Trip to Mountains, Part Six

Wednesday was Noah's birthday.  We spent the morning, as usual, feeding chickens and went to feed the cow.  The boys were scared of the cow.  We picked up, packed up, bought a souvenir hat and shirt and tried honeycomb and started our drive on the last part of the Blue Ridge Parkway.  We drove from Asheville to Cherokee on the Blue Ridge with a short detour to see Soco Falls, right near the end of the parkway.  The parkway was beautiful and this was also the highest part.  We kept thinking we would get to the highest point, until we realized it was actually near the end.  And it went up and down several times, so it was quite a drive - a little nerve wracking.  We got out for a brief pitstop at Mt. Pisgah.  We hiked on the trail a little ways but didn't plan on hiking the whole thing because it was quite rocky and we weren't sure if the boys could handle the length. Then, we got out at Waterknob Rock.  Andrew worked on finishing his Junior Ranger booklet and then we did the hike.  Boy, was it a lot more strenuous than I was expecting!  But it was fun and beautiful.  The first couple switchbacks were paved and we were huffing and puffing on those, but not as much as some other people - they must have quit because we never passed them again.  Noah made me carry him most of the first half, but when it got to the rocky steps, he liked it much better.  A big chunk of the path was lined with wildflowers that the bees LOVED, so there were bees everywhere.  Tried to go faster on that part.  There were quite a few gnats at the top, but not as bad as other part of the mountains that we went on.  Noah, Andrew and I hiked together and Katsu and Seth & Logan hiked in front of us and much faster.  I really enjoyed this hike - 11th highest mountain on the east coast.  Afterwards, we went to the visitor center and Andrew got his Junior Ranger badge and we got a swiss army knife for Andrew to learn whittling in Cub Scouts this year.

The rest of the drive was lots of up and down with the kids napping and watching movies.  We stopped at Soco Falls - Katsu and the Logan and Seth went and saw it.  He took them down pretty far holding onto ropes!  It looked kind of scary.  Andrew and I stayed in the car with sleeping Noah.  We went and looked at the falls second, but quickly as it was starting to rain.  It rained pretty hard the last 5 miles or so of the Parkway.  But Katsu was a champ and drove well and we got to the end in Cherokee and went up to the visitor center for the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.  Right there, we saw lots of elk - all over by the visitor center.  We couldn't figure out why all the cars were stopped, but then we saw them.  There was like 20 or so.  Lots of wild turkey, too.  We stopped at the visitor center and got a junior ranger book and some maps and took pictures of the elk and then drove to our rental with a stop at the grocery store on the way (Noah screamed his head off so much I had to take him out).  The rental was great - two bedrooms, a huge screened in porch and a little kitchen.  Just a 5 minute drive to the Fontana Lake, which we went to every day.  And a firepit that we loved to cook marshmallows and smores in.

Trip to Mountains, Part Five

Tuesday was another day of hiking.  We drove to the DuPont State Forest to see three waterfalls.  It was about a 45 minute drive through the countryside and was really beautiful.  We stopped at the visitor center, another blow out for Noah, but at least we had a change of clothes!  Then, we hiked.  First, we went to High Falls - it was really pretty and I'm amazed how many kids were playing in each of the falls!  We didn't let the kids play until the very end.  Grandma and Grandpa packed lots of snacks, so we could motivate the boys (more or less) with snacks of cookies and chips.  Seth still had a lot of sour faces, but so it goes with little boys.  We hiked down to the bottom of High Falls, but honestly, the view was better from the overlook.  Boys liked crawling on the rocks and Noah loved looking for fish.

We made the hike up to Triple Falls.  You get off the trail and take a whole bunch of steps to the second of the three falls.  It was really pretty, but you are right there on the rocks and it is a little nerve racking because I can just imagine the kids getting too close and tumbling down the next waterfall.  Amazing how crazy people are.

We walked back to the car, got our lunch, and then drove to Hooker Falls.  The boys were cranky and didn't want to go, but changed their mind and went.  We promised Logan that he could wade in this falls - it was small and a natural water hole, but the rocks are slippery and we saw some people make some hard falls.  But Logan got in and enjoyed the cold water with Katsu.  Noah got in for a while, too.  It was really lovely hiking and pretty waterfalls.  Loved it.

Trip to Mountains, Part 4

On Monday, Katsu, Andrew and I went to the Biltmore.  Andrew has been really excited about going - the younger boys weren't really interested so they stayed at home with Grandma and Grandpa.  We got audio tours and I am glad we did, because we learned a whole bunch.  We didn't know they were allowing pictures now, so we only got camera photos, but it was pretty cool to see.  I really liked the way the house was decorated - beautiful and kind of understated for a house that huge.  It was crowded, but not too crowded, and we got to enjoy and see everything we wanted.  I want a library like that, is all I can say.  We saw the gardens for a bit - very pretty.  I loved all the flowers.  But Andrew got bored, so we didn't stay too long and we went home after that.  It was really a lovely drive in the woods and oh, what a wonderful view.  That afternoon, we spent around the farm and enjoyed a little hiking and the paddleboats.  We love the farm.

