With the girls' annual summer camping trip on us, we pushed hard to finish the kitchen. Wayne, our painter, came in and did a lot of staining. Nathan, our builder, installed lights, fans, built an island, a pantry, a passthrough, installed the butcherblock countertops and a deep, stainless steel sink. Carolyn sanded the counters then started laying down five coats of Waterlox to protect the countertops.
On the way were Sara, Allison and their four girls: Sofia, Stella, Cary and Marina. Sara's friends, the Tarragons, were headed down with their two daughters, friends of Stella and Cary. Sean, Sara's husband, was expected as was Carolyn's nephew, Scott. We knew it would be trouble if the kitchen wasn't finished, although as Sara said, "We'll make it work". The reason so many? A total eclipse August 21. Sara planned the trip way, way in advance because Richmond Woods was only 2 hours from totality.
At around coat 3 of Waterlox, they are started arriving.
Sara set up her tent on our new tent pad. The other tent pad wasn't finished but Allison set hers up in the unfinished pavilion. All marveled at the almost finished house, kitchen, pavilion, etc. Everybody jumped in to help. For some unknown reason, the girls love washing dishes outside. Marina got carried away and washed the table as well. Scott helped. The girls all love climbing on the rocks. Next year: rapelling!
Carolyn gave Russ an enormous grill for his birthday, knowing this throng was coming. Wow! It's fantastic. You can cook so much at once! Here he is on the back deck, whipping up a big country breakfast for 14, filling individual egg orders. The 30-cup coffee urn was also very, very helpful.
The fun continued. Sean arrived... just in time to help with the dishes : P and excitement was building about the eclipse, now just days away.
Sara had naturally purchased numerous pairs of shades to look at the eclipse. Allison made two pinhole cameras. Everyone admired the beginning of Carolyn's butterfly garden. Russ continued to grill fantastic amounts of food with some excellent sides, especially Sara's slaw, made with sesame oil.
I had thought we'd get up and have a leisurely breakfast before heading to see the eclipse which wasn't til 1PM but Sara informed us we'd leave at the crack of dawn to avoid interstate gridlock. We packed up and headed out early with food, drinks, glasses, pinhole cameras, chairs, blankets, etc, etc taking a scenic route and off the main roads in two vehicles for a little place Sara had chosen: Englewood, Tennessee. It was a perfect venue: little town, little park, bathrooms, shady, few people, off the beaten track. Perfect!
We settled in to wait for the eclipse. It got cloudy but as the time drew near, the clouds seemed to melt away. We saw weird shadows, heard night noises (tree frogs and bugs), the park lights came on.
Wow! Sara has already announced her plans for the next one in Indiana in 8 years.
When it was over, we headed to Etowah, Tennessee nearby where they were having a festival to procure pulled pork sandwiches and such. Then back to Richmond Woods! Lots of traffic on the way home. Drank prosecco, had a facial (treatments compliments of Allison), more playing with goofy children, more cooking etc etc. Just unstructured fun.
The ghostly children below: my camera fogged going from AC in the house out to the screen porch. Yes, we have AC. And a giant refrigerator. All powered by off grid solar.
All too soon, we dropped the tents and headed for Atlanta to rest, recuperate and do extensive shopping: Ala preparing to start an MBA, needed a business suit, etc. It was almost her birthday so we celebrated. Russ's daughter Sara was in town from Glasgow and Carolyn's niece Cameron joined us. Another good time!
We're looking forward to doing it all again next year! We just have to talk Lorenzo into coming!
