The mountains of North Carolina have many hidden treasures. Almost 13 years ago, Vic and I took our last pre-kids vacation there. We had such an incredible time despite freezing our asses off. Don't scoff, that November, the temps in Boone, NC were colder than the temps in Anchorage, Alaska. We went up to the top of Grandfather Mountain and I looked longingly at the swinging bridge.
Unfortunately, the bridge was far to icy and it was far to windy for me to think about attempting to waddle across it. The next day, we drove over to Linville Caverns to explore the caves. My camera at the time sucked at taking pics in dark settings but I did get this beautiful shot on the way over...
and we got this pic of me when we reached the falls (the pic of Vic is here just because I really like it)...
It wasn't that much warmer when we reached the falls. I was just so hot from having hiked all that way. I don't think that was one of my more brilliant decisions but Vic wisely kept his mouth shut and didn't say "I told you so." The final day of our vacation, we went panning for gemstones at Gem Mountain. They have a sluice for panning in and you buy a bucket of dirt and stones. They guarantee each bucket will have at least one decent size gemstone in it but we found out that persistence pays off. We got a 5 gallon bucket and spent about 2 hours painstakingly searching it. They gave you a chart to compare your stones too but I got too frustrated by that and was just keeping out any stone that appeared to have a shine or an interesting color to it. Man, oh man, did we get lucky. I have a gallon ziploc bag that is halfway full of gemstones including one sapphire, a few small emeralds, a ruby, a bunch of amethysts, citrine, and topaz. I had one of the amethysts we found cut and set in a ring. Other than my wedding and engagement ring, it's the one piece of bling I wear with any regularity...
I really want to go back and take the kids there sometime soon. I know they would have a wonderful time.
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23 comments:
I love the frozen waterfall!
Beautiful pictures! And I love the ring. Amethyst is my birthstone. :)
Boone is one of our favorite places! We've been there many times. It's lovely isn't it?!?
What a great adventure and story! That is a gorgeous ring. I wish I could go and snag some sapphires (my birth stone).
that is so. damned. awesome.
I think mountains are beautiful, don't have any here in Parma so always like seeing pictures of them.
Oooh, I'm sooo going there! I love jewelry, and I'm not gonna miss an opportunity to get big stones for a fraction of the cost! How fun! I don't know about November, though. I'm not much into cold. I'm definitely dragging the hubby there, though.
beautiful ring! thanks for sharing these pics with us and letting us all get away for a bit :) its been nonstop drab and rainy here all summer so i really appreciated the mental vacation to such a beautiful place
You were brave to be hiking that trail -- in the winter -- at six months pg!! But that ring is absolutely gorgeous!!
Sounds like a great trip. I love that ring too.
That is a fantastic trip with great keepsakes to boot.
What a great trip!
And the ring, gorgeous!
Dude. That sounds fun.
That's some definite bling, and how cool that you were able to find it.
Oh, and like your hair cut from then, too. I don't know if I could ever go that short, but it looks cute.
My birthstone is amethyst. The ring is very nice.
What lovely pics! I had the pleasure of visiting Boone, Grandfather Mountain, and Elk Grove, NC last summer. SOOOOO beautiful. LOVED it there!
Great photos, great story, great husband who didn't tell you you were cracked for wanting to go on the hike... ;)
Love the ring, too.
Bling, bling!
That rock looks to be Elizabeth Taylor sized proportions!
Beautiful pictures! I miss being in the mountains. And your ring is stunning!
Vic looks like he could give really great bear hugs, and our husbands both like handle-bar moustaches. Trips to the mountains are our favorite thing to do too..and I prefer the App Mountains to the bigger ones out west.
I love the pictures! beautiful ring
Wow, that's gorgeous!! And I LOVE the photos of you and Vic.. SUPER cute.
OH! I so miss panning through bags of dirt! I grew up in NC and had no idea until very recently that panning isn't part of everyone's State Fair. (I'm sure tossing the caber is, though, right?)
I'm trying to get Sugar Mama down to the NC mountains, and I think it may be her love of shiny rocks that finally does it.
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