Giving Thanks in a Red-Hot, Chilly Yurt

The concept of the Yurt was not especially new to me, though I'd never stayed overnight in one. The Princess had and she liked it. She did her sleeping in Morocco. My experience, limited though it was, came at Explore Park where there is a yurt village of sorts.

The yurt, for those of you who don't know, is something of a hard-sided tent, usually circular in nature, not unlike a tee-pee, though more solid.

Our yurt sits beside a crusty-looking, apparently homemade house in Weaverville, N.C., just outside Asheville geographically, but much further away than you can imagine. It is in the middle of nowhere, up a long-ish dirt road. It sits as it should: a camping spot.

From the beginning, there were unexpected challenges, mostly having to do with lack of communication with the owner, who was nowhere to be found. What we found forced-air heat that wouldn't shut off (it reached about 90 degrees the first night), a bathroom light that didn't work, and no apparent heat there. So, we were left to sleep in the desert and use the bathroom in Iceland.

But not to worry, I was with the toughtest Princess of them all, one who considered the heat "cozy" and the chill a challenge to be overcome (which she did, leaving me to do the same or wimp out. I try to avoid wimping out).

Communication--in general--was another surprise. We had little execpt with each other. Cell service and our "devices" were at less than full speed and, of course, there was no TV--something of a blessing, I suggest.

Overall, with the surprises, it was a memorable stay, one where we found inconvenience and pretty much overcame it--mostly because of Linda Kay and her cheerful, can-do approach to life.

I love that woman.