Wednesday Morning

Well Tuesday was a really busy fun filled day that started much the usual way with our morning routines before leaving the cabin at 9 AM to head south towards Boone on the parkway. It took a little over an hour to reach the turnoff for Boone then another 1/2 hour to finally reach our destination at Tweetsie Railroad amusement park which is about half way between Boone and Blowing Rock. The weather was very nice which temps in the middle 60's and a bit cloudy at times. Just as we left the park around 4 we could see rain clouds heading into the area.

I will let the pictures tell the story of our day as it was fantastic. None of us had been there before and we could have stayed another couple hours to do all the rides that come with one admission price. We did the chair lift to the top of the mountain to start things out in the miners area where we panned for jewels and gems, gold(pyrite fools gold), the deer park with live animals galore for petting, magic shows at the theater, rides in that area and back down the mountain for some lunch.

Afterwards it was motor car racing with actual bumper cars gasoline powered, the ferris wheel and then the big treat the ride on a steam driven coal powered train. We watched a couple shows with cowboys and Indians, real horses while on the train which traveled through the rugged mountain. We came back to an ice cream break and then souvenir time for the kiddos. We left the park and headed over to Plum Tree which was about an hour away to Teen Valley Ranch. Well it was a twisty windy road towards Grandfather mountain. We could see the bridge at the top of the mountain from the road down below as we headed further into the mountains. TVR brought back lots of memories for us as well as Bobby and he knew lots of folks who now run the camp knew as well from years past. It was a great homecoming for us as well as we were once counselors back ages ago. The camp has been refurbished with lots of updates and renovations and the camp leaders made us feel so welcome.

Our dear friends and Amway team leaders use to sponsor a camp for kids each summer in Michigan but that venue was becoming to much for them so they rented TVR for a week for their team leaders and kids and we were thrilled to learn of their decisions. It's a christian camp for building character and leadership skills for middle school and up to college level ages with kids from all over the world so they invited us over for the evening when they heard we would only be about an hour away.

Well Bobby got to repel off a 30 foot or so wall and Annsley rock climbed that same wall as well. We mingled with some of the events games and eventually ate a supper of tacos, rice and refried beans, nachos and chips. It was great to see Mel, Chris and their two girls who are real pals to Anns and Gabe. They had a marvelous time playing and running carefree at the camp and wanted to stay longer than our nearly 9 PM departure. After the sun goes down it really gets dark in those hills and thankfully Bobby had his GPS up and working. It took us nearly two hours to get back to the cabin around 11. Wow what a 14 hour fun day. It wasn't long we were all asleep and today Wednesday promises to be another adventure packed day as we visit with our old pastor and his wife for lunch

as well as do a canoe trip on the New River, LATER