State Fair & Blowing Rock

The State Fair was back in full force this year. Last year it was a drive through and was pretty lame. We used to come when the kids were little and we'd have Baylie miss school, but we hadn't been to the real fair in a long time and we'd never done many of the rides. This year I got a package deal that gave us a great deal on the entrance and unlimited rides for the kids.

The kids rode the sky ride and I walked underneath them.

The carnival is so much fun even just to look at. Carnival games are so colorful.

Baylie wanted to do the big rides, but they made Jalen nervous. They compromised.

My silly kids.

I had a hard time finding healthy food, but the turkey leg was pretty good.

Jalen bought a massive bag of cotton candy.

These little ducks were so cute.

And the pig races are always a big hit.

The fair at night is magical.

I was fascinated by the double decker carousel. It was so pretty.

We had so much fun.

Last year we went to North Carolina for Jalen's birthday because he wanted to see snow. We went to a place called Blowing Rock. It was really beautiful, but we knew we wanted to go back in the fall and see all the lights. We figured we were running out of time because the leaves would all have fallen if we didn't get there soon. We decided to go up and back in the same day on the first weekend of November. It was well worth the drive.

The views were breathtaking. 

After Blowing Rock, we went to Grandfather Mountain. We crossed Mile High Swinging Bridge. "The 228-foot suspension bridge spans an 80-foot chasm at more than one mile in elevation." It was terrifying for me, but I crossed it!

David and Jalen hiked up on the rocks on the other side of the bridge. There was no way I could do that. I don't do well with heights and edges.

Baylie and I waited in a safer spot.

On Grandfather Mountain, there is also a wildlife refuge. It seemed kind of pathetic, but maybe they're taking care of sickly animals. I'm not sure.

There were two elk and one of them kept calling out. I had never heard an elk call.

Bald Eagles

Bear (he looked around right after I put down my camera!)

Cougars

Otter

On the drive down, we stopped at Sphinx Rock.

I don't really see the Sphinx resemblance.

We also saw the curve where Forrest Gump runs in the movie.

I thought these jammies in the gift shop were funny.

We realized on the way home that we could have seen just as beautiful scenery without having to pay for Blowing Rock or Grandfather Mountain. You can just pull over to the side of the road and see amazing vistas. Truly breathtaking. Pictures don't do it justice.

We took pictures for Christmas cards.

This is the one we used.

Such a beautiful spot.

The entire drive was like this.

We live in such a beautiful place. We'll definitely make this an annual tradition.