Dad promising not to pitch Jinx over the edge of Whiteside Mountain.
2 mile hike up to 4800' on Friday, so much better than being anywhere near the mall!
On Saturday, the intrepid fly fishermen tried their luck in Cherokee, NC. I bounced my San Juan hand tied fly on a rainbow trout's back and got no response.
Dad offered up his wooly booger fly to the tree gods.
Our prayers were answered. A benevolent Cherokee Indian pitied us and gave us four of his brown trout.
Reminiscent of the first Thanksgiving when Indians gave other hapless Europeans a helping hand.
Cole registered his quiet disgust very nicely.
Earlier, we had visited a trout hatchery.
I suppose it was hard for him to understand why we preferred to drive 2 hrs to fling poles for another 2 hrs when we could have plucked 8 pounders by hand out of these tanks.
Sometimes the hardest earned victories are the sweetest!
Poached trout with root vegetables from the farm...a meal fit for Thanksgiving!
Nothing was wasted. We even learned how to make caviar. Dad polished it off...I'll stick to eating squirrels, thank you very much.
Teaching Dad how essential it is to have proper camouflage while hunting wily tree rats.
In spite of being tormented by bears and hiking, my rat terrier did enjoy his vacation too.
Even though his preference was to be in the back seat all wrapped up in my down comforter...such a valiant adventurer. Not.
Finally got to ride a mechanical bull after 20 years of being on my To Do List. Eeeeehaw!
My entire ride could have been 5 minutes or 15, I was simply having the time of my life.
Did I mention that I really had fun?
Almost as much fun as Cole and I will have when we can take his new skijoring harness out for a try.
Unfortunately, not any time soon. Cole had the mass on his leg biopsied on Tuesday. We, impatiently, await for the results.
Cole's daily display of resistance to the bandage.
Recuperating on the couch with Dad, master canine masseuse.
Dad deserved a break too. We spent 8 hours in the kitchen baking up a storm this past Sunday.
Our first attempt at making sea salt caramel brownie. Hopefully they'll be safe in the freezer for the two more weeks before my sister arrives.
A couple of hours of roasting batches of pecans equals Jamie's kryptonite:
Pecan butter!
Dad and I also knocked out four loaves of whole wheat bread and a monstrous batch of Nanaimo bars (dessert bars from Canada). What a great way to spend a dreary rainy day!
