TO THE BLUE RIDGE MOUNTAINS II

We really piled it on the first day. After eating lunch and trying, in vain, to get that run away dachshund to let me pet him, we headed down the road to Linville Caverns and then hiked a bit at Linville Falls. We also stopped at the Moses Cone plantation but that was a bit of a bust, although there was a poodle I made friends with, always a highlight. It seemed everywhere we went people had dogs. That's how I really knew North Carolina was a good fit for little old me, and I really regretted not bringing young Gill along. He would have had a blast.

The caverns were really fun, despite our surly teenage guide Hunter. At one point they pile everyone into a tiny crack in the cave onto a middle grate suspended over the endless abyss. The old ladies who went first were all hollering that they couldn't breathe and get us out of here, so later Jared and I went back in for a second look.

Linville Falls was lovely. It was the biggest waterfall we saw on the trip. On the trail we passed a little girl sitting on a log, maybe 5 years old, crying her eyes out. That portion of the trail was a bit muddy and I think she had decided she just couldn't go on. Her big brother (maybe 9?) came and sat down beside her and gave her a big hug. It was so incredibly sweet. We passed them finishing the trail on our way back to the falls so the hug must have worked. They usually do, don't they?

After leaving the falls we took the long way home, driving the Blue Ridge Parkway for almost 2 hours on our way down to Asheville...