Day 27

There were two spots we wanted to hike up to today so the kids and I were off pretty early to beat the crowds and the heat. These spots were off the parkway in Linville Wilderness so it was a bit of a drive. I should have known it would be a crazy drive when I read the directions to go on a forest road.

I had Brayden as my navigator which turned out to be pretty useless. I guess I need to teach him a little more this year! We finally found the turn off the main road only to discover the forest road was 7.5 miles of gravel road with significant potholes from natural erosion and traffic. I don't think I got above 10 MPH the whole way. The craziest parts were the hairpin turns up to Table Rock. Thank goodness noone was ready to come down the mountain yet as I wasn't sure I'd be able to make room for them!

There were quite a few cars parked at the spot as it is the trailhead for two different trails. It was Saturday so there were lots of hikers as well as climbers. Ryan was hoping I'd stop one of them because she had a lot of questions I just couldn't answer. There were a bunch of dogs in the parking area so the kids enjoyed hanging out with all of them before we started.

The first section of the trail was pretty level and easy then the big climb started. The recent rains had made the trail pretty slippery as well. They kids were enjoying finding their own ways up and over the boulders and before we knew it we were at the top of Table Rock. There was a large circle of Outward Bound adults talking - we felt like we were interrupting so we took a small path to the left and had a snack with this spectacular view.

 After the group left we walked around the summit to check out all the views. At one stop I turned around and all I saw was Ryan standing behind me in her underwear. Turns out the shorts she was wearing were a hand-me-down from Brayden and had been stretched to the max. She was standing there laughing and I'm sure was thankful everyone had left! She wanted to try to get us all in a picture at the top so we found a good rock and set the timer. Not bad!

We hiked back down and headed to our next summit - Hawk's Bill. This was the most popular hike in the wilderness but we'd passed it on that skinny forest road and I wasn't turning around so we decided to catch it on the way out. It was so busy by now we had to park just off the side of the road about 50 yards from the trail head.

This hike immediately started straight up and didn't stop. We thought Table Rock was going to be more difficult from the description but oh man this one was tough. We took quite a few breaks this time but we were passing all kinds of people on the way up. We'd tired of playing Contact so we were just playing the ABC game with different topics. One topic was ice cream - we had some crazy flavors!!

We passed a few climbers looking for a good spot so I asked one of the guys to give her a quick explanation of how they tie in while they're going up and she understood much better. I'm hoping this isn't the sport she's taking up next!

Laney found a smiley rock hiding in the trunk of a tree. We brought a pile of painted rocks to leave places but it seems we are bringing just as much home!

We were all out of breath and had shaky legs by the time we made it to the top. We needed food! The girls found us a spot way off to the side on some rocks that jutted out with the perfect view. See them down there?













We all pulled out our lunches and were silent as we ate and enjoyed watching the clouds pass in different shapes over the valley. Shortly after we started eating I saw an apple roll past me down the mountain. Ryan had trusted the rock a little too much to hold it for her! After she ate her sandwich she went to search for it but couldn't find it. Hopefully it didn't hurt anyone!!

As we ate we watched 6 or 7 hawks enjoying the currents. They all looked so graceful and barely had to flap their wings at all.

We drove the crazy road out of the forest and decided to stop for Dave some beer, ice cream for us, and ice for the cooler. The place we happened to pull into was a bar/gas station/hiking store/motorcycle stop/grill. They were crazy busy but we found everything we needed and enjoyed our ice cream out on the picnic tables.

We made it back in the early afternoon just as a neighbor between us was setting up. They had an adorable little puppy that made all the kids melt so they went to say hi and pet her. Once the couple was all set up we went to the river with them and the kids had a blast with little Annabelle. This was her first time at the water so she wasn't thrilled but she did have fun running away from all the kids.

 We were looking forward to a program this night about the Spanish influence in the area back in the 1600s so we decided to make an early dinner. The kids found another mouse hanging out with our original little guy and they had made some significant improvements to their little nest. Looks like they are staying!

We headed to the program while Emily stayed back to prep things to leave in the morning. We have been very spoiled on past trips with programs scheduled all day and every night so this has been a big change for us. The program was short but pretty funny and we all learned quite a bit. The kids even remembered some of the names and facts from their Florida History and Native American classes.

