Adventures in North Carolina

Just got back last night from visiting my sister in North Carolina.....

....zzzz.....

....sniff....wha??

Oh...I'm awake, I'm awake. It was a really long drive back home. The way up there wasn't so bad. The girls and I drove together, following my dad, mom and Tabitha. I didn't map out anything because I knew I'd be behind them the whole way. So we decided to drive for a while on Friday night to break things up and stop somewhere to sleep in a motel. We drove to Jacksonville, FL and then up to Brunswick, GA. (Hi Kelli!) Saturday morning, we got up and piled in the cars again after a quick unhealthy breakfast at Mickey-D's. Then it was on to Savannah, GA and up into South Carolina. We passed Columbia and lots of trees before making it to Charlotte, NC.

My sister and her gang just recently moved up there and built a beautiful new home outside of the city. When we pulled into the neighborhood I said, "We're here, girls!!"

Noodle bounced up and down in her seat and cried, "Yea! We're here, we're h.... Does Aunt Tiana live in a hotel?"

I had to laugh, because our cute little house could completely fit in my sister's basement with room to spare, and there are two more spacious floors on top of that. There was plenty of room for everyone, and the kids broke in every square inch of it.

Our visit lasted several days, all of them filled with fun and activity (code for: kids running around like crazy and adults exhausted by the end of the day).

They treated us to a visit to the Discovery Place, a hands-on science and nature museum in downtown Charlotte. The kids had a blast at this place, and I recommend it to anyone visiting the area. It was similar to the Museum of Discovery and Science that we went to back in May in Fort Lauderdale, FL. (See South Florida Trip Part II) Hopers really enjoyed this conveyer-belt thingy full of tiny silicone beads. She ended up spilling a whole bucket full of them on our heads and I walked around the rest of the day (unknowingly) with beads stuck all in my hair. Pulling them out vaguely reminded me of the fat gray ticks my dog used to get when I was a kid. Ick.

We chased the munchkins around for several hours as they oohed and ahhed over the fish tanks and the giant eyeball and the puppet show. Noodle was impressed by the dog skeleton and circulatory system that had been preserved standing up. We watched a presentation of "Rat Basketball" that was fun. The museum trains pairs of rats to compete for a ball, take it through a hoop, receive a treat, repeat. They had a miniature court set up in a 40 gallon aquarium and the crowd cheered with red or blue pompoms for their "team".

The museum also had a play area for the kids to explore with cool water tables and squirty things, dinosaur fossil digging, playhouse climbing, and riding toys. Tabitha enjoyed all things tractor-like, while Nicholas gummed some tasty toys. Nathan and Noodle spent a lot of time in the truck, but Nathan had a bit of trouble staying on the road because he kept getting phone calls.

The next day was even more exciting. We went on a drive to the mountains. I was fine with the ride, enjoying the view from the car window as the fuzzy peaks climbed slowly toward us. But suddenly, the mountain was upon us, and we were careening on a narrow angled road with switchbacks every few feet. (The very same road that Forrest Gump is shown running on during his cross-country jog in the movie.) After about 30 minutes of this, my stomach contents were threatening to escape. When we finally made it to the top of Grandfather Mountain for our picnic, everyone was really glad to be out of the cars...especially Nicholas, who had enjoyed the ride even less than I did, and tossed his cookies all over himself and the window next to him.

It was all worth it though, to get to climb around on the top of a mountain and see virtually miles and miles in all directions. It was extremely cold and windy up there. About twenty-something degrees. Behind me, you can see the cars where we parked.

There's a short walk up and over to a suspended metal bridge aptly named "The Mile High Bridge" because it's literally more than a mile high. My mom was afraid to even get near it, so she held tightly to Tabitha and averted her eyes as we trekked across with 50 other adventurous people (even though the bridge was only supposed to hold 40). From the other side of the bridge, you could scramble up the rest of the peak on rocks covered in ice to see the view. We did not take the kids on this last part because it was unsteady climbing with way too many people jostling around.

Instead, we took turns climbing up and across, hoping that none of the other visitors were going to shove us over the edge.

We left the mountain by a different road, saving our stomachs but taking a lot longer. By the time we got home, it was time to eat quickly and toss the kids into bed so we could have a relaxing New Year's Eve. We watched the ball drop and our eyelids were drooping, but the excitement had only begun. As everyone began climbing into bed for a good night's rest, we suddenly heard the heart-thumping sound of a roaring engine, a loud crash, and tires squealing off into the distance. We ran outside to see that an obviously drunk driver had swerved off the road, churned through my sister's freshly-laid sod (from Thursday), and completely destroyed her mailbox before making it back onto the road and taking off without stopping. The mailbox and post were ornate and made of iron, certainly leaving their mark on whatever vehicle had done the damage, but that wasn't much help for Tiana and Joe OR the police. It was a big mess, with mailbox pieces and sod scattered everywhere. We were now thoroughly exhausted AND angry, but still ready to get in bed.

So on this trip:

I had my first mountaintop experience (though I have seen them before).

Tiana and Joe experienced their first hit-and-run.

Nicholas experienced his first car-sick vomit.

Noodle and Hopers experienced their first mountain adventure, their first visit to North Carolina, and their longest car ride yet. I think it took us about 12 hours to get back home on New Year's Day. That's not to say that we spent the whole time in the car... oh certainly not. I'll let you just imagine how many times we had to stop for 3 adults, a 6-year-old, a 2-year-old, and a potty-training one-year-old to go to the bathroom. We started recognizing familiar bathrooms that we had been in on the way up there.

Happy New Year!