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Hey everyone. Sorry for the delay. It’s been a busy time for me recently.
The last week and a half of September was busy because my dad and step-mother (along with a lady they take care of) were in town, so I was doing a lot of running around and all that. While I like seeing everyone, it was a little stressful and my anxiety would’ve kicked in full force had they stayed any longer. Mostly it was issues with my step-mother.
Overall, she’s a nice person and okay to get along with, but there are times where things get very tense. We spent two days in the Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge area because my dad wanted to see the Smoky Mountains and Cade’s Cove. It’s about a two hour drive from where we live now. So it can be a bit of a car ride. I guess my stepmother can’t handle more than an hour or so riding in the back of their van, because she says she keeps getting jostled around. I’ve ridden back there, and while you can feel more of the motion of the van back there than most anywhere else, it’s not as bad as she was making it out to be. Plus, we had offered to exchange seats with her many times, but she wouldn’t do it. So, on the way back home on the second day of the trip to Pigeon Forge, she was chewing my dad out about his driving and how much she hated riding in the back (keep in mind, this was after the offers of seat trading). Me, I was just trying to snooze through the whole thing and try not to pay any attention.
My mom went with us for those two days and she told me later how she never knew just how stressful it was for me to go visit during the summers. I said to her that it wasn’t nearly as bad as all of that was. My dad said she has an undiagnosed mental illness which she refuses to acknowledge that she has and therefore it goes untreated. I honestly don’t know how my dad can put up with it all of the time.
Aside from all of the complaining from my stepmother, the visit was pretty nice all in all. I always enjoy spending time with my dad and I know he enjoys spending time with me. We went to a few restaurants that are local that mom and I thought they’d like. My stepmother has a thing against chain restaurants, but luckily there were enough variety to last for the time they were here.
We went to the Biltmore one day which is in Asheville, NC and about an hour from us. It had been over ten years since I was there last, so I enjoyed going again. The house and grounds are beautiful and I took pictures of the outside (no photography inside alas) and then we went to the local village on the grounds (which is mostly shopping and restaurants as well as an Inn) and ate at the pub that was there. The food was really good! I had a Bison burger and Angry Orchard Hard Apple Cider, which I liked. I’m not much of a beer drinker because it all tastes too bitter to me and I dislike bitter tasting foods (which is also why I don’t like dark chocolate).
There were a few historical places that are local that we went to that I know dad enjoyed because he’s a big history buff. Then on another day, we went to the Ripley’s Aquarium in Gatlinburg because it looked pretty neat and I’ve always wanted to go there. It was pretty cool. I really enjoyed the tunnel underneath the large shark tank, where you could have sharks and other sea life swim overhead.
Other than that, it’s been pretty non-eventful. I needed a week to recover (but I only took a day). I will see everyone again when I graduate next December, so a little over a year break is a good length of time. Although dad did talk about going to Mackinac Island sometime next summer. I guess we’ll have to see what happens between now and then.
The last week and a half of September was busy because my dad and step-mother (along with a lady they take care of) were in town, so I was doing a lot of running around and all that. While I like seeing everyone, it was a little stressful and my anxiety would’ve kicked in full force had they stayed any longer. Mostly it was issues with my step-mother.
Overall, she’s a nice person and okay to get along with, but there are times where things get very tense. We spent two days in the Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge area because my dad wanted to see the Smoky Mountains and Cade’s Cove. It’s about a two hour drive from where we live now. So it can be a bit of a car ride. I guess my stepmother can’t handle more than an hour or so riding in the back of their van, because she says she keeps getting jostled around. I’ve ridden back there, and while you can feel more of the motion of the van back there than most anywhere else, it’s not as bad as she was making it out to be. Plus, we had offered to exchange seats with her many times, but she wouldn’t do it. So, on the way back home on the second day of the trip to Pigeon Forge, she was chewing my dad out about his driving and how much she hated riding in the back (keep in mind, this was after the offers of seat trading). Me, I was just trying to snooze through the whole thing and try not to pay any attention.
My mom went with us for those two days and she told me later how she never knew just how stressful it was for me to go visit during the summers. I said to her that it wasn’t nearly as bad as all of that was. My dad said she has an undiagnosed mental illness which she refuses to acknowledge that she has and therefore it goes untreated. I honestly don’t know how my dad can put up with it all of the time.
Aside from all of the complaining from my stepmother, the visit was pretty nice all in all. I always enjoy spending time with my dad and I know he enjoys spending time with me. We went to a few restaurants that are local that mom and I thought they’d like. My stepmother has a thing against chain restaurants, but luckily there were enough variety to last for the time they were here.
We went to the Biltmore one day which is in Asheville, NC and about an hour from us. It had been over ten years since I was there last, so I enjoyed going again. The house and grounds are beautiful and I took pictures of the outside (no photography inside alas) and then we went to the local village on the grounds (which is mostly shopping and restaurants as well as an Inn) and ate at the pub that was there. The food was really good! I had a Bison burger and Angry Orchard Hard Apple Cider, which I liked. I’m not much of a beer drinker because it all tastes too bitter to me and I dislike bitter tasting foods (which is also why I don’t like dark chocolate).
There were a few historical places that are local that we went to that I know dad enjoyed because he’s a big history buff. Then on another day, we went to the Ripley’s Aquarium in Gatlinburg because it looked pretty neat and I’ve always wanted to go there. It was pretty cool. I really enjoyed the tunnel underneath the large shark tank, where you could have sharks and other sea life swim overhead.
Other than that, it’s been pretty non-eventful. I needed a week to recover (but I only took a day). I will see everyone again when I graduate next December, so a little over a year break is a good length of time. Although dad did talk about going to Mackinac Island sometime next summer. I guess we’ll have to see what happens between now and then.
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