Grandfather Mountain and the Mile High Bridge

Going to Grandfather Mountain was probably one of my favorite things. I had been wanting to go the entire trip! When it rained on our last day on Monday I was really bummed out thinking we wouldn't be able to go. However, Dad and Kim made an executive decision to go Tuesday morning and then head out from there! I was estatic! It was well worth it! Absolutely beautiful!

Our First stop was the Mile High Bridge!

After the Mile High Bridge, we explored the rest of the mountain. We went on a hike...Really beautiful, got lots of great pictures (my favorite! in case you didn't know..) and we went to a museum and an animal habitat as well.

This deer was not part of the habitat. He was a baby in the wild and it was really cool to see him and his brothers and sisters!

Quartz

Black bear! I think he's really beautiful. He fur even looks just like a teddy bear to cuddle. Though he's not so cuddly. Just cute.

Giant amethyst in the museum!

Linville Caverns and Linville Falls

Linville Carverns is another great place to visit if you are in the area! We had a really good time and the cave was amazing!

Look!! Tiny bats!

After the caves, we went for a hike outside. Where of course, I had to set everyone up for pictures. They love when I do that! Anyway we hiked out to Linville Falls. They were gorgeous! It was a short hike!



Here's my Dad!

Dad and the girls!

Dad and Kim

Me (I know you all are loving all my pictures!)

The Family

Me and the sisters

Look! Another picture of ME!

Dad and the seesters

Me, me, meeeeeeeeeeeeee!

Morning Hike

Kim and I decided to get up early one morning and go for a little hike! It was a great time and Kim was great about being my photographer! (I seriously love pictures.)

More ducks!! I loved the ducks!!

Look how cute they are splashing and playing!

Geese!

Canadian Geese

Adventures at Hawk's Nest

Hawk's Nest is a recreation area where you are can snow tubing and zip lining! We were lucky enough to do both and it was awesome!!

Snowtubing was so much fun. We opted to go in the evening and it was perfect! The hills did get really slick though and REALLY packed down. Which made for a VERY FAST ride. In fact, one time going down I hit a huge bump, which resulted in my flying in the air (off the tube, though I still had hold of those handles) and slamming back down on my butt bone. I though for sure I had broken it. Thankfully it was just cut and bruised...but it made the rest of the week pretty uncomfortable to sit!!

The next morning, we did the zip line!! Here we are waiting to get our gear on!

Strapped in and ready to go!! The girls in this family are all adventurous!

Flying through the air!!

Hawk's Nest was a blast and I am so glad to have had the experience! I had done zip lines before but tiny ones! I would definitely love to do more of these long ones! We were only able to do four lines! But they also have a 10 line tour! Our tour guides were awesome and we just had a really good time!

Banner Elk, NC

A few days after our New Year's Eve party we left for the mountains of North Carolina. If you haven't been, I urge to plan a vacation there. Of course for me, I LOVED when we went in the fall to see the leaves change colors. It is beautiful. But honestly, any time you go during the year, it is breathtakingly gorgeous and there are always fun things to do. This time we went to Banner Elk, NC. It is a GREAT area. Lots to do.

The fun thing about coming here, is it was the first time I saw my sister in 2 and half years. And I finally got to meet that husband of hers! We had a lot of fun. Of course, we had to have Christmas together.

Rachael and James brought crackers from Ireland with them. In Ireland it's a tradition for each person to pull an end. Whoever gets the bigger half wins the prizes inside. They include the red crowns, a little joke and a fun fact, and a little prize (we got all kinds of crazy stuff...a tool kit, nail clippers, a noisemaker, a watch, etc) I LOVED them and I think it is such a fun tradition! I have asked Rachael to send me a box next Christmas!

Me, all the sisters, and the brother in law!

We spent the rest of the day exploring Banner Elk. We found a little bit of snow to play in!

The little park we went to was beautiful. A beautiful lake, a nice path to walk down and even some waterfalls! It was a fun day!

I took a million pictures of the ducks. I just thought they were so pretty!!

More beautiful pictures of our trip to come...