Last night was Boo’s first big thunderstorm and all four of us (Diesel included) ended up in the same bed for most of the night. I loved hearing the thunder and watching the lightning over the mountains from our bedroom window.

This is why they call it the Smoky Mountains:

 

Brett spent the day running errands and planting grass where the new septic tank is.  I spent most of the day caulking and painting the house:

 

I spent at least 2 or 3 hours filling all the cracks and imperfections with white caulk and it all looked amazing! UNTIL…..it began to disappear. Wait, didn’t I already do this room? I had used:

CLEAR CAULK

Note: It was not clear when it came out of the tube! The clear goes on white at first but and turns clear when it dries.

As a result I ended up at the town hardware store twice today. Look the jars of seeds they have….order by the 1/4 pound and they are put in a small brown paper bag.  The cute old scale from the 1950’s didn’t fit in the photo (and the cute old man from the 1950’s who asked if he could help me). Does it not make you want to garden?

 

We had a huge thunderstorm during dinner tonight.  The lights went out a few times but everyone just kept on eating and talking.  After a downpour and lots of lightning it was over as quick as it showed up. Brett said tonight’s dinner was his favorite yet with country fried steak, broccoli casserole, biscuits, chicken and dumplings, among other things.  Good grief I need to start hiking asap.

After the tables were cleared we sat in the dining room with another family (who also used to visit in her childhood and decided to come back with her own family) and looked through old photo albums looking at the inn from the 1950’s.  I’ll have to share some of those cool vintage photos with you when I get my scanner and desktop up and running again.

 

We got a new post office box today. Turns out the postmaster is the grandfather of two cute little boys that Boo played with this morning. I love that when I picked up my key they said “welcome to Bryson City.” Later I tried to find the library and my Google Maps took me up a steep hill, via a small road by a place called the Fryemont Inn and the road was so tiny I was sure there wasn’t a library down it.  I did a 40 point turn in the parking lot with a small crowd as an audience, almost running over their sign. That would have been horrible…what if I had a mugshot?!  Sometimes I wish I still had my little Prius because it’s a little less conspicuous. The huge truck with the camper shell and Yakima rack with the California license plates don’t allow me to fly under the radar easily.  The other day we passed this guy in another white pickup FOUR times..and on random back roads:

Me: What do you think that guy is doing?
Brett: I’m wondering what he thinks WE are doing.
Me: Maybe he’s a citizen patrol…out making his daily round of citizen arrests
Brett: I don’t think they have those in Bryson City.

I think I am in love with this small town. This is where I’m supposed to be.  I know Boo feels that. She’s all over the place…even accompanying the innkeepers to town to run errands today. I see Brett getting more and more settled too. And thanks for the ideas about the walkie talkies!  We found our set and used them all day with Boo. She’s still getting the hang of them though: Lainey said Boo was singing “Let it Go” into the walkie talkie as they drove to town and someone else they didn’t know responded.

I’m sure I get some eye rolling over how excited I am about the littlest of things (like the store that sells guns AND ice cream?!)   I can imagine it gets exhausting too:

I love that silo!
I love that old man!
I love that falling down building!
I love that mangy looking dog!
I love that pile of leaves!
I love that purple haired lady!
Look how much water the dehumidifier made!
I love that newly plowed field!
I love that…and that…and that.
I don’t love all those spiders!
I DO love those old pickups!
I love the train tracks!
I love that there is a McDonald’s!
I love this inn!
I’ve always wanted overalls!
I love septic tanks!

I love it all.

I love REAL. And this town is so real to me.

Oh and P.S. the new mailing address for Lil Blue Boo / Hackshaw Family is:

P.O. Box 910
Bryson City, NC 28713

And of course you can just send mail to the Hemlock Inn directly too. They know where to find me.

 

From the Smoky Mountains,

Ash

 

Happy Birthday to my sweet dear husband who agreed to trek all the way across the country with me to a new home. Today Brett turned 40 years old. And he got the most amazing present:

a brand new septic tank

I was giddy as the truck showed up. I’d never seen a septic tank before.  I passed Sid and his tank truck twice today in town too.

