Grandfather Mountain - Mile High Swinging Bridge

As evidenced by the photos from this weekend, a couple of us are having a hard time faking smiles these days. Probably would have been better not to try. Maybe soon that’ll get better. Hopefully soon.

Photo by Dana Wachter, 11 Connects

Home Destroyed By Fire In Washington County, VA

By Josh Smith
Anchor / WJHL
Published: August 13, 2009

A massive house fire sent emergency crews scrambling this morning in Washington County, Virginia.

Just after 3 a.m., the call for help came from the 15000 block of Wilderness Road in the Lowery Hills Subdivision, just outside the Bristol, Virginia city limits.

No word yet if anyone was injured.

Washington County, Virginia Fire and Rescue called for backup from three other departments including the city of Bristol, Virginia.

11 Connects’ Dana Wachter is at the scene to provide live updates on 11 Connects at 5 a.m. and 6 a.m..

Update at 5:49 a.m.:

11 Connects’ Dana Wachter is at the fire scene. She reports the 4,000 square feet home is engulfed in flames. Several firefighters escaped the burning home after almost getting trapped inside. That’s forced firefighters to pull back and tackle the fire from the outside.

One person was taken to the hospital with an injury, but we don’t have specifics about this right now.

Update at 7:05 a.m.:

11 Connects’ Dana Wachter reports firefighters believe the charred shell of the home could collapse.

The man at the home who was taken to the hospital is back at the fire scene after being treated for smoke inhalation.

I have an appointment Wednesday at lunch to test drive a potential new vehicle, which I’m strangely excited about. I really think Spyhunter has gone on it’s last mission. Changing the air filter did nothing to stop the running very hot it’s been doing since the wedding, it’s sputtering even more, and as of the last leg of this weekend’s trip we can add in intermittent A/C. I’m just SO glad that I’m already driving a car with an average mpg of 22 so I don’t qualify for this clunker credit, though, let me tell you.

The reunion went so well, though there were still a lot of faces missing that I’d like to see again. There’s always next year… so yeah, the suggestion was thrown out that we try this simple, inexpensive picnic notion every year and maybe work on something “special” for the 25, which we can plan together in the upcoming picnics. It’ll give us time to gather more faces and figure out what we’d enjoy doing together… maybe even a group trip someplace. I’m genuinely excited at the notion of it all!

Kitty was once again pretty freaked out when we got home. Second time we’ve left her alone, and she’s going right back to the pre-Smudge crazy behavior. I guess she just misses us, but she really did seem less desperate for attention when she’d had company while we were gone. Though, talked to sis and they left three cats home while they vacationed and all three were attention-whores when they got home, each one jealously vying for lap time.

It may or may not be apparent that we stayed in a hotel for this trip up for the reunion, and certainly enjoyed some pool time while we were there. We did, however, have to stop by mom’s, and I’m sad to say things were no better. Worse, actually, though I don’t think I have the inclination to spell it all out here right now — must be the TheraFlu kicking in, as I’m getting sleepy finally, though I still can’t really breathe through my nose. I’m attempting to be kind to JamesT tonight by sleeping in the guest bed instead of keeping him up all night like last night.

There are actually a couple things from this weekend I need to set down someplace, but I’ll wait for a clearer head. Just hope this sinus funk doesn’t get in the way of dinner with Maggie and her folks when they get to town. Still haven’t really processed that by Friday she won’t be living here anymore, but heck we’ve been so busy it seems we rarely chat other than via the internets anyway. Can’t see as Texas or Oklahoma or wherever will make much difference, other than perhaps a little more planning involved for when we DO want to get together in person. Anything’s doable, though, and with a new car on the horizon, I’m sure I’ll be itching to hit the road and start putting the miles on…