Stone Mountain State Park, North Carolina

We went camping for our 25th anniversary in Stone Mtn State Park NC. We've never been there, and didn't know much about it, but picked it based on it's proximity to Mount Airy NC, and it's remote campground. It turned out to be a very nice place. The campground wasn't crowded - always a plus - and it was quiet & peaceful. Our camp site was next to a gurgling creek, and had a nice view of the little valley we were in. While we would have like to have had more shade, we made our own shade with an old tarp we always take along 'just in case.'

Hiking in the park was fun. Beautiful forests, and well maintained trails are always a good thing. (Even tho' the signs were not always clear!) There was a 200' waterfall tumbling down the mountain ~ quite a sight. Blake was the only one brave enough to hike around the entire mountain. (Yeah, the rest of us are wimps.) There was also an old homestead in a meadow beneath Stone Mountain. Rock climbers were scaling the granite walls - what a challenge! I think they were crazy!

We spent some time next to a creek where the boys played. They mostly skipped rocks & just splashed...but Cole always finds a way to totally immerse himself in any body of water.

The Blue Ridge Parkway is beautiful. Every twist and turn of the road brings another stunning view of the mountains, valleys and forests. While the weather that day was a bit dreary, it's still pretty hard to mess up a fabulous scenic overlook of the mountains.






















Around camp we spend a lot of time reading, just sitting around, playing games, and just generally enjoying being together and as well as being lazy. Blake found some blueberries while on our waterfall hike - he enjoyed them in his pancakes.





Blake discovered a GIGANTIC apple tree in the campground. It was absolutely HUGE! We think the little valley where we camped must have been an old homestead - and this apple tree left over from the original farm. We've never seen such a huge apple tree.
























Happy Anniversary....

Sunset

On our 25th Anniversary, the Lord blessed us with an especially pretty sunset. While we know He didn't do this just for us...it's a gift we'll gratefully accept anyway. It's was a lovely way to end a lovely day.

Proof of God's Sense of Humor...

The Fireflies at Stone Mtn State Park NC were incredible!!!! They were the highlight of our evenings. Unlike Georgia fireflies with their slow lazy flights, these lightning bugs were zooming through the air quite fast, and didn't stay near the ground...they were from ground level all the way up just above the trees! And they blinked at a different rate from our GA fireflies - quite bright & fast. It looked like a Disney lightshow in the woods. A totally amazing, God given show. WOW!
We tried to photogragh them...it's hard to do, but you can see the light green lights in these pictures. (Click on the picture for a close up, better view.)

I've always said that fireflies are proof that God has a sense of humor....how else can we explain a critter with a blinky bottom!








Here come real stars to fill the upper skies,
And here on earth come emulating flies,
That though they never equal stars in size,
(And they were never really stars at heart)
Achieve at times a very star-like start.
Only, of course, they can't sustain the part.

Robert Frost

Oh Deer, Oh Deer!

Our camping trip to Stone Mtn State Park, NC included an abundance of deer sightings. When I say 'abundance', I mean abundance! Cole started counting the deer upon our arrival on Monday. By the time we left on Friday morning he had counted 154 deer! Now we don't know if that was the same 10-15 deer over & over, but there sure were a lot of deer in the park. They were quite mellow around people, but still wary enough to be wild. Blake & Ian saw a beautiful 6 point buck (with his antlers in velvet)...but didn't have a camera with them. One deer was very obviously pregnant, and quite bold about begging for handouts. We did our best to obey the park rules about not feeding the wildlife...but did toss some apples out one evening for the deer's enjoyment.



Cole & I walked up to a meadow near our camp & watched the deer. They came out into the meadow every evening before dark. After awhile, they got spooked & ran off. All except one doe who ran in the other direction. So Cole & I strolled over towards the direction she had headed. She was acting kind of weird & very concerned about us sitting on a picnic table watching her. Then we heard it...'meh, mehhhh!' She had a baby fawn hiding in the grass right in front of us! (It was just beyond the pine branch sticking out in the picture.) We saw the grass wiggle & watched the grass 'trail' wiggle all the way back to it's mama, calling to her all the way. It was so new & tiny we couldn't even see it above the grass. I really wanted to see the baby - but it's was pretty cool to hear it.




On Thursday Cole & I were driving back towards our camp after a hike. He spotted another deer just off the road & we stopped to admire her...then Cole realized she wasn't alone. She had her fawn with her! We finally got to see the new baby!!! It was the most precious little thing, all wobbly and bouncing around. We were so excited to see it. We have never seen a new fawn before. We could have stood there all day just watching it, but Mama Deer finally walked away further back into the woods with the fawn bouncing along behind her. What a blessing to see! One of the highlights of our entire trip.
Can you see the fawn!?!

Misc. Nonsense from our Trip

The beauty of digital cameras is that you can take pictures of just any old thing you see, even when it's silly, or stupid, or just plain HUH? You can take a picture just for the fun of it. Here's some of the ??? pictures from our trip to NC.


Ian took a bunch of glowsticks & put them on his bike. Made for some fun pictures & cool ride-bys in the campground!






This Hawg passed us as we were driving home...we got a kick our of the little hawg riding with him. I guess some bikers have a silly side.
























Seriously! WHO DESIGNED THIS THING! THAT'S JUST BAD!!!! So where's the giant Preparation H??






The proximity of this "Fatz" sign with the giant peach butt... What this on purpose???






















The boys got a kick out of Chief's Wings & Firewater....one of their Sunday School leaders is Chief! FIREwater + our friend the Fire Chief = lots of laughs.




Cole has a future business waiting for him!


I didn't know I had a barber shop!


What a bull!!