NC Covid Tripping Part 2

 

Leslie and I are both pretty experienced travelers - she even more so than me - and we've read a good many maps in our days so it kinda amused both of us how difficult we found it to read some of these darn trail maps!  But in the end, we did pretty good and found most of the places we set out to visit.

I have always been amazed by trees and the crazy places they manage to grow sometimes. This one fit that bill - it's straddling this big rock like it's an egg.

One of the smaller waterfalls we saw.  Love, love, love the sound of the rushing water.

I think this is in front of triple falls - which counted as THREE falls on an 8 falls hike.  Not really a fair count in my opinion.  

This is part of bridal veil falls.  I hiked up that left side on the dry rock to the very top of it which is around the curve at the top of the pic. 

This was our view of the falls from where we sat on some rocks for a snack break before I hiked up.

In the dry sections, there were lots of these little bowls holding old water.  I'm assuming the water is from recent rains or when the rains swell the waterfalls enough to flow over all the rocks.

This was looking back down at Leslie who is sitting in the shadows of the tree with my teal blue backpack in front of her.  We had watched a guy who looked like he knew was he was doing hike up first and then after talking to him, I decided it was worth trying.  It was awesome!

This was the top section of the falls.

This is back down near the bottom but looking all the way to the top.

All these falls were just so pretty!  Looking back at these pics now while its full fall color here in Michigan makes me want to go there in the fall season next time to see the beautiful colors!

I think it was Hooker Falls here where we sat along the edge and soaked our tired feet in the cold water.

And took a selfie!

And then I snuck one in of Leslie enjoying a moment of solitude.

Despite, or maybe because, of our many years of friendship, we have become quite good travel companions!

A rare patch of quiet water!

In front of the Asheville Museum of Art.  It was closed due to Covid.  We just happened to walk past on our trot around the city looking for a place to eat dinner.  

I posted the pic below on Facebook a few days ago and several people commented how good I looked. I had to laugh.  After we got done hiking this day, we changed from our sweaty shorts and t-shirts into our summer-ish dresses in the car for our "night on the town" (more like early bird dinner special!!!) in Asheville.  On the way back to the cabin, we traveled part of the Blue Ridge Parkway and stopped at several of the "scenic turnouts" with their amazing views of the mountains.  

Beautiful perfection of nature!

Covid Tripping to NC

 Last spring I had a trip planned to go hiking in the Asheville area of NC with my childhood friend, Leslie.  (Okay, it seems really weird to call her a childhood friend since I'm sure we much more mature than mere children even if we were like 11 and 12 years old...). She is also one of the few people who actually read my blog. HA!  But that trip got canceled due to the Covid pandemic and we waited and waited...finally tentatively rescheduling for just after Labor Day.  And actually went!!  

Most reports were showing the airports were empty (true enough illustrated in the first pic below in Detroit), Delta wasn't filling all the seats and we were going to be hiking - so not exactly in the thick of the population.  We took all the necessary precautions including plenty of hand sanitizer, Clorox wipes, masks, etc.

First stop was Charlotte since that's where we flew in.  Not much open there so we walked around a mostly deserted city on a Tuesday.

That included a really old cemetery with some ancient headstones.

The next day we headed up towards Brevard where we had a cabin booked for a few nights.  In looking for a breakfast place, we ironically ended up at Tryon - the huge new horse park that I had wanted to go to for a show!!  The place is amazing.

There are cool horse sculptures and more arenas than I could count.  There is one in the background behind this horse statue.

This is the main grandstand arena.  Unbelievable!  There are stands and ringside tables and suites and oh my it's so nice!

Next stop was the famous Chimney Rock.  It doesn't look like all that much from this angle but we had already driven a good way up the mountain then took a shuttle up some more followed by a 7 story elevator ride!

The view was pretty amazing.  And Leslie was a good sport about modeling for me!

This angel gives a much better perspective of how crazy Chimney Rock is just jutting out of the side of this mountain.  I still want to know how people got up there before they put the stairs in...

This rock formation isn't as big but it's still pretty cool - called Devil's Head.

As we climbed up the clouds started to break up giving us some blue sky!

The flag wasn't up when we were actually on the rock but they put it up when we were up higher - so it was kinda cool to look down to see it going up!

Looking back up at the rock is kinda scary to see it just sort of perched on top like that!  

Next stop, in a sprinkle of rain, was the Lake Lure Flower Bridge. It's an old bridge over a narrow part of the lake alongside the NEW bridge that has been turned into a garden. It's pretty cool!

After this, we headed to our little cabin which would be home for the next 3 nights!

Henrik and The Orchid

When we found this little guy a few years ago I had never owned a cat. Didn't know squat about them other than what I knew from barn cats over the years of having horses.  I admit I like his company. 

A few months ago we found out he is in kidney failure.  The vet said it could be a few weeks or a couple of years.  He is sick all the time now...he throws up so much food that I have to give him medicine to stimulate his appetite to eat more so he doesn't lose any more weight.  It's also supposed to help with nausea and some days it does.  Other days, not so much. So I celebrate every day with him and try to catch him doing the "normal" things like perching in the window by my beautiful orchid.

Up North Trip - last 2 days

 

On Saturday we slept in a little, tired from our fun-filled Friday, which hadn't ended until close to midnight since we decided to head out to find some dark skies for star gazing while the sky was still clear of clouds (and it was amazing!!).  The morning sky was overcast and there was rain in the forecast but we figured we had time to get to the Soo Locks in Sault Ste. Marie before it started and then make our way into the lower peninsula while it rained.  

