Category: travel

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Second Friday Retirement Adventures – November 2026

Retirement officially began for me August 1st, so each second and fourth Friday, I reflect on the first year of retirement in two-week windows and what it’s like in this new chapter of life. This idea of retirement reflection was sparked when members of my writing communities and personal friends asked me how I would spend my time and if I thought I would get bored. At the beginning of my first week off, I used a green spiral notebook to make a list of all the things I wanted to do — something enjoyable each week, blending in some new hobbies, adventures, and routines as well.

My first item on the list was learning to play Mahjong to exercise my brain, and my list seems now to resemble seedlings that turn into plants with shoots that grow off in different directions and keep growing like hostas and irises and mint, taking over the whole back yard. Each new experience uncovers a whole uncharted world to discover and explore.

My late father said this about retirement: You don’t retire FROM something, you retire TO something, and you’ll be busier than you’ve ever been. He was right, and I love doing what I want to do when I want to do it and having the flexibility to travel and engage in new hobbies – or stay home in comfortable clothes and enjoy a more relaxed pace on the Johnson Funny Farm.

Here are 52-62 of the most recent things I’ve enjoyed in my first three months of retirement, plus a bullet list of 1-51 previous adventures – and I’m not even four full months into this new gig.

62. Play Mahjong in a Mahjong hall on an automatic shuffling table – The Velvet Wind in Asheville, NC offers group play and has both automatic and regular tables. It was a treat to play here, and the tiles were huge (great for aging eyes)! I don’t even know how to act anymore after such a treat. My mouth fell open like a kid in a candy shop. Watch this shuffler!

Dear Santa, I’ve been a good girl this year!

61. Play Mahjong in a mansion – Silvermont Mansion and Park is a community center on the National Registry of Historic Places in Brevard, NC. It was built in 1915 as a residence, but now it is a thriving hub that schedules events such as Reader’s Theater, meeting spaces, open studio for artists, basketball, mahjong and other games, and more. I called ahead to ask if we could play, and Brenda told us to come on and they’d shuffle us in. I played in a mansion last Monday!

Bethany and I were playing the same line.

60. Taking last minute turns to discover what I might have otherwise missed – My sister in law wanted to visit Brevard College, but our time ran short, so we drove past it but not through it. On the way home, I spotted Furman University up ahead on the right, and made a surprise decision to turn in and drive through. We were speechless at its beauty, so I parked the car. We got out and walked through the rose garden, saw the fountain and bell tower, and even visited the chapel when a student ambled in and started playing the majestic organ. You can hear a moment of awe in the video below.

59. Hiking in to see the waterfalls of Brevard, NC – I hiked short distances (and I do mean hike – we had to climb inclines) to find two of the many waterfalls around Brevard, Land of the Waterfalls. My sister in law and I were able to see Hooker Falls and High Falls on a recent trip, and we’ll return to see the others once we’ve caught our breath.

High Falls
Hooker Falls

58. Seeing the White Squirrels of Brevard, NC – I spotted them! And they are most entertaining and anything but a hallucinogenic mushroom myth! A fellow postcard poet who lives near Brevard gave me tips on where to find them, and I not only did I get to see the white squirrels, I got to meet my fellow poet turned friend on the trip as well. We had lunch at the old Woolworth Walk diner and had our picture taken in front of the postcards in Malaprops! You can see the white squirrel scamper right up to me in the video below.

57. Book Store Shopping Trip – I took a trip with my sister-in-law to Brevard, NC to visit bookstores as we traveled and spent time in western North Carolina. We visited Highland Books in Brevard, NC; Malaprops in Asheville, NC; As the Page Turns in Traveler’s Rest, SC; 2nd & Charles in Greenville, SC, and also Mr. K’s Used Bookstore in Greenville, SC (the largest used bookstore in the state). We used technology to route our trip based on the bookstores that would be open at the time of our travel along our route home.

