Mountains, tears, horses and bears

It is really annoying how fast time goes by. We are getting ready to pack up our things as we will head home tomorrow. Hard to believe its been a week. I warn you this will be a longer post but there are going to be pretty pictures to look at if you want to skip the rambling.

We got to the Westgate resort Saturday and checked out Gatlinburg Sunday. Had lunch at Hardrock Cafe,

went up one of the mountains on the ski lift and just walked the town
Monday we left the pup with Grandma and got back in the car to go to Kentucky - Hopkinsville to be exact. This is were hubbys mom is from and he spent some time there growing up. We went to see his aunt and managed to meet up with 2 of this cousins there who he hadn't seen in over a decade.

Cousin Danny and his wife with us - No question if those boys are related right????? We had dinner with them and Danny's sister and her daughter and new grand baby. Now I still have major baby issues and its hard to be happy for people that had babies while we cant but i can usually pretend to be happy. However you put that baby in Hubby's arms and that's it. Of course it didn't help that they all kept saying we needed to get cracking on having kids - and then pointed out how good hubby was looking holding the baby. Long story short I ended up in tears and hiding in the restaurant bathroom till i was able to stop crying. Now you have to realize I hate showing weakness in public and even more crying in front of others. I don't know what I will do if the surgery later this months shows for sure we'll never get to have kids.

After getting back Tuesday night Hubby and I finally got to go horseback riding Wednesday. We have been looking forever whenever we go somewhere but its rare that places have horses strong enough to carry us. But not this time the first place we called said they'd take us on a guided ride as long as we can get on the horse without help.

So off we went - 2 hours. Hubby's horse was Diesel a stubborn Belgian/Quarter horse mix that weight 1600lbs and decided a few times to go off the path!!!! He had no problem carrying hubs for 2 hours up and down the muddy paths. My horse was named Pepper and she was a sweetie but kept stopping to snack - which we had been told they are not to do. The trails were in the woods and we saw plenty of tracks including bears. I have to say i am glad we didn't run into any wildlife since I wouldn't want the horses get to upset.

After the 2 hours horseback we decided to cool while tubing on the river. It was fun too but I could have done without the sunburn and cuts i managed to get. The river was cool enough to be refreshing so it was great after the hot ride. We got a waterproof disposable camera - if any pics turned out I will be sure to post them :) Hubby's other cousin was also vacationing in Gatlinburg (now they have not seen/spoken in years yet we managed to be in the same place at the same time) so we met up with them too.

Thursday was going to be hiking time but we ended up chilling since it was raining and just doing a 1 hour guided nature hike (walk) which was fun.

Friday we had to listen to the timeshare spiel - and while hubby finished signing the papers I headed back hoping to go for a hike with Mom and the pups on the only trail where pups were allowed. As we are getting ready my mom was on the balcony and all of a sudden saw the bears under us. Yes right there. Mama Bear and her cups. All the pics are on flickr if you want to check them out there.
Here is the video - neither mom nor i thought about videotaping it till the end.

Wow its been a week already and I haven't finished the post - darn. So the drive home ended up taking 2hs longer than anticipated since I decided on a short cut. I hate it when short cuts end up making trips longer.

Sunday we just chilled getting ready for the week asking Mac and the kitties for forgiveness since we had left them behind.

Right now I am in West Virginia - heading home tomorrow. Next week is Ohio - Cincinnati and Columbus.

wow I haven't blogged in over a month

That's like a personal record for me. Guess you can call it a summer break in blogging. It's not like there wasn't enough to blog about more to the contrary but I just didn't have a chance to actually come on here and write it all down. I guess that means this could be a long post - we'll see.

Mhh where to start its been busy. I had to close down a lot of my sites as studies ended. No more week in Vegas for me. I opened up new sites in WV, OH, NY and PA and I am so excited that there is a ski resort near at least one of them so for the first time since moving to the states I will get to go skiing. I can't tell you how thrilled I am, I already bought some ski pants, I got gloves, sweater and coat to suit the weather already. I am no big fan of snow suetes and I doubt it will get cold enough for it. I already checked out the fees for the lift and ski rentals. I may need to check what it would cost to just buy a pair of skis and take them with me. I need to get my cross country skiis from Germany. Its pathetic I have 2 pair of them over there and none here.
Work keeps my busy and traveling but I am glad - I don't mind the travel and I am glad to have a job with the way the economy is going.

Our guest have come and gone - i hope they enjoyed at least some of their trip. It was definatly an experience. They saw a lot from DC to NYC and the outer banks plus the unplanned ER visit. Of course they went to Busch Gardens - here is my god child with my niece. Those two became fast friends and we realized they are the same age just 3 days apart. From what we heard they liked NYC the best except for my friends dad who liked the beach best. I also took my friend along with me to my weekly sessions with my trainer. She kept up pretty good but ended up in pain for days after since she is a runner and doesn't go to the gyms in the summer over in Germany. She says they are to hot and smelly since none of them have AC. During their vacation I had to head to court for this - remember (the first 2 posts - sorry the blog is private email me if you need an invite)? Well the good news is the judge found the girl credible and didn't believe a word the family said. She didn't get as much as she had asked for but what the family is to pay is near what it would cost to appeal so I hope they'll just pay and this is over with. I was so nervous on the witness stand I know it had nothing to do with me I was just their to bear witness but still facing the judge and lawyers is something I'd rather not do again.

We dropped them off at the airport in DC at the end of their two weeks and had barely a night to get the guest room ready for the next guest. One of the au pairs needed a place to stay till she found a new family. She found a nice one outside of Chicago and I put her on the plane Friday and then left myself on Saturday to meet up with my mom and head to WV. I had to go there for work and she wanted to see a new area of the US.

So that's about it. This is the first weekend I am home in over a month and I am enjoying it. Relaxing, watching, TV reading and of course blogging. The girl from the court case is getting married today so hubby and I will head there in a little while till then I believe I will take a nap.