Another Swag Day

A lot of people hear me tell stories about when my brother, Joe, and I were growing up.  There are often questions like: do you really have a brother Joe? Where is your brother, Joe, now? Yes, I have a real brother Joe, and he and his wife, Nancy, came up to join us for dinner at the Swag last night.

They live outside Waynesville where we grew up.  He is retired from Evergreen Paper, formerly Champion Paper and Fiber, in Canton after thirty eight years working in the wood yard there.  Nancy is retired from teaching and from her pet resort, Creature Comforts, though she still does dog show judging and raises Shelties.  They have one daughter named Cara and she and her husband have three boys, two of whom are twins.

My Brother, Joe, and his wife, Nancy up for dinner with us.

Today was a beautiful day and Trish and I led a hike from the Swag down to Purchase Knob and the National Park Science Education Center.  Weather has cleared and the scenery was spectacular as the clouds gave the mountains and sky wonderful color and texture.

A Beautiful Day at the Swag Country Inn.

On the way we saw plenty of wild turkeys. They seem to be everywhere now.

Turkeys Everywhere!

After our visit to the Science Education Center we hiked down to the historic Ferguson log cabin and had our picnic lunch on the porch there.  This tiny one room cabin was home to the John Ferguson family and their three children.  It is very difficult to imagine how a family of five lived there and raised all their food to boot.

Picnic at the John Ferguson Cabin.

Tonight is cookout night and we look forward to a wonderful eating time before I tell our evening story for all the guests of the Inn.