Fall Mountain Trip Day 2: Table Rock Mountain

For our first full day of the trip, we drove out to Table Rock Mountain, which sits atop the Linville Gorge and promised excellent views. The drive there was disconcerting: we were on a very long and twisty gravel road, basically switchbacks up and through the mountains. It was at least less stressful once we passed a car coming down and we were assured that we were on the right track. This photo makes it look easy, but this was one of the few straight stretches. The kids were very stressed out and nervous on the ride, because they could see the drop-offs on the side of the road, and weren't quite sure if they could trust Zac to not just randomly careen down the cliff.

We finally arrived at the trailhead parking lot and set off on our very short hike (about 1 mile) to the summit. But in true Arcaro family fashion, we can make a short hike last all day, because we like to play.

I picked this hike because it promised amazing views almost the whole way.

The beginning of the hike was quite chilly, with lots of cloud cover and cold winds.

We do love to stand on rocks.

It was a bit windy up on top!

We spent a long time just hanging out on this little ridge next to the main peak. We had the place mostly to ourselves, so we snacked and enjoyed the views.

Eventually we returned to the main path to summit the mountain, but were soon lured off the path again by interesting rocks and caves. We ended up climbing up here and getting to the summit the back way. The nice thing about this approach was that we got off the well-trodden path and could feel like we had the mountain to ourselves.

Here we are at the top finally, and the kids loved scrambling over the boulders.

We finally reached the top, but it was a bit nerve-wracking because we had to look around for a while to find the official path back down. Plus we'd left all our backpacks at the bottom of the first rocky cliff we climbed so we were without food and water (my nightmare!).

We successfully made it back to the main path and eventually reunited with our backpacks. We drank and snacked and when we were reenergized, we began our beautiful decent.

Fall Mountain Trip Day 1: Lake James State Park

I had my fall break on Thursday and Friday, so I had planned a weekend getaway to the mountains. On Thursday we packed up the van and drove to Lake James State Park. Zac and the kids fished (mostly unsuccessfully) while I lazed about and took a little hike.

The weather was gorgeous.

Simon is displaying a teeny tiny minnow he caught.

We headed to our cabin, right on the Linville river, and Simon did catch a little fish there.

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Today, we drove to the mountains for a weekend of fall hiking. On this day two years ago, Zac drove me to the hospital to have my colon removed and an ostomy installed. I’d been so sick that I’d needed two blood transfusions and I could barely walk up my driveway. This year I was able to give blood, and I can walk up mountains. I am so grateful every day for my health and my second chance.

Digital Dragons

 Alice currently has an obsession with drawing dragons. It's usually how she passes the time during her online classes if she doesn't have anything else to do.

Recently, she's figured out how to use Google Drawings to make her dragons. She made a gazillion, with all sorts of arrangements and colors, but I only took a picture of this one. 

Fire Pit Progress: 6 Months = Completion!

After much work, Zac finally completed the fire pit!

Final phases...

We lit our first fire in it on October 14th!

We failed to properly photograph it until later, so this picture is from 10/30, after Zac planted some flowers around it. We've already used it about four times: once with just our family, then with our neighbors Tom, Linda and Mike. Next with our other neighbors the Weimers, and then on Halloween Eve, we had Jess and Anna over.  It's perfect during these Covid-19 times to have an outdoor entertainment space! 

The next step is the pathways! 

Pumpkin Pie

 We had our first pumpkin pie of the season. For breakfast. Simon isn't wearing a shirt because he goes wild and overheats a lot lately.

Here he is with a snack he prepared and arranged himself. He was very proud.

The kid loves his berries!

Voting in October

What a year! Due to the still-raging Covid-19 pandemic and Trump's purposely slowing down the post office, I voted by mail on October 5th. I doubt we could ever forget this election, but it should be noted that I got to proudly vote for possibly the first female VP who is also of Jamaican and Indian parents. We get some good with all the bad.

I really need this opportunity!

Fishing with Simon

 After a week of fishing at the beach, Simon went right back to fishing in our little pond. Sometimes I ask him if he's tired of fishing, and he looks at my like I'm crazy and just asked if he was tired of breathing.

Kure Beach Trip Day #8: Construction on Carolina Beach S.P.

 On Saturday morning, we left our lovely beach house.

On our way out, we stopped one more time at Carolina Beach State Park. Since the tide was really high, there wasn't much of a beach, so Simon focused on building some sort of bridge out of a bunch of downed timber.

Alice found some Spanish moss and continued her "Do I look like I have a tail?" theme from yesterday.

They fished a bit...

...and got one bite.

Alice continued her crusade to get me interested in her dragon graphic novels. She can't understand why I would prefer to stare into space than read them.

We had a nice little spot to hang out and cling to the remnants of our beach week.

But alas, we eventually bid farewell and headed home.

Kure Beach Trip Day #7: Kites & Casting

Friday was our last full day at the beach. We had spectacular sunrises from our bedroom window every morning. At least, I imagine so because I slept through all of them. Sleep is more precious than sunrises these days.

Zac finally  figured out how to have a peaceful breakfast with the kids.

It was the last day of their Seaside School.

As soon as they finished their work for the day, we went down to the beach. It was windy and on our way out, Alice found this branch and wanted me to take a picture of it like this so she could see if it made her look like she had a tail. I just want to commemorate my 9 year old daughter sticking branches in her butt, because I think it's hilarious.

The wind made it the perfect afternoon to bring out the kites.

Alice is obsessed with drawing dragons--by hand, on the computer, and now in the sand.

I think this is my favorite picture from the whole trip. Alice relaxing with a bag of her beloved Doritos, while Zac and Simon cast net in the background.

The fish were schooling in the surf, so they were catching a bunch.

A few unfortunate ones ended up as bait. It's always funny to me how much Simon loves catching fish, and then doesn't hesitate one second to slice off one's head. I don't trust this kid.

Kure Beach Trip Day #6: Pier & Moonwalk

 During the kids' midday break from school on Thursday, we drove up to check out the Kure Pier. It was full of people fishing, and we watched them haul up some fish for a while, much to Simon's delight.

That afternoon, I was conscripted into some more cast-netting with Simon. I have a good throw about 1/5 of the time. I only caught fish with it on the first day because there were schools of them in the surf. Not so today.

Luckily, Simon did eventually catch a fish with the fishing rod. He is so happy every time.

That evening, Simon and Zac built some sand structures.

Alice and I took a walk down to where Fort Fisher starts, finding a sand structure that strongly resembled the poop emoji.

Since it was a fully moon that night, after supper we took a walk on the moonlit beach. Simon found some nocturnal sand crabs scurrying around, and of course caught a couple.

It was a lovely night.