 

As they were getting started Boo and I ran into town to pick up some iced coffee and we got a chance to visit Clampitt’s Hardware store because the guys needed work gloves:

When we got back the tank had been pumped, and the tank was installed:

 

We ate lunch in town at the Filling Station which is a place I was looking forward to coming back to ever since last summer. And then Boo and wandered over to B&D Furniture to try and find a dresser or wardrobe for her.  I just love the outside of this building and the RC Cola vending machine right in front:

 

Brett worked all day raking the landscaping back out and I caught up on some email. I still don’t have Internet so I’m trying to get creative on timing for posts etc so I get something done.  I’m sitting on the back patio now and the kitchen is smelling amazing for dinner.  I walked through earlier and I saw the strawberry pies being made:

 

Some new guests showed up today with kids Boo’s age and we haven’t seen her since. I think we need to buy her a watch that beeps on the hour (every hour) so she has to check in with us.  Or an old beeper.  She won’t have a phone until she’s an adult, but I’ve got to find a way to reign her in a little with all this newfound freedom!

First of all, hi!  I’ve missed you all!

I’ve been trying to write but it’s been sporadic not having internet service yet and traveling and moving.  So much has happened it’s a little hard to find a place to start but I guess I’ll just jump backwards.

So you all know that our house was for sale. We were selling our dream house…with 6 years of love and labor put into it.  We had a fair amount of showings but the right buyer never materialized. We started to wonder if God was telling us to keep it. Then suddenly, three weeks ago, we got an offer on our house from a potential buyer who had looked at the property several times. He was in the middle of a divorce, and with small children around Boo’s age, it was the perfect house because it was turn key.  Turn key meaning: we were offering the house furnished: furniture, silverware, artwork etc. Even our pet fish: Penelope and Smokey. (it’s the first time our realtor Lori said she had a family pet listed in house inventory….and by name too….value: priceless of course) Anyway, we agreed to the price as long as the buyer could close by June 2. That was a super short closing and fell within the contingency period which made everyone a little nervous.

Everything seemed to be going okay but then a few days before closing the buyer got hung up on some aspects of our solar lease. I remember Brett being on his cell phone mouthing to me “the deal’s dead” and I just felt like crying.  Feeling helpless with everything out of control, all Brett and I could do was sit back and have faith that everything would work out.  We prayed and prayed for guidance on what to do…..and packed up our trailer planning to move cross country June 1st.  I had sold my car to a friend only days early and we had purchased a 16 foot box trailer to pull to the east coast.  We decided that the only belongings we would take were what would fit into that trailer: mostly books, photos, bikes, clothing and art supplies.

After the trailer was packed up last Saturday, we decided not to stay the last night in our home, we would stay with my in-laws across town.  It was a way to just make a clean break. It’s always hard to walk away from something knowing it will be the last time. As Brett pulled away with our belongings, I stayed behind to mop and clean and make sure everything was just right for the new owner.  I always like to leave things better than I found them. It was dark and I made sure everything was perfect, I organized the keys and instructions on the counter, fed Penelope and Smokey, and walked out the front door for the last time.

 

*****

We left Palm Desert the next morning, June 1st.  We drove to the Hoover Dam and stayed in Williams, AZ for the night. The next day, June 2nd my birthday, somewhere in the middle of the Grand Canyon, we learned that the house would close for sure. Let me tell you….it is NOT easy to sign documents from the Grand Canyon. There is not a lot of cell reception at Horseshoe Bend. BUT we did manage to get everything finished and at exactly 5pm, somewhere in the middle of nowhere, we got a call from our agent that:

We had OFFICIALLY CLOSED.

I’ve never felt so much gratitude and excitement all at the same time.

*****

We traveled over over 2,800 miles over 7 days. We didn’t even really have the route planned out by day but everything just kept falling into place. Even surviving a tornado. (I still can’t believe that happened.)  We made our way up to Lindsborg, Kansas and found the old farmhouse that my grandfather had grown up in. We found it with a small paper map he had drawn and a few old photos.  I can’t believe we found it. No one was home but we wandered around a little:

 

We visited two presidential libraries, the Gateway Arch and stayed with my Aunt Sharon and Uncle Steve in Nashville for a night too. And then yesterday we woke up early and Boo announced “It’s North Carolina Day!” and we finally made our way to North Carolina.  Almost 8 years to the day that we left North Carolina years ago to head to California.

