The Mini-Vacation

This weekend, we went to the mountains of North Carolina. Specifically, we went to Linville Falls, Boone, Valle Crucis, and Blowing Rock. Originally, we were going to camp, but the weather forecast caused us to change to renting a cabin instead. (The cabin had satellite TV, so we got to watch the Panthers game on Saturday night as a bonus!) Not exactly roughing it - it was more of a fine-grained buffing, I suppose.

Anyhoo, on with the boring vacation pics:

First, Linville Caverns:


An amusing moment at the caverns - the tour guide told us it was considered good luck to get dripped on in the caverns, and water was indeed dripping on most of us from time to time. I snuck up behind Bernie and tapped the top of her head with my finger, and she turns to me and goes "Just got dripped on, hon!", so naturally I did it again a few seconds later. She turns and goes "Just did it again!". Finally, I fessed up, and it was a source of much teasing for the rest of the weekend.

Then lunch and a little free bluegrass music:


Then a little gem mine panning:


Gem panning used to be much better when I was a kid. Back then, you paid and got a bucket of mud that you knew had come out of the mine and no one had tampered with. Now you get a bucket of rocks, which you can be sure has been combed through and had pretty stones of no value added. Sure enough, the garnets and sapphires that we used to find when I was little are no longer present in the modern buckets.

And a quick nature photo on a damp day:


Then time for a Blenheim (the world's best Ginger Ale) at the Mast General Store:


The next day, we went to Grandfather Mountain, saw the bears and other captive wildlife, and walked across the mile-high swinging bridge:



It's a pretty nice trip, and only 2 hours from Charlotte, so we got home on Sunday in time for supper!