Staycations, Nail Polish Colors and Gauley River

I have been having some really amazing September days.  I have been on a StayCation in my own darn town.  My girlfriend Uma came to visit me from Jacksonville, Florida and we have been doing the Asheville thing.  We ate at Rosetta’s .  Peanut butter tofu, vegan mashed potatoes and kale.  Walked all over town and salivated over shoes at Tops Shoes downtown.  Saw George and Mel Mac at Asheville Hoops in Pritchard Park.   We hung out on my deck for hours drinking coffee, catching up, dreaming, sittin’ in the hot tub and hangin with dogs.

Rhonda "Uma" Sweet love girl yogini

Today, we got up in the morning and treated ourselves to pedicures.

tootsie after a fresh pedi

I feel like this is comparable to going to the foot doctor.  If you are on your feet all day and your feet feel tired, this is the cure to happy feet and toes.  They smooth the calluses away, cut your nails properly and buff your tootsies to smoothness.  For 25 bucks its cheaper than going to a podiatrist.  Also you get to sit in a massage chair.  Oooooh la la………….

awwwww love gettin my feet done

You can choose a nail polish color from their collection and they always have funny names like, Party in the Cabana, or Mrs. O’Leary’s BBQ (which is my fave), Conga Line Coral, Sand in my Suit, Got the Blues for Red, Chick flick Cherry, Pink a doodle, Diva of Geneva, Barefoot in Barcelona, I’m not really a waitress, California Raspberry………………..okay you get the point.   For more OPI color names go here.

Rhonda and Cate

One of my favorite parts of the day was having a parking lot picnic.  We pulled over Uma’s van and made hummus, spinach, tofu salad and taboulleh sandwiches.

Miss Rhonda "Uma"

Tomorrow we are off to West Virginia.  Uma is heading with us.  I went last year and you can see that post here.   We will be at the Gauley Festival on Saturday.  Snake Oil Medicine Show is headlining the show.  I will be going down that beautiful river.  I cannot wait.

Caroline on the Avon Raft, gearin up and ready to go down a river

Have an amazing weekend.

Love,

Caroline

Much Respect for The Gauley River

I survived all these Whitewater Rapids, and I am so excited about it.

• Insignificant (Class V – ironically so named because the first expedition reported “nothing significant before Pillow”.)
• Pillow Rock (Class V – accessible via a steep trail from Carnifax Ferry Battleground site. Extremely powerful and intimidating rapid.)
• Lost Paddle (Class V – a long, treacherous rapid consisting of four sub-rapids: First Drop, Second Drop, Third Drop, and Tumblehome.)
• Iron Ring (Class V – so named for a large iron ring which had been anchored in a rock near the rapid by loggers many years before. The ring was cut and removed by vandals in the 1980s.)
• Sweet’s Falls (Class V – named for John Sweet, a canoeist and pioneer of the Gauley.)

Justyn and I went down the river two days in a row.  The first day was fantastic, but half way between Iron Ring and Sweet’s Falls I suffered a massive headache from not having coffee.  Ouch. 

i had a coffee headache from hell

The second day was even better.  We had a delicious breakfast at Cathedral Cafe in Summersville, WV., where I gulped down copious amounts of organic fair trade coffee.  I enjoyed a scrumptious frittata as well.   Right next to the Cathedral was a portrait art studio that had some funny paintings in the windows.  I could not help but to smile.

A West Virginia Bride Portraiture

I was really scared to go down Pillow Falls again the next day, because its real quick and you head for a rock and you drop down the river. 

Justyn is the best guide in the world and we made it down the river just fine.  It is really a gentle giant. 

 I respect the Gauley River so much.   I enjoyed sitting on Pillow Rock where we  people watched.  Boaters would navigate through those rapids and it was interesting to see if they made it without flipping there raft or canoe.   It reminded me of the Roman Colliseum days of old, where you are a spectator watching  doom and gloom through the uproarious crowds.  Photograhpers on Pillow Rock were busy shooting carnage and hecklers shouted paddling commands.   So crazy this Whitewater world is.  The Gauley River is amazing and I hold so much love and respect for her.