Trip to Mountains, Part Three

One of the best parts of the first part of our trip was being with grandparents and staying on a farm.  We stayed at the Cloud 9 farm and LOVED it.  It is about 15 minutes from Asheville and the owner, Janet, was AWESOME. She took the kids out every morning to feed the chickens (with big tall rubber boots in all sizes!) and every afternoon to get their eggs - which we got to eat.  The kids LOVED the chickens.  They were even brave enough to go into their cages by the end to feed them.  We got to feed the laying hens and also those that were almost ready for eating.  Noah called them ducks all week, but even he got a chance to put the eggs gently into egg containers.  The rooster would crow every morning - but not too loud.  All the boys couldn't wait till Janet came over, they could throw on their boots (even Noah was rambling around them by the end of the week).  It was the highlight of the stay.

 We went blueberry picking and raspberry picking and blackberry picking. The boys loved hoping on the back of the truck, with me on the front with Noah, and heading down the hill to pick the berries and see the lake and the other chickens.  The blueberries and blackberries were everywhere and delicious.  I was amazed to see how many berries grow wild on the mountain and Janet had some wild raspberries, too, on her farm.

 We fed the cows (kids did NOT like that) on the last morning.  We called for them - the kids were excited to do that, but when the cows starting coming - they were big - and the kids were scared.  They let me feed them all the carrots and apples we brought for treats.  Afterwards, we tried some of the fresh honeycomb Janet had and bought some souvenirs.

 On Monday,  hiked up halfway to the highest peak on the property before poison ivy deterred us. We weren't wearing pants and the poison ivy was everywhere, so we went back down and did the paddle boat in the lake.

We also loved the house and the hot tub.  Noah slept with Katsu and I, my parents had the big room, and the other boys had the blueberry room.  They spent all their time playing video games and on the full size air hockey table.  They couldn't wait to come home and play.

We celebrated Noah's 2nd birthday at the house.  We had cake - which didn't cook properly at all - so, more of cake soup, two days before and opened his Thomas presents from my parents one day before.
We had a great time at the rental!  We love Cloud 9!

Trip to Mountains, Part Two

The second day of our trip, we went on the Blue Ridge Parkway.  Andrew and Seth drove with Grandma and Grandpa and Logan and Noah were with me and Katsu.  We went to the visitors center, which was kind of boring, and then we drove up to Craggy Gardens.  At the visitors center, Noah had a huge blow-out – the pants could not be rescued, so he only wore a diaper on bottom the rest of the day!  You can hike without pants, it turns out, if you are just almost 2. Andrew also got Junior Ranger stuff here, too.

We stopped at several beautiful overlooks along the way.  We were going to do the trail at the visitors’ center first, but the parking lot was packed, so we went to the Pinnacle Hike first.  I was nervous it would be too hard, but it was actually great (take all reviews with a grain of salt, I have learned).  It was pretty steep, but not too bad.  It went through beautiful heath.  I can only imagine how beautiful it would be in May with the Rhodendrum blooming.  There are wildflowers everywhere and they are really quite beautiful.  Amazing how many pretty flowers there are so high up.  We all made it to the top – I, like almost every hike, carried Noah almost the entire way.  He will walk some when it is rocky.  He loves rocks.  And he will point out every. Single. Rock.  And try to pick half of them up.  Also a huge lover of flowers, butterflies, and mushrooms.  The view from the top was lovely.  We hiked down and enjoyed it (the boys alternatingly loved it or complained the whole time, but I would rather they complain in beautiful scenery than at home!).

Grandpa was feeling tired and worried about another climb with his knees, so he and Logan sat in the Visitors Center, while we made the climb up from there.  At first, it seemed just the same, and I was wondering if it was worth it.  But then we got the bald and it was gorgeous!  Amazing, this meadow in the middle of mountains.  It was great to climb through and the grass was almost as tall as Noah.  Nice views and then down again.  We only got camera phone pictures because we forgot to take the camera on this hike.

Afterwards, we stopped at the Folk Art Center.  Noah was asleep, so we took turns looking at it.  The crafts were beautiful – Katsu bought a little Christmas ornament.  Would have been fun to see more of if we didn’t have the kids.  Andrew and Seth and I did a little hike looking at trees around the center for his Junior Ranger and then we went back to the farm.