Before we all head out different directions for a month we decided to do a family weekend getaway in nature. So, 3 hours of driving north and Bryson City, NC it was. We got lost on the way to our Airbnb b/c it was on the top of the mountain – and yeah I navigated us thru 20 miles of serpentines. Of course, the only person who got queasy was me because I was the one staring at the phone, navigating. The bassets, always nervous wrecks in the car, were whining and Ruby decided to jump the ship from 3rd row to 2nd row to protest. Wild expedition so far.

Our house was on a top of a mountain, literally in the middle of nowhere. The kids started joking on Sandman and quoting some B movies on serial killers because that is how we want to start our vacation – that kind of image. They got quiet very quickly when we parked and Lucas spotted a black widow with eggs right on top of the entrance door – welcome to nature city people – bugs rule here. Nature 1, City people 0.

Our major event of the weekend was the white water rafting trip. I have done rafting 2x – once in New Zealand – the highest commercially rafted waterfall on Kaituna (7m Tutea Falls) and once on Ocoee river in Tennessee which was rapids grade 5 by mistake – the Olympic route. Both were a little scary so I was super cautious with the choice of our trip. Safe to say we didn’t rock the boat with this one – the 2 hours on the river was enjoyable and rather calm with splashing – water was freezing (40F) and my back and feet were hurting from the odd side position we were tensing up in (since I was expecting something wilder constantly). The Nantahala Outdoor Center did an awesome job though putting all of this together – highly recommend.

We spent most of the weekend around the house as it took us 20 mins to get anywhere through the windy roads again so didn’t want to risk car clean up. We played corn hole, Cranium, Connect 4 and watched Euro 2020, used the hot tub, celebrated Father’s day. The quietness of the nature was super calming. We didn’t sleep much as the bassets were total nervous wrecks and their nails were super loud on the floor throughout the night as they looked for their bed or cushion or couch. Walking dogs in dark, webby and woody mountain at 4 am is not as much fun as one would imagine. #spoiltdogs #citydogs. Our one attempt to go for a hike failed as the dogs were not allowed on the trail which I find very very odd. Nature not gelling with the domesticated nature? Seems like the kids and the dogs were a bit relieved though 🙂

Bryson city was a small town with lots of ice creams hops, bear souvenirs (which I desperately looked out for) and limited restaurant choice (maybe covid impact). So remote getaway it was – now everyone is off for weeks at a time and we all reunite in August.