Exploring

Thursday, May 4…    

Lake Moomaw from the Highway

We have a lot of laundry. There really aren’t any large towns, strip malls, etc. within 30 miles or so, but the local highway has lots of turns so Greg’s anxious to get out and drive. Early on, we make a photo stop to get this shot of Lake Moomaw (same one we’re camped beside), then head into Warm Springs (largest of the 3 nearest towns). Beautiful, well-maintained town that’s home to the (massive/famous/expensive) Omni Homestead Resort, which dates back to 1766 (not a typo). All lovely, but no laundry. Someone suggests Hot Springs, but there we’re told decisively that we’ll have to go to Covington, another 25 miles down the road. That’s not gonna happen, so we get some gas and milk and whisk our way back through the curves. I stash my quarters and wash out a few essentials. It wasn’t wasted time, though, because we really got a feel for Bath County (officially County of Bath), and we love it. 

<-- Omni Homestead Resort: In 1766, Thomas Bullitt built a lodge on the site, which is considered the founding of The Homestead. In 1832, Dr. Thomas Goode (physician) purchased the land from the Bullitt family and expanded the medical therapies, establishing a European style of spa treatment and hydrotherapy. It has hosted vacationers ever since, including twenty-two U.S. presidents. (Wikiipedia)  

Beautiful Barn

Downtown Hot Springs

While I was busy with inside things this afternoon, Greg drilled a tiny hole to (hopefully) halt a small crack in the windshield, gathered a good-sized pile of wood, got a big fire going, and strung a nice light above the picnic table. Around 6 he began preparing chicken and TJ’s spinach-stuffed pasta. He was hoping for a nice romantic dinner by the fire, followed by a game of Scrabble. About halfway through his prep, it began to drizzle… rain…  pour. The fire burned on, but we turned down the lights, lit a nice candle, and ate inside. Later, we did play Scrabble. (I won.) I’m blogging at 9pm, and big raindrops are still pounding our roof. 

Roaring fire outside (pre-rain)

Chef Greg enjoying chicken & pasta...

...and pondering a
late-game Q.

BlogThoughts…   Birds. I’ve been meaning to mention birds since we were back in Montgomery, AL. We’ve seen all sorts of birds, but what I really love is hearing them early in the morning. I specifically recall our first morning in that Montgomery campground, hearing distinct twitters and tweets and this other, softer sound that I finally realized (duh!) was an owl. Which immediately led me to wonder if maybe we need another social medium. TWITTER (which includes tweets) to share regular, serious stuff, and HOOT for highly humorous items. [OK… OK. I hear your groan.] 

Seriously, though, last night we heard geese flying out from the lake just before we came in. And there have been many, many mornings when I just have to smile as I listen to all that avian chatter.