Up and Up and UP

Last weekend, I had to go to Boone to pick up my wedding dress. I got a call while I was in Chicago that it was ready, and I could not wait to get home! The dress is now safely at the alterations lady, and will fit me by Monday. One more thing put together and in place and turning out right! And no, you can't see it until after the wedding.

Since Organic Kid had Friday off school, I took a day off, too, and Organic Guy, Organic Kid and I headed to the mountains. Organic Guy graduated from Appalachian State University, so he knows the Boone area well. I asked him to take us to a few good hiking spots. So, here's one of the places we were:

This is Organic Guy and Organic Kid about half way up the waterfall that we climbed up. Yes. You read that right. We climbed UP a waterfall. See all those rocks? We went from one to another to another, up and up. It was pretty amazing. Organic Kid climbed like a champ. She pretty fearless about this sort of thing, and really enjoyed herself. Here's another part of the waterfall:

This is Organic Kid and me a bit further up. We had to hike to the across the rock we're on here to the edge of the creek. From that distance the white stick behind us looked oddly like an albino snake. During the hike we saw all sorts of folks. 2 girls, probably from ASU, sunning on rocks before finals week starts. A young couple, she was wearing flip-flops and a black dress, carrying a small white dog. A family with two boys (leaping across rocks with wild abandon) and two girls (picking their way gingerly so as not to get their Crocks wet). Some folks were taking the easy path along side the creek, and some, like us, were going straight up the boulders. The ASU girls had found a rock that jutted out over the falls and created an amazing vantage point to see down the creek:

The rock right next to the falls behind Organic Kid (pretty much over her head) is where they were. We clambered over there on the way back down.

After this, we went over to the Blue Ridge Parkway (I personally believe EVERY PERSON in the US should visit this parkway at least once in their life...it's so amazingly beautiful!). We hiked an overlook that was about 1.5 miles one way, primarily vertical again. From the top, you could look down and see a hawk circling above the valley. I'd never seen a hawk from that angle. I've seen them from below, but it's pretty breathtaking to see one flying from above.

I don't think there's words for how much I love that part of North Carolina. Organic Guyand I talk pretty regularly about trying to find 3 or 4 acres up near Boone/Vilas/West Jeff area to build a house on, and move there some time. I think it's really where we both want to end up. Maybe, if we're lucky, Organic Kid will want to go to ASU. Then we'll have a good excuse to come up to visit, maybe every weekend. Of course, that's just a year or two (or 8) off...but one can still hope!