(no subject)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lVvxhphMbAI
It's just adorable.
Anyway, so my last day of work at Rose's was July 26th. I was in Siler City all that week, miserable drive. However, I did find this little shop that sold teacher stuff. Got a butt-load of stuff for just $15. I was thrilled. I'm so glad to be free of that job. Retail work, let me tell you if you're good at it and like it, more power to ya. I admire all the managers and what-not I worked with. I'd never have their job, even if you paid me a salary of a million dollars. I tip my hat to you, who make that your career of choice. Don't ever expect me to, unless things change I don't want to.
Last weekend, nice little vacation/honeymoon. We're poor, so our dream of going to the beach was dashed against the cold hard rocks. So, rocks sounded wonderful and a-camping we did go.
Roan Mountain State Park. Not our original destination, but so beyond the expected beauties once we got there. But first, how we got there...
I used to drive up hwy 181 to Newland often for Rose's, running across many little campgrounds. So we figured, drive up the road and stop, looking at locations and prices. Let me tell you, there are some pathetic and expensive campgrounds on that road. The first we stopped at, horseshoe bend. Sounds cute, right? No water at the campsite or nearby. The most "isolated" spot was right behind (like, maybe 3 feet) a camper trailer they rent out. Little creek ran through the campsite. They wanted $20 a night. Uhm... no. So we got back on the road and went to the next one we saw - Daniel Boone Family Campground. Kinda expensive for two people, but for a family with kids it would be wonderful. We stayed there 'cause we heard the price and decided to take a walk around anyway... then ran into a family from our church. They were staying there that night, and others from our church were coming up to grill out burgers and such for dinner. How could we resist? The daughter of the family was in the pre-K class I've been helping out with, so I had a little friend the entire evening and part of the next morning. It was so cute. We did a little fishing, but I got bored quick. Matthew caught a little suntrout (I think that's what it was). Cute, but I couldn't get a picture of it. He let it go of course, it was a little bitty thing. When the other family started packing up, we did too 'cause we couldn't afford to pay $25 a night the rest of the nights we were planning on camping out. So we drove on up the highway and stopped at this little convenience store. Played the dulcimer, ate ice cream, and heard of this 'wonderful park' with cheap prices for tent camping. It wasn't too far away (just ten minutes over, you hit Tenn and it's right there), so we were like, 'ok, why not?'
Oh My Gosh. So beautiful. There are no words.
The only sad thing is that because it was rainy/misty the whole weekend a lot of my pictures turned out blurry. Still, we set up camp, $11 a night with water nearby and a bathroom w/hot showers should you decide that you want to be clean while camping. The trails were amazing, beautiful. A little rough for a girl in flipflops, but I always love a challenge. The forest was full of such a variety of greenery, I almost wish I had taken a botany class. There were pines, oaks, hickories, hemlock, and moss all over the place. Mountain Laurels as well. The rhododendrons are famous there, but they were no longer in bloom when were got there.
The river was wonderful, though quite cold, even in July. It's all spring-fed, mostly wading water. Only a few areas for deeper than 3 feet, and not big enough of an area to actually go swimming. You would have lost feeling in your body anyway, I wore my shoes (yes, tennis shoes) in the water 'cause the current was too strong for my flip flops and I can't stand to go barefoot anywhere but inside. Overly sensitive feet. But It was so wondersul, clear water until you stirred up a little of the dirt on the bottom, which you didn't tend to do because of the many beautiful rocks that lines the river bed.
They have these things called the 'balds' where supposedly no trees can grow (there's a Cherokee legend about them) that we went up on... we were literally in the clouds. Clouds came in and hid the view, engulfing us in this chilly mist. Yet again, I can not even begin to describe the beauty of that place. At first we couldn't see all that much because it was an over-cast day and we were at eye-level with the clouds... then suddenly, right as we got to the top (I definately thank God for this) they cleared for a bit. Stunning is an understatement. I have pictures, which I will place on Facebook when I get the chance. They don't quite do justice, but it's better than the pathetic language I am attempting. All I can say is Matthew had to almost drag me off that mountain. The clouds rolled over once again and we continued walking. There was dew all over the place, and it was around 4pm. The clouds left a mist on everything they touched, you would look out over the rolling (literally rolling) grass and see little diamonds scattered all over.
