Seattle!

 Up at 3:30AM to get to the airport in time...the RDU airport was surprisingly busy at almost 5AM!  Quite the line for TSA but moved fairly quickly.  All settled at the Admirals club until boarding time.

 

 I made myself a very yummy smoked salmon sammie.....good coffee too.  I was tempted to ask for a shot of Baily's in my coffee but decided it was a bit too early for that!

Uneventful 5 hours on the RDU to LAX leg.  We scored exit row seats with no one beside us so we could really stretch out!  Nice that American now has free wi-fi on all flights - so we just surfed Youtube videos and such as a distraction.

At LAX we only had a 1& 1/2 hour  layover....and the Seattle flight was set to depart out in the boondocks at the "Regional Terminal".  We had to ride a bus and walk a good distance.  They did have another Admiral's club nearby so we rested for a little while there....they had a special "spicy" bloody mary on offer and this time we decided to give it a try.

After a fairly cramped 3 hour flight on a CRJ (small regional jet), we hopped on the light rail for the 45 minute ride to downtown Seattle.  Very nice setup.

Downtown views from the train - cloudy and just a bit chilly.

And easy checkin for our AirBnb for the next few days.  Right in downtown just a block or two from the Pike Place market.  The view from the apartment.....

We'll be tourists tomorrow.....right now we're pretty tuckered!

 

RDU to LAX

Off we go!!

Pittsboro, NC

 I've spent probably too much time in the last few days finalizing the PNW trip planning.  My "notebook" is full to overflowing with day-by-day info and maps.  

 Also getting mostly packed up and ready for our early Wednesday morning flight from RDU.   Trying to do it with just carryon luggage....

Pittsboro, NC

 Back to a bit of normal days....doing some packing for our upcoming trip departing next week.  Trying to minimize luggage but need to pack for both warm days and chilly, windy days at the tops of National Park mountains.  Well, I don't think we'll actually be at the top of any of the mountains, haha, but you get the picture.

While it's been raining a bit here, most of the flowers are a bit stunted from the long dry spell.  The only color at all in the yard is this amaryllis....with our upcoming absence, I'm not planting any annual plants that would require watering.

 

Pittsboro, NC

We were staying with my sis-in-law and baby brother....they treated us to homemade biscuits and gravy with Beyond Sausage.  Was a real treat!

 The main reason for the long weekend visit was for Duane's mom's 88th birthday.  She was pleasantly surprised by our visit.  Doing great!

 

 

After a fun afternoon of pizza, conversation and ice cream cake, we convinced the siblings to pose for a family portrait with everyone there.  Not too often does she have all 4 kids in the same  room!

 One more night of visiting and then a dreary, rainy drive back to Pittsboro.

Mills River, NC

 Mountain visit started with a dreary drive down I-40.....

We had a potluck dinner at my mom's house....chatting with lots of folks in my childhood home!

 

Dinner included some Bahamian lobster bites! And way too much other fun food.  

 

The lovely matriarch!  Doing great!

 

Lots of posed shots - my sis and niece-in-law (is that a thing??)

 

My mom of course!

 

My sis and sis-in-law

And Duane and my sis-in-law being silly while relaxing.

Good fun on a rainy weekend!
 

Traveling to the mountains

 Just thought I’d check in….traveling to the mountains again this weekend. We’ll celebrate Duane’s mom’s 88th birthday and visit with my crowd too. Nothing much photogenic lately….

North Myrtle Beach to Pittsboro, NC

 We continued to be fairly lazy putzing around N Myrtle Beach.  Had several fun meals out - waaaayyyyy to much fried food but it was really yummy!  Can't do that every day!

 

 Pat and Diane have lots of fun places there....golf carts at two houses.  So we road those around a good bit.  I snapped this photo of Diane at the wheel of one of the golf carts as I was driving so it wasn't a good photo.  But good fun and we had perfect weather.

 

 

 They've bought a new house on a pretty lake right in N. Myrtle.

