Mom's Birthday Trip 2023

Summertime is terribly hot and humid in Florida so mom always heads to the mountains. In 2022 the place she picked wasn't too far north of Atlanta, so it was not cool. In 2023 we went to Mount Airy, North Carolina, not far from the Virginia state line. It was not all cool as mom and I would have liked it to be, but it was better than Florida.

Now, an important fact to know about Mount Airy, is it is famous for two things. First, it is the birthplace of Andy Griffith and the town was used as the town of Mayberry in the Andy Griffith Show. Secondly, it is home to the world's largest open air granite quarry.

Anyway, mom found this pet friendly place named Lily's Place and the rate was very reasonable. The owners love dogs and your pets are welcome on the sofa and the bed. 

Mom loved the sign when we first walked in.

I've gotten this vacation stuff down pat, and mom doesn't have to medicate me anymore before we leave on trips. Now I take a nap while she unloads the truck and unpacks everything. I love that mom always brings a bed for me and my basket of toys.

As is standard during one-week vacations, we didn't go anywhere the first day we were there. The next day we drove down to the Greenway which is maybe 1 mile from the house.

The trail runs along Lovillis Creek.

Mom was happy there was a break in the rain on our second day and we went to walk the Greenway Trail. At one point, I started growling and walking further into the grass, off the pavement, but still parallel to the pavement.

It took mom a minute to realize that I was growling at the sewer access. It was strange and I didn't trust it. Turns out there are a lot of them along the trail and each one is painted differently. 

When we got back to the house, things had dried out some. Mom had planned to cook on the grill every night this trip. She was lucky the porch was mostly covered so if it rained, she could still grill out. 

I loved that there was a fenced in grassy area at the end of the porch so I could go potty anytime I wanted to. Sometimes mom would close the gate so I would have to stay on the porch.

I guarded mom the entire time she was outside cooking. 

Mom always tells people that I am a major bed hog. I don't think I am, so mom took this picture to prove it to me. That's my back about 2 inches from mom's arm. We're in a queen size bed. Just imagine what it's like when we're at her daughter's house and have to share a full-size bed. 

It is now our 3rd day in Mount Airy. Mom decided that we should take advantage of the dry morning and head up to Pilot Mountain for some hiking. She was thinking we should take the trail to the summit.

After driving 40 minutes, when we got out of the truck all you could see were clouds. You could barely see 25 yards ahead of you. We took a short walk on a paved trail and then headed back towards the house. Mom was bummed. 

On the way home, we detoured past the granite quarry. They cut snow white granite from here and have thousands of years of granite left.

The next day, after more rain cleared out mom took us back to the Greenway Trial. The humidity was really high because of all the rain so it was a short walk. As we got to the end of the trail, I threw myself down in the cool, damp grass.

Mom kept trying to get my stubborn tush up. She kept saying "the truck is right over there, and there's cold water."

Yes, the truck was RIGHT THERE, but the cool grass felt so good on my tummy. Eventually, I let her get her way and walked back to the truck so we could go home. 

The next day, mom left me home and went into downtown Mount Airy. She went to a couple of museums and bought a gift for Aunt Kassie. 

There are lots of guitars all over town that have been painted. Mom saw this banjo with Kermit the Frog on it. Did you know Kermit is a great banjo player?

Here is a guitar with Pilot Mountain painted on it.

As mom was walking back to her truck she passed a wall  with several figures on it, all carved from bricks.

When she got home, we sat on the porch, and I worked on my suntan. It rained off and on our entire last day. Mom didn't mind as we usually get perfect weather during our vacations.

This was the last trip we took for a while. I had a few health issues, like gastroenteritis, pancreatitis and bladder infections, which resulted in a kibble change. 

Then mom had to have wrist surgery to repair damage from a fall at work, MOHS surgery for skin cancer on her ear and another procedure.

Now we are both healthy and ready for more adventures. We're leaving on Thursday, November 7th for 4 nights and 3 days at a very secluded cabin in Cowee, North Carolina, stay tuned.