A Polar Plunge

I loved a recent article in the Blue Ridge Outdoors by Will Harlan titled Polar Barely. He describes taking part in a different New Years event called the Polar Bear Swim. You swim out 50 meters and back into a mountain lake on the first day of the year. He describes the people, the physical challenge and the exhilaration he felt. This article is delightful, check it out at blueridgeoutdoors.com.

I also saw a recent episode of the Bachelor where the dotting ladies took a plunge into an icy lake in Montana. If you feel drab from winter you have a couple more chances this year to take a polar plunge!

Appalachian State University in Boone, NC will hold its 14th annual plunge at the campus Duck Pond on Feb 16th, 4PM.  You can register up until 3PM.  The $25 entrance fee is to help support the Watauga County Athletes.

Lake Lanier Islands Resort in Buford, GA is having their 4th annual Polar Plunge on Feb 16th also! First they will have a costume contest on the beach from 1- 1:30PM.  Then at 1:30PM there will be a safety briefing and plunge time will be at 2PM.

Happy plunging!

Long-Haired Goat

Boy, oh boy!  You never know what you're going to find around these curvy roads!

The other day it was a long-haired goat posing for me on a rock...

Even his friends weren't camera shy!

Go App!!

 Best weekend ever!! Why, you ask? Because it was...

Parent Weekend!  Football Weekend! See our daughter, Lydia, Weekend!  Anyway you look at it, it was a Great Weekend!



We headed out Saturday morning for Appalachian State University, Lydia's home away from home.  We saw so many beautiful sights as we rode the 
 high roads.  It was questionable weather with clouds hanging owe the mountains.  I told my Mountain Man, Rick, "Our daughter is getting an education in the heavens."

When we arrived in Boone, we had time for a little lunch and we were off to the game!  It was so exciting!  Our first college game!

Leaves were beginning to change.  The sun was shining bright, showing off all the beautiful fall colors in the scenery.  The weather turned out to be perfect.

Walking to our seats, Mountain Man Rick, (my Hubby) was checking out how the score boards were turning out with all the college teams.  App is definitely up there!  They are doing well so far. :) 


There was so much excitement in the air!  Almost everyone was in their team colors and really into the game.  The students were dressed in some of their best attire to support their team. Tee-hee 

Here were some more of the "Happy Apper's". :)












We had a little time to spend with Lydia's friends after the game. 









We had such a blast and can not wait to go back!

My Three Words!

"Feel The Trail"

"Take A Hike"

"Life Is Good"

"Appalachian Living Rocks!"

"Bike The Parkway"

Your Three Words has become a popular segment on Good Morning America.  Today is a special on GMA about "Your Three Words: Around the World".  We wanted to capture a few "Your Three Words" here in the Appalachians!  Catch the fever!  What are "Your Three Words"??  We would love to know!

P.S. Thank you SO much for the sweet people who participated in this blog! :)

Scuba Diving in the Appalachians

Labor Day weekend is coming up and if you are looking for one adventure before the summer is over I want to tell you about a surprise I found in the S.C mountains!  A dive shop!  Yes, a dive shop!
Mountain Man (my husband) and I took a drive to Lake Jocassee and stumbled upon Lake Jocassee Dive Shop.

We found Lake Jocassee itself to be a quiet, clean, and crystal clear with updated facilities and boat ramps.  It had a nice beach (it was early and only the birds were out), with canoes, and picnic tables.  It was beautiful and inviting.  Unfortunately, because it was so early in the morning it was really hard to capture just how clear this lake is.

When we saw the dive shop, I must admit, at first we were surprised and skeptical .  We stopped with intentions of getting a brochure and taking some pictures.  When we ran into Brandon and Dan who work there, they turned our skepticism into curiosity and told us some really cool facts!  The lake holds a treasure.  The Lake Jocassee Dam was built in 1973 to create Lake Jocassee.  The lake actually covers an abandoned town site and valley.  They created this dam to power a generator to turn turbines to make electricity for surrounding areas and also a recreational area.

