So after we got back from Curacao - we had a couple more long weekends off due to the school schedule, and decided to head up to the mountains of North and South Carolina.
The first cabin we rented was sort of a really nice vacation rental up near the Black Mountains outside of Burnsville, NC. My wife’s parents and Kai’s cousin came along. We arrived late in the afternoon and the road into the cabin was starting to ice up. I almost had a bit of a disaster - while doing a bit of recon on the road to make sure that Marisa’s parents car (a Ford Explorer) could make it down the icy hill, my car started sliding down the hill while I was not inside of it. I was talking to them at their car…so I hopped back in my car…and headed down the hill successfully. Tip for morons - don’t park your car just over the crest of an icy hill. The hill doesn’t look that bad…and my Subaru handled it fine, but the Ford I couldn’t get out until the next afternoon after it melted out a bit…and just barely got it back up the hill.
We took a walk around the “Riverwalk” community the next morning - a beautiful place along the Cane River…
Kai and Joseph enjoyed riding the zip line along the river…
Up the hill alongside the horse pastures and barn…the snow and cold were definitely a change from Curacao the week before…
The local map showed a featured called “Anderson’s Anguish” - a steep trail heading up to the north end of the property…so we headed up that for a beautiful walk through the woods…
Kai following racoon tracks…
We enjoyed the hot tub on the deck in the freezing temps…
I wanted to go fishing on the Cane River…but didn’t see much sign of trout despite the water clarity…
My wife and I renewed our wedding vows (LOL) at the abandoned riverside wedding amphitheater…
My wife and her Mom along the Broad River near Chimney Rock…
A couple weeks later we headed for another cabin - this one a more rustic, state park owned cabin at Oconee State Park out past Clemson in the hills of western South Carolina. The cabins have quite the history to them, built in the 1930s by the Civil Conservation Corps…
The boys and I by the lake…that night they’d learn the story of “Lucy In the Lake” featuring a church that had been flooded at the bottom of the lake, trapping poor Lucy within. Her ghost frequently walks the shores of the lake at night, searching for the foreman who built the dam…
Kai - watching people fishing, concerned that someone might gut one (he saw someone cutting the head off a fish earlier in the day and he couldn’t understand the concept that you had to kill fish to eat them…)
On the Wormy Chestnut Trail…
Each winter, the lake is stocked with several thousand trout - and the fishing was very, very good…
Enjoying the fire in the evening…temps were getting down into the 20s each night…
A nice change of pace - no Kindles, no iPads, no television…just puzzles, stories, and games…
The next morning…we awoke to discover Lucy of the Lake must have visited us - icy footprints on the deck…! (The boys were definitely convinced…)
Channeling my inner DiCaprio…
I did end keeping the limit of larger trout…they are cleaned and awaiting a fish night in the freezer…
One of the park rangers came through one morning warning all the cabin rentals that icy weather was on the way and and that the roads could get pretty awful up in the mountains. He asked the boys if they saw Lucy…LOL…
The second day we took a long-ish (for the boys anyway) five or six mile hike on the Hidden Falls trail…
That night, we told the story of Blind Man Bob - the park ranger who became lost in the snow and died after some mean boys took his walking stick one cold winter day. We could hear the barking of “Fluffy”, the constant companion of the ghost ranger while we were on the trail…and we even found the cane that the boys had discarded.
The local indians (the Native American type) were kind if we were respectful as we walked through the woods and would leave candies on the trail for the boys and sometimes artifacts and gifts. Boys sometimes need incentive to keep walking…LOL…
The reward after the drive home - Mexican food and some fried ice cream!
Enjoyed our weekends in the mountains…now…what to do for Spring Break…??
BeachAV8R
