Last week I met my extended family in Blowing Rock, North Carolina for a week of vacation in the mountains. It turns out that Blowing Rock is a really nice area and a great place to make a "home base" for attractions near Grandfather Mountain, Boone, and the Blue Ridge Parkway.

We had great views from our mountain rental home:



This is a view of the backyard from the deck:



I photographed a nice sunset:





We went to a wild west themed amusement park named Tweetsie Railroad. It was fun for everyone but the kids (age 2 - 7) absolutely loved it. The family took an old time western photo:



During the trip I found some new good beers. The Magic Hat hI.P.A. was very tasty.



We visited Grandfather Mountain. Here are my Soft Star RunAmoc DASH moccasins on the mile high swinging bridge:



A shot of a rocky outcrop:



I didn't take very many pictures on this trip. I guess I was too busy "doing" and enjoying the moment.

We did a little trout fishing and gem mining. Fresh trout fried in butter with a little salt and pepper is pretty good.

We found a really nice community park in Valle Crucis (behind the Mast General Store Annex).

The Linville Caverns were interesting.

The weather was nice and there was a pleasant mountain breeze most of the time. Even though it was August, we did not need to turn on the air conditioning. Sitting on the deck enjoying the fresh air without any mosquitoes was great.

I did manage to sneak away one morning for some nice trail running which I hope to write about in a separate blog post.

Overall it was a very relaxing trip.