Sliding Rock and Chimney Rock

Taylor has two friends from VA visiting this week and we took a day trip Wednesday to Sliding Rock and Chimney Rock, NC. We first climbed to the top of Chimney Rock (where the end of Last of the Mohicans was filmed), overlooking Lake Lure. There was a forest fire on the backside of the mountain and a Huey helicopter was dropping buckets of water on it. (Yellow Huey is center of picture here. Sound of "whopp, whopp, whopp-ing" propellers was enough to give even me flashbacks to Vietnam...or at least Good Morning Vietnam. An interesting anecdote on Chimney Rock...it was privately owned and operated for over 60 yrs, until the State of NC purchased it in 2007. The Morse family even installed an 8-story elevator in the mountain in 1947 to increase accessibility.


After our, some would say exhausting (all the girls), hike up Chimney Rock, we drove 30 minutes over to Sliding Rock and were all reminded how cold mountain water is! In this video, Taylor, Brooke and Britney all slide down together. The rock, located in Pisgah Ntl. Forest, has also been taken over by the Park "Service" and now charges $1/person admission. But, they've installed bathrooms, parking area, and observation decks. The long line took about 35 minutes (which we thought we'd avoid on a weekday), so after going 3 times, we walked downstream and found our own mini-Sliding Rock with no line and spent almost as much time there.

Sparr Foundation Award

Dad was presented a plaque at the June meeting for 24 yrs of service as the Secretary and, most recently, the Chairman. He had presented the three other veterans of the board the same plaque at the previous month's meeting, made at a local Virginia trophy shop. Joe, in the photo with Dad, approached me about getting the same plaque for Dad. With Mom's help, we were able to get it and surprise Dad 100%. Herb would be proud, Pop.

Return from camp

Taylor returned from camp on Saturday with funny stories, an admiring boy, and a lot of dirty laundry. We washed all her clothes and packed her up again for her trip to Maryland and San Francisco, which she flies out to on Wednesday.
We celebrated her 12th birthday early at the restaurant of her choice, Olive Garden. She had asked for a metal detector months ago, so we got one from a local White's retailer. She was thrilled, so we were happy. (Her second choice was a real cash register so playing "store" would be more realistic. They were selling on ebay for around $65, but we avoided buying it because she agreed she probably wouldn't want to play with it after she's 13.)
One of the clips below is of an old curmudgeon at church named Jack from Louisiana. He's literally missing an ear and at camp's closing ceremonies, he addressed the kids' rumors.
The second clip is Taylor eating her cake at Olive Garden in a very un-ladylike manner.

Palmetto Bible Camp

AF and I took Taylor to Palmetto Bible Camp Sunday, north of Greenville, SC, about 30 miles. I couldn't resist getting some short video clips as we drove in, as we toured the camp, and again as we left making Taylor wave goodbye. She was thoroughly embarrassed while standing among a group of her friends.
This isn't her first camping experience, but it's her farthest from home. We sent her a care package yesterday of gum, Skittles, and a teen magazine. Her cabin has about 20 beds in it and is the only one with A/C...so 5 female counselors conveniently made it their home for the week too. The kid/counselor ratio is 3:1 and the vast majority are all P.R. members, so Taylor is familiar with many of them. The camp is beside a fairly cold, clear mountain lake, which they swim in, fed by a waterfall visible in the distance above them.


On the trip to camp, we got the impression we weren't in "Kansas" anymore. We had to turn around and go back to the Hillbilly Motorcade Clan #2 because I said, "Kristy would kill me if I don't blog this!" AF agreed, though Taylor was so embarrassed...again. (I think she's entering that stage, but that's ok, because I'm entering the stage where I know she'll appreciate it later.) We came upon a two-man dunking booth in the middle of no-where to raise funds for what we feared later was a KKK affiliated group. Our internet research later concluded they were just Shriners.


On the way home, we passed a sign that I couldn't believe the church founders agreed to as the best choice. Surely there were better suggestions among the organizing committee than "Suck Creek". Oh, and to make matters worse, the church is located near Fingerville, SC.

I'll post again after we pick Taylor up.