Rest, Relax, Rain & Railroads!

Let me be honest...we are beach people. Since Andy & I have been married we have vacationed 5 times to the beach for every 1 mountian trip! After Michael & Sarah's wedding we got the itch for a mountian getaway! So during our September track out we loaded up the car and were mountian bound for a whole week.


Friday afternoon we were going to go to Tweetsie but it was closed because of the rain. So our friends and travel buddies for the week the Orthner's met us at Traveler's Rest our home for the week and we cooked stirfry.

Saturday morning we headed to Tweetsie for a day of rain & railroads! Our little country girl was happy as could be once she got her pick cowgirl hat! There were no crowds so it was a perfect time to ride the rides. It was a fun full day! We had dinner at Six Pence in downtown Blowing Rock.


Sunday : Karen & Jason's Anniversary. After a big brunch we watched all the kids so they could have a few hours to themselves. Andy took all the kids for a hike in the rain while I stayed at home with their 13 month old.


Monday: time to get out of the house! We were told we had to visit the Mast General Store... there are several so we tried to hit them all! In May we visited the Asheville store and Friday we went to the downtown Candy Barrel in Blowing Rock. The Moore family hit the road to shop at the outlets first then stopped for lunch at Sledgehammer BBQ. It was delicious! Now time to head to ValeCruis to the original Mast General. Still raining outside! The store was neat and even has a working post office inside! We finally bought some raincoats at the General Store in Boone for me & the kids. After finding a coat for Andy we met up with the Orthners for dinner.


Tuesday: Blue skies ahead! Andy got on the phone and booked a trail ride for our family at VC Farms. This was one of the best parts of our trip! Alli was in her element & Caden was so brave he rode all by himself. Our guide said he didn't think an 8 year old could make it up alone but he did!

Wednesday: Linville here we come! We packed a lunch and hit the trail. We opted for the difficult trail to the bottom of the falls. The trail was certainly difficult but the views made it well worth it! We splashed in the water, had lunch, & climbed the rocks before our hike back up the hill. We finished just in time to make it to the Caverns and take the tour before closing time.


Thursday: Grandfather Mountain here we come! The skies remained clear and we took in the views from the swinging bridge, fed the bears and even saw some otters! After lunch the Orthner's we for another hike and we made our way to the Gem Mines! It was hard to believe it was time to pack our bags.

Friday : Homeward Bound... as much as we loved our trip it was time to get home!