Somehow I wrote a long lengthy blog about North Carolina but when I published it I somehow LOST it. How very SAD….so now I have to start all over again!! Sigh!! So here goes….I just might get this blog thing figured out one of these days. I tried to post a picture on this too but I need my daughter’s help. She is the one that has encouraged me to write and has her own blog, she is the greatest!!
Anyway………………what can I say about my little corner of the world?? We moved from our daughter’s corner up there to where our son lives. It has been an incredible spring…..we had daffodils, then lillies and at the same time a Japanese Pink Tree and a Red Dogwood tree blooming, it was SO beautiful. Everytime I went outside or drove into our driveway I was reminded of God’s creation and how much HE must love various colors. The colors of the trees have also been amazing and things are still blooming all over NC.

We are 45 minutes from the Blue Ridge Parkway and as I tell our 6 year old, “the mountains are calling, can you hear them???” We listen for awhile and then I always say…”I hear them…they are saying come, come, come!!” So off we go with a picnic in hand that always has “oreos” in it. For some reason, if we go out in the canoe, beach, mountains or a picnic we NEED “Oreos.”
Where was I, oh, the Blue Ridge Parkway…..the Parkway goes through various States and NC has a long stretch of it. It is SO beautiful up there and so peaceful. We like to take our picnic and chairs and then find a perfect spot to put our chairs to see ridge after ridge after ridge of mountains that are changing as we watch them. They remind us of our time in Papua New Guinea and also remind us of God’s faithfulness to us!! You can go on hiking trails, camp, go canoeing or just sit and relax in the various parks and turnouts on the road. It is SO beautiful. We always stop at “the apple man” on the way down or up. He has apples from his orchard, baskets, fresh jelly and all kinds of goodies. They are open year round and in the winter I wonder how they even can be there as it does get cold up there.
The drive up there is also awesome and right before you get to the parkway you will find the little town of “Blowing Rock”. My daughter in law LOVES that little town and could probably tell you all about the ice cream store, cozy places to stay and the best little shops but when we are driving through there my hubby says, do you want to stop? My response is usually NO…I want to go to the Parkway!! For some reason the fantastic views up there are what bring me JOY!!!

Today was our grandson’s 5th birthday and he wanted to go up to the mountains and to Grandfather Mountain…..so we went with them with our “oreos of course….maybe I should do a commercial on Oreo cookies…) Anyway we drove up to the Blue Ridge Parkway, followed it for miles and then turned off to Grandfather Mountain. It is one of the highest points in the Parkway and has a mile high swinging bridge. You do have to pay to get in up there but it is worth it as the sights are incredible. They have hiking trails all over too. I stayed at the bottom……well………not really at the bottom as I was WAY up there but just didn’t climb the 51 steps up to the swinging bridge. We had a 3 week old number #10 grandson with us and I opted to STAY with him. Off went the birthday boy, the 6 year old that is missing teeth, the 20 month old who can stare you down, her mommy, our son and my dear hubby. Soon I could see them walking across this swinging bridge….it looked so SCARRY up there.
Then our son put that grandbaby on his shoulders and proceeded past the bridge to the highest point. He looked like a little dot up there…I then noticed that my hubby was out there too with the birthday boy. I started praying that God would keep them safe and thought that they were INSANE taking those grandbabies out so far….I could hear my daughter in law saying, What are you doing?? It isn’t safe out there, come back!! I just kept clicking pictures and was in awe just seeing the DOTS of our son, grandbabies and my hubby up there. GOD did take care of them and they looked so, so small in the grandeur of HIS creation that surrounded them. GOD created all of this for us to enjoy and we did enjoy a perfect day in our little corner of the world.
