Good morning from Grandfather Mountain!
I was wide awake at 6 a.m. (I think because I usually teach at 6 on Tuesday mornings) so I decided to get up so that I could watch the sunrise.
We got here on Sunday night and brought both girls along. One of our clients/friends has a beautiful condo that’s she’s letting us use for the week. It’s right on the lake with stunning views of Grandfather Mountain. To say we feel grateful to be here is an understatement.
While I’ve taken a couple trips this summer to visit my family and to go to the beach with my friend Dorie, Tanner hasn’t had time off since our retreat back in February. He literally hasn’t left the city of Charlotte and has been working seven days a week. Owning a small business is no joke and I am so proud of him for everything that he does. But this break is needed!
I made a Trader Joe’s run before we left and stocked us up with groceries for the week and then yesterday we popped into a local grocery to pick up a few other “fun” things including ginger beer for Moscow Mules, Highland Oktoberfest, sandwich stuff to pack for hikes (and some pickles!), FROG jam (Fig-Raspberry-Orange-Ginger), cardamom chia cashew butter (<– impulse buy) and a few other things.
Monday’s adventures included an outdoor lunch at a cute little place called Kaye’s Kitchen in Newland, NC. The girls got lots of pats and attention.
And we got a free slice of cake from the staff because of a kitchen snafu. This was homemade Italian cream cake and perfect for pre-hike carb loading. 😉
After lunch we took off for Linville Falls where we hiked to an upper and lower view of the falls. This is one of the most popular waterfalls in North Carolina but luckily the trails weren’t very crowded since we were there on a Monday and I think family vacation travel is winding down with kids heading back to school.
We let the girls wade in the water at the bottom view and they appreciated the chance to cool off. Keep reading because a couple hours later Zoey got to swim for the first time!
This was a special hike for me because it was Sullie’s first big outing since her surgery and she did so well. We ended up letting both girls off-leash because there was a lot of rough terrain and rock climbing on the trail we took and Sullie tackled it like a champ! We kept our hike a little under 3 miles because we didn’t want to push her too far but she still had some energy to spare for swimming when we got back.
The girls were pretty muddy and dirty from our hike so Tanner got in the lake with them when we got home. It was Zoey’s first time swimming and she picked it up quickly. Throwing a ball in the water helped and before we knew it she was diving off the rock and into the water.
I made a video! (Of course I made a video… #crazydogmom) 🙂
They swam for a good 30 minutes or so.
Sullie was a little fish and stayed in the water the whole time.
I caught her mid-shake getting out.
And then she always rolls around for a while. So funny to watch.
It made my heart so happy to see Sullie having so much fun and being playful.
We’re off for more adventures today! I’ll be back to share them later.
Mountains or beach?
What’s your favorite thing to do in the mountains?