56. Designing and Creating Porch Goose Outfits – Porch geese are all the rage right now in outdoor decor. I recently sent a pair to my brother and sister in law as birthday gifts with fishing outfits for their dock on Lake Hickory at their North Carolina home. It’s a common practice in some second homes on St. Simons Island that if the owners are in town, they raise their personal flag on coming and going so that local friends have a secret code for who’s in the house. My brother and sister don’t have flags on their lake house (yet), but I thought the lake equivalent might be geese on the dock. While I don’t have a lot of company for porch decor here so deep in the country, I got a seven inch coffee station goose and made some outfits for it. As I was sewing, I thought of my granddaughters and their love of fashion and ended up packing a 7″ goose and sending them a box full of clothes. According to their mom, they are obsessed with it and taking turns dressing it. And I’m still sewing and naming geese outfits.

The Thelma Lou

55. Creative Kitchen endeavors – I was going along in my days, happy to bring a plate of Halloween Oreos to the Mahjoween gathering a friend planned, but she reminded me that I was capable of more creativity in the kitchen and that I should resist temptation to settle for store-bought cookies. The porch geese witch hats inspired the treats I made: chocolate covered Bugles with small cookie wafers and a peanut butter chip as a hat buckle. Retirement brings time to get in the kitchen and experiment with food creations I never was able to pull off when I was working every day.

54. Oystershell and Sanddollar decoupage – I’ve been decoupaging pressed flowers and leaves, and so I’ve added tissue paper and napkins to the lineup. I’ve made oystershells and sand dollars to hang on the Christmas tree. Back in the 1970s, before we deemed it a bad thing to decorate using sea creatures that were once living, my mother used sand dollars to hang all over the tree with red ribbons. I found the box of them as we were cleaning out, and I’ve repurposed them. Since I can’t bring them back to life, I can breathe new life into them and continue to celebrate the lives they lived in the ocean.

53. Online Book Discussion of The Calamity Club – Kathryn Stockett, author of The Calamity Club, made an appearance as part of the Bookaccino virtual author event lineup to discuss her recent bestselling novel. I was so happy to be able to attend and take part in the discussion on the heels of just finishing the book.

52. Dumping the RV – For the first time ever, I dumped the gray and black tanks all by myself. I’m preparing to be able to take part in some solo Girl Camper events, and this less desirable part of travel is a necessary part to be able to join up with other women campers and take part in those opportunities to meet new people and see new places. I’ve done the duty!

Here are the previous things I’ve added to my list of 100 Things I’m Enjoying in Retirement. I’ve reversed the order, going backwards in time to the beginning.

51. Kindred Spirits October Book Club

50. Watercolor Poetry Postcards

49. Attending two Stafford Challenge Guest Poet Zooms

48. Open Write with my EthicalELA writing community

47. Making the Perfect Cup of Tea to drink while making mental notes about Things that Don’t Suck

46. Daytime Movies

45. Decoupaging Candles and Bookmarks with Wildflowers

44. Plant Pressing

43. Virtual Author Reading for Time in the Landscape

42. Author Reading for Anna Roseboro’s Book Study

41. Indie Bookstore Shopping

40. Dock Time on Jackson Lake in Georgia

39. Adopt a Dog

38. Train Ride to See Fall Foliage

37. Cabin for a Birthday Celebration in North Georgia

36. Fall Baking

35. Hosting Open Write

34. Kindred Spirits September Book Club

33. Mahjong in Blairsville, Georgia

32. Daytripping for Lunch and Small Town Adventuring

31. Hiking the Appalachian Trail

30. Camping at Vogel State Park

29. Lunch with Friends

28. Almost-Birthday Pedicures with my Sister-in-Law

27. Mahjongg Regular Group Formation

26. Stafford Challenge Writing Workshop

25. Stafford Challenge Small Group Zoom Meetings

24. Dolly Parton Tribute at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, Tennessee

23. Labor Day Camping at F. D. Roosevelt State Park in Pine Mountain, Georgia

22. Watercolor Postcards

21. Monthly Small Postcard Poetry Group

20. Office Cleanout

19. Re-Vamping the Reading Room

18. Barnes and Noble Virtual Book Club

17. Kindred Spirits Book Club

16. Novel Writing with Nick

15. Lounge Pants Spree

14. Porch Sitting

13. Fabric Postcards

12. Zinnia Arrangement

11. Mahjong 102 and Free Play

10. Wayfaring to Margaritaville for a concert

9. Wayfaring to FDR for camping

8. Cascadia Postcard Poetry Fest

7. Summer Reading Poetry Book Club

6. Local Bookstore Book Club

5. Friends of the Library Book Fair

4. Yoga

3. Morning Walking

2. Rag Quilting

1. Mahjong 101

And I will continue watering seedlings of adventure and discovery to see what all grows!

