Grandfather Getaway

Grandfather Getaway

View from our cabin

Cumberland Gap

The Cumberland Gap was so pretty! It looked like a big valley. That's basically what it is anyway. The scenery was beautiful though. We went on this cool trail where you could stand in Kentucky and Virginia at the same time! We went on this hike with my Aunt Allyssa. It was super fun. We got new stamp passports and I got a ton of stamps there. I think I got 4 to be exact.

Cumberland Gap National Park

LMU
After we went on our hike at the Cumberland Gap we went to my Aunt Alyssa's campus. Did I mention that she works as a lacrosse coach at LMU? She gave us a tour of her campus. They have a whole building of vet stuff. They have an awesome basketball court! They have a swimming pool too! They also have cows to help with the vet studies. After the tour we continued the drive to our lodge in North Carolina.

Profile Trail
I don't remember much about this trail but here are some things I do remember. My Aunt Alyssa came on this hike with us. The Bredins, our best friends, were with us too. We hiked almost 7 miles. We climbed some waterfalls. They were really slippery! We hiked for a while after that. We could see Virginia from where we were. Then we made it to Profile View. We gained a lot of elevation too! We climbed to 2000ft! Profile View is just a really good view of the profile. We saw a campsite. We ate a snack. Then we went to Shanty Springs. And then Aunt Alyssa went the rest of the way to the peak. We went back to the to the lodge to rest our legs.

Profile Trail Hike
Mast General Store
Today we went to the Mast General Store. This store has been here since 1883. That's a long time, almost 150 years! They had a lot of stuff. Things like souvenirs. They have a lot of candy too! I think it was SUPER cool!

Blowing Rock
After Mast General Store we went to Blowing Rock. This is a big rock sticking out of the side of the mountain. We went up to the rock. We tossed a dandelion out into the wind of the rock. The dandelion flew back! It was REALLY cool!
Blowing Rock

Linville Falls
In this hike we did 2 short hikes to see an amazing waterfall. The first one we went on was a short walk and a few stairs to a lookout over a GAINT waterfall. There was a tiny waterfall falling out of the big one! We went back up that trail and got on the next trail. The next trail we went on, there was a bridge. We went to a different lookout. At this one we had a snack and a gave us a view of the river that feeds the waterfall. It was pretty cool!
Linville Falls

Downhill Rollercoaster
This downhill rollercoaster was awesome and scary. The first 2 times I went down with brakes. The last time was scary! We didn't use ANY BRAKES! It was actually pretty fun!
Alpine Downhill Coaster

Biltmore Estates
This HUGE estate has a lot of things to see. It has a barn, gardens, and the ginormous house! (I can't believe that it's a house!) First we went in the barn. There was a blacksmith shop and we watched a guy make brooms. Then we went to the animal barn. There were so many cute baby goats. They were so adorable! There were chickens and ducks. Some of the duck had a tuft of hair on their heads that looked like an egg on their heads. After we saw those there were these adorable baby cows who tried to eat my hand.

The house was next! This house has 3 floors and a basement when you go on the tour. There could be more though because there were some rooms that were blocked off. I think my favorite part of the house was the indoor pool. It was huge! The deep end is 10ft deep! The bowling alley was pretty cool too and the library was awesome. There were soooo many books! Next we went to the gardens. First up was the Italian garden. This garden had 2 big ponds. Technically there were 3 but 1 was getting remodeled. In the ponds there were big silver fish and little gold fish. The gold fish swam very fast. The silver fish just hung out at the top thinking we were going to feed them. Then there was the shrub garden. This one had pretty trees, bushes, and flowers. It was kind of like walking through a very well managed forest. Last was the walled garden. This was a garden with a wall around it. The garden was pretty. In this garden there was a greenhouse. The greenhouse was full of plants I had never seen before. It was really cool. The greenhouse had a model train. The model train went around a model of the whole Biltmore Estates. I really liked this visit.

Blueridge Parkway
On our way back from Biltmore we drove down the Blueridge Parkway Scenic Route. I didn't see much of it because I was asleep but what I did see was pretty cool. You could see the mountains but I was a little scared because I'm afraid of heights. It was still pretty though.

Swinging Bridge
This mile high bridge was swinging and scary. I did not like this at all! I do not like heights at all. If you like to be a mile in the air and swinging then you would like this bridge. I did not!
Swinging Mile High Bridge

Grandfather Trail + MacRae Peak
After the Swinging Bridge we started on our hike. There was a lot of climbing but other than that it was a basic hike. Soon we were using cables and climbing ladders. We finally made it to the point where Jade, our dog, couldn't climb anymore. So I went up with Owen, Mr. Mike, and dad. Dad turned around to go back for mom and my sisters when we realized they would be able climb it too. We climbed more ladders and used more cables but soon enough we made it to the peak. I wasn't scared of heights anymore! The hike back was the same thing just going down instead of up.
We climbed a mountain!!!!