For more random stuff, I went blackberry picking! Goodness, I picked so many blackberries, where were more delicious than any that grow around here. Big, juicy, so flavorful... the perfect combination of sweet and tart. It was pretty much my lunch and dinner for one of the days. *gawks more* I found the bushes while my husband was entertaining himself by catching crawdads. I was utterly excited, I adore picking fresh fruits and eating/cooking with them.
Honestly, it was just one wonderful adventure after another up there on that mountain. Wet clothes from the river and the rain, soggy shoes, pickin' and singin' with this random bluegrass group they sing there every once in a while, we heard them and went over to listen closer. The guitar player just looked over after a bit to Matthew and said "You play guitar, don't you?" Of course he said yes 'cause he does, so the guitar was handed over to him, the one playing picked up a mandolin, and they continued doing songs. Crazy! I got them to do a few I knew so I could sing along and not feel left out, hehe...... learning about bats and getting to see one up close (so cute, I want one!), really pathetic ghost stories, meeting random people late at night and conversing about life with them...
The greatest thing was just the chance to get away from all the hustle and bustle of life and spend quality time with my husband, something we haven't had a chance to do since we got married, and enjoy the wonder of nature that God created. It always amazes me how unmatchable the beauty of nature is. No artist can truly capture all of it in music, word, or picture because it is all of that and more. All of your senses are required when you truly explore this world that God has created. And what boggles my mind even more is the fact that there is so much out there of equal, though different, beauty that I have never seen and may never get a chance to.
I guess that's enough from me. I've been back in the full swing of "real life" this past week, keeping insanely busy even though I don't have a job. Weird, huh? At least I have my memories from my vacation/honeymoon. I cherish memories.
It's just adorable.
Anyway, so my last day of work at Rose's was July 26th. I was in Siler City all that week, miserable drive. However, I did find this little shop that sold teacher stuff. Got a butt-load of stuff for just $15. I was thrilled. I'm so glad to be free of that job. Retail work, let me tell you if you're good at it and like it, more power to ya. I admire all the managers and what-not I worked with. I'd never have their job, even if you paid me a salary of a million dollars. I tip my hat to you, who make that your career of choice. Don't ever expect me to, unless things change I don't want to.
Last weekend, nice little vacation/honeymoon. We're poor, so our dream of going to the beach was dashed against the cold hard rocks. So, rocks sounded wonderful and a-camping we did go.
Roan Mountain State Park. Not our original destination, but so beyond the expected beauties once we got there. But first, how we got there...
I used to drive up hwy 181 to Newland often for Rose's, running across many little campgrounds. So we figured, drive up the road and stop, looking at locations and prices. Let me tell you, there are some pathetic and expensive campgrounds on that road. The first we stopped at, horseshoe bend. Sounds cute, right? No water at the campsite or nearby. The most "isolated" spot was right behind (like, maybe 3 feet) a camper trailer they rent out. Little creek ran through the campsite. They wanted $20 a night. Uhm... no. So we got back on the road and went to the next one we saw - Daniel Boone Family Campground. Kinda expensive for two people, but for a family with kids it would be wonderful. We stayed there 'cause we heard the price and decided to take a walk around anyway... then ran into a family from our church. They were staying there that night, and others from our church were coming up to grill out burgers and such for dinner. How could we resist? The daughter of the family was in the pre-K class I've been helping out with, so I had a little friend the entire evening and part of the next morning. It was so cute. We did a little fishing, but I got bored quick. Matthew caught a little suntrout (I think that's what it was). Cute, but I couldn't get a picture of it. He let it go of course, it was a little bitty thing. When the other family started packing up, we did too 'cause we couldn't afford to pay $25 a night the rest of the nights we were planning on camping out. So we drove on up the highway and stopped at this little convenience store. Played the dulcimer, ate ice cream, and heard of this 'wonderful park' with cheap prices for tent camping. It wasn't too far away (just ten minutes over, you hit Tenn and it's right there), so we were like, 'ok, why not?'
