Bonzai: Thoughts and Expressions

Family Vacation - Day 7

Ah! Our first morning in the woods! Beautiful! I’m feeling smug as I watch the other campers heading for the bath house, knowing that I have a nice warm shower waiting for me in our bathroom – something I’m looking forward to in order to take the chill of the night away. I jump in the shower, vaguely noticing the miniature shower head with the check valve on it, and proceed to lather up and wash my hair – taking my time and enjoying the hot water. About 2-1/2 minutes later, I feel the water start to go cold. Hm. I reach down and turn the cold water knob to off and realize that I’m basically out of hot water! Grr… I wind up finishing my shower with cold water and step out into the dry cold air conditioned air of the cabin with goose bumps a plenty. I later realized that there is a 2 gallon hot water tank and that you are supposed to lather up with the nozzle off and then turn it back on when you need to rinse. Good information to have.

Maria made us a great breakfast of pancakes and syrup and while she is taking a shower, Duncan and I take a hike around the campground to check things out. We find 2 playgrounds, a stock pond for fishing, numerous hiking trails, and not too many people. After just a few minutes, we meet Maria back at the cabin and we’re off exploring the town of Spruce Pine. After while, we decide to head over to Grandfather Mountain and point the Aztek in that direction, guided of course by the iQue. Since we couldn’t tell the dumb thing that the road was closed, we waited until we were well into the detour before we told it where we were going. Problem solved. It got us there and back no problems.

On the way there, we got hungry and decided to stop at a little place called simply, The Italian Restaurant. We all got calzones and, let me tell you, these things were the best I have every had! If you are ever headed to Linville to see Grandfather Mountain, stop by this place for a calzone – you won’t regret it! After finishing lunch we quickly arrive at our destination.

Grandfather Mountain is a cool place. It’s a bit expensive, but you only pay one fee at the gate and that’s it. We first went to the museum where Duncan and I posed with the bronze casting of Mildred the Bear and watched a goofy movie about Grandfather Mountain in the auditorium. We then stepped out back and saw some of the critters that they have penned up there on the mountain. The first ones we came across were a pair of Bald Eagles, rescued from being shot somewhere out west. They were in the wide open because they couldn’t fly. I couldn’t help but thinking they were in a prison with no walls, but whatever. Then we saw some deer. These things were the biggest White Tails I have ever seen. I don’t know what they were feeding these things but they were big. Next was the Bears. We saw a total of about 5 Black Bears that we were told are native to the area. When Duncan asked us what that meant, and we helpfully told him that it meant they lived in the mountains, he immediately wanted to go back to the car. Oops.

Next stop was the Mile High Swinging Bridge. They call it this because it is a suspension bridge that is at an altitude of over 6600 feet above sea level. We all went across and marveled at the scenery all around. The pass that the bride was straddling was so high, you could stand in the middle of the bridge, watch the clouds coming at you and then the cloud just envelops you as it passes by, leaving you with a damp feeling that you were just coated with moisture. Interesting. Lots of pics and then we headed back down, where we stopped several times in the scenic outlooks and took more pics. All in all, a very cool place and recommended.
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posted by Bonzai @ 10:17 PM