The museum at the locks was close for covid but they did have nice signs on the fence giving all the history that was really interesting.  We were lucky enough that the rain held off just as this huge freighter pulled in and we watched as it raised up to move from Lake Huron to Lake Superior (or maybe it was the other way...).

Our next planned stop was Petoskey but as we were driving, a friend of Garry's called and suggested we stop at Leg's, a famous German restaurant in Cross Village on Lake Michigan which then leads to the "Tunnel of Trees" on M-119.  We were game!  The rain that we had traveling south had moved out and the sun was peaking out as we arrived!  This place is known for its marvelous gardens overlooking the lake and they didn't disappoint although I didn't actually take many pics of them. 

Garry and I aren't big drinkers but we decided "day drinking' was in order for us to kick back in the Adirondack chairs and enjoy the view while we waited for our table.  It was early afternoon - about 2 pm - but this place was packed on a Saturday! Covid be damned!

I think we look a little ridiculously happy!  We hadn't even really had more than a sip of our drinks!

Legs is named after the white table legs that are part of the architecture of this old stone building.

YOu can see them a little better in this pic. 

Next stop - Petoskey!  After a visit to The Inn at Bay Harbor, one of my favorite resort hotels EVER, we hit the Skyline Trail to walk through the old-growth pine forest.  I had done part of this trail last year and LOVED it.  I couldn't wait to take Garry there and it didn't disappoint.  Walking in this section is just so ethereal. The ground is so softly covered in pine needles - you almost spring into your next step. It was still a bit damp in the forest from the earlier rains and on the cool side but still so beautiful!

About a mile out on the trail you come to this lookout.  It wasn't sunset yet but with the clouds moving back in, it was starting to turn the sky.

We went much further than I had gone last year and loved this section of deciduous trees that were blowing in the wind making those most wonderful sounds!

We left the hike and bee-lined it back to Bay Harbor to catch the sunset. Unfortunately, the clouds were just a little too dark and heavy for there to be many colors.  But it was still a nice way to wrap up the evening sitting on the rocks with Garry trying to split the shale with a sharp stone.

Sunday morning was a bit of a whirlwind as we had to head home.  We stopped in Charlevoix for breakfast and walk out to the lighthouse and around the docks.  Then on to Boyne City where we walked along Lake Charlevoix and through the town where I had spent so much time as a kid. The pic below is at the Boyne City Park.

From there we went to Boyne Mountain for a quick drive by since Garry had never been there and then on to Gaylord where we hoped to buy some cherries but...didn't happen.   Next stop, Zehnders in Frankenmuth for their famous chicken dinner!!

We were pretty much worn out and ready for home after stuffing ourselves with what ended up being our last big "meat" dinner!  I don't think either of us has had more than a couple ounces of meat since then in our quest for better health.  

It was an amazing UP NORTH trip and we had a blast!!

Up North Trip - Day 3

 Day 3 started early!  We needed to get from Mackinaw City to Munising for a fun little excursion I had planned. But first, we crossed the Mighty Mac - Garry's first time across!!

We ended up arriving at our destination a little earlier than planned but found this pretty little waterfall just a short walk away.  It was along the main road but was a nice diversion.

A short while later, and a short bus ride, we were launching our kayaks at Pictured Rocks for a 3 hour excursion into Lake Superior! This was my first time to Pictured Rocks and my first time touching water in Lake Superior!

We had another perfect weather day with barely any wind.  LOTS of people were out for this trip about 16 in our group but there were lots of other tour groups on the lake too.  Fresh air sports in Covid times are pretty popular!!

The rocks were really pretty - and having such great weather really let them show off.

Again, the water looked almost tropical it was so blue and calm!  Hard to imagine that it gets so rough on this lake that many big ships have sunk here.

They are a little hard to see but this area was filled with birds - it's a popular nesting area apparently.

Garry had the front of the kayak and I was steering in the back.  We both needed a good dose of sunshine for our ghostly skin!

Just beautiful!

Navigating between these rocks should have been quite easy - remember - I was in charge of steering!!  But when you decide you want to take pictures while trying to steer, which requires your paddle, it wasn't so simple.  Let's just say we may have hit the rocks a little!

So after almost 5 hours of getting to and from Pictured Rocks via shuttle (which included 3 hours of paddling in Lake Superior), we decided we hadn't had enough fun yet and headed to Taquanamen Falls!  I had never been here either but as a true Michigan, this is a must.  We weren't far off from sunset so we decided to drive to the upper falls, do the walkabout and then drive down to the lower falls instead of doing what is labeled as a rather challenging hike between the two.  We simply wouldn't have enough time considering its about 8 miles round trip.

I'm glad we chose to go to the upper falls first.  Another place with a million stairs to get to all the viewing points.  This was a rather short set compared to many.  

But the viewing spots were worth the stairs - every stop was simply beautiful and the pictures don't come close to doing it justice.

My arms are just too short for good selfies!

The falls are just so pretty with their brown staining from tannins.  The mist and sun make a pretty little rainbow from this angle.

 

Ah, my handsome guy!

Down at the lower falls.

There are actually several sets of falls at the lower falls and all of them look a little bit different.

It was a really, really full day!!  We left the falls after sunset with very empty stomachs. On our way to our hotel in the Soo, we found a Pizza Hut, pretty much in the middle of nowhere, and stopped. It was one of the best darn pizzas I've ever had!!