 

*****

We pulled in last night to the Hemlock Inn just in time for dinner. This was what we drove up to:

 

So I’m sure you want to know where we are living.  We are staying in a small cottage on the property called the Woody Cottage. We are going from 3,500+ square feet to just about 900 square feet. It’s definitely an adjustment but as a family of three do we really need more than 900 square feet?  Plus I can use the inn dining room for writing late at night if I need to (that’s where I am right now) so we won’t need an office addition to the cottage anytime soon.

 

We are excited to decorate the cottage. Boo got to see her room for the first time and she was ready to start right away:

 

We had our first breakfast at the inn this morning and met a nice couple from Georgia. We introduced ourselves to a new cook, George, and he said I could help him make biscuits one morning if I woke up early enough. As we talked in the dining room after breakfast, Boo had so much fun helping in the kitchen, especially learning to run the large dishwasher and she laughed hysterically each time Mort opened it and it would fog up his glasses.

After breakfast we ate lunch in town with innkeepers Mort, Lainey and their son Steven and his wife Sara who are getting ready to leave for Germany in a few months. Then we walked around Bryson City….it’s the cutest little town. I love the original buildings and signs that steep visits in history:

 

Early afternoon we went to a nearby town to buy paint and Brett stocked up on a few bales of pine needles because he was itching to do some landscaping.  (just wait until you hear about what we are doing in the morning….definitely a first for us)  Next on his list is clearing this awesome “bat cave” that runs from the cottage to the shuffleboard court / dining room area for Boo to sneak up to the inn…especially any poison ivy:

 

Then we stopped by the river to skip a few rocks.  I just can’t believe that we get to live in this place:

 

There will definitely be an adjustment period. We aren’t used to the rainforest-like climate yet (it was 100% humidity yesterday and we just moved from a place that only gets rain about once a year.) We are living in a tiny cottage with 1/20th of what we owned before, and we still own way too much because we are trying to find places to put everything.  It’s definitely an adjustment only owning one car right now but we are making it work (I am seriously mulling a moped purchase.) I wouldn’t trade this for the world.  It’s amazing and scary all wrapped into a new life. The past few weeks have been a roller coaster but through it all I have never been more certain that God has strategically led us down this path.  How else would everything fall into perfect place the way it did?

Oh and all the rumors that are flying too.  Some that we are buying the inn.  Others that I must be sick again and that’s why we are pursing something so out of the ordinary.  I’d love to clear a few of those up. First, I got a perfect bill of health from my oncologist before leaving California. Second, we are moving to the Hemlock Inn so that I can spend more time writing and have the opportunity to experience inn life. It’s an opportunity to meet people from all over while living in a quaint, beautiful little mountain town. It’s a huge leap of faith and boy are we realizing that we’ve really lept. And of course we are nervous, but as long as we have family and friends and food and a roof over our heads what else do we really need? We are so blessed that Mort and Lainey of the Hemlock Inn have also taken a leap of faith and agreed to let us live on the property for a year. Today Boo disappeared and I found her hanging out in Mort and Lainey’s bedroom.  The innkeepers are going to have to set “Boo hours” or they are going to be in for very little personal  time….but what a great opportunity for Boo to live in a such a place that she can do that. I have to pinch myself even now.

Ok, now it’s late, and I’m the only one awake on the property I think.  I might even have to shut down the inn tonight but I can’t wait to share this journey with you.  I hope many of you will come visit us because that is what this is all about….meeting amazing people from all over and hearing the stories they have to tell.  Come sit in a rocking chair and enjoy the view. Or maybe I’ll challenge you to a game of shuffleboard. It’s a special place.  And as always, most of all, thank you, thank you for reading my story.  For taking the precious time of your day to read these words.  God bless!

 

P.S. If you are new to the blog and want to read the backstory this post sums up how everything came about.  Or this post on how I found the inn last summer after years and years of wondering if it was still around and my childhood history at the inn.