Contest Results + Scenery

My co workers agreed to judge the pumpkin contest. These are the same people (and I include myself in that lot) who take 3 hours to decide where to go to lunch (we have a preponderance of Libras), so, long story short, I do not yet have results. I do, however have a 5- to 6-way tie for 1st, 2nd and 3rd. I think we're going to have to enlist the help of an IT person and maybe a spreadsheet. We'll get back to you.

Meanwhile, do enjoy some scenery from our recent Lake Lure, NC mini vacation. Lake Lure, you may or may not know, was where Dirty Dancing was filmed. The actual location, which was a boys' camp, is gone now, but you can still see the foundation of the lodge in the photo below.



This is the raging creek in the town of Chimney Rock (home of...Chimney Rock!). Lenore asked me if I'd rather live in the mountains or on the ocean, but I think I'd rather live near a burbling creek (as long as it doesn't flood!). The sound is so relaxing.



And here is Lenore, safety professional, balanced precariously on a rock ... without a net! Laura speculated that she probably had an inflatable PFD in that fanny pack though.



Wildlife was abundant, however we didn't see any. Well, we saw lots of deer, raccoons, a lizard (in our room!) and a snail. And Tommy claims he saw a bear cub, but we were (and still are) skeptical.

I would LOVE to be able to grow rosemary like this! People grow this stuff as ornamental shrubs in NC, and I am way jealous. I pilfered sprigs whenever I had the opportunity.



You can view a few more scenes from Lake Lure on my Flickr page. Click "show info" to view all the clever comments. I may need to re upload these in a higher resolution, I think they look a little fuzzy.

Later that same moment...
(OK, I just added some at a higher resolution...but now they might take a long time to load. It's a trade-off, people!)