Trip to North Carolina Part Two

Part Two!

Saturday dawned bright and sunny for my dad's 64th birthday. We went on a hike on our property and had a smashing good time. I will post many photos from our hike throughout this post.

Me and My Dad!

A field in the forest

My Mom is bundled up!

Hiking is one of my favorite pastimes. I love learning about the different trees, flowers, shrubs, mosses, fungi, and ferns that I see while I walk. I love looking at the different insects and I am a pro at walking straight into spider webs. I am usually the first one to get a mouthful of webbing on the hike (I'm usually near the front and tall, so they are right there and invisible), so I'm used to this. (Don't worry Meagan, I'll protect you with my face). It is very different to walk in the woods during the winter as opposed to the summer. In the summer, the understory is thick with lush green vegetation, ferns, mushrooms in bright oranges and whites, and the scurrying of squirrels and chipmunks. In the winter it is so still and quiet. There were birds, yes, but mostly crows and hawks as opposed to the songbirds that are normal in this area.



We heard one animal crash through the underbrush as we approached (probably a large squirrel), but my mom was talking pretty loud, so we probably scared away most of the wildlife (she was wearing a hat over her ears and couldn't tell how loud she was talking). Many of the trees were bare and the evergreens really stood out in the starkness of the forest of sticks and limbs. It was such a wonderful hike through the woods and fields. The sun was shining and I actually worked up a sweat, even though it was chilly. We only hiked for 1.5 hours (about 3 miles) and most of it was gentle ups and downs with a fair bit of up at the end. (More pictures at end)

Tree growing next to old barn

We then went to dinner at the wonderful Sol y Luna in Laurel Park for some Cali-Mex food of goodness! I had the veggie fajitas (without sour cream and cheese). I love that they have carrots and broccoli in the fajitas. Many places only put onions, mushrooms, and peppers in their veggie fajitas and those get sort of tiring after a while. Fajitas is my go to meal at Mexican restaurants because they are usually the only vegan foods available besides salads (although, I guess you could get a vegetable taco or enchilada without the cheese... you would have to talk to the waiter about that). They have the most amazing salsa bar with many fun and original salsas for dipping your corn chips in or slathering on your other food. One of my favorite things about the restaurant is the tableside fresh guacamole where they take 1-2 avocados and chop them up with cilantro, tomatoes, and peppers for spice right at the table. They then squeeze a beautiful spritz of lime juice all over it and give it to you for your eating pleasure. My mom ended up putting some of it on her Caesar salad (which is amazing for you non-vegan people who are eating there). My mom had the chicken enchiladas suizas and my dad had the Santa Fe enchiladas with chicken and they both greatly enjoyed their meals.

My dad being excited about his birthday

My mom and I ended up watching Thor on TV after dinner and I had the job of explaining why Thor in the movie is different from Thor in mythology (He's a comic book character... of course he will be different!) and why Loki turns blue. It was really fun to explain something I enjoy to my mom when she actually wants to hear it. After Thor, my mom went to bed and I watched the first 30 minutes of Iron Man 2 (I had never seen the beginning... how is that possible? I've seen it about 8 times). They cut out so much when it is on TV. I stopped watching it because it was getting to be hard to follow with the scenes they left out.

Sunset on the way to the restaurant

Sunday was another fun day. I drove down to Spartanburg, SC and visited my friends from Church of the Advent and from school. I ended up eating lunch at a wonderful Thai restaurant called Bangkok. I used to eat here all the time when I was in school. It is my absolute favorite Thai restaurant in South Carolina. I had the Basil Fried Rice (sans egg) with tofu and a green salad with ginger dressing. It was super yummy. My waiter was obviously new and he kept coming over asking if he could get me anything. It was kind of cute in a nerve-wracking way. He did accidently give me sweet tea once. I hate sweet tea. It is so sickeningly sweet that it makes me feel yucky. I always get unsweet teas at restaurants and then add sugar if I feel like it needs it. I'm much more likely to put sugar in hot tea than in iced tea. I don't know why, it just happens that way. Sugar is not always vegan, by the way. The bleaching process is sometimes done with bone char, but that is a discussion for another time.

I then spent the rest of my afternoon looking up music in the school library and visiting friends. It takes over an hour for me to drive from school to our house in the mountains. It is such a wonderful drive. I always put my music on and sing my entire way home. It is such a calming thing. I really love driving and just seeing all the really wonderful scenery along the road. For example, on the way home, I passed a deer eating grass on the side of the interstate. I guess it grows better out in the sun by the road in the winter than it does in the woods. It always amazes me how animals live within our very man-made constructed society. I guess animals have to adapt just as much as people.

 

 

 

That's it for part two. Join me next time for Part 3!