3rd Annual Family Mountain Trip

As many of you know, every year at this time, My Mom, Dad, Jeremy, James and I all take our annual trip to Blowing Rock/Boone, NC so we can find our Christmas Tree. This year was a little different to say the least. The first year we all stayed in a Hotel in Blowing Rock and we literally froze our butts off. I was pregnant with James at the time, so when I say it was cold, it was cold! It was also snowing, which by the way, if you know me, you know I LOVE the snow. Last year My Uncle Dana and Aunt Karen let us stay in their Mountain House in Blowing Rock. It is so beautiful and of course it snowed! Yay! James' first snow experience! Can you say Photo Shoot?!?
This year, My Mom and Dad rented a cabin again in Blowing Rock and my whole family was able to go! I think we were all very excited, that we also knew that again this year there would most definitley be snow. The Forecasters in Charlotte where calling for at least 3-4 inches in the Mountains. That may not seem like a lot to you, but I will explain in a minute or two... Jeremy works a half day on Fridays, so we were the first to leave for the Mountains. Mom and Dad had given us the key, so we could go ahead and get things settled in and get the heat going. It only takes us about an hour to get to Blowing Rock from where we live, so we got all packed up and headed that way. The directions to the cabin we were staying at said to take 221 South and go exactly 10.1 miles. If you know me, you know that curvy mountain roads are not my thing, unless I am the one driving. Anyhow, we start to head up (or should I say down b/c it was South) up the Mountain. At first I thought, well this isn't so bad. Please also keep in mind that I had literally only had Doritos all day and I was starving. We go about 3 miles and here came the curvy roads alright. I recall the conversation...Jeremy looks at me and says "You alright"? Me-"Yeah I'm okay right now", five more miles up the road...Me "Jeremy I don't feel so good" Jeremy "Are you going to be sick'? Me "I don't know" I immediately cracked the window and praise God we reached the driveway when we did. Did I mention the driveway is about 1 mile long-all gravel. We finally spot the cabin, it is absolutely beautiful, but literally sits down in a hole. We pull into the main drive and start unloading. We check out the house, did I mention it is Beautiful? It had 3 Bedrooms, 3 full baths, a Basement, Two Decks...this was going to be a great mini get-a-away. I just know it!
After settling in, we call Chris, Nichole, Alli and Michelle to find out what there dinner plans are. They say they want to go to the Mellow Mushroom. At the time they were just right outside of Granite Falls, so we get back in the car and head down (or should I say up) the dreaded curvy road mountain again. I recall my conversation with God...Me "Dear God, please don't let me puke and please let us make it down/up the mountain safely. Amen" We arrive at the Mellow Mushroom and again call Nichole to find out where they are at. Thank goodness they were right behind us b/c I was about to starve! Mom and Dad were also right behind them. James and I go in and tell the Hostess (who completely ignored me) how many we have in our party. Hostess "That will be about a 20-25 minute wait" Me "That's okay"...so we wait. Finally we are seated upstairs. Yay...we can finally order some food. As we are being seated, we could tell it literally felt like a sana..it's must have been 90 degrees in there...let the sweating begin. Nichole then proceeds to make a party fowl by spilling her beer all over the table. Next was Alli's water and Nichole saying "I think this is a bad omen." The waitress comes and takes our food order and then proceeds to tell us it will be another 30-40 minute wait for our food. By the time we get our food, we could have drove to and from Blowing Rock twice. I didn't care though, I just wanted some food! Man was that pizza off the hook...or it could have been the fact that I was freaking STRAVING! As we leave, again Nichole makes a party fowl and spills her Beer again. This is just the beginning people!
Jeremy, Chris and Dad make there way downstairs to pay our bills....Rude Hostess steps in "The Line is over here." Chris "We are just trying to get out of the way" Michelle my lovely sister who is now also downstairs "BUTTHOLE" she made sure the hostess heard her. Thank God this was after we got our food and not before. We pay and leave. Now off to Food Lion to grab some groceries and back up/down the Mountain. Everyone else unloads and we all settle in. Here comes Alli with her purse and DVD's galore. She decides on Elf and in the Dvd goes. It is now way past James' bedtime, so off Jeremy and James go. I head upstairs a little later and both Jeremy and James are still awake. Did I mention Jeremy and I are planning on sleeping on a full size bed? Let the fun begin. 2:00 rolls around and I have to take a potty break, I look outside and there appears to be about an inch of snow already on the gorund. Yay! How EXCITING! I tip toe back to bed, I don't want to wake James up. Toss and Turn, yep, that is pretty much what the 3 of us did ALL Night. 5:30 rolls around and James wakes up-time to get in the bed with us. Finally after about 30 minutes of laying there I get up and decide to go sleep downstairs on the couch. Yes, Finally 2 hours of sleepy time!
Chris decided to cook all of us breakfast that morning. Yummy, we had a spread. Grits, Eggs and Bacon! I haven't had grits in years! After eating I head upstairs to get ready. I made a mental note that I need to take my antibotic. So, I take a shower and sure enough take my medicine. I am finally ready, so I head downstairs. Great...now I feel like I am going to pass out! Mom and a cold clothe to the rescue! Finally I start to feel better and it is now time to leave. Going to have a fun filled day of shopping while the guys head to the ASU game! NOT!!!!! Did I mention my Dad drove his camaro and it is now snowing again? Jeremy and I load up our car. Mom is riding with us. We have 2 wheel drive. Chris and his gang were in the other. Thank God he has 4 wheel drive. We make our way up the LONG gravel driveway very very sloooowly. At one point, we didn't think we were going to make it at all. Jeremy looks at me and says we may be getting our tree and leaving today. I didn't want to upset Mom, but how were we going to make it up that night, much less the next morning? The closer we get to town the more snow and fog. Mom agrees that her and Dad might have to park at the top of the drive that night and catch a ride with someone else back up and down the drive. Haha-yeah right...
We arrive at the Tanger Outlets to do some shopping-YES!!!! Jeremy again looks at me and says "why don't you stay here and I will have Chris drive me back up/down the mountain and I will go ahead and pack our things so we can leave after getting our tree". Me "okay, I guess" Thank God Jeremy decided to do this. The guys make it back and proceed to tell us that Chris and my Dad are going to have to do the same, as they cannot get the camaro out. It is literally stuck there! You could tell my Dad was not a happy camper, afterall that camaro is now his baby! The guys drop us off, so we can have lunch and so they can pack everthing up. Our weekend long vacation was now coming to a quick end! There would be no getting a Christmas Tree that day either. We all just wanted to leave and get out of this mess! I can at least say Lunch was very good and I got some cute pictures of James out in the Snow! I hate we had to leave early, but sometimes you gotta do, what you gotta do. Hopefully next years trip will last the whole weekend-yes we want snow, we just don't want to get stuck! I think Nichole saying "this is a bad omen" was a sign of things to come. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that Jeremy and I almost got into an accident on the way home. The guy in front of us blew the driver shaft! What an adventerous weekend to say the Least! God was watching over us though and it will be one family trip that I will NEVER forget!