Weekend Drive

This past weekend we went with my mom and grandmother on a drive see the beautiful fall colors that are at their peak right now in the North Carolina mountains. I had always heard good things, but I was still surprised at just how gorgeous it was.

Our first stop was at Mt. Airy (Andy Griffith's hometown, which Mayberry was modeled after.) I am a big Andy Griffith fan--more from Matlock than from the Andy Griffith Show-- but it was still fun to stroll through the cute town. We even stopped by Floyd's Barbershop and met and took a picture with the barber that used to cut Andy Griffith's hair!




Waiting patiently outside Opies Candy Shop (Reed's favorite part of Mayberry!).


Sam--apparently telling a joke to Max.


This is what happens to your kids after you've taken a 100 pictures of them walking down a street. (They turn into posers.)


The drive was long with many wrong turns. In an effort to reach to Grandfather Mountain we stopped to check our directions about 5 times after wrong turns only to discover each and every time that we were "about 45 minutes away." No matter which way we went or for how long...we were always "45 minutes away". Thankfully we were surrounded in beauty even when traveling in the wrong direction. Here is some of what we saw along the way.


Around 5:00 p.m. we finally escaped the "45 minute" vortex that we had been held captive in and arrived at Grandfather Mountain. It was amazingly beautiful and windy---equally. I don't know if I've been in such cold wind in my life!

Apparently Reed's reaction to cold wind is laughter. He could not stop laughing at the big gusts that nearly blew him over.



At the top of the mountain they have a swinging suspension bridge called "Mile High Bridge". I didn't want to go across at first because it was SO cold and windy, but we had been talking about it for a week and Reed was determined to make it across.

In case you needed any further evidence of the wind factor...




My handsome husband.


The bridge.



The view.