Off on an adventure!

Tuesday morning dawned early, or actually, pre-dawned early.  Mom was heading to Japan and we were heading to Blowing Rock.  Mom's flight departed at 6:10, so we had to leave at 4:30 to get her there on time.  We decided that we would go ahead and drive to the mountains, to get an early start.  

Brant made it to Greensboro to say goodbye to Grandma, then conked out.

 After a yummy breakfast, we headed on to Linville Caverns.  It's always fun exploring what's in our own state, and we weren't disappointed.  The history of the Caverns is very interesting, there's the Signature Pool, where an explorer for Thomas Edison was sent to look for phosphorus, for the incandescent light bulb.  Revolutionary and Civil War soldiers took refuge in there, as well as deserters.  There was a large area, called the fireplace, where they would make fires, not knowing the smoke was seeping through fissures to the top.

Cheesing in the cavern

After the caverns, we hopped on the Blue Ridge Parkway and headed to Linville Falls to do a little hiking.

On the bridge across the river

 We hiked up to the three outlooks.  The first was the top of the falls.

This is where the river cut through the rocks to the falls

A quick picture, thanks to another mom.

The upper part of the falls

This photo was about 5 seconds before I walked over to see what the boys were looking at.  The wall was about knee-high and the drop below it was way down.  It makes my hands sweat to remember.
There are no photos of the next two overlooks.  That would be because I did not go look.  Period.

Snack time in the back of the truck

 After the falls, we continued down the Parkway, across the Linn Cove Viaduct, pictured below, and to Boone and Blowing Rock.

A quick stop at Mast General Store proved to be relaxing.  Nothing like a cold drink, in a glass bottle, sitting on the swing. 

In case you can't read the label, that's my southern hubby, drinking a Cheerwine, sitting in the swing.

 Heading back into Blowing Rock, we checked into the neatest Inn, called the Homestead Inn.  It was within walking distance of the downtown, with all the shops and restaurants, not to mention, a great park.

Brant, pretending to fly down the slide

Getting climbing lessons from Daddy

Of course, no trip to Blowing Rock is complete without Kilwin's ice cream.

We turned in early, as we were tired, and the next morning we had an early ride on Thomas!