We made it back just in time to play with Annabelle a little more and our new friends introduced the kids to a very cool one-wheel hoverboard type device. It could go forward, backward, and turn based your subtle movements at a very high rate of speed. The kids had an absolute blast trying it out! Ryan of course took over as the kid who got it the most. Mark told her she needs to try snowboarding asap. Maybe she can hitch a ride with Uncle Chris next ski trip!


We taught our new friends Golf while Evey and Brayden puppy sat Annabelle. She wore them out! We missed out on our traditional last night walk around the campground but we all had a great time with our new friends so it was better!

Day 6

We were up early after a great night's sleep with very little rain throughout the night. It was pretty hot and humid so I think we all slept on top of our bags. I made a big batch of pancakes for breakfast with yogurt and strawberries. I will never hear the end of the Vanana-yogurt-wishes as they settle for plain old Trader Joe's vanilla.

Once we were cleaned up the kids put on their water shoes and we headed to the creek next to the campground to climb around. As all the adults talked with some full-time traveling dudes, the kids scrambled around the slippery rocks exploring the creek.

The ever-cautious Brayden sat with the adults for awhile until I handed him the camera to capture the events on the creek. All the kids ran up at one point claiming they had found their pet for the trip. Once we compromised to have him only for our timem at hte creek, Laney ran to grab a little bowl from our site for his temporary home.  They carried this guy all around the creek for the next hour for his field trip.

I visited the kids at the creek after a little while to take a few more pictures. Just seconds after this picture was taken Brayden slipped on some rocks and by the way he was looking at his hand when he got up I knew we'd be taking a trip to see a doctor. Luckily we all believe it is just a pinky sprain so I taped it to his ring finger and even though it felt weird he did say it felt a little better.

I fed the kids a quick snack lunch and Ryan and Brayden piled in Otis's car to go fishing. Laney, Emily, and I opted for a 3-mile hike down to the lake. Laney can walk for days and once I told her we'd be crossing the creek and going under the road a couple times she was excited.

Emily and I chatted a lot along the way and we made the hills easier by teaching Emily how to play Contact. We even got to wish a girl happy birthday as we walked by their neat celebration in the woods.

We found the fishing people by the lake having a snack. We were greeted with, "Guess what we caught?!" follwed quickly by, "NOTHING!"

The kids walked us down to a little spot with rocks and a waterfall. The kids enjoyed exploring and climbing all around the area. At one point I spotted a snake that had caught a fish so we followed it to see what kind it was and watch it eat. He was a teenager but with the fish in his mouth we couldn't really see the shape of his head to tell what kind he was.

Emily and I decided to hike the 3 miles back to our site while Otis piled the all the kids in his car. Within 10 steps of entering the woods, the downpour started. It was 3pm in the South so we should have known better. The rocks were more slippery, the roots were more slippery and we became way more slippery! We made it back in record time though feeling squeaky clean like we'd just had a shower.

We waited a little while for the rain to stop but it wasn't letting up so we all decided to head to a nearby town for dinner. I set our GPS to a random Italian spot and we were on our way. The drive was nice through a little tiny town. Once we pulled into the parking lot I noticed the restaurant was in a strip mall so I wasn't thinking it would be the best place to eat. We decided to go inside anyway and instantly felt underdressed and out of place. If we hadn't already felt that way the hostess asking, "How can I help you?" instead of "How many for dinner?" should have given it away. We opted for a Chinese place a few doors down and felt much better!

We were all starving and the food was delicious so all our moods changed dramatically. We took the opportunity to do a load of laundry to dry out all of our wet clothes and shoes as well. And of course on our way in Brayden spotted an ice cream spot so we stopped there before heading back to our site. The kids were thankful we'd finally found an ice cream spot and kept reminding me it was crazy it had taken so long!

As we headed back through the mountains, we were treated to a beautiful sunset displayed along the range. Being down in the woods we don't get to see the colors like this as a backdrop to the mountains. I'm hoping at least one of our next sites is near the top!

Once we reached our site we got ready for bed and read another chapter of the book. We were ready for a good night's sleep as the temperature was somewhat cooler this night with the rain. We did decide however that Chinese food wasn't good for Ryan's stomach as there were all kinds of noises coming from that side of the tent!