We started out taking photos in beautiful Rabun County.

Blue sky started peeking through on the way to the Highlands. Did I say Highlands as in Highlands, North Carolina? Why would I attempt such a trip on a snowy, icy day.

The highway to Highlands was clear in spots and in other spots—not so much. Yikes! I didn’t plan to go all the way up to this point in North Carolina, but once we started the trek, there wasn’t a place to turn around! The snow plows had kept the roadway clear but had only piled the snow up on the side of the roads covering every entrance to every secondary roads and every overlook! People were stuck at the overlooks and I decided not to “4 wheel” into one of those!

So we chilled and enjoyed the trip that ended up behind a salt truck with a plow attached to its front bumper!

We arrived at Highlands, North Carolina, and immediately headed for Mountain Fresh Grocery (MFG) because we knew it would be open and we were right. For some reason, we call MFG The Market. I have no idea why—we just do!

Along the way, we passed lots of snow. In fact a couple of feet of snow that had been piled up in the parking areas.

Then we walked into “The Market,” which has become our refuge for coffee and pizza and more. But on this snowy day, there was no pizza. The ovens were off and just a few staff members had made it into work. So, we settled for water and coffee and snacks.

Anne is ordering two donuts and gave both away. Because they were homemade, they were gladly accepted! Thank you, Anne! After all, I had no idea whether we would get back home or not. So at this point, all food was accepted.

Pat is waiting for her donut and is confident that we’ll make it back easily. Thankfully, we did.

“The Market” was pretty much the only show in town.

It has been years since Highlands was this quiet and empty. It was beautiful! I wish I could have spent the night but it was back to Toccoa, to the dogs, and . . .

to the cottage.