Down East Doll Show Trip - Day 5

Because we left a day early we were going to get to Durham the day before our reservation started - maybe would have been a good idea to come and meet people earlier but we loved out time in the little mountain cabin and drove to the town of Cripple Creek, explored the hills a little and then went to Wytheville to an old historic restaurant to eat.

 First breakfast on our little porch... a beautiful place to start the day.

We actually took relaxing very seriously and didn't leave the cabin until about 2PM - then went for a drive through the little mountain roads

First to see the closest town - Crockett VA on Cobblestone Lane (although its paved now)

and on to the town of Cripple Creek

Then we just drove around as the weather cleared and it just got prettier and prettier. 

Came across some vultures feeding on a deer carcass 

           although they all flew away as soon as we approached

Mom and fawn ran away too before we could get a picture that was in focus

 Falling down on my reporting here because I can't remember what town this was but we drove up a steep hill to the school to get this view, made all the more picturesque by the train coming through.

Spent a long time trying to get good pictures of these birds - the first one we believe is a female based on behavior (she was pretty much ignoring the dance done by the "male")  - the bird is a Kildeer.

 The second one did a dance over and over in front of the female but always while on the stones, never in the open - he looked like her when he was not dancing and then puffed up and threw his feathers out to reveal beautiful yellow-orange coloring underneath.

 By now it was near dinner time so we found our Yelp discovery in Wytheville, VA
Log House 1776 Restaurant - dating back to - you guessed it - 1776. Beautiful old building and grounds. Wonderful food.

People came in and were seated next to us and when the man's phone rang - we were surprised to hear the Notre Dame Fight Song as his ring tone so naturally we had to strike up a conversation. Turned out they were from Pennsylvania and had lots in common with Bill although he had not attended Notre Dame - just loved the school and they go to a lot of games -more than we do for sure! Here they are with their two adorable and well behaved grandchildren (only one in view, sorry).

And I'm sure this is the moment you've been waiting for - the food!

Pork loin with wonderful sauce, beans and broccoli 

and catfish with broccoli and squash

Beautiful gardens around the shop where we sat for a bit and I wrote on of my blog entries as we had no internet or phone service at our cabin.

There were some gift shops with mostly art object but I liked this best

Home again to see a bit of the sunset.... including this unretouched photo of the sunset through the trees creating a starburst

Days are shorter in the mountains - even 2 days before the solstice