Fall in North Carolina and a New Home, Part 1

Hey everyone, it's me Mea'Ola. I know it has been a long time since my last post but things have been crazy. 

Mom found out that she was getting a fraction of the inheritance that she was supposed to get from her mother's estate. She explained it to me and it is a very long story. Anyway, once mom found out she was getting some money she started looking for a home to buy for us. 

When she started looking she got pretty stressed out. She checked the online listings every morning and again every evening. Some nights she got home late because she had looked at a place. Or on a weekend she would give me a kiss and run out to look at at house. She came home so depressed that I had to give her lots of extra love and puppy kisses. 

One morning she came home and was very excited. "I found us a home Mea!" she told me.  Mom had a lot to do before we could officially buy the home. Two days after mom bought us the house we left on our annual fall vacation. 

Both mom and I were looking forward to some relaxation. 

Mom found us the really neat house in a town called Newland in North Carolina. It is a town over from where mom used to live and where we stayed in March.  We are not allowed access to the downstairs but the upstairs is very comfortable.

I liked that the windows are pretty low, I was able to get my front paws on the the window sills and watch mom unload the truck. Once she had everything inside I took a nap until it was my dinner time. 

We had arrived on a Friday and on Sunday mom got us ready to go on a hike. She took us over to Linville Falls. We had been here in March and this time it was super, super crowded. Mom had to park almost a mile away from where we normally park. Mom said she had never seen it so crowded. 

The  trails was very crowded and most people were really rude. Mom would tell them I was not dog friendly and the would let their little mutant rat dogs get right up near me. Mom would swear out loud and tell them that if I ate their little rat dogs they would be to blame because she had warned them, plus I have a tag on my leash. It is bright yellow with NOT DOG FRIENDLY on it in black letters. 

This was the closest mom could get to take a picture of the falls. Not at all like back in March. I was very happy when we got back in the truck.  

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When we got home the owners of our house were heading out to cut some fresh lettuce and asked mom if she would like some. Later that day the lady came over with a salad with edible flower, a small butternut squash and rolls warm and fresh from the oven. Mom was in heaven. 

 Every time we left the house mom would stop and look at this place.  "Mea, check out all the Halloween decorations. These people went nuts."Mom was truly impressed by how much effort they put into decorating. 

They even had skeletons walking out of the woods across the street from their house. At night several of them glowed red or green.

On Sunday mom said we would have a very easy day because we had two long days of hiking ahead of us. She drove into the town of Newland and we walked along the river. I was very pretty and quiet. Much better than Saturday the the falls. 

Tuesday morning came and mom kept getting up and staring out the windows. "There's valley fog this morning Mea'Ola". It seems mom loves when the mountain tops peek out of the lower fog.

Fog or no fog mom got us ready to go hiking. She told me that today we were going to her favorite waterfall, Crabtree Falls and it was about a 45 minute drive. The path was wide open and only a few people were on it, best part was no mutant rat dogs to annoy me. There were so many interesting smells.

It has rained for days before we arrived and many parts of the trail were underwater, even the small streams looked like little waterfalls.

We had to cross a boardwalk and I was once again so grateful mom taught me about these on our first hike in Florida. I am Queen of the Mountain! 

The further down you go to the falls the more rocky the trail becomes. The waterfall was beautiful. I can see why mom loves this place. She said maybe next time we would do the trail as a loop and come down the opposite side of the falls and then go back up the way we just came down.

 I was very glad when we finally arrived plus mom had remembered to bring treats.

On the way back to the house we drove through this tunnel again. It is one of two we had to go through to get to the trail and once again to get home. Mom said there area total of 25 tunnels over the entire length of the Blue Ridge Parkway. We stopped at The Orchard at Alta Pass to buy some apples but they were closed. Mom was bummed.

While Tuesday was our most strenuous hike, Wednesday's would be my longest hike ever. We went to Moses Cone Park on the Blue Ridge Parkway. There are miles and miles of carriage trails to walk. Some you have to share with horses. We left the parking area and headed out. We had to pass under the Blue Parkway to get to the start of our trail. 

Mom pointed out Flat Top Tower, 2.5 miles, one way and that would not include the distance from the car to the sign. 

Hiking on a carriage trail is nice. The trail is smooth and very wide. Fall was very late this year so only a few trees had changed colors, mom was disappointed. She said in all the years she lived up here she had never see fall arrive so late.

At one point we stopped to rest and mom gave me some water. She pointed out the trail we had been walking on and how far we had come.

You can see more of the trail we followed. The big mountain in the distance is Grandfather Mountain. A little to the right is Sugar Mountain where mom used to live.

When we got back to the house I was so tired that I went right to sleep. We didn't make it to the fire tower as mom could tell I was getting tired. In all we did almost 5 miles. Mom was proud of me and I got extra chicken in my dinner that night.

The sunset on our last night was the best one mom had seen all week. She said it was like the mountains were saying goodbye to her. October of 2022 we are staying at the same house again but for 1 more night.

Before then we are doing 7 nights in the historic district of Savannah in February, back to Decatur, Georgia in May but staying at a new place and then 4 nights in a big house on a river in Brasstown, North Carolina for mom's birthday. Her daughter and her family are joining us for that trip.