I REALLY liked this trip. I learned that I should write down things right after we do them because I forgot somethings. That's why my details aren't so good. I wish I could go back and explore more.

Cumberland Gap National Park

LMU
After we went on our hike at the Cumberland Gap we went to my Aunt Alyssa's campus. Did I mention that she works as a lacrosse coach at LMU? She gave us a tour of her campus. They have a whole building of vet stuff. They have an awesome basketball court! They have a swimming pool too! They also have cows to help with the vet studies. After the tour we continued the drive to our lodge in North Carolina.

Profile Trail
I don't remember much about this trail but here are some things I do remember. My Aunt Alyssa came on this hike with us. The Bredins, our best friends, were with us too. We hiked almost 7 miles. We climbed some waterfalls. They were really slippery! We hiked for a while after that. We could see Virginia from where we were. Then we made it to Profile View. We gained a lot of elevation too! We climbed to 2000ft! Profile View is just a really good view of the profile. We saw a campsite. We ate a snack. Then we went to Shanty Springs. And then Aunt Alyssa went the rest of the way to the peak. We went back to the to the lodge to rest our legs.

Profile Trail Hike
Mast General Store
Today we went to the Mast General Store. This store has been here since 1883. That's a long time, almost 150 years! They had a lot of stuff. Things like souvenirs. They have a lot of candy too! I think it was SUPER cool!

Blowing Rock
After Mast General Store we went to Blowing Rock. This is a big rock sticking out of the side of the mountain. We went up to the rock. We tossed a dandelion out into the wind of the rock. The dandelion flew back! It was REALLY cool!
Blowing Rock

Linville Falls
In this hike we did 2 short hikes to see an amazing waterfall. The first one we went on was a short walk and a few stairs to a lookout over a GAINT waterfall. There was a tiny waterfall falling out of the big one! We went back up that trail and got on the next trail. The next trail we went on, there was a bridge. We went to a different lookout. At this one we had a snack and a gave us a view of the river that feeds the waterfall. It was pretty cool!
Linville Falls

Downhill Rollercoaster
This downhill rollercoaster was awesome and scary. The first 2 times I went down with brakes. The last time was scary! We didn't use ANY BRAKES! It was actually pretty fun!
Alpine Downhill Coaster

Biltmore Estates
This HUGE estate has a lot of things to see. It has a barn, gardens, and the ginormous house! (I can't believe that it's a house!) First we went in the barn. There was a blacksmith shop and we watched a guy make brooms. Then we went to the animal barn. There were so many cute baby goats. They were so adorable! There were chickens and ducks. Some of the duck had a tuft of hair on their heads that looked like an egg on their heads. After we saw those there were these adorable baby cows who tried to eat my hand.

The house was next! This house has 3 floors and a basement when you go on the tour. There could be more though because there were some rooms that were blocked off. I think my favorite part of the house was the indoor pool. It was huge! The deep end is 10ft deep! The bowling alley was pretty cool too and the library was awesome. There were soooo many books! Next we went to the gardens. First up was the Italian garden. This garden had 2 big ponds. Technically there were 3 but 1 was getting remodeled. In the ponds there were big silver fish and little gold fish. The gold fish swam very fast. The silver fish just hung out at the top thinking we were going to feed them. Then there was the shrub garden. This one had pretty trees, bushes, and flowers. It was kind of like walking through a very well managed forest. Last was the walled garden. This was a garden with a wall around it. The garden was pretty. In this garden there was a greenhouse. The greenhouse was full of plants I had never seen before. It was really cool. The greenhouse had a model train. The model train went around a model of the whole Biltmore Estates. I really liked this visit.

Blueridge Parkway
On our way back from Biltmore we drove down the Blueridge Parkway Scenic Route. I didn't see much of it because I was asleep but what I did see was pretty cool. You could see the mountains but I was a little scared because I'm afraid of heights. It was still pretty though.

Swinging Bridge
This mile high bridge was swinging and scary. I did not like this at all! I do not like heights at all. If you like to be a mile in the air and swinging then you would like this bridge. I did not!
Swinging Mile High Bridge

Grandfather Trail + MacRae Peak
After the Swinging Bridge we started on our hike. There was a lot of climbing but other than that it was a basic hike. Soon we were using cables and climbing ladders. We finally made it to the point where Jade, our dog, couldn't climb anymore. So I went up with Owen, Mr. Mike, and dad. Dad turned around to go back for mom and my sisters when we realized they would be able climb it too. We climbed more ladders and used more cables but soon enough we made it to the peak. I wasn't scared of heights anymore! The hike back was the same thing just going down instead of up.
We climbed a mountain!!!!

I REALLY liked this trip. I learned that I should write down things right after we do them because I forgot somethings. That's why my details aren't so good. I wish I could go back and explore more.

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