On Thursday evening Allan wrote...

Becky is still wearing the cast on her right arm from having broken her wrist. So I'm writing for both of us today.

We're house sitting in Hillsborough, North Carolina, enjoying a beautiful home situated at the edge of what the owners call "The Hundred Acre Woods."  And indeed, there are well over 100 acres filled with cedar trees, hardwoods and -- due to a hurricane that blew through during the mid-1990's -- quite a few downed trees. The owners have blazed trails all through the woods where they walk their dogs a couple times each day.

On Tuesday, our first night here, Becky and I played a few hands of cards then retired for the night. "Retiring" included getting the two dogs -- Maggie and Blue -- situated on their very own leather couch. They like to sleep with blankets and stuffed toys.  So we put them to bed and said "good night." Then, about 4:30AM we were awakened by their footsteps in the hall outside our bedroom. In a flash both of them jumped into bed with us, followed a while later by one of the two cats. Neither of us ever quite got back to sleep.

Maggie snoozing with Becky

Blue just had to get under the blankets

The cats eat on the counter top to
prevent the dogs from getting
their food.

Becky and dogs walking in the woods

One of many historical memorials around town.

We went into Durham today to look around and found a mountain of information at the Visitor's Bureau. So we took a short walk around some of the downtown area. The city has some of the feel of Portland. For example, we ate at a restaurant that is very green -- they recycle almost everything, use only LED lighting, buy locally and make virtually all their own ingredients.  Further, with the huge campus of Duke University, Durham is a top example of a college town. There's lots of culture here and plenty to see and do. Durham just might make our short list of places we'll eventually move to. Time (and more travel) will tell.

This is actually Stop #41 on the Walking Art Tour of Durham. Either
that, or something a little kinky (LOL)

We decided to explore a bit on Wednesday by visiting Seagrove, NC. It's a small town that's home to dozens and dozens of pottery makers. We walked through a couple of the galleries until Becky found the piece that she says goes so well with the colors in our living room.

We're having a local couple over for dinner on Saturday and hope they can tell us a bit more about North Carolina and some of its cities. Maybe they'll give us some ideas about which cities are "the best." Becky and I are both curious about the coastal and Inner Banks towns. Maybe we'll drive over to the coast one day next week.