North Carolina Part II

We got up early Wednesday morning and loaded the cars. Isabel, Henry's lil sis, got in late Tuesday night, so she was along for the trip too, which was lots of fun. We told Carson that she was a "girl Henry" and so, of course, she was instantly loved! We headed out to Sparta, NC, just a few miles from the NC/ VA state line. One of Henry's coworkers had offered up her family's cabin for a few nights, which was so nice. We finally arrived at the mountain home late afternoon. The boys and Isabel went out exploring and Em, Collier and I went to town to get groceries. When we got back, the boys had successfully found a path down to a stream below the cabin, so we went fishing! The water was FREEZING...like make your feet numb freezing, but it was lots of fun. We had picked up some fishing poles in Charlotte before heading north. It was no time before Carson was casting his out like a pro. There were no fish to be found, but we had a blast. After dinner, we hung out and enjoyed the weather and the scenery. I could write paragraphs about how amazing both were. After putting the kids to bed, we played some games and had some adult beverages (some more than others!!!) and had a GREAT evening!

Thursday morning we got up and made plans to head to the New River to find a place to Canoe. Some of us (won't mention any names) weren't quite feeling up to a canoe trip (remember the adult beverages I mentioned!), so Kenny, Em, the kids and I headed out to see what we could find. We ended up at Zaloo Canoes, right on the New River. We decided to do a short canoe trip, since we weren't sure how the boys would do. After a picnic lunch, they drove us up river and dropped us off. Kenny and Carson in one canoe, Em, Collier and I in another. It is a good thing that Emily declared herself "a very experienced" canoer, because she pretty much did all the work in our canoe. I spent my time wrangling a 1 yr old and trying to keep him IN the boat. The short, less than an hour trip, was perfect. Collier did not much like his life jacket, so when I finally gave in and took it off, he had a blast. Carson loved every minute of it. Again, the scenery and weather were wonderful...have I mentioned that, yet??? We went back to the cabin and grilled some steaks, roasted some marshmallows, caught some lightening bugs (Carson loved this...me too!) and hit the hay pretty early. We were tired from our day of fun!

Friday morning we woke up, loaded the cars, remarked that we felt like we had JUST gotten there and were not there nearly long enough, and headed out. Kenny and I were celebrating our 10 year anniversary that day, so we decided to ride together with the boys, and Em, Henry and Isabel rode together. We got on the Blue Ridge Parkway just east of Sparta and started heading south towards Blowing Rock, NC. We stopped at several scenic overlooked...the mountains were simply breathtaking. I know that we in Texas like to say that this is "God's Country"...but, I assure you, you can not look out over that vast blue mountain range and not think to yourself "Wow, God is GOOD!"

We stopped at a neat cabin called Brinnegar Cabin that was a fun look into life on the mountain 200 years ago, and then for a late breakfast at a small diner right off the parkway, and finally made it to Grandfather Mountain, just south of Blowing Rock. Grandfather Mountain is the home of the "Mile High Suspension Bridge". It is a bridge that at its midpoint is exactly 1 mile above sea level. As you walk across it, over this huge valley between two rock formations, it moves and sways ever so slightly...QUITE disconcerting. It was actually kind of fun to sit at the end and watch people think about walking across, start to walk across, take a few steps and turn right around! :) We all made it across no problem, although...we talked about this bridge all morning, how fun it was gonna be, how high we were gonna be, etc...and Carson seemed excited, but when we pulled into the front gates of the park, he started sobbing that he DID NOT want to go on the bridge and he was scared?!? Well, that was short lived, because not only did he practically run across it, he went with everyone else further out on the rocks, past the nice little rock platform at the far end of the bridge. I stayed with Collier because I had on flip flops and the terrain was treacherous enough that you didn't want to crawl around on it in flip flops! I certainly did miss out on the view though, the pics they took were amazing. They also got some fun shots of Carson that looked like he was falling and standing on top of a mountain (well, actually he was doing that). When we got home and I was downloading them, I panicked when I saw them! Kenny's response was "Oh, there were some rocks down below him...he wouldn't have fallen very far."...great, honey, I feel so much better! After our fun on the bridge we went back down the mountain to this great little museum and outdoor habitat area. They had an American Bald Eagle, deer, otters, leopards and brown bears. The eagle was super cool, but the bears were our favorite by far. As we walked up to them and looked over the railing, they were all sitting in a line, back on their hind legs, in the "begging position", just looking at all the people. I made the remark, "Wow, they look like they're begging". A lady next to me said 'They are! They are about to start selling food to feed them." Just about that time, the little hut behind us opened and people started lining up. We had timed it just right! We bought some bear food and got to feed the bears - very fun. Now, by feed, I mean throw it over the railing, aimed in their general vicinity. Several of them were really good at catching it in their mouths! After, a picnic lunch, we got back on the road and drove into Blowing Rock on probably the curviest road I have ever driven on. I think everyone was car sick by the time we got to our next stop!