guaranteed good times

Thanks to Pretty for establishing our annual Memorial Day weekend tradition and to our favorite daughter-in-law Caroline for collaborating with Pretty on invites, venues, food, fun, festivities every year when we pack our bags for a vacation in the upstate of South Carolina in the Blue Ridge Province of the Southern Appalachian mountain range. Guaranteed good times, but never forget there is a Chief Worrier in the group, and that would be me.

This year we had two major worries: the oven from hell in the kitchen of our Airbnb that refused to turn off Saturday afternoon when I placed Pretty’s vegetarian lasagna on the top rack of its preheated 350 degrees to cook for 25 minutes. To my horror the oven door refused to open at the end of 25 minutes or for the next twelve hours, the oven continued to bake throughout that time, and my Chief Worrier self kicked into high gear by suggesting we call 911 for the Fire Department at nine o’clock Saturday night – wherever the Fire Department might be for Hogback Mountain. Thank goodness for our calm son Drew who staged an intervention, urged me not to panic, talked me off the ledge on Saturday night, assured me the door handle was cooling, until the oven door finally opened Sunday morning. Repeat: Sunday morning.

Sofia (left) and Molly waiting for breakfast while Ella and I raid refrigerator

three-year-old Sofia brought her big sis Lily plus her parents Bryan and Nicole for the weekend

(they were all a great addition to the mix)

Sofia, Ella and Molly play on the beach at the nearby lake

how do you say salamander? and what are they anyway?

an unresolved mystery until Papa Williams (Pretty’s father) called to say

Danger, stay away from possibly poisonous salamanders!

two-year-old Molly very happy at lake with or

without salamanders, but her favorite new saying was

Go Away!

Go away, Neena and Naynay – but when we got up to leave, Molly would get up, too,

and say, I go with you!

The window seat in the living area of the Airbnb was a favorite spot for the girls.

she thinks she’s the only one who can have a Unicorn

that Unicorn belongs to me and only me, says four-year-old Ella

oh, man – make her give me back my Unicorn – I’ll trade for sunglasses

ok, let’s trade

just kidding – I’ll keep the sunglasses and the Unicorn

Remember I said two worries? The second one came when we were leaving Monday morning in the midst of a very strong storm on the mountain. Winds actually blowing ferociously, rain pouring on us as we carried our girls and belongings to the cars. I knew my Chief Worrier needed to be summoned when normally calm Drew shouted, Be quick – we have to get out of here – there’s a tree down on the road! Our little caravan of three vehicles left the house in a hurry on the small gravel road we had to use to come down the mountain. Not far from the house a power line was down across the road which meant we had to turn around and take a different direction. Whew. My nerves were a wreck by the time we reached Landrum where we met Papa Williams for lunch.

Guaranteed good times, you bet! High drama an unexpected twist in 2024! I wouldn’t trade sunglasses or anything else for the time with family and friends this year. I’m grateful to the service members who made the ultimate sacrifice for us to live in a free country where we can celebrate their memories in special ways on Memorial Day.

God bless the United States of America, and God bless our troops.

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P.S. Thanks to Nicole for top two images.