Sure Is Purty

 

It's called the High Country around these parts and for good reason.

Elevation fluctuates between 3,000 and 4,500 feet which made my already out-of-shape ass feel even more out of shape, especially traversing the plot of land that went from the cabin to the river.

I have only been to the mountains a handful of time since I moved to North Carolina because early on I had a few bad experiences; sometimes I swear it's like the bends or something - if you go up/come down too fast it leaves you feeling off-kilter.

Dunno, maybe it's just me but I do know that altitude can affect the senses.

They don't call them the Blue Ridge Mountains for nothing!

Churches

 

There are a lot of baptist churches in western North Carolina.

Here's St. Matthews.

Small towns, small churches.

Gem Mining

 

On our second day in the mountains, we woke up to cold rain.

So what do two families do when it rains in the mountains?

Why you take the kids gem mining.

This gem mine was called the Foggy Mountain Gem Mine.

Cue up the bluegrass bitches!

The New River

 

The New River as seen from our cabin in the sleepy, mountain town of Todd, NC.

I just realized that when we stay at the beach, we usually stay at North Topsail Island which is located below the New River Inlet.

Weird.

The fucker didn't give up any trout for us (but plenty of crawfish), yet it was still fun to whittle away the day fishing.

It's A Party!

 

Last weekend - amidst planning for the family's spring vacation to the mountains - we hosted a birthday party.

My oldest turned eight.

Nothing like waking up to find the day in question cold and rainy - which meant 14 boys hopped up on ice cream sundaes in my house.

The wife did an awesome job corraling the kids who ranged in age from 4 to 14 by moderating an marbles tournament and a rock, paper, scissors challenge.

Plus, the rain cleared up just enough towards the end so we got to salvage the scavenger hunt.

Of course, present time was a blur of arms and paper (as see above).