North Carolina- White Water Rafting & Zip Lines

The big event we had planned for this trip was a "Raft & Rail" tour with WildWaters.

We took a site seeing training, almost 30 miles  through the mountains until we got to our drop off point for the rafting.

The train ride was a different experience for us.  I don't think any of us have ever been on a train.

We were in an open box car, which meant we got to enjoy the beautiful weather and scenery.

Fontana Lake

It was lovely.

This was one of the rapids we went down.  No photo from the river, but I have one from the train :)

Then, the big moment came...our trip, 8 miles down the Nantahala River on class II and class III rapids.  The biggest regret I have is not taking my phone or a water proof camera.  I wish I had pictures of our kids enjoying this trip.

More rapids that we got to experience.

We had a fantastic guide, Chris, who was playful and fun.  We enjoyed splashing other rafters (they may not have enjoyed it though, haha) and listening to him tell us about the history of the area and the science behind some of the trees and wildlife.  He was fun and spontaneous as well.  Once, he did a back flip off the raft, just to splash the raft the behind us.  Another time, he jumped onto a log and ran along the bank of the river until he was able to jump back in our boat.  The kids enjoyed his antics.  As a mom, I felt safe under his guidance, because I could tell he was careful as we went through some of the rapids, yet he still made sure we had a great time.  The girls LOVED White Water Rafting, and asked to do it again.  Nathan...well, he survived, haha.  He was cold and happy to make it down the river.  It wasn't his favorite experience, but he also didn't complain.  He just sat there quietly until we were done :)

Chris, chatting with us on our train ride.

While rafting, he mentioned that he was leading the canopy zip line tour the next day and told Jeremy and I we should come.  We hesitated because two of our kids weren't old/big enough to do the big zip lines.  However, the company had a Kids Zip that was perfect for them.  So, we took the bait and went the next day as well.

Listening to their safety speech.

She looks like a natural

This was totally his "thing".  The highlight of his trip.

The kids had an absolute blast!  I was so proud of Nathan because he bravely went first, and never stopped after that!  They zipped for over two hours

We quickly snuck off with Chris, his girlfriend Tracy, and one other couple to the canopy zip tour.  We had 13 platforms and 8 bridges to cross.

It was beautiful and fun!  Chris (and his girlfriend) didn't disappoint us either.  They shared with us their tidbits about the trees and surrounding areas.  We tasted some leaves, and checked out the scenery.

They even took pictures for us of a few of our zips.

I highly recommend Wild Waters for all of your rafting/zip lining needs.  They were fantastic.  When the kids are older and can experience a more intense river, we will be looking them up again.  The Nantahala was perfect for the kiddos and any beginner rafters as well.

North Carolina- Waterfalls

After waking the family at 4:30am, driving an hour to the airport, and then flying an hour and a half into Asheville, NC....our first stop was the house we were renting for a nap.  I think we earned it.

A panorama of Pisgah National Forest

So, after a delicous brunch at Tupelo Honey (seriously...it was yummy and I got something totally weird.  Fried chicken on a stack of sweet potato pancakes.  Divine!), and a nap at the house, we went out on our first afternoon of exploration.

Because we knew bad weather may be coming in the area toward the later part of our stay, we went south into Pisgah National Forrest and drove straight to Sliding Rock.  Well, it was actually quite curvy as we got to experience a portion of the Blue Ridge Parkway as well.

Sliding Rock is really a water fall.  It's a naturally sloping area where the water rushes over the rocks, but has become famous as a natural water slide.  With 11,000 gallons of  50 degree natural mountain spring water pouring over the 60 feet of rock, it was a true adventure.

I volunteered to be the photographer, at least for the first couple of slides.  Jeremy and the kids dipped their toes in the frigid waters, and almost turned back.  Well, I'm pretty sure he had to grab the arms of 2 out of the 3 kids and practically drag them up the side :)

Without hesitation though, Hannah gingerly walked onto the rock, sat her little tushy down in the cold water and went for it.

 A few seconds later, she plunged into the cold water below.  I was so proud of her!   After a breath-taking moment and swim to the side, the quickly scaled the rocks again for another turn.

By this time, Jeremy had a hold of Nathan, and started down the rock, with Nate sitting on his lap.  Of course, this did not keep Nathan from getting wet and falling into the cold water as well.

Nicole eventually followed suit and made her way out onto the rock slide and down into the cold waters below.

If you zoom in on this one, you can see Hannah beaming at Jeremy.

After several turns, it was declared that "fun mom" needed a shot at the rock slide.  I wanted to turn back, however I was determined to be "fun mom" and could not give up so easily.  So, in I went.  The girls wanted to slide with me, and down we went.  As I came up for air, I kept hollering, because I figured if I kept yelling, that meant I was still breathing.  The chilling water truly takes your breathe away!

At this point, Hannah was the only one left...everyone else was getting warm and dry.  So, up we went for one final slide.  I knew as I slid down that this was it for me.  This old thirty-something year old bum wasn't having a fun time on the bumpy rock slide.

Several minutes later, we were laughing together and taking fun pictures.

I love this one of us.  

We knew our vacation had gotten off to a memorable, and fun start.

This is one of the sweetest photos of the trip.

A short drive away and we found Looking glass falls, just off the side of the road.  It was beautiful!

Through Nathan's eyes.

This little rascal said he was taking a picture of me....but look what I found!

This next waterfall was accidentally discovered a couple of days later, but it deserves to be in this post.  We were headed home after a long and fun day when I saw a brown sign (I love brown signs) that said "Soco falls" near Cherokee, NC.  We quickly stopped and I peaked over the fence.  I could hear rushing water and see what looked liked stairs, but couldn't see the falls.  So, of course we got out to see what we could find.

I would probably say that this is the most beautiful waterfall I've ever seen.

We had to "hike" down a sketchy looking trail.  Nathan and I stopped at one point, because I was afraid he would slip on his way down or way back up.  (It had been a scary/stressful day for me...I was almost done 'adventuring').

However, Jeremy took the girls down a bit further...and the pictures are just beautiful!

It was actually two water falls!!

It was fun to see and experience these water falls.

Do I look scared?  I was scared, and stressed from our day of hiking.  My heart say "YES:, my mind says "NOOOOO".