New River Canoe Trip

A few weeks ago Nick and I were able to escape to the New River to camp with our friends.  Luke sent out an email asking if anyone was interested and it just so happened that most of us could make it just a couple weeks later.  We were so excited to spend time with friends we don't get to see very often.  The weather was beautiful, but a bit chilly for tubing which was our original plan.  So we decided to rent canoes and paddle down the river instead. 

We packed a lunch and headed out.  The river was fast moving thanks to all the rain we had recently.  Our picnic spot was right in the middle of the river- we tied up the canoes and climbed on some downed trees.  

We went with Luke and Taylor and Houston and Sara- such a fun group!

We split up the meals and had great food the whole weekend.  Here is Nick and I cooking breakfast- 

Such a nice way to spend the afternoon!

Building a fire- Charles joined us on Saturday night!

It was the ideal way to spend a Saturday in my opinion- canoeing on a beautiful river with great company! Let's do it again soon!

Five Years

On May 26th, Nick and I celebrated 5 years of marriage!  In some ways it seems like these five years have flown by and yet it seems like much longer.  It is hard to remember what life was like before! While our big five year anniversary trip was to Keswick, UK, we couldn't let the day pass with out a little celebrating.  We decided to head up to the High Country-  Boone, NC.  That is where we met/ fell in love/ got engaged/ got married after all!  It was so special to be back there and we had the best time hitting up all our favorite spots.  I was so sad when I pulled out the camera and realized that I forgot the memory card.  Oh well, iphone pics will have to do.  

We enjoyed a lunch date at Storie Street Grill in Blowing Rock which is where Nick took me on our first date.  We even sat at the same table where we had our first date!

Next we drove into Boone and hung out on King Street.  We grabbed dessert at Our Daily Bread and hit up Mast.  We even drove by the stone house where Nick lived and the yellow house where I lived.  Such fun memories!

We decided to camp along Wilson's Creek in Linville.  Since it is National Forest you can camp anywhere and we found the perfect drive up spot along the river.  We enjoyed the classiest camping meal I have ever had- steak, potatoes, veggies and wine! 

We woke up early on Sunday and Nick got in some fly fishing before we packed up camp.  After a quick stop for breakfast we headed to Banner Elk to try and see the place we got married.  Unfortunately its a gated community and no one was there to let us in on a Sunday morning.

From there we headed to a new state park- Elk Knob.  It just opened a few months ago and it was really well done.  The trail was so nice and it was a great hike with incredible views.

From there we grabbed lunch at one of our favorite places in Boone- Black Cat and had a picnic on campus at Jimmy Smith Park (lol Pat :).

On our way home we drove along the Blue Ridge Parkway.  We stopped at our favorite overlook and took a little nap.  It doesn't get much better than this...