Oh My Gosh. So beautiful. There are no words.
The only sad thing is that because it was rainy/misty the whole weekend a lot of my pictures turned out blurry. Still, we set up camp, $11 a night with water nearby and a bathroom w/hot showers should you decide that you want to be clean while camping. The trails were amazing, beautiful. A little rough for a girl in flipflops, but I always love a challenge. The forest was full of such a variety of greenery, I almost wish I had taken a botany class. There were pines, oaks, hickories, hemlock, and moss all over the place. Mountain Laurels as well. The rhododendrons are famous there, but they were no longer in bloom when were got there.
The river was wonderful, though quite cold, even in July. It's all spring-fed, mostly wading water. Only a few areas for deeper than 3 feet, and not big enough of an area to actually go swimming. You would have lost feeling in your body anyway, I wore my shoes (yes, tennis shoes) in the water 'cause the current was too strong for my flip flops and I can't stand to go barefoot anywhere but inside. Overly sensitive feet. But It was so wondersul, clear water until you stirred up a little of the dirt on the bottom, which you didn't tend to do because of the many beautiful rocks that lines the river bed.
They have these things called the 'balds' where supposedly no trees can grow (there's a Cherokee legend about them) that we went up on... we were literally in the clouds. Clouds came in and hid the view, engulfing us in this chilly mist. Yet again, I can not even begin to describe the beauty of that place. At first we couldn't see all that much because it was an over-cast day and we were at eye-level with the clouds... then suddenly, right as we got to the top (I definately thank God for this) they cleared for a bit. Stunning is an understatement. I have pictures, which I will place on Facebook when I get the chance. They don't quite do justice, but it's better than the pathetic language I am attempting. All I can say is Matthew had to almost drag me off that mountain. The clouds rolled over once again and we continued walking. There was dew all over the place, and it was around 4pm. The clouds left a mist on everything they touched, you would look out over the rolling (literally rolling) grass and see little diamonds scattered all over.
For more random stuff, I went blackberry picking! Goodness, I picked so many blackberries, where were more delicious than any that grow around here. Big, juicy, so flavorful... the perfect combination of sweet and tart. It was pretty much my lunch and dinner for one of the days. *gawks more* I found the bushes while my husband was entertaining himself by catching crawdads. I was utterly excited, I adore picking fresh fruits and eating/cooking with them.
Honestly, it was just one wonderful adventure after another up there on that mountain. Wet clothes from the river and the rain, soggy shoes, pickin' and singin' with this random bluegrass group they sing there every once in a while, we heard them and went over to listen closer. The guitar player just looked over after a bit to Matthew and said "You play guitar, don't you?" Of course he said yes 'cause he does, so the guitar was handed over to him, the one playing picked up a mandolin, and they continued doing songs. Crazy! I got them to do a few I knew so I could sing along and not feel left out, hehe...... learning about bats and getting to see one up close (so cute, I want one!), really pathetic ghost stories, meeting random people late at night and conversing about life with them...
The greatest thing was just the chance to get away from all the hustle and bustle of life and spend quality time with my husband, something we haven't had a chance to do since we got married, and enjoy the wonder of nature that God created. It always amazes me how unmatchable the beauty of nature is. No artist can truly capture all of it in music, word, or picture because it is all of that and more. All of your senses are required when you truly explore this world that God has created. And what boggles my mind even more is the fact that there is so much out there of equal, though different, beauty that I have never seen and may never get a chance to.
I guess that's enough from me. I've been back in the full swing of "real life" this past week, keeping insanely busy even though I don't have a job. Weird, huh? At least I have my memories from my vacation/honeymoon. I cherish memories.