A day at the cabin

Early Monday morning I was woken up by a loud bang. I thought Caroline had fallen out of bed and asked if she was ok. The benefit of a open plan cabin. She was and thought it was me.  We crept downstairs but could see anything. (As if the invading hillbilly was just going to be standing in our living room!)

Of course there was zero cell service at the cabin so even if we wanted to call for help, well tough. 

We went back to bed to sleep (as if that was going to happen). About 20 mins later there was a loud thud on the back door and rattled the chair we had braced against it. (It may seem a little paranoid but it was the middle of nowhere. And apparently not that paranoid.)  Once again we crept downstairs, this time me clutching an empty cider bottle (it was the first thing I could find) and peaked out the window. No crazed hillbilly or zombie thankfully. But something had got into the bins. I though it was a deer so I opened the door. Then a very large dog jumped out. The door was shut again extremely quickly! 

And he brought friends, at least 2 others that we saw. They looked friendly and well looked after but had no collars. So we didn't take any chances. I like dogs (now) but I am not keen on the possibility of meeting potentially wild rabid dogs. (The TV advert we saw later about how your dog is like a wolf and just wants to eat meat did NOT help.)

Are you looking at me?

Sleeping on our porch.  Right outside the front door.

Once we figured out the noise, we want back to sleep and slept in late. The weather wasn't great so we didn't go out. (It had nothing to do with not being able to get to the cars.) The view from the cabin was nice but it was cold and snowed on and off all day.

Cabin porch

We just spent the day watching movies, eating, and doing facials and manicures. I finally got to try out the new nail varnish I got for christmas. :)

Pretty nails

The only problem was the dogs. We really wanted to spend some time in the hot tub (I don't get to do that often) but I had visions of ending up either trapped in the hot tub by dogs (I did consider if it would be possible to creep through the window - probably not!) or having a bath with a dog, friendly or otherwise. Not that we are cowards, but we decided to make some creative barricades with anything we could find as some extra protection (I insisted!) 

Barricade one.

And barricade two!

I even took a broom out as a last resort (though in reality it would more likely be seen as a challenge) and a bowl of raw veggies and crisps. To throw in the opposite direction and hope they were stupid enough to go after the raw veg than us. (I was desperate. I really wanted to go in the hot tub!)

Self-defense mop. (And extra cider!)

Of course no hot tub is complete without alcohol.  We got through all the wine the previous night, so were on the cider. 

Hot tub! (With "dog diverting food" bowl behind me.

We didn't stay long. I said I was cold but frankly felt like I had pushed my luck fair enough. We made tacos and watched more movies. Caroline was going to get up and back early but didn't want to go out there alone (2 against 3 is better than 1 against 3). I was going to get up early for the same reason but was very glad she decided to sleep in as it was really comfortable!
The drive back took about 4.5 hrs but the roads were clear and the snow was only on the mountains (a lot less dangerous than last time!).

Snowy Smokies.

I had a great weekend and the hot tub really helped my ribs and back. (I pulled and possibly tore the intercostal muscles coughing, thanks to my chest infection. They have been killing me.) It was so nice to be off-line for a few days (I can't remember the last time). Though dealing with the resultant emails took forever! :(

Smokies

After a late morning in Pigeon Forge and trip to a pancake house :), we drove through the Smokey Mountains National Park to Bryson City in North Carolina. We had to take separate cars and I stopped to take a few photos. The first part was dry and sunny.

The Smokies.

However there were some colder, more icy parts.

Icicles. 

Deep snow!

More snow

There were parts where I was questioning the wisdom of this part of the trip. Where the sun hadn't reached, the roads were quite icy. I also got stuck behind a car going 5 mile a hour. I understand the need for safety. But you also need some momentum. I was very glad when the car pulled off! (I was nearly going backwards - and sideways! - at one point.)
But in the sun, the roads were clear and the views great.

Clear skies.

We reached the cabin safely. It was a different one to last time we were here, with an open plan. (Which was extremely fortunate the next morning!) We spent a few hours in the hot tub with a couple of bottles of wine, putting the world to rights and gossiping! So much fun (and I really want a hot tub!).
We also had a fire place! We cooked and watched films. Neither of us wanted to deal with the road to the cabin consisted of a 45 degree road with 180 degree hair pin bends and blind corners in the dark.

Open fire.