A day at the cabin

Early Monday morning I was woken up by a loud bang. I thought Caroline had fallen out of bed and asked if she was ok. The benefit of a open plan cabin. She was and thought it was me.  We crept downstairs but could see anything. (As if the invading hillbilly was just going to be standing in our living room!)

Of course there was zero cell service at the cabin so even if we wanted to call for help, well tough. 

We went back to bed to sleep (as if that was going to happen). About 20 mins later there was a loud thud on the back door and rattled the chair we had braced against it. (It may seem a little paranoid but it was the middle of nowhere. And apparently not that paranoid.)  Once again we crept downstairs, this time me clutching an empty cider bottle (it was the first thing I could find) and peaked out the window. No crazed hillbilly or zombie thankfully. But something had got into the bins. I though it was a deer so I opened the door. Then a very large dog jumped out. The door was shut again extremely quickly! 

And he brought friends, at least 2 others that we saw. They looked friendly and well looked after but had no collars. So we didn't take any chances. I like dogs (now) but I am not keen on the possibility of meeting potentially wild rabid dogs. (The TV advert we saw later about how your dog is like a wolf and just wants to eat meat did NOT help.)

Are you looking at me?

Sleeping on our porch.  Right outside the front door.

Once we figured out the noise, we want back to sleep and slept in late. The weather wasn't great so we didn't go out. (It had nothing to do with not being able to get to the cars.) The view from the cabin was nice but it was cold and snowed on and off all day.

Cabin porch

We just spent the day watching movies, eating, and doing facials and manicures. I finally got to try out the new nail varnish I got for christmas. :)

Pretty nails

The only problem was the dogs. We really wanted to spend some time in the hot tub (I don't get to do that often) but I had visions of ending up either trapped in the hot tub by dogs (I did consider if it would be possible to creep through the window - probably not!) or having a bath with a dog, friendly or otherwise. Not that we are cowards, but we decided to make some creative barricades with anything we could find as some extra protection (I insisted!) 

Barricade one.

And barricade two!

I even took a broom out as a last resort (though in reality it would more likely be seen as a challenge) and a bowl of raw veggies and crisps. To throw in the opposite direction and hope they were stupid enough to go after the raw veg than us. (I was desperate. I really wanted to go in the hot tub!)

Self-defense mop. (And extra cider!)

Of course no hot tub is complete without alcohol.  We got through all the wine the previous night, so were on the cider. 

Hot tub! (With "dog diverting food" bowl behind me.

We didn't stay long. I said I was cold but frankly felt like I had pushed my luck fair enough. We made tacos and watched more movies. Caroline was going to get up and back early but didn't want to go out there alone (2 against 3 is better than 1 against 3). I was going to get up early for the same reason but was very glad she decided to sleep in as it was really comfortable!
The drive back took about 4.5 hrs but the roads were clear and the snow was only on the mountains (a lot less dangerous than last time!).

Snowy Smokies.

I had a great weekend and the hot tub really helped my ribs and back. (I pulled and possibly tore the intercostal muscles coughing, thanks to my chest infection. They have been killing me.) It was so nice to be off-line for a few days (I can't remember the last time). Though dealing with the resultant emails took forever! :(

Smokies

After a late morning in Pigeon Forge and trip to a pancake house :), we drove through the Smokey Mountains National Park to Bryson City in North Carolina. We had to take separate cars and I stopped to take a few photos. The first part was dry and sunny.

The Smokies.

However there were some colder, more icy parts.

Icicles. 

Deep snow!

More snow

There were parts where I was questioning the wisdom of this part of the trip. Where the sun hadn't reached, the roads were quite icy. I also got stuck behind a car going 5 mile a hour. I understand the need for safety. But you also need some momentum. I was very glad when the car pulled off! (I was nearly going backwards - and sideways! - at one point.)
But in the sun, the roads were clear and the views great.

Clear skies.

We reached the cabin safely. It was a different one to last time we were here, with an open plan. (Which was extremely fortunate the next morning!) We spent a few hours in the hot tub with a couple of bottles of wine, putting the world to rights and gossiping! So much fun (and I really want a hot tub!).
We also had a fire place! We cooked and watched films. Neither of us wanted to deal with the road to the cabin consisted of a 45 degree road with 180 degree hair pin bends and blind corners in the dark.

Open fire.

Bryson City and Mingo Falls.

On Sunday, Cissi and I went down to Bryson City, NC, to meet Caroline for a few days. I had a Groupon voucher for a cabin. We didn't end up with the cabin we booked (they are all different and I had booked the one on the hilltop with the view and a pool table) but the road up to that cabin was impassable due to the snow and ice so there was a last minute change and we ended up at Alarka cabin 1, which was still very nice. It was right next to the creek and had it's own security gate. There were 2 bedrooms and a sofa bed in the main room which Caroline stayed on. (We drew straws.)

Kitchen

Living room

One of the bedrooms

Rocker on our back porch

Gate to out cabin

We didn't do much on Sunday night. Caroline couldn't get there until late and Cissi and I were just happy when she got there alive! The road was not the best and with the ice in the dark, it was a little scary. So we just cooked pizza and watched a movie.

Cissi and the enormous pizza!

On Monday morning, we all intended to be up early but that didn't happen; we all pretty tired. I got up at about 8 but even when I went in to the main rom to make a cup of tea, Caroline didn't wake up so I got a few hours to myself, reading, which was nice. 

Once everyone was up and dressed, we had a wander around the cabin and up to the main road. (Where a nice woman stopped us and asked if we were ok. She obviously wasn't expecting to see 3 girls randomly wandering around in pretty much the middle of no where!) And Caroline and I saw a wood pecker which was cool (but he was too quick for me to get a photo).