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White Squirrel Tree Houses in Brevard, NC

In Brevard, North Carolina, Silvermont Mansion and Park has giant hemlock trees on the front lawn, and they’re home to some of the white squirrels of this town. As my sister-in-law and I traveled in to spend a few days exploring, we searched for a place to play Mahjong and learned that Silvermont is not only a place to try to spot white squirrels, but also offers open play on Mondays and Wednesdays at 1:00. We signed up and arrived on time to play several rounds of the game, and then took a quick tour of the mansion before going outdoors to look for squirrels. It was our first attempt, and we’d been told to look for anything white, even something that looks like it might be a white trash bag, and it is probably a squirrel. Then, we were told which tree they seem to call home, and we headed in that direction. Sure enough, one was digging and eating something at the base of the large hemlock tree. We observed for a while and took some pictures to show the cute little critter to everyone who wonders if the white squirrels are real.

They sure are, and they look fluffy white with a thumbprint of gray like they’ve just come out of an Ash Wednesday service with the little smudge on their heads! It was entertaining to watch, and we just stood in awe of this white squirrel, watching and wishing we had white squirrels where we live.

We finished Mahjong just in time for a quick tour of the mansion, even though they had just turned off the lights for the day. Come with me on a quick tour of a few rooms in the mansion…..and keep scrolling. My favorite picture is the one of the white squirrel at the end!

Tomorrow: More white squirrels, and we’ll take you on a quick adventure chasing waterfalls!

Silvermont Mansion and Park
We were playing the same line!
Some ladies were there for their Open Studio, where they work on their own art in production, and we enjoyed spending some time talking with them. This lady was working on an acrylic marker piece.
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Brevard and Asheville, North Carolina Adventures

A delightful thing happened last week. I received an email from Barbara Robinette, organizer of the Postcard Poetry Fest (PPF), sharing an email from another PPF participant who wanted to connect via phone or email regarding my upcoming trip to Brevard. I’d received a postcard with a white squirrel on it in October, and I knew instantly from the photo that it was from Brevard, home of the white squirrels that are not albinos but a localized species unto themselves. I’d mentioned in my response postcard that I would be in Brevard on a girls’ trip with my sister-in-law in November, and she wanted to reach out to share some must-dos on our trip. However, the contacts needed to be quick since we were leaving within days. I responded to the email, and within an hour, I was on the phone with Kit Schmeiser learning all the things to do in Brevard and the surrounding area. We talked for an hour about where to eat, where to shop, and most importantly, where to observe white squirrels in the wild.

One of the places turned out to be the first place we planned to visit on our loose itinerary – Silvermont Mansion and Park. I’d learned they offer mahjong open play on Mondays and Wednesdays, and when I called to inquire whether they’d welcome two players from Georgia, the manager assured me they would. We, too, chatted for a while on the phone – about the current weather and blessings they were not involved in the recent flooding that happened in Blue Ridge and McCaysville, the offerings of the mansion ranging from tennis to Reader’s Theater to open art studio days and so much more. I began to sense the strong sense of a welcoming community before I ever set a foot in Brevard, North Carolina. I also made a mental note: there seems to be a way for everyone here to plug into something.

After conversations with both Brenda and Kit, we rearranged our plans to include more of the authentic local experiences to connect with community, nature, arts and literature, and local cuisine. Instead of making our way from Williamson, Georgia to Brevard, North Carolina by way of a bookstore tour on the way, we moved our bookstore tour to the end of the trip, keeping Highland Books in Brevard and Malaprops in Asheville as highlight experiences in each of the cities and saving the other stores for later to see if we have any of our tightly budgeted book spending money left by the time we finish shopping in these two landmark bookstores. One on my list to buy on this trip is The Comfort of Crows by Margaret Renkl, which I have on my Kindle but desire to hold and savor its colorful illustrations. If you’ve read it, please comment and give me a gentle nudge to carry it to the counter and bring a treasured copy home with me, along with any others you highly recommend.

