How fast the weekend went by! Before we knew it, it was Sunday morning and, after breakfast, time to pack up and check out.

Before leaving, however, there is one more treat: the annual picnic at one of the picnic shelters on the way to Anna Ruby Falls. We used to go to Picnic Shelter 5, which was delightful: down the hill into a secluded glen right next to Smith Creek. Except for the barbecue grill and the quite obviously man-made picnic shelter, it might have been pioneer days.

But the trek down and over the bridge was a bit much for some of the folks with old knee and foot injuries and we changed venues to Picnic Shelter 6, just up the road, still next to Smith Creek but much more accessable. One of the kids always gets wet in the creek and this year was no exception.

We left early because we hadn't finished our trek around downtown because of the bicycle race and James wanted to buy a belt. There is a wonderful leatherworker in downtown Helen, at the little store just behind the main street, the one which sells windchimes, geodes, colorful rocks, and souvenirs. In the courtyard is a gentleman who plays a large, beautiful dulcimer; I have his Christmas album.

Well, there was a leatherworker there once. Unfortunately he isn't there anymore. Now James will have to buy a new belt at some department store which will charge him more for a lesser product. Rats.

There was also another store we'd planned to go in, but it was closed on Sunday.

So was a third store we'd planned to walk around (but it wasn't what we thought it was anyway). Batting zero was it.

But the animals were happy to see us. Willow threw herself in James' arms and proceeded to copiously stress-shed half her undercoat all over his shirt. Pidgie warbled all the way home.

The sun got to us on the journey, though, and James is feeling a bit under the weather. I'm a bit tired, too, from his combination of not enough sleep—being used to a queen-sized bed, a double seems restrictive, and the beds are just too darn soft—and sun. (Apparently sunlight energizes some people; for me, it just leaches the energy out of me. I had to go put up a couple of pictures and do two loads of laundry or I would have fallen asleep.)

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. . . . . noted and logged by Linda at 10:46:00 PM

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