A long weekend in the mountains to see the fall foliage

A long weekend in the mountains to see the fall foliage

DSC_8202I’ve been wanting to take my family to the Asheville area to see the changing of the leaves & for Nick & Alexis to see where I spent my college years (theirs was in Gainesville). Plus Nikki knew the only way to get me out of my shop for more than 1 day a week was to get me out of town.  I mentioned to Nick & Alexis a couple of places I wanted them to see & they arranged everything else including the plane flight, rental car, great places to eat & a really nice place to stay in Black Mountain.DSC_8041Not only are they my tech support, but our travel agents as well. When Nikki & I were in our early years of marriage we were involved with an organization called Young Life which is a ministry to high school students. Young Life has camps all around the country & one of them is  Windy Gap located just outside of Asheville where every December we would accompany a large group of Florida kids & let them experience snow skiing, most for the first time.DSC_8004

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The next day we headed up to Mt. Mitchell (driving, not hiking), the highest point east of the MississippiDSC_8147

DSC_8218It was a very clear day &, needless to say, the view was stunning & the fall colors were at their peak. We were now ready to do a little hiking so on Saturday we visited Chimney Rock & made the 3/4 mile trek over to the water falls. DSC_8287

DSC_8272Chimney Rock is quite an iconic place to climb, but of the 4 of us, only 2 were up for the many steps it takes to get there (if it was Nikki & I, we would still be climbing).DSC_8361

DSC_8377We flew back to Orlando on Sunday, but first got to visit my alma mater, Montreat College, before we departed.DSC_8394

It’s always  special to spend time with family & enjoy the different areas of our great country. For more information on the benefits of travel, check out this great article.

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