We were blessed with a fantastic day for travel. Cool temperatures in the 60s, sunshine, and the glory of the changing of the leaves along the winding mountain roads were fabulous ways to begin the trip. We set out at 7:00 a.m., and arrived in Brevard in time to eat at a local farm to table restaurant called Fable. Its vibe was botanical with its pressed flower and plant prints along the wall, and minimalistic with its airy and uncluttered feel – and plenty of windows that let in a lot of natural light.

In true sister in law form, we share samples of our food with each other. Bethany ordered a chicken salad sandwich, and I got the fall salad and a blueberry muffin. The chicken salad sandwich on Focaccia bread was as tasty as it gets, and the fall salad popped with sweet potatoes, beets, and feta cheese. We bought extra muffins to save for breakfast. We had just enough time for a quick dive into a store on the way to Silvermont.

I’ll share more about our experience at Silvermont tomorrow! But for today, just know that it feels great to declare Mahjong!! in a mansion, and yes, there are white squirrels at Silvermont.

Here in Brevard, North Carolina

cool, clear night skies offer quiet

moments like in A Charlie

Brown Christmas

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Dive In or Climb Up!

In June of 20206, I spent a week in the Pacific Northwest with a group of writers, and what a stunning place of natural beauty! A dear friend and her husband, Glenda and Ken Funk of Idaho, took me to waterfalls and a scenic vista where I could see for miles in every direction and take in the rugged terrain and all its wild peace. Every few months, I get the urge to travel beyond the state of Georgia, and the fever is striking again. It’s predictable, really. I’ve learned to book getaways in sync with when I’ll be climbing the walls to travel.

I leave Monday for a week in North Carolina with my sister in law and travel partner, who is also an avid reader and writer. While next week’s trip won’t be one quite as mountainous and far away as Oregon with a bookstore as big as Powell’s City of Books, there will be Blue Ridge mountains and Malaprops. I’ll climb some mountains to find some waterfalls and we’ll dive right into some books.

We’ve also managed to find two groups for playing Mahjong. One is in a mansion in Brevard, and the other is in a velvet-draped room in Asheville called The Velvet Wind. I’d also like to invite you to DIVE IN and learn to play Mahjong. A friend and I have created a Facebook page, where we will be posting invitations and learning sites. Come join us at Tiles and Smiles on Facebook!

And may all the mountains you climb today, and all the lakes you dive into be blessings!

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A Day at the Lake

We spent Saturday afternoon with Briar’s brother and sister in law, sitting outside with them on their dock on Jackson Lake. The weather was perfect, and the breeze delightful. These are the moments I have looked forward to in retirement – being able to share time, unhurried, just breathing and being, without the pressure of work-related deadlines and duties.

Jay enjoyed some time getting to know his new family members in small doses as he develops trust in his new home with us. I can only imagine how challenging it is for dogs whose circumstances change abruptly, and my heart hurts for him when I think about how he must be feeling, constantly on the lookout for those he has spent the last 6 years loving.

a day at the lake

recalibrating our pace

in good company

As we were traveling, I saw a stuffed dog in a trash can along the side of the road and thought of the similarities to the situation. A loyal dog, there to comfort and bring joy, now kicked to the curb. And my heart felt heaviness and hope all at once – glad I can be there to save a dog who needs a home he can depend on. I’m so thankful that rescue organizations exist for dogs like Jay, and for all those who open their arms and hearts to be filled once again with the love of a dog who can help heal the ache.

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Brothers on Bridges, By Fire Pits and on Couches in Blue Ridge

I call Bethany my sister-in-law because what’s his is mine and what’s mine is his, and since she’s married to his brother, that makes her my sister in law too. When we saw that we would not be able to complete Part 2 of our Route 66 trip from Santa Monica to Albuquerque this year, we booked a quick weekend getaway to the mountains of North Georgia a couple of months ago to celebrate their birthdays this month. We’d flown to Chicago and rented a car to drive to Albuquerque and fly from Albuquerque back to Atlanta in June 2024, and we still talk about all the great memories we made on that trip. I can’t forget that coconut pie at the Midpoint Cafe in Adrian, Texas, but that’s an entire story for another day. And so we found a VRBO situated just outside Blue Ridge on a winding creek where we could relax and lower our blood pressure.

