Back to Floyd late last night after 3 days and nights of some of the best contra dancing I've ever done. It would of been hard to not have a great time... the line-up of bands and callers could hardly have been better. Starting out Friday night with Toss the Possum for a little pre dance waltzing and then on to the Hot Point String Band with Beth Malaro calling before continuing until nearly midnight with the Great Bear Trio and Diane Silver.

    But I'm a bit ahead of the story as it actually started on Friday afternoon when I picked up Rima at her office and we headed out for the road. A couple of hours saw us safely in Jonesborough checking into out Bed and Breakfast, the Eureka Inn, for the weekend. A very nice little place right along the old main street in old town, it was close enough to actually walk to and from the dance. For us, since we had the special Contra Dance discount, we actually had a Bed and 'no' Breakfast place but it really wasn't a big deal for us as we spent only a few hours sleeping there every night. Otherwise we were out and about dancing or exploring other fun things around the area.

    After getting a few hours of sleep on Friday night we were up and about on Saturday morning. Probably to early for me, but I managed to stumble around well enough until I had a little caffeine inside of me. We had a really quick breakfast while checking out local brochures for fun things to do around the Jonesborough area. We decided finally to take a short road trip north to the town of Gray where we found a prehistoric fossil site on the campus of Eastern Tennessee University. Originally discovered when expansion of I-26 was in progress, the then Governor, actually sprang for the additional 8 million dollars needed to move the right-of-way about a 1/4 mile to the east when fossils of alligators and other rare animals were discovered. In the end what they found was an old sink hole created about 800,00 to 1.2 million years ago where animals of that wet and warm period fell in and were trapped by the ooze. In addition to alligators, which don't live in Tennessee anymore of course, they found nearly complete skeletons of Rhino's, shovel nosed elephants, short faced bears and a really rare Asian style badger and Red Panda. A nice little museum with lots of interactive displays and dead animal bones to look at and read about.

    After wandering and reading for more than an hour we headed into Johnson City for some late lunch at a small Thai place we found. It left enough time afterwards for us to go out to 'Serenity Knoll', a local dancer's dream home with his own outdoor dance floor and concert venue. What a beautiful place David  has created for his self and all of his friends. Hot Point was providing the music and the dancing was pretty hot. We only had time for a few dances, but it was enough to whet our appetite for the upcoming evening. For me of course it also meant taking some time out to check out the dance floor and building that Dave had erected. Built out of pretty massive posts and beams with open wood trusses above, the dance floor itself is made of Ipia, (sp), pronounced E-pay, a really dense tropical hardwood similar to teak, but now being produced in sustainable quantities.

    Hot and crazy dancing for nearly 4 more hours that night. I actually had to sit out a couple of dances because my feet were hurting a bit. I really need to check out getting something new in the dance shoe department. I have danced my whole life with no more than an old pair of tennis shoe. I never had a problem with twisted ankles or knees for some reason, and I'm very thankful for that. But I think it is time to check out adding some padding to my shoes or even buying some better tennis shoes to dance in. Something like a good walking tennis shoe maybe. I'll start checking out ideas before the next dance.

     Many people went on out to a local house after the dance and partied until dawn. I'm getting old I guess and just headed back to the Inn for a couple hours of sleep. Up around 9:00 and checked out before heading out to a local breakfast cafe for some breakfast. Eggs and sausage and a couple of pancakes were enough to get me back in gear for an additional couple of hours of dancing.

   Hot Point did the first morning session and like usual, the Sunday session was really fast and furious. Had such a great time dancing with all my friends for one last time before the next dance. A short break for Rima and I as we ran to Mc D's for sustenance before going back for another hour and a half of dancing to Great Bear Trio. By the end of the session I was pretty much all done in... just enough umph for one last waltz with my sweetie. It was such a wonderful dance weekend for both of us.

    Ended up taking a couple young dancers back to Blacksburg with us last night as they needed a ride back to the University. We made a short stop in the town of Bristol to have dinner with one of Rima's kids and his wife.  A very nice meal at the local Olive Garden. It was nice to have some substantial food inside again, though I think the 'carbo loading' would of been better if we had done it before the dance.

    So a late night for us again, but today is kind of cloudy and rainy again so I'm just holing up inside right now checking up on all the stuff I've neglected for the past week. Need to get back on the ball now though. I see the sun is trying to peek through the clouds now so it's time to get outside and do something productive.