...6.23...Over the Weekend...

...we had been planning (for quite some time actually) to visit the Man's elderly uncle...

...so I baked his favorite cake...

...and happily...it came out of the pan...

...and then I also baked some brownies...

...and I had a little bit of batter left over so I just put that into a ramekin...

...and had a nice little treat...

...both of those treats were just veganized versions of box mixes...so not too much trouble...

...then we packed everything up...we're taking lots of food for both lunch and dinner with him...we don't want him to have to go to any trouble...

...and we headed up I-95...and it has been YEARS since we've traveled this way...when we lived in Florida many years ago we used to go up and down on I-95...but not anymore...so it was fun to see that Pedro's South of the Border is still there...we've never stopped there...but it might be fun just to see it once...have you ever stopped at Pedro's?...

...it didn't take too long to arrive at his adorable family farmhouse...

...it's still a working farm...these are a few views from the house...

...flowers planted by his mother many years ago...

...just beautiful views of the fields surrounding the house...

...forty or so acres for this farmstead...but there's another 70+ acre field that you have to drive to...

...planted in soybeans...how perfectly vegan friendly is that...HA!

...then we walked around and toured some of the outbuildings...at one point in time they grew tobacco on this farm...it was a pretty common North Carolina crop...and this was the tobacco barn...

...the heater/dryer thingies are still intact and in place...

...as are the drying racks above...it was a fascinating process and involved a lot of hard work...

...most of the old farm equipment is still there...and it still works...an old Massey-Ferguson tractor...and a blue dump truck behind it...still tagged...

...a front-loader excavator thingy...Our Airman's favorite childhood toy was a little metal Tonka one of these...there were also a variety of discs and plows and planters...

...and lots of outbuildings on this side of the road...the small state road splits the property in half...

...I loved the little gourd birdhouses...

...and this pretty white house for Purple Martins...

...there's also a small branch that feeds this little pond...

...and then everyone was hungry so we headed in for some lunch...vegan tofu BBQ, vegan coleslaw and vegan baked beans...with an RC cola...(I haven't had an RC in years)...

...he also gave us a little tour of the farmhouse...it's very simple and pretty sparsely furnished...and I was surprised to see a few photos of 'us' sprinkled around the house...

...this Christmas card was sent to them years ago from North Dakota...

...we sat around talking about family things...interesting family history...funny stories from the past...and we visited the graveyard where his wife is buried...

...and then of course it was time to eat again...vegan supper...Bryanna's breast of tofu and green beans with dinner rolls...

...after dinner we found a Cold Stone...and went for some ice cream...they have Chocolate Silk...it was such a treat...and we had such a nice time visiting...

...then we checked into a local hotel...it was a simple old-style one...just two beds a tv in a small room...but it had this perfect little knitting nook tucked in the corner...haha...

...I sat there and worked on my sweater (of course I brought knitting)...and we watched some Guy Fieri Diners etc...as we were tired and didn't really want to figure out the whole tv setup and that's just what was on when we turned it on...it was kind of fun and entertaining anyway...

...and then before we headed home...we stopped at Denny's for breakfast...and GUESS WHAT...they now have a plant based slam...vegan pancakes fruit and hashbrowns...it was awesome...

~Wishing you a lovely start to your week!