Archive | PROJECTS AND ACTIVITIES

We are back from our Fall Family Trip to North Carolina – we had a fantastic time. One of the main activities that we planned for our trip was hiking. We made sure to do at least a couple of hikes every day. Some of the hikes were leisurely strolls through the mountains, others were more intense – like the bouldering we did at Hebron Rock Colony in Boone. Bouldering is Eben’s favorite type of rock climbing and I have to admit it is very high on my list.

Hebron Rock Colony is the perfect place to take active children since it is great for crawling, jumping and climbing. Hebron Rock Colony offers a long slope of giant boulders embedded in the river – this creates numerous small waterfalls and swimming holes. [It was definitely too cold to swim on this trip.] Hebron Rock Colony is well off the beaten path, it isn’t a hike that tourists know about – so you most likely will not see that many people there. When we went we were the only people there the entire day – it was great!

We didn’t realize this hike was going to be as intense as it was, it was a little tough to maneuver with Noodles [our Pug] and my camera. Note: Noodles loves to hike, however she did NOT appreciate this hike – she had a look of horror [above] on her face the entire time and we had to carry her for most of it.

If you are an active family with children old enough to climb on their own, this would be the perfect bouldering hike for you. It is a little dangerous, so I wouldn’t recommend very young children, elderly folks or anyone who doesn’t have at least a small amount of hiking experience. Also, make sure to wear excellent hiking boots with great traction – you will need it.

How to get there:

Take Highway 105 from Boone and turn left at Hound Ears Club on Shull’s Mill Road. You will see a fantastic old church on the left, take a right on Old Turnpike Road. Take the gravel road for about 7 minutes, if you are not looking for the trail head you will miss it. Park along the road where it curves sharply to the right. Follow the trail into the woods to the right, it is about a 10 minute walk to the river. 20 feet before the river, you will see a small path cutting up the hill through thick underbrush, it’s a difficult trail along the side of the mountain, in about 10 minutes, you will come out at the boulder field in the river. 

Do you remember our trip to North Carolina last autumn to see the leaves change color? The mister surprised me – for our 12 year anniversary, we are taking another trip this October. We are so excited, especially Eben (yes, we are taking him on our anniversary trip – he is the most important part of our love!) He can’t wait to pick giant pumpkins in the pumpkin patch, stroll through the corn mazes, admire woolly worms, take amazing hikes and munch on caramel apples at the farmer’s market. Can you blame him?

I grew up in a log home in the mountains of Utah, so taking an autumn trip and staying in a log home is very important to me. I want to share those memories with Eben – and North Carolina is so close to us, it is so easy to jump in the car and drive to autumn – since it doesn’t come to us in Florida. Ha.  And I GUARANTEE that Mr. Sweet Greens will be talking of building one of these the whole way there!

Do you have a special trip that you take every autumn?
I would love to hear about them.

photo credit

For our Autumn Family Trip this year, we traveled to North Carolina. We were immediately taken back by the colors in North Carolina. We had no idea that they would be so bright and jewel toned – it was really amazing. I couldn’t get enough of watching the leaves falling from the trees.

Have you spent an autumn day outside, enjoying the colors?  

Do you want to see more pictures of the leaves changing colors? Click here.

Have you ever been through a corn maze? We went on Sunday morning – while we were in North

Carolina soaking up Autumn. It was our very first time and we wandered around and around for almost an hour – before we found the exit. Hooray! It was such a great time – a perfect way to greet Fall.

Hello Everyone! After my weekend at Cascadian Farm in Skagit Valley, Washington, I couldn’t stop thinking or talking about Autumn. I love to see the trees – heavy with their colorful leaves and pumpkins in the pumpkin patch. Fall is one of the things that I miss the most about living in the West.

Isn’t the River’s Rest log cabin quaint? It was built using 150 year old logs and is nestled in the woods within walking distance of the river. Mr. Sweet Greens has an entire weekend of Fall family fun planned. He’s a keeper!

I will be sharing all of the fun with you when we return home next Monday!