When I’d get out of the way I’d get a friendly toot and a wave as they blew my doors off going by. 

The Road to Sapphire

This was almost as challenging as driving in the mountains of South Dakota! I was very happy to see signs saying “entering Sapphire Valley”. Now I just had to find the resort and check in. 

Tale of the Lost Keys

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Tale of the Lost Keys

I lost my car keys this week. That’s pretty hard for me to do. We are creatures of habit and I have carefully developed a habit for my keys over many years. I have a large wooden key rack with hooks mounted on the wall and the first thing I do when I come in is hang my keys on the hook. So how could I lose them? 

Tale of the Lost Keys

The Search Begins

At first I wasn’t too worried. After all I knew when I had them last and I live alone so no one could have borrowed them. My car beeps at me if I forget them in the car but I checked it anyway. No keys. When I had them last I was bringing in groceries. Maybe with my hands full I dropped them on the table or the floor. Nope, nothing there. I moved on to my pockets, pocket book and the canvas bag the groceries had been in- Nada.  I remembered I stopped at the mail box to pick up my mail. Did I leave them at the mail box? I checked. Not there either. Now I was perplexed. Where could those keys be? I decided to put the search on the back burner for now and use the spare set. I was sure they would turn up.

 

Day 2 of the Search for the Keys

On Day 2 I repeated my original search and added in the clothes hamper in case I left them in a pocket of my pants which I’d tossed in the hamper. Good idea but still came up empty.  I checked under all of the sofa and chair cushions. Nothing but spare change and crumbs there. At least it gave me a chance to clean out the crumbs. I was running out of places to look. Then it hit me. Could one of the cats have taken my keys as a toy? That must be it so I started searching under every piece of furniture including the fridge in the kitchen. I found lots of cat toys but no keys.

Tale of the Lost Keys

In Search Of  the Keys Day 3

I was truly stumped now. The cats were having a field day playing with all the toys that had come to light. I repeated my search from top to bottom with no success. Reluctantly I decided I’d have to order a replacement. I called the dealership to get the ball rolling. I thought I had been told a replacement was around $50.00. This is true but there is also a charge to program the key and another charge for losing it All together it was going to cost me $181.00 to replace that stupid car key/remote. As I sat at my desk contemplating the cost of my carelessness Banner came running in from the bedroom with Balboa hot on his tail and dangling from Banner’s mouth was my key chain and the missing key fob. I should have known!

Tale of the Lost Keys

The Tale of the Lost Keys-Found

Although Balboa is the kitty that usually carries toys around and likes to play fetch Banner has an attraction for more mechanical things. Every morning he tries to steal my Fitbit watch off the charger. It’s a game with him and he has the fastest paw in the east! The keys must have had the same attraction. I can only guess that when I set the groceries down I dropped the keys and before I missed them Banner had them and stashed them somewhere. I am just glad he brought them back before I spent $181.00 for a replacement I didn’t need.

Another Belated Birthday

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A belated Birthday for Balboa

He arrived at my home  November 19, 2020. He was so tiny. Banner looked enormous next to him. He was 13 weeks and 6 days old adopted from Anchor Paws Rescue.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

From the beginning he was feisty. He’s also my love bug. If Banner is a Purr Machine, Balboa is the cuddler always on my lap. Always looking for attention.

1 Year Old

Balboa will never be a big cat. He is long and sleek. He’s my funny house panther. Happy Birthday Balboa (8/14/2020)