That’s why it was so meaningful yesterday when Bethany shared that she knew God had this weekend in mind, prompting us to plan the trip when we did, knowing we’d need to get away more now than ever. Things got real a couple of weeks ago when Kyle had a heart attack. When he’d picked Bethany up from the airport, he shared he wasn’t feeling well, and she’d recognized the symptoms. She took over the driving and took him straight to the hospital, where hours later, after his heart attack, the doctor showed them The Widowmaker images and assured them that they had done the right thing getting to the hospital when they did. Following surgery, he was released a few days later as good as new – even better, actually. Doctor’s orders were to take it easy for the next few weeks.

Nothing surprises God. He had Kyle in his hand, getting him to the hospital so he could be here to celebrate another birthday. Here in these mountains, we’ve eaten delicious foods, sipped coffee in the early morning, taken walks, and sat around talking and laughing as we’ve shared family stories by the fire. Today, we’ll ride the rails of the Blue Ridge Scenic Railway along the Toccoa River to see if we can spot the first leaves of fall turning their glorious colors. And we’ll each say a prayer of thanksgiving for the beauty of nature and the time together to enjoy it.

We’ve always heard the popular phrase, “Life is short. Take the trip. Buy the shoes. Eat the cake.” But when someone we love has a close call, you realize it’s not just some random saying on a t-shirt. It’s true. We get one wild and precious life, and the poet Mary Oliver had the right idea asking us what we were going to do with it. Today, we answer: we’re going to live it to the fullest and thank the Good Lord for the gift.

They waited on us while we shopped in Elegy
They stood on the bridge of the creek that ran behind our rental, Trout House, and watched for….trout!
We explored our remote part of the mountain.


Our Husbands are Brothers

they waited on us

while we were shopping in town

being brotherly

later, they built us a fire,

roasted marshmallows

***

from the moment we’re

born, all our clocks are ticking

make the most of life


Bundled up by the fire

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Brothers on Benches in Blue Ridge

When we drove a little over half of Route 66 in June 2024 with my husband’s brother and his wife, we took a lot of pictures. One theme emerged early into the trip: brothers on benches. Bethany and I would be shopping in a store or ambling along to check things out in the small towns along the way when one of us would suddenly spy the brothers deep in conversation on a nearby bench. We’d snap a photo just to timestamp the moments of our slow-paced trot across the nation, where the scenery changed by the minute but the desire to just sit and talk never did, no matter the GPS point.

Such is the case this weekend in the mountains of North Georgia on our getaway to celebrate Bethany and Kyle’s birthdays this month. The brothers are still finding benches, no matter where we go. And we’re still capturing the moments in pictures. It’s the conversation and not the landscape that remains the constant.

Brothers on Benches

brothers on benches

solving all the world’s problems

no matter the place

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September 2026 Kindred Spirits Book Club

Five of our six Kindred Spirits Book Club members, September 2026

Our Kindred Spirits

more than just a small book club

we share heart and mind

Each month, the Kindred Spirits Book Club with a six-strong membership meets to discuss our monthly pick. We’re nearing the end of our second full year of reading together, and there’s a deep soul-knit sisterhood that we share. Back in January, our Kindred Spirits readers each chose two books that would take us through 2026, then we mapped out our choices on a calendar and set our meeting dates and locations for each month so that we could guard those calendar days and set ourselves up for attendance success.

It wasn’t until our actual book club meeting day (the last day of our trip to Vogel State Park last week) that I finished this month’s book, The Sideways Life of Denny Voss by Holly Kennedy, on the drive home (I like to go back and forth between Kindle and Audible). What I think I loved most about waiting until the last minute before the meeting to read the book is that so many of the details were still fresh in my mind for discussion. Generally, I read our selections far ahead of time, and by the time we meet, I’ve read a mix of other books and get the details mixed up. I’ll be more strategic with the timing of my book club selections in the future.

