A few months ago, an invitation for my cousin’s wedding arrived in the mail. I was in the middle of my “busy season” at work and the summer was starting to drag a bit. After looking over my calendar, I decided that a getaway to the mountains of NC for a wedding seemed like a fine idea.
With the wedding being in Boone on Saturday, we decided to take half days at work on Thursday so that we would have Friday to relax a bit.
Why I decided that it would be “relaxing” to start the day with a 2.5 mile hike that was labeled as strenuous is still a mystery.
At least the payoff was nice and scenic. After returning to the car and sucking down a Gatorade (it was a little hotter than anticipated), we hauled ass down the Parkway to Linville Caverns.
Danny’s sister was randomly in the mountains the same weekend as we were with the kids. We decided it would be fun to hang out with them, which is exactly what we did at the Caverns.
Most of Saturday was spent trying to keep my mother’s head from exploding. She was in charge of catering the appetizers for the wedding and even though everything turned out fine in the end (it always does), it did make for a pretty intense day of work.
My cousin got married in her backyard garden. It was a lovely ceremony and reception. There’s a lot to be said for having a wedding and doing it on your own terms. Major props to Catherine and Chris for bucking tradition and having a garden wedding.
Sunday was a long day that involved Danny and I waking up at 7AM to get on the road back to Wilmington. Even though I went to college in the mountains, that drive never gets any easier. The early wake up and the 5+ hours in the car made me a bit antsy – but, it was worth it to get home in time to pick up Gracie before Dogs at Play closed for the day.
We might try for another mountain trip sometime next year. I forgot how much I missed that mountain air.
