We just can't sit still...

On beautiful Fall days, it is just crazy to sit inside and fill out save-the-date cards, right? So instead of completing this much needed task, we decided to ditch it and go somewhere!

Since I have been itching to go somewhere and wanting to go to the mountains, we decided to take the Blue Ridge Parkway to Maggie Valley.

We planned to grab a bite to eat for lunch in Maggie and head on out to Cataloochee. However, when we arrived in Maggie, which is a small mountain town, we realized that it pretty much closes down in the off season, leaving us very few options for lunch. We were fortunate enough to find  a Subway, so we got our food to go and were on our way!

Cataloochee is around 17 miles from Maggie Valley, however it took us about an hour to go that distance. As we all know, mountain miles seem ten times longer than low country miles, and it did not help that most of the distance was a single lane, dirt road.

We made it and set up picnic in the hay loft of an old barn.

After lunch we just piddled around Catalooche. We visited old homesteads, schools, and churches. This is a picture of the old school.  Thankfully I will be teaching in a school where the desks can be rearranged and there is heating and air! :)

Since it was still early in the day, Justin and I decided to hike up to an old cemetery. We thought it would be a nice leisure walk, just to pass time. We were wrong! It was a short distance, but the hike was difficult. The trail ventured straight up a mountain, leaving us both (being experienced hikers) gasping for air half way up. We made it to the top, expecting to see a graveyard of really old headstones. No. There were four graves, all from the early 1900's. It was pretty anticlimactic.  ( I regret that we did not take any pictures of this strenuous climb, but to be fair, I was too tired to even begin to think about capturing the experience on camera!)

Returning to our car exhausted, we thought we would just head back home since it was 'too early' to see elk anyway. We decided, just for the heck of it, to drive back down to the other end of Cataloochee one last time. Much to our suprise, this is what we saw:

Dozens of elk! I had been to Cataloochee before with my family to see the elk, however Justin had never been! It was pretty neat. We counted between 35-40, we could never agree on a number, you know how that goes! :)

After standing in awe of how gigantic they really are, we decided to head home happy! As we were pulling out of the park, Mr. Papa Elk decided to pose for the camera. There were actually two, one on either side of the road! ( I was a little concerned when we were stopped in the road. However, they seem to be unusually used to the paparazzi!)

We took our time going home.We stopped at this lookout, which is right outside of Cataloochee's entrance. My parents have a picture of me at this same lookout when I was around 6. So, it I thought it neat to stop there again.

Also on the way home, we stopped in Franklin, NC. We just walked around for a little while, enjoying the weather. We then came across one enormous pumpkin! Justin decided that in order for y'all to fully understand the size of this pumpkin, I needed to sit on it to offer up a comparison. I was impressed with it, so impressed I tried to pick it up and take it home.... needless to say I failed! ;)

We made it home right after sunset. We missed most of the sunset, however we were still served with quite a view.

After dark we decided to make a yummy dinner and just relax. It was a perfect way to spend and end a beautiful Autumn day!