This book is an absolute treasure, by the way. Holly Kennedy is a Canadian author, and she had me in stitches with the kidnapping of a Canadian Goose named Tom Hanks. If you’ve never had the experience of sitting by a campfire reading a book that has you in a full-blown belly laugh while total strangers walk by chuckling from your contagious laughter, please find your way to a bookstore (or get a copy free on Kindle Unlimited) and meet Holly Kennedy in the pages of this novel as you sit by the fire this fall. I’d classify it as a comedic whodunit and go as far as classifying it as a modern Bildungsroman because the main character functions in so many ways as a child but grows in his understanding of the world. As a writer, I appreciate the way the author uses one character’s elaborate t-shirt collection to build character development throughout the novel. This book will change your perspective on those who face life with the deck stacked against them. Visit this link for more information about Holly Kennedy and read the Substack interview. Even in her author photo, you can tell she’s quite a character herself.

Reading by campfire

October’s selection (changed slightly from our calendar) is a choice of this trio: Mad Mabel by Sally Hepworth, Remain by Nicholas Sparks and M. Night Shyamalan, or Songteller by Dolly Parton, just to give a fourth-quarter choice of an ironic author collaboration on a romantic ghost story, a timely biography, and a book flying off the shelves and so compelling it pulls you in and won’t turn loose, and then leaves you wanting to read it all over again. Here are our other selections we’ve read this year. We’re always interested to hear what others are reading and how it has broadened minds, opened worlds, and led to new adventures!

Our Book Club Calendar

Happy Reading!

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Ambling Through Blairsville and Playing Mahjong with New Friends

One of my favorite parts of RV travel is going into small towns along the way to see what life is like there. I don’t mean it to sound like I perceive other places as somehow foreign in an Earthling versus Alien kind of way, but I like to see what everyday is like for those who live in places other than where I live. I like to see their favorite places to eat, their shops, their town squares, their Walmarts, and their libraries. I like to experience a day in the place of others whose shoes I can share for even just a day.

During a recent trip to North Georgia, we spent a little time in Blairsville. Our first stop was the county library, where we checked out the book collections and programs and also asked about where the locals like to eat. The Union County Library has a Dolly Parton display and a plant swap going on right now, and when I go to other libraries around our state, I feel sad for our small library without the resources that others have.

We got several restaurant recommendations, including Belly Pizza and Hole in the Wall. At Belly Pizza, we had a supreme pizza and ordered a large so we’d have leftovers for the next day (we are “lazy” campers who prefer microwave leftovers to cookouts). We also ordered a Catalina Wine Mixer salad, which had baby spinach, red grapes, Kalamata olives, red onion, roasted tomato, sunflower seeds, feta cheese, Catalina vineyard dressing, pepperoncini peppers, and…..ta daaaaa…. pepper drops, also known as Biquinho peppers. In all my life, I have never had these, and they were fabulously flavorful. They’re the red bulb-looking peppers in the photo below. They’re a full taste explosion, popping like a firm grape and tasting like a cross between a sweet tomato and a soft bell pepper.

We also ducked into a gelato and chocolate shop for a sweet treat. The lemon gelato was delicious with a. sugar cookie crumble topping, and the chocolates looked good, too, but we stopped at one small sweet treat and resisted the urge to splurge worse.

I also made some new friends in Blairsville, too. Debbie Lynn, a fellow blogger from Texas, shared with me recently that Mahjong groups are generally welcoming of outsiders, and so I reached out to the leader of a group that plays on Wednesdays and joined them. I’m so glad I did! It was nice to see all the lovely tablescapes and meet new friends along the way! This group charges $3 to play for the afternoon, and from their monthly earnings, they pay part of the proceeds to their clubhouse for utilities and dues, and part to a charity. When Dolly Parton died, they played the 9-2-5 Mahjong cards and sent the contributions to the Imagination Library. I’m learning a lot about how a brain-stimulating game can connect people and help organizations.

My Favorite Neighborhood

consecutive run

no jokers allowed in pairs

still, a winning line!

Whether we are at home in our own small town or off exploring in other places around our great state or nation, it’s a warm feeling to belong and feel welcome. For this week, I’m back with my own neighborhood Mahjong group, reading with my dogs nuzzled beside me, and dreading the dentist visit today at 11:00…….I love clean teeth, but I hate the scraping.