 

They're just starting to figure out furniture and fittings.  It's going to be a fun place to visit as well!

And I have to show you the turtles!  There are dozens of them - not snapping turtles.  Apparently some of the residents feed them....we had nothing to offer but they were there begging.

 Back at the condo, the beach was getting busier.  We're just at the start of "on-season".

Fun to watch the happenings at the beach.  Parasailors being pulled by a little offshore.  Lots of planes towing banner advertisements for local pubs and such. Never a dull moment!

Out to eat one more time for my birthday!  Was a wonderful impromptu beach visit.  So nice of Pat and Diane to invite us!  

 Now back to some more mundane things like dentist visits and lawn mowing in Pittsboro!

N. Myrtle Beach, SC

 Still hanging out in Myrtle Beach.....another nice long beach walk.  Not very busy as it's still just off season.  Pat says this beach will be wall-to-wall people from Memorial Day on....

  

Fun to just drive around....lots of "beachy" establishments.  Very colorful.

 

And we passed one of the many putt-putt courses we used to frequent with the kids when we flew down to the North Myrtle Beach airport just for the day.  Fun that a lot of things haven't changed over many years.

 

North Myrtle Beach, SC

 We had a nice dinner out with Pat and Diane at Boardwalk Billy's.  We'd never been before and it's loud and busy!  Good food and service.

It’s our anniversary today!  44 years❤️

 

And this is what we did for most of our honeymoon at Topsail Beach....way before it was a popular hangout.  We were such babies!

 

North Myrtle Beach, SC

 Pat and Diane invited us to come to N. Myrtle Beach for a few days....since we didn't have other plans, we took them up on their kind offer!  Just threw some clothes in a bag and headed out.

We're staying in the condo that they rent out on the 14th floor overlooking the ocean.  They're in the same building on the 6th floor.  We arrived to find the fridge stocked with a few cold beverages....very nice of them!

 

After a nice visit in the evening, we went out to Fat Harold's Beach Bar to see Pat doing some shag dancing.  Nice crowd but definitely on the "older" side, haha.  Pat did give me a little dance lesson but I continue to have little-to-no rhythm!  

 

 

 This morning the sun was shining and a nice breeze flowing.  The beach was a little more occupied but not crowded.  We went out for a nice breakfast with Pat.

  

We went for a nice long stroll up the beach.  On the way back we stopped for a light lunch.  It's "bike week" here so there are a lot of motorcycles around.  A bit noisy but otherwise not a problem.
 

 

 

Pittsboro, NC

 We're back at Pittsboro, still sorting thru boxes of "stuff" from the boat.  Amazing how many varieties of sunscreen and bug repellent were stashed in various spots on the boat....add that to the quantities I have at the house and it equals too much, haha.  

Robert invited us out for a late Mother's Day dinner at a sushi place in Cary.  I couldn't resist the "food photo".....

 It was delicious and we enjoyed a nice relaxing visit.  

 

 

Mills River, NC

 Happy Mother's Day to all you mothers out there!

Duane's mom wanted to go to Strawberry Hill in Chesnee, SC so we loaded up and drove about 45 minutes to the family attraction.  Had a nice diner meal before meandering thru the country-store fresh market. 

 

It was not terribly crowded....

 

Lots of beautiful strawberries!

 

And other assorted goodies.

Shopping done and full bellies....driving back to Hendersonville some distant mountain views.

 When I got back to my mom's house, I found her busy in the yard pullling weeds.

 And then later cleaning the pool....glad she's setting  a good example for me!

 

Mills River, NC

 Visiting our Moms for Mother's Day!  

I enjoyed dinner out with my mom....she's doing great. 

 Beautiful day....view from Mom's house.

  

We'll have a nice visit with Duane's mom today as well.   

Pittsboro, NC

 We've been having fun catching up with folks...Jerry and Donna were passing thru the state and they stopped in for a visit!  

Fun chatting and had dinner together before they headed back to Oriental.  Good times!