Waking Up Into a Dream
Saturday 07/12/2008 8:50 AM
After our first day of driving back from Florida, Alex and I camped on Balsam Mountain in North Carolina. We picked this particular rock because it claims to be the tallest peak in Smoky Mountain National Park, but ironically, we had some trouble finding it. After circling around the Blue Ridge Parkway for a while (to be fair, it is difficult to tell which way the road is headed since it twists and turns so much), we ended up in Maggie Valley, NC, which thoroughly confused me. We considered getting a room in a motel since it was getting late to set up camp but then decided to try it one more time.
Luckily, I made a correct turn and we saw a sign for the mountain. We were looking for the park campground, but close to 7 pm and near the top of the mountain, we saw a sign for "Mile High Campground" and pulled in. The people there were very friendly, despite my wearing a Florida State tshirt.
Sidenote: I bought the shirt in Tallahassee and didn't think anything of my decision to wear it on our drive up, but every single time (no exaggeration here) we stopped for gas or a bathroom break, someone commented on it. And these weren't "Go Noles!" comments, but "Oh no, not a Seminole fan" groans. I'd forgotten to get cash before we ended up at the campground and the woman in charge said she didn't have a credit card machine but would take a check, "even though you got that shirt on." I got similar comments in the grocery store after we'd set up the tent and headed into Maggie Valley again for cookout supplies. When I bought the shirt, I also picked up an FSU ID tag for Freya's collar, but now I'm a little worried that if she ever does get lost in Ohio, she'll come back spraypainted scarlet and gray (Ohio State's colors).
Anyway, our campsite had a beautiful view of the surrounding mountains and valleys. Alex set up the tent and we grilled hotdogs over the fire and had a long chat about our separate summers so far. A group of guys at the next campsite were in the thick of some male-bonding expedition, and they were up talking, laughing, and taking pictures with a flash for quite a while. It really didn't bother me at all, but it gave Alex a great excuse to claim he couldn't sleep (he threatened several times to pee on their tent if they laughed loudly again). But we eventually made it to sleep.
The thunder woke me up several hours later, and then the rain started pounding harder, the wind whipped the walls of the tent, and lightning kept flashing. Freya moved from our feet to snuggle in between our sleeping bags, and Alex (who has been pretty nervous in storms since an Ohio tornado scare/hailstorm a couple of years ago) woke up several minutes after me, but he didn't panic. He did ask a few times if we should move to the car, and I said no, this is what tents are made for, while I silently rationalized to myself that we wouldn't get hit by lightning because we were surrounded by trees, and if lightning hit a tree near us, it could just as easily fall on the car as it could on the tent. We eventually made it back to sleep.
I woke up around 7 to find the storm had passed and we were still comfy and dry in our tent. I got dressed and brushed my teeth in a thick cover of mist and fog (and this is where the photos start since I didn't take any during the night we camped):
Here's Alex after two wake-up calls:
And after the third, when the first thing he said was, "Mom, it's like we woke up into a dream!":
The morning stretch, in front of our "beautiful view," even though it seemed someone had stolen the mountains we'd been admiring the evening before:
After we packed up the campsite and made our way down the mountain, we stopped for a couple of photos we were too busy to take the day before. Luckily the thickest fog was hanging around the higher elevations, so we got a few picturesque photos. This one seems especially appropriate to include, considering the nature of our night on the mountain:
I couldn't tell you which mountains these are ...
... but I do know that it was quite a hike to the lookout spot (I took this photo on our way back down):
And then we had an awesome breakfast at Joey's Pancake House in Maggie Valley (link of the day -- in case you're ever in the neighborhood) before heading into eastern Tennessee to visit Desi at her grandparents' farm.
I thought it would be difficult to pick a favorite experience out of this trip, but camping with Alex, despite (and in part, because of) the loud-mouthed hippies and the thunderstorm, has easily risen to the top of the list (with several others vying for second place). Later this month, we're camping at Mohican Adventures here in Ohio and tubing down the Blackfork River ... can't wait.
Permalink | Comments | Trackback