I had skipped out on my appointments that morning, going instead to the local rental car place; Shelley and I about to set out for a weekend getaway. Being just after Christmas and just before New Years, everyone was still pretty crazy from shopping and the other stresses associated with major holidays. My big present to Shelley this year was this getaway, just the two of us...no kids, no former spouses, and no in-laws. I chuckled as I rented the car, actually a small SUV, it was a hybrid Ford Escape, how appropriate. Anyway, I hadn't told her where we were going, only that we'd be ringing in the New Year somewhere quiet and secluded. She could tell we were going north because of the clothes she had to pack, but beyond that had no clue.
Shelley has a very stressful job as the director of a daycare/learning center run by a local church. She had started off there as a teacher, got an opportunity to be a co-director, and finally was made the only director. She is an intelligent, imaginative woman...and, pardon me, what a nice tush she has. You look into her blue eyes and are trapped; any resistance to what comes out of her "kiss me" lips is utterly futile. This could be my own personal dilemma, but I doubt it. But, running the operations of the center from day to day, dealing with the local officials, and the bureaucracy has taken its toll on her. She needs a vacation.
With the Escape loaded up we headed out on the road. I was hoping for more time to get to talk with her but the poor girl went to sleep before we even got to Georgia. We stopped for gas around Savannah and she did wake up long enough to want something to drink, Dr. Pepper. As we set out on the road again I couldn't help but chuckle a little as I continued to watch the road and her too. She has an angelic face and looks so peaceful when she's asleep.
As we neared Columbia, South Carolina she woke up and was hungry. I had brought along a small cooler with some pimento cheese sandwiches but she didn't want any (they had been a favorite of mine for traveling from years ago), so we stopped off at a truck stop along the way. We had some very good homemade chicken noodle soup and enjoyed the hot and cold salad bar, staying mostly to the hot side. It's amazing what a couple hundred miles can do to the temperature. With both of us having a belly full of warm food we set off again after filling up the Escape with gas.
Driving down the interstate with us both awake we engaged in singing along with the CD player. Her singing ability was one of the many attractions I had to her. I didn't know she sang at all until my ex-wife and I had kids. After hearing her sing, I was impressed, and taken captive by her. Don't get me wrong, what had happened between my ex-wife and myself wasn't Shelley's fault, it's just something that happened. I listened to her sing as we went down the road and enjoyed being in her presence.
We finally got into North Carolina, she still had no idea where we were going, so I let her know that this is the last state we'll be going into...at least until we get where we are going. We passed through Charlotte and when we reached Statesville, we turned onto Interstate 40 West toward Asheville. She guessed we were heading to the Blue Ridge Parkway, possibly staying at a hotel or resort in the mountains. I just chuckled and said maybe. However, when we reached Asheville we went north on Interstate 26...and she wondered again where we were going.
About twenty minutes later her question was partially answered as we exited the interstate in Mars Hill. She had not heard of Mars Hill before and I informed her that there is a college here that has a museum devoted to rural life. She thought that was cool but was beginning to wonder about how a museum tour could be considered romantic. As we drove through, and subsequently out of, town she thought we might have passed the college, since the signs pointing to it were now behind us. I chuckled and told her not to worry, she'll like this. About five minutes later we were pulling into Butterfly Cove, the secluded cabin I had rented for this weekend.
The cabin is set on about 35 acres of woodland and it's on a hillside that looks down into a little valley. It's not one of those places that have a 4000 foot elevated view of the whole mountain range, but a quiet little cozy place to enjoy each others company. The view, while listed as limited in the brochure, is beautiful. The cabin is gorgeous as well; wooden floors, wooden walls, running water (what luck as it is below freezing outside), a tub with jet sprays, and an awesome stone fireplace. It was getting close to sunset, so I hurried our bags inside along with some wood. Even though someone had been out to make sure that the power was on and subsequently, that the heater was running, it was still cold.
I stacked some logs in the fireplace, found some kindling, and soon had a fire started. Shelley had dug out my faux mink blanket I had bought in Japan while serving in the Marine Corps. She went to the kitchen and looked through the cupboards; she found some cocoa mix, and in the refrigerator had found some whole milk with two days left until expiration. She didn't find any marshmallows though. Anyway, while I got the fire from a good start to a decent roar Shelley made the hot cocoa. We cuddled on the rug, wrapped ourselves up in the blanket, and drank our hot cocoa.
We talked about the drive up and the view; since the sun had now set we'd have to wait until the morning to really take in the view from the porch. We laughed about the little things that make life funny; we'd have to go find a grocery store to get some food, if we thawed out enough in the morning to be able to leave, at least it wasn't snowing. We talked about us; only a year before I'd been married to her friend Patricia and she'd been married to Alex. Patricia and I had grown apart as husband and wife over the ten years we'd been married, we also had two children together. Shelley and Alex had a somewhat rocky marriage for years; she finally had decided to stand up for herself and left him...a couple months after I had left Patricia. We had only been married this past fall, so in a way, this was the honeymoon that we hadn't been able to take.