Autumn in the Mountains {Day 2}

{Psst...if you missed Day 1 of our little camping trip to the Blue Ridge Mountains, click here!}

Thankfully, we didn't wake up as ice cubes on Sunday morning. Whatever the reason (Was Saturday night was warmer than chilly Friday? Did the soup we ate for dinner warmed us up from the inside? Or maybe wearing every stitch of clothing we had with us kept us more insulated?), I could feel my feet on Sunday morning so I knew it'd be a good day. After a hot breakfast, breaking down our tent & packing up, we hit the road & made our way to Moses Cone Memorial Park. I couldn't tell you what Mr. Cone did for a living, but whatever it was, he made enough moolah to build a gorgeous home on a breathtaking piece of land....

Apparently, in addition to hiking the grounds, browsing their "Craft Center" (a.k.a. glorified gift shop), you could also take horse & buggy rides. We passed... but we did enjoy meandering the grounds.

And boy oh boy were those grounds gorgeous...

Our little party of four five (counting Riley!), was a little sleepy and stinky that morning after a long day of hiking & no showers.  Matt was going for the pajama model look & Dave enjoyed "reclining" on a hill. I was smart enough not to let anyone take my photo...

We parted ways at Moses Cone & Matt & I took a short detour to Blowing Rock, NC. I'd been there ages ago with my family, but Matt hadn't ever checked out this charming mountain town. It was teeming with tourists checking out all of the high-end shops (Matt told me "This place is like Disney world for old people!"), so we felt a little out of place in our pajamas....errr....sweats.

Ladies, if you haven't read Jan Karon's Mitford Series, and you're looking for a sweet, heartwarming, engaging read ... pick them up! Mitford is a fictional North Carolina mountain town based on Blowing Rock. This is how I envisioned Father Tim's parish when I read the books years ago...

And lastly, here's my favorite Blowing Rock photo... Love the fall colors!

After our quick trip to Blowing Rock, we were fortunate enough to get to meet up with our friends, Kevin & Lara, who moved to Boone this summer from Durham. We were in small group together at The Summit, and we were sad to see them move, but also equally excited for them. They are both App State grads and they were itching to head back to the mountains. Can you blame them?!

After a delicious lunch at a funky, burrito place (can't for the life of me remember the name...but it was yummy...Matt had the "white trash" burritto and I had some sort of Jamaican Jerk variety) , they graced us with a tour of App State. What a great campus! Sadly, I forgot to take a photo with our friends... probably good not to have a photo of us, but those 2 looked like they walked out of a Banana Republic catalog! A darling couple...Sorry for my forgetfulness!

Although we probably missed the height of the fall coclor by a week or two, the campus had a few vibrant trees...

After saying goodbye to Lara & Kevin, we hit the road to head back to Chapel Hill. About 20 miles west of Winston-Salem, we made a split second decision to pull off the highway and say "hi" to our friends, Carson & Nicole, & they were kind enough to allow us to swing by at such short notice. They even fed us! What awesome friends! I already shared one cute photo of Liam, but here are some other faves. Can't get enough of that boy!

So there you have it, friends! Our whirlwind weekend in the mountains...Thanks for reading along!