Last weekend, we needed a break and used a colleague's summer house near Grandfather Mountain. We went up on Friday afternoon and returned Sunday afternoon. The weather was hot in Charlotte and very pleasant in the mountains (surprisingly, it only dropped to 60 at night!).
Saturday morning we went to Grandfather mountain. We went to the top first since the weather was good. At the top (that is, the top of the road, not the top of the mountain) is a "mile high swinging bridge." Fortunately, the 2000s version doesn't really swing. But it leads you to a short walk to a rock outcropping where you can get a 360 view of the surrounding mountains and valleys. It was hazy, but you could still see quite well.
We then went to the "zoo." C was very excited to see the cougars, the otters, the deer, and the bears (ok, just about everything that was large and moved). You could buy food to throw to the bears, so they just sat up with their mouths open to catch the food. One was so lazy (and apparently well fed) that he wouldn't even bother to get up to pick up food that didn't land directly in his mouth. We also saw the nature museum and had lunch at a picnic shelter. One of the workers brought a corn snake. After her short presentation, everyone could pet the snake. C refused to touch it, but interestingly enough, later declared that seeing the snake was the best part of the day. M has little fear and touched the snake (she probably would have put it in her mouth had we given her the chance...)
Thereafter, we went to Tweetsie Railroad, a small amusement park between Boone and Blowing Rock. As luck would have it, it was their opening weekend for the summer. The rides are mostly oriented towards kids, so C had a good time. And, of course, he got to ride the train which was a big thrill. M enjoyed looking out the window of the train too--things were moving and she was out of the stroller.
Around 5 pm, the cold winds kicked up and we noticed dark clouds covering the mountains. Normally, this is a sign that you should get moving to avoid a thunderstorm, but apparently there is an exemption to this rule if you have not yet stopped at the candy shop. (I can concede, that by Rogers and Hammerstein's logic, if candy is one of your favorite things, it will make you feel better during a thunderstorm.) Fortunately, we did not get hit by a thunderstorm, but that didn't mean we totally avoided trouble. Rather than take the Blue Ridge Parkway back to the weekend house (the way we came), we took the state route that was lower (I thought it stayed in the valley) and thus was less likely to be foggy. It was lower than the Parkway, but it was a very curvy mountain road with plenty of fog--though it was not thick enough to be dangerous. Upon our return to the house, went out to enjoy the evening on the deck and saw a fox down on the golf course.
Sunday morning the clouds were low and moving quickly. Our journey for the morning was to Linville Falls, a short hike off the Blue Ridge Parkway. M took the stroller and smiled and waved to everyone we passed while C helped Mum Mum when he wasn't jumping off rocks or tree stumps. We walked past the falls to an overlook where we got a great view of the falls. Then we walked back to the falls where we could see lots of water disappearing over big rocks (the traditional top of the falls view!). Linville Falls get lots of press in NC but we were less impressed with them than falls in Dupont Forest outside of Hendersonville. Our hypothesis is that Linville Falls get more attention because they are closer to the tourist areas.
Kids updates. C has been doing very well at preschool. His vocabulary has expanded and he knows his numbers and letters. He likes to draw and brings home many scraps of paper with his scribblings daily. He likes for me to sit on the swing and have me pull him as high as possible before releasing the swing. His instructions are worth sharing and are said with superfast speed and super enthusiasm: "Please get me superhigh that I ever saw. Higher than [the tree, the house, the sky, outerspace, rocket ships] so that no one can see me [or my head and eyes and ears, or my arm, my eyebrows]. Eyebrows is my all-time personal favorite. M is regularly pulling herself to standing position and moving laterally along the furniture. She can push herself up to standing position from the floor and hold it for a few seconds. She'll walk several steps holding an adult's hands. It won't be too long until she's walking. In fact, she'll be walking before she has her first teeth (despite T's weekly predictions for the past 6 months that teething has started.) M's first birthday is the 16th and baptism is Memorial Day weekend, so we should get a disorienting flurry of posts this month!
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