Meandering, Mining and Maggie Valley

well, we enjoyed our first full day in the mountains of north carolina today!  we arrived at our wonderful cabin north of maggie valley last night around 7:30.  you never know when you rent a cabin online if it's going to be just as beautiful in person as it is in the pictures....this one definitely is!  and it has wifi too!  ☺

our good friends the thurmans moved up here about 2 1/2 years ago to be near david's parents, who are aging.   their oldest son and our ethan have been close friends for several years; our forrest is good friends  with 2 of their younger sons; and kym and david are terrific friends to me and tim!   we miss this very much in panama city!  they are the couple who recently adopted a baby boy, tyler, making a total of 8 children, ranging in age from 21 to 2 months now!  

wyatt's first mining experience!

today we decided to fulfill one of the boys favorite things to do when we visit the mountains, gem mining.  we've done this for several years now, and we all enjoy the "thrill" of "what will we find?"   one year we found a nice white topaz that we had cut into a faceted 12 carat stone, it's quite pretty.  so today the guys found some tiger's eye, pink quartz, and garnet rough stones, to name a few!  it was fun, and kym and some of the kids joined us!  

ethan and forrest checking sifting their dirt!

then tim, ethan, wyatt and i went in search of some local barbeque for a late lunch, while forrest headed home with the thurmans.   fortunately  the barbeque place was closed on mondays, and we ended up at lulu's on main in sylva, north carolina.  what a treat!   not what we expected for a small town restaurant, quite unexpected actually!   tim and i had pork tenderloins with an orange glaze and mango chutney, accompanied by frijoles negros over basmati rice, topped with jicama and scallions, and grilled plantains....oh my......simply delicious!  a really unexpected treat!

we then made our way back to maggie valley to the thurman's home for a fire in their firepit, complete with roasting hot dogs and marshmallows and making s'mores....YUM!!!   we had a wonderful time wandering all over their property, down by the creek, visiting and having fun!   it was a fantastic evening with great friends!   forrest is there now, having a sleepover!  fun times....great memory making!    here's a few pics of this evening's fun!   

hanging out with ms. kym and baby tyler

enjoyed his first roasted marshmallow!

kym, david and tyler

by the creek!

enjoying the fire!

OH....and the "meandering?"   well.....you might think that we would only miss the right turn once in a day, maybe twice....NO....make that 4 TIMES in one day!!!!!   lots of excessive MEANDERING....but at least in a beautiful area!     peace....