Our cabin, Alarka 1 

We were glad we didn't have to get to cabin 2! 

Our frozen little creek

Shot gun damage. Welcome to North Carolina!

 After our walk we went into Bryson City (which is more of a little town) for lunch. We found a little hippie cafe which had wifi (so Cissi and Carline were happy) and gluten-free food food (so I was happy). We had a walk around the town which was very small town America!

Train through Train

Lots of carved black bears everywhere

Then we headed over to Mingo falls. We had wanted to go here last time we were in the area, but we didn't have time. Mingo Falls is the tallest waterfalls in the  south Appalachians and only a 0.2 miles walk from the car park. Which was very important to us at this point as though not as cold as expected and certainly not as cold as Blacksburg, it was still pretty cold. We made it after a few GPS issues (and u-turns) and were very glad we did.

There were steps heading up which were fine until we got to the top 4-5 which were covered in 2-3 inches of thick ice!

Cissi and the ice stairs

After carefully climbing, we finished the trail. We were amazed when we got near the top and saw the sheet of ice which looked really thick.

Navigating the ice.

Cissi proving the ice is thick (and scaring us!)

The river is just ice.

But then we got onto the bridge (after more icy steps) and saw the waterfall and the sheet of ice was forgotten! It was amazing!!!!

Frozen Mingo falls

Icicles

Caroline, Cissi and me at Mingo falls

We braved it down onto the ice for some photos. Cissi went further out than Caroline and I, and scared us. We decided we were not going in after her if she fell in! 

Braving the ice

Caroline looking worried at the falls

Cissi looking very NOT worried.

We didn't really want to leave but the sun was going behind the mountain and it was getting colder. And I had sat on a log to take a photo and got a wet bum so I was happy to get back to the car! :-) On the way back to Bryson city to get food for that night, we passed a few frozen lakes on the way back which were cool.

Frozen pond

Cissi scaring us again!

One of the best things about the cabin was the hot tube on the back deck. (Which I have now decided, along with a porch swing and rocker, is on the top of my list of things to have in my house when I get one.) We ended up in the hot tub, drinking wine and chatting for a few hours which is not a bad way to spend a Monday evening. Though I was a little wrinkly when we got out. 

All in the hot tub

Fun with wine!

Lots of wine!

And one of the main reason for getting out was my hair had gotten wet and frozen!

We spent the rest of the night finishing more wine and watching superman. Caroline unfortunately had to be up and back in Alabama early on Tuesday so she was up super early. Cissi and I stayed in bed a little longer but we had to be out of the cabin by 10am anyway. After a stop at the same cafe in Bryson City for breakfast (we had great plans to make breakfast each morning but that didn't happen), we went to Toys'R'Us in Johnson city for Cissi to get more lego before heading back to Blacksburg. Unfortunately the trip back was not fun as it started snowing and the roads were awful. It was very pretty (though terrifying and dangerous!).

Frozen cascades by the road

It was a great few days and I really wish we could have stayed longer. Next time. But now I am looking forward to flying home in a few days. :-)

Pisgah View Ranch - Day 2

Breakfast was at 8am. This meant getting out of bed by about 7am, which is not fun on a Sunday morning. But we made it and breakfast was very nice. As we were walking to breakfast, the weather didn't look very good with the mist covering most of the mountains.

Pisgah mountain through the clouds on the way to breakfast

Sign for breakfast for me and my "family"

After breakfast we couldn't see any of the mountains or any of the trees nearby! We had a little time so had a wondered around to the pond. The mist was really pretty over the pond (though thankfully it cleaned up later!)

Mist of the lake

Jetty

Part of the Groupon deal was an hour long horse trail ride in the hills. Caroline and I were a little nervous as it had been a long time since we had been on horses. But the horses were really sweet.

Caroline and sugar

Cissi and Will

Me and Shadow

We went up a trail into hills and forest. The views were really nice. However I didn't take many photos. I was too busy trying to stay on my horse.

Down the trail, following Nicole and Princess

Cissi laughing at her horse

Our trail

View from the highest point.

I was on Shadow and she was the baby of the group, only 6 yrs old. (The rest were between 12 and 22.) And she was very greedy. She kept stopping for food and as we were at the front of the group, everyone else had to stop. But I figured as she had to haul me up the trail on her back, she deserved a little treat! Going up was ok. Coming down was a little scarier. At one point we crossed a stream (with Shadow of course stopping for a drink) and getting up the other side was tough. I couldn't decide whether to hold the reins or just cling to the saddle and hope she knew what she was doing. But we made it. And I was starting to get the hang of it at the end. (Though my saddle started sliding towards the end so I ended up clinging on!)

Will, Cissi's horse

My horse Shadow looking tired after the ride.

Sugar, Caroline's horse.

t was really great fun and at the time I would have loved to have gone on for another hour. However now my bum really hurts, so I am glad we didn't!

For fun, I had brought us some cowboy hats. We thought about wearing them on the trail but we had to wear hard hats, which I was very grateful for. Shadow also liked to go quite close to the trees and the hand protected my head against branches! She was a sweet horse. Honest. :-)

But we took some photos after at our cabin, Hickory.

Our cabin, Hickory

View form the porch

Cowgirls, chilling on the porch, :-P

 The drive home was about 4.5 hrs for Cissi and I, and about 6 hrs for Caroline, so we left about lunchtime.

More falls colors

It was an amazing weekend and we didn't want to go back to reality. :-( But we are definitely going to do things like this again. :-)