Saturday, Nov. 10

We were in no hurry to get up this morning, though we didn't stay in bed past 7:30. After breakfast, I did stair stepping, resistance bands, and weights exercises, then hurried to get ready for the day, so we could leave home around 10:30 to go on a "leaf peeping" and photo safari to a mountain town about an hour away.

The day started out overcast, but soon became sunny, so that the hills, in autumn colors, were stunningly beautiful on the ride up the winding road to the town. I had hoped to get lots of photos of the hills, but there is just no place to pull over on that narrow road. On the way back home later, I shot a few photos through the car window, and they are pretty, but they aren't what I envisioned getting today.

When we arrived in the town, which is a tourist attraction, we started by going to the town square. Lots of bluegrass musicians were entertaining there, but there were no parking spaces, so we headed to a restaurant at the folk center.

The restaurant is located way up on a hill, but can be accessed without having to buy admission to the folk center. Visitors have a choice of driving up the hill, riding a van, or walking up several flights of wooden steps. We chose to drive, of course.

We didn't have to go to the general parking lot, which requires a walk up a hill to get to the restaurant door, because there is handicap parking right outside the door. From here, Mother could ride in her wheelchair into the restaurant.

The dining room features floor-to-ceiling windows through which diners can enjoy birds and squirrels at feeders. We were particularly fascinated by a rotating board with an ear of corn at one end, and a weight at the other, which was mounted on a tree.

Today, a squirrel entertained us by jumping on the board at the end with the corn, and riding it around until he dismounted onto a platform. He bit corn off the cob as he traveled on the board. Researching online, I found that this device is called a "squirrel-a-whirl." Since Mother was so fascinated with it, I'll be ordering one for her for Christmas.

After lunch, we decided to visit the folk center gift shop, which required that we pass through the administration building. I thought that the shop was at the other end of this building, but instead, the center itself was there.

Ordinarily, we would have had to pay admission to get into the park, but when we inquired, we were told it was a free weekend. So we decided to take a tour. It has been several years since we last visited, so we figured we'd only be able to tour the upper level, because Mother couldn't walk down steps to the lower level. But we were pleasantly surprised to find an electronic lift designed for wheelchairs, which lowered us to the the second level.

Each small building at the park features crafters...a quilter, a metal worker, a woodworker, a candle maker, a printer, etc. There's also an old school house, a root cellar, a "still," and an herb drying house. Here and there, entertainers sang and played instruments, like the dulcimer.

We were surprised by how many plants were still in bloom...wildflowers, cockscomb, zinnias, crysanthemums, and others, many of which may fall to a predicted freeze in the coming week.

We ended the tour at the gift shop. All I bought was a small bag of tea cookies, but we were amused by a jar of what was called "Traffic Jam," which is a mix of various fruits.

A hostess in period dress offered us refreshments of tea cookies and hot drinks...a choice of coffee, raspberry tea, or hot chocolate. "I washed my hands a couple of days ago," she joked, as she coaxed the cookies out of the bag.

From the folk center, we went to a pretty little trout fishing lake that features a stone dam over which flows water from the nearby caverns. In this area, too, is a walkway to the backside of the dam. We started down this path, pushing Mother in her wheelchair, but though it is supposed to be handicap accessible, the walk has too many worn places that are hard to navigate, so about halfway down, we turned around and went back to the van.

By this time, it was nearing 3 p.m., so we headed home. The sun was hitting the hills at a different angle, of course, creating a blue cast, but the colors were still striking.

We arrived back home after 4 p.m., and I immediately accompanied Mother to her house. She was tired, even though she'd spent the day riding either in the van or in her wheelchair. She was happy, though, that we'd made the trip, since predicted storms in the next couple of days will probably strip the trees of their leaves.

At home, Hubbie and I watched our favorite college football team play to a disappointing loss. I'd recorded the game on the DVR.

After that, we watched a very strange movie called, "Brake." A Secret Service agent wakes up in the trunk of a car, where he is terrorized and tortured, while perpetrators try to get information out of him that they can use in a plot against the President.