The lake is fed by cool, crystal mountain waters that make a great place to see the town below.  On the dives you can see old buildings, cemeteries, and lots of fish!  Yea, I'm sure the fish would be the first thing on your mind, not dead bodies...   But rest assured, there has never been any dead bodies floating from the cemeteries. :)  The dive shop has the suits, gear, boats, and knowledge to take you and your friends on an adventure you will be talking about all the way into fall.   I found Brandon and Dan very knowledgeable and fun.  Check out their site and make plans!

Also, Debbie Fletcher has written a book about the the land that was flooded to create Lake Jocassee. Check it out!

Lake Keowee & the Appalachian Tarzan

We had the wonderful opportunity to enjoy a house on Lake Keowee belonging to our sweet friends Leonard & Veronica.

Leonard & Veronica :)

It was a beautiful log cabin style house big enough for all our family and some friends to stay.  While the house was spectacular, the lake was adventurous!  Everyone seemed to have their boats out! There were pontoons, kayaks, speed boats, and fishing boats everywhere you looked.  Good thing Lake Keowee is so big!

We speeded around the lake for a while letting the kids (I call them kids, but they are fully grown) be towed behind the boat in whatever fashion they would like.

This is my son, Vince, knee boarding.  The cabin to the left is our friends and the house to the right is a well preserved historic home from the 1800's, too cool!

Lydia, my daughter, the youngest of the bunch.

We stopped at the community waterfall that flows into the lake.  The water is nice and cool and attracts quite a few people.

Here he is Ladies & Gentlemen, I give you, Appalachian Tarzan

From there we had to go to the ever so popular 3 story high rock face. People like to show off their bravery by climbing up the rock and jumping off into the lake.  It is here that we met the one, the only, Appalachian Tarzan.  This guy apparently didn't think that the rock was high enough for him so he decided to climb up on this twig (not near enough support as I would insist on having), as you can see in this picture, to get a more suitable distance between him and the water. The video below shows just how crazily high he was!

 

 Here are a few other random pictures of my family!

Cale, my oldest son and his son, Heath, as Heath contemplates how he is NEVER getting in this large body of water.

Me, Ricky, & Becca, my Granddaughter.

                                                         
To the left is Bailey, my furry grandchild. My son, Vince, & his wife, Michelle, would be devastated if I did not share any pictures of Bailey, their only child.  Shes a cutie!

Butterfly Trails & Sugar Cookies

One of the treasures of living in the Appalachians is living along the migration path of the Monarch Butterflies.  Monarchs are not able to withstand the cold winters of most of the United States so they migrate south and west each year to Mexico and Southern California.

Some of the eastern migration travels along the spine of the Appalachians from Virginia to Georgia from the middle of September and continues on for a few weeks.  If you live around Asheville the best place to see these creatures in their travels is Wagon Road Gap which is close to the Inn @ Mt. Pisgah.  For a map of the area click here, Mt. Pisgah is located at the bottom of the map.  It is the opportune time to get the Monarch Mumbles and talk about this cool event to your kids, share with neighbors, or talk about around the water cooler at work! 

A friend of mine was able to capture photographs of Monarch's on her butterfly bush at home in Candler, NC.

I saw this idea for Butterfly Cookies at the craft store and thought it would be the perfect celebratory creation for kids.  It would be ideal for a fun and budget friendly gift.

Make a Butterfly Cookies Gift Bag!
Supplies you need:

• Sugar Cookie Mix
• Colored Sugar Crystals (any other lovely decorative ideas you might would like to pitch in)
• Cookie Cutter
• Bag
• Simple Direction List (tells the lucky recipient what the bag and its ingredients is all about)
• Flower & Ribbon (to decorate bag with)
  

As an example, this is the Butterfly Cookies Gift Bag that I put together. :)

Have fun!!