Lake Life

We returned to Smith Mountain Lake, VA for a day on the lake this past weekend.  The kids loved tubing last September, and we wanted to take advantage of one of our last summer days to visit one of our favorite places and enjoy lake life once again.  We rented a boat and tube for the day and the kids immediately wanted to get in the water:

Tubing proved to be just as much fun as last time, and the kids spent HOURS being pulled by the boat.  They giggle with glee every time Mark did donuts and pulled them in circles/side to side through the wake of the boat... the bumpier, the better!  

These two are all lanky limbs and long legs these days.

Mommy also went tubing for the first time.  I was not quite as brave as L&L, but it was really fun, and proves that you're never too old to try something new!

We anchored the boat and went swimming, too.  We had biggest splash contests, Daddy did a flip off the side of the boat, and we loved diving into the lake and cooling off:

And just in case everything seems all rainbows and sunshine, I have photo documentation that even a "perfect" day on the lake can be accompanied by teenage sulk.  I'm not sure what was going on here, but I've dubbed this the "Summer of Teen Angst" and have an entire photo series like this:

The Ice Cream Boat was a reason for smiles again, and was the perfect grand finale to our lake day.  We serendipitously found the ice cream boat last year at SML, and this summer, we had a plan to make sure we'd locate it again!  (Website for GPS tracking the ice cream boat's location = happy kiddos!).

We love Smith Mountain Lake and our fun-filled lake days there!

Sky Top Apple Orchard & Chimney Rock

Another one of our August adventures was to drive to Sky Top apple orchard in western NC.  This was our favorite orchard to visit when we lived in Greenville, and is actually much closer to our former SC home than here.  We haven't been back to Sky Top since moving to NC 7 years ago, and we all have fond memories of our annual trips to the orchard.  Mark reminded L&L, "Ahh, yes, Mama always had us go apple picking on 90+ degree days in August when you guys were little...".  Nothing says fall like early apple harvests in the south!

The kids indulged me by posing by the "How Tall this Fall?" sign: 

...and then I almost fainted when I compared the that photo to their last time at the orchard in 2013! 

Thankfully, some things don't change, like the delicious apple cider donuts, which were totally worth the 3 hour drive! 

Donut duo then and now!

We picked lots of different types of apples!  Honeycrisp, Gala, McIntosh, Jonathan, and Ginger Golds were some of the varieties ready in the U-Pick fields:

Leah climbed up the apple tree to reach some of the fruit way at the top:

These kids were professional pickers this year, and we quickly filled up our giant bag with apples:

A fun, new feature at Sky Top was the apple cannon, which blasted apples at targets across the lake.  Both kids loved this!

Leah fed the goats and ducks and I remember her doing this when she was much younger, too!

We also took a hay ride around the orchard.  Sky Top is nestled in the mountains and the scenery is gorgeous:

After a great morning at Sky Top, we planned to visit Sliding Rock, which is a waterfall in the nearby Pisgah National Forest.  Sliding Rock is so named because visitors can slide all the way down the waterfall (60  feet) into the plunge pool below.  However, when we arrived, we found out that it was closed due to recent flash flooding in the area.  Instead, we hopped out of the car to check out Looking Glass Falls, and then drove to Chimney Rock for an afternoon of hiking:

Looking Glass Falls.

Chimney Rock is a 535 million year old monolith and is one of the most iconic sites in North Carolina.  We hiked on trails and climbed 499 steps to its top, where there are 75-mile panoramic views:

 

Village of Chimney Rock below.

We took a different path back down the mountain, and there were several caverns and rock formations to explore along the way:

This was a great way to end our summer before the kids return to school tomorrow.  How I adore family adventures with my favorite people!

Virginia Creeper Trail

 

One of our summer bucket list items was to bike the Virginia Creeper Trail.  This 34-mile recreational rail trail winds through open farmlands and fields, dense forests, and over numerous streams and creeks.  We chose to bike the mostly downhill 17 mile stretch from Whitetop to Damascus, and took the shuttle to Whitetop Station, which sits at 3500' in elevation.  The trail had its beginnings as a Native American footpath and was later used by pioneers and explorers including Daniel Boone.  In the late 1880's, Abington Coal and Iron Railroad Company built a railroad on the trail and many of the 100+ wooden trestles remain.  The nickname "Virginia Creeper" came from the early steam locomotives as they struggled up the mountains, as well as the native Virginia creeper plants that can be found along the route.  

Here are some pics from our day on the Creeper Trail:

Cute signage along the path.

Whitetop Station: our starting point

Much of the trail was shaded and through lovely woodlands.

Numbered railroad trestles along the way.

Railroad trestle.

Stopping to skip stones and explore.

My view for most of the route.

Rest/snack break to check our progress on the map.

We had the best day biking the Creeper Trail and realize that our kids are at the perfect ages for this activity.  It is something we will surely do again in the future, and are thankful that we had the opportunity to make these family memories this summer.