Sisters Visit, part 1

Nancy, me, William (Bill) and Barbara

On Sunday, October 23, two of my half sisters on my mother's side arrived for a long anticipated visit and we had a ball!  That afternoon, our cousin William and his wife Joyce joined me and my close friend Lynn for dinner at the sister's place and we had a very fine time reminiscing and catching up.  Nancy was experiencing a family crisis so we offered her lots of love, hugs and compassion.  Joyce had not met them before, but soon they were conversing like close friends.

Biltmore House, side view

On Monday the sisters and Lynn did some shopping and had tea at Chelsea's in Biltmore Village.  Then on Tuesday we all went to the Biltmore House, a first for them but not for me.  The splendor of the place is awesome and called for an abundance of "ohs", "ahs" and "wows".  We took a guided tour of the land, now only 8,000 acres from the original 125,000, which was a first for me and I thoroughly enjoyed it.  Since I knew I'd be back here next year for 8 months, I upgraded to an annual pass for a few dollars more, which proved a good decision much sooner than I anticipated. 

After the land tour we finished the house by viewing the basement then headed for the gardens to finish our day.  Near the conservatory, Lynn missed the top step and went head first down them, with her head and shoulder taking the brunt of her fall.  The staff at Biltmore were wonderful with a quick response and an escort to the front gate.  We then spent several hours in the emergency room at Mission Hospital getting x-rays, CT scan and 10 stitches in her scalp wound.  She was very lucky that her injuries weren't much worse. 

Nancy & Barbara at Sliding Rock

The next day found us heading up Davidson River to see the falls, sliding rock and the beautiful foliage on the Blue Ridge Parkway.  Nancy said if I'd had a blanket and towel in the car, she would have gone down it.  Next time, sis, I'll be prepared!  We stopped briefly at Pisgah View Inn for the view, then caught this gorgeous site at a tunnel on the way down.

We finished our touring on this day in the parking lot of Lowe's near the airport trying to catch a great shot of the sunset.  I don't know how theirs turned out, but this one was my best of the bunch that day.

Sunset near the Asheville airport.  Stay tuned for part 2.