Grandfather Mountain, North Carolina

Mile High Swinging Bridge --as seen from the Blue Ridge Parkway

Have your heard of the MILE HIGH SWINGING BRIDGE at Grandfather Mountain in North Carolina?   It is called a "Mile High" Bridge since it is 5280 feet above sea level.  Both George and I had been here in past years, but never together.  SO--this was our first trip here since meeting one another...

We picked a beautiful, clear day ---but I must admit that it was an extremely cold and WINDY day when we were there.  The temperature was in the low 30's ---but the wind made it feel much much colder.  In fact,  that is the coldest that I think I've been in a long, long time.  We only had on our rain jackets ---and even with my hands in my pocket,  they actually BURNED when I was out there...  We loved it--but want to go back in better conditions!!!!!

There's so much to do there (Nature Museum, Gift Shop and Restaurant,  FUDGE Shop (which I didn't even attempt to go into ),  Animal Hibitats,  Overlooks, and lots of Hiking Trails).... If you ever get a chance, visit Grandfather Mountain!!!!

Today,  I'll only share photos of the BRIDGE ---and will share more from other areas in another blog post.  Hope you enjoy the photos.  Be sure to click on them for enlargements.  Above is a picture we took of the Swinging Bridge from down on the Blue Ridge Parkway. 

Here is a picture of the swinging bridge from the parking lot.  This bridge spans an 80 foot chasm at more than one mile in elevation.  The bridge was originally built in 1952--but renovated in 1999.  The first time I went across that bridge,  it was more like an old-fashioned swinging bridge...  Now--it's much more stable --and doesn't really 'swing'....  But--the neat thing is that the bridge should be called a SINGING Bridge since, when the wind blows,  the bridge 'sings' in the same way as a harmonica.  We loved hearing it SING when we were there.

Here's one of the marvelous views from up there on that bridge.  There are fabulous views from EVERY direction!!!!

Here  it is.... We are THERE....  To walk across or not to walk across?????  That is the question!!!!!!  Will the wind blow me off??????  SCARY!!!!  BUT---you know us!!!!  We HAD to walk across it --even if the wind was blowing at 50+ mph......  Dang---it was some kind of cold though!!!!!

Another view from up there!!! You can see some left-over snow on the sides, and one of the lakes below.

Does this girl look cold???????  I'm here to tell you that I WAS!!!!!  Rain jackets are nice ---but not for this weather.... But---we will go back sometime!!!!

Just to prove to you that I DID walk across that bridge,  George took my photo...  You can't tell in the pictures that the wind was whirling all around --and it truly was COLD....

OH---did I mention that it was COLD that day????? ha ha ha

Here's one final picture of some of the views from that bridge... Aren't they marvelous????  For more information on Grandfather Mountain and the MILE HIGH SWINGING BRIDGE,  click HERE.

Have a fabulous weekend ---and welcome to DECEMBER tomorrow!!!!  (Can you believe it?????)  You had better not be naughty this month!!!!  Santa is watching!!!!  I will see you on Monday.

Hugs,
Betsy

OLD FALLS RIVER ROAD, Colorado

This is part II of our wonderful trip up the  unpaved mountain road (Old Falls River Road) in the ROCKY MOUNTAIN NATIONAL PARK in Colorado, on September 17, 2012.   If you missed Monday's post,  go to the bottom of this blog post and click on 'older posts'...

Monday's post talked about some of the things we saw along that road ---as we drove higher and higher up into the mountains...  I ended that post showing you one picture of some snow on the tops of the mountains.  Luckily,  there hadn't been much snow that night before --so all of the roads were opened that day!  However,  we had shorts on ---and I'll admit that it go colder and colder the higher we went up into those mountains!!!!

The picture above shows us standing on a big rock --with the beautiful Fall Aspens blooming behind us!   George set up the tripod for some photos of us since there weren't many people around that day at all (which we loved).

As we got higher,  we could finally see the  Alpine Visitor Center at almost 12,000 feet UP.  See it up there?

This is what our Garmin GPS said when we were getting UP THERE.  See that elevation????

Here's another picture of the SNOW and our road,  as we got higher!!!!!

George caught me taking a picture of the treeless area --when we got up above the 'tree-line'..  Interesting that there was snow in some areas ---and none in other areas!

BUT---it was very cold UP there on the top!!!!!!  Can you tell?  (The wind was one thing which made it feel so cold.... BUT---I will say this:  It wasn't nearly as cold as it felt the day we went up on Grandfather Mountain, North Carolina,  on Nov. 8, 2012!!!)

I love this picture of George  'on top of the world'.....  Don't you love seeing us with shorts on ---with SNOW behind us????? ha ha

Here's a happy girl admiring the little bit of snow around her!!!!! ha

Here's what the road looked like --looking BACK down the mountain, where we just came from!!!

FINALLY we made it to the top!!!!!!!  It was a GREAT trip ---and I'd do it again and again... IF you ever get to the Rocky Mountain National Park,  be sure to go on the Old Falls River Road.  You will love it!!!!!


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Bay Lee and Brooke at Fall Creek Falls

Here's another photo from our family Thanksgiving week.  This is two of my 5 grandchildren.  The one in white is in college and the other one is is high school... Hard to believe how they have grown up so fast!  They are both such gorgeous and smart young women --and I'm a VERY proud Grammy!

Have a great Wednesday.

Hugs,
Betsy