2020 Labor Day Mountain Getaway

 This summer we've stayed away from the beach. I think the crowds are too big for me. And I don't really want to stay in a hotel. So, for Labor Day Weekend, I got us another Air BnB in a different part of the NC mountains and we took off for a couple of nights. We left on Friday, since the girls don't have live classes that day. We stayed in a little cabin in a town called Crumpler. I'd never heard of it. It's close to Jefferson, NC. The cabin itself wasn't our favorite. It was old. And all the furnishings were outdated. And the shower was weird. And the beds were small. But even though we didn't love the place itself, we had a great time exploring this part of NC.

First up, some hiking at Mt. Jefferson.

It was perfect weather and the views were spectacular.

We did a little hike, just over a mile.

We got to use my cool new fanny pack

that Shelley got me as a belated birthday present.

It was a perfect little afternoon hike.

I had planned to eat at a restaurant that night,

but the weather was so pretty and the timing was 

just right that we decided to get fast food takeout

and eat at the picnic tables on the mountain.

Perfect.

Then we drove up to the top of the mountain and enjoyed the vistas up there.

Andrew couldn't handle the ledges there,

so he waited for us out in the car.

The mountain was NOT crowded.

We only crossed paths with a few people.

Such a fun way to spend an evening.

On Saturday morning, we were off to a tubing adventure on the New River.

From a COVID safety standpoint, we had a MUCH 

better experience than we had on the Dan River.

They just take one family at a time up to the drop-off point.

And the driver even wore a mask.

It was fantastic.

It was also great to not start tubing at the same time as 30 other people.

I was afraid it was going to be chilly,

but it actually felt great.

We took about a two hour float down the river.

It was very peaceful, just a couple of little rapids along the way.

The scenery was gorgeous.

This is the cabin of some NC executive that we floated past.

It was a fantastic, relaxing way to spend our afternoon.

When we were done tubing and showering, 

we headed back into Jefferson to do some geocaching.

We looked for three and found two of them.

Found an antler while we were looking for one.

So picturesque!

This one was pretty easy to spot.

Too bad the lid was broken and the log was soaked...

Woo hoo!

Jumping pic!

Caroline thought this grassy hill looked too fun.

She had to roll down it.

Our other stop that night was at the Chapel of the Frescoes.

It was another beautiful little chapel that's open 24/7.

It has gorgeous fresco paintings on the walls and a

couple of awesome stained glass windows as well.

Andrew got to ring the church bell when we went in.

They have a recorded narration telling you all about

the history of the paintings and the artist.

It was too long, but was informative.

After enjoying some quiet time in the chapel,

we went out to dinner. The restaurant I had looked up

had an hour long wait. We weren't up for that.

We walked around the corner to a different burger place

with NO wait. It was our FIRST time eating IN A RESTAURANT

since March! Weird! It went fine and we enjoyed it.

On Sunday morning, we checked out of our funky little cabin

and took the scenic route home.

We passed several Christmas tree farms along the way.

Got to stop on the Blue Ridge Parkway.

We came across a quote that described these

"ocean of mountains." It's such a perfect description.

Care Bear built this cute little cairn.

We went on a leisurely one mile

stroll along the parkway at Jumpinoff Rock.

It was perfect.

Happy to send off summer with such a great weekend.