October 29, 2008 - Long weekend in the Carolina mountains
Our family takes several short trips throughout the year to recharge and enjoy concentrated family time, while seeing a new part of the country. With grueling 65-hour workweeks for Daddy and a busy home business for Mama that she can never truly escape from, we've come to rely on these getaways to completely break away from work responsibilities and spend time together as a family.
This past weekend we ventured into the North Carolina mountains for our fall getaway. First we attended the Carolina BalloonFest, a hot air balloon festival in Statesville, then visited the Asheville area, where we climbed Chimney Rock Park (this is where The Last of the Mohicans was filmed) and visited Lake Lure (where Dirty Dancing was filmed). Then we drove to Grandfather Mountain, to see the mile high swinging bridge and 100-mile views of the Blue Ridge Mountains.
We had a great time, even though we never got to see the mile-high swinging bridge, for it was closed due to high winds of 80 mph! I guess, the suspension bridge was really swinging that day! It would have made for a memorable experience, that's for sure. Upon our return, I read that temperatures were at mid-January levels in the Carolina mountains with snow the next day!
Truth is, even hurricane-force winds would not have stopped us, for this bridge was the sole reason we drove deep into the mountains. The road was, of course, blocked and after a brief discussion about the possibility of sneaking up there on one of the side trails (since we didn't think they actually had guards standing at the bridge), we reluctantly abandoned this idea, for the possibility of getting arrested in the backcountry of North Carolina was not part of the fun we had envisioned for the weekend.
The hot air balloon festival was fun. This time, we actually saw balloons go up, about 50 of them. In the evening, all the balloons came back and they had a Balloon Glow display, where once the sun had set all the balloons were fired up all at once, again and again, to the rowdy cheers of the crowd. We were close enough to feel the fire on our faces.
I had visited Chimney Rock a few years ago with a friend and I've wanted to show Ron this place ever since. This place is very beautiful, such a natural wonder to behold. The huge outcropping rocks have stairs built on them, so one can climb up to see the spectacular vistas all around. We climbed up to the top, with Caleb on Mama's back in the Ergo carrier, which is serving us very well. We stayed until closing, spending about 4 hours climbing and walking all of the trails, except for the Skyline-Cliff Trail, which was closed due to renovations. At the end of our hike, we saw the 404-foot Hickory Nut Falls, with the wind blowing mist in our faces, which was not as refreshing in late-October as I remembered it to be on a hot day in July. I also decided to forego climbing on the rocks under the waterfall and getting drenched, for the same late-October weather reasons. 
The drive home through winding little roads through the mountains was really, REALLY long, though beautiful. Had we not taken those roads we would have not seen Amish barn designs, and we would have not tasted Carolina barbecue and Carolina caviar. And we would have not had the joy of hearing Caleb's sweet little voice from the backseat, saying "bú" and "ló" as he pointed out EVERY SINGLE COW AND HORSE on the 5-hour drive.
We had a fun time. Can you tell? Now, for the pictures that you've been waiting for so patiently.
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