Making Memories

The switchback to The Mile High Bridge on Grandfather Mountain

Grandfather Mountain

Ahhhh the sweet savour of victory.  During what I now call phase A of recovery, I started working on deep-seated fears which had controlled my life since childhood.  One of which was the fear of heights.

As I've said I've had a close relationship with my cousin in North Carolina which revolves around close communication.  At some point, I had looked up this bridge, the Mile High Bridge at Grandfather Mountain, and decided that I wanted to conquer it.

It's not really what it sounds like.  The ground is not a mile below the bridge.  At it's mid-point, the bridge is a mile above sea level.  But it is definitely a challenge, as it is high - and it sways.

The first thing on my agenda when I reached the safety of my cousin's arms in North Carolina was to tackle this bridge.

We made our plans and away we went with water, snacks, sun hats, walking sticks, sensible shoes ... and cameras to record this momentous occasion. Which was made more momentous for both my cousin and myself due to a chance encounter with a young woman and her husband.  As we walked toward the bridge, we noticed this young woman (standing behind us on the bridge with her husband) obviously having a hard time.  We spoke to her saying that we were both scared too but we were working on conquering our fears and we figured that if we could do it, she could.  We didn't realize at that point that she was with her husband so we invited her to walk across the bridge with us.

She did walk across the bridge.  With her husband.

Adventurous souls
who climbed the pinacle of the mountain

We did not make the trek up to the pinacle where these "wee" people were which I would have liked to.  Even with sturdy shoes and hiking sticks, since the path was narrow, rocky and had nothing to hold unto, neither of us felt that it was in our bests interests.

Next Stop:  Linville Falls

We made quite a day of it.  After Grandfather Mountain, we journeyed on to Linville Falls, a place my cousin had been to and wanted to share with me.  You see, she was on her own journey at the time.  A journey to lose weight.  She had chosen walking as her exercise of choice.  At the time of our memorable visit, she had lost approximately 100 pounds.  She told me that when she started walking, she could only do five minutes or so and had gradually built up over time to an hour? or was it more.

It was a hot day in June in North Carolina.  As we roamed around the paths, we received comments ranging from others either on our sunhats or our walking sticks from people wishing they'd thought to have one or the other or both with them on this hot, sunny North Carolina day

This last picture is one of my favourite stories, one which makes us both laugh at the retelling.  At a whopping 5 ft zilch, I tower over my shorter cousin who is 4 ft 10 in.  She had walked on this short wall to avoid a puddle and then realized she couldn't get down so she called me over.  Me being me thought she was presenting a photo op for me to take advantage of.  Thus the photo.  Eventually, she was able to communicate that she needed a hand down, not a photo.  Oops!

Heading Home Via the Blue Ridge Parkway:

We, or rather my cousin who was the "designated" driver, decided to return to Winston Salem via a different route:  the scenic Blue Ridge Parkway.  I had heard about the Blue Ridge Parkway but had never been on it.  I had no idea of what I was missing.  (For more information about the Blue Ridge Parkway click on the link.)

I had no idea what I was missing until we were driving along with vistas of the Blue Ridge Mountains spread out before me.  There are many places to pull over, rest and take pictures.

As you can see, my cousin and I did just that, that day.

As I said, it was a long day, crammed to the brim with adventures - especially since we got lost on the way home.

Yet it was a fulfilling day.  A day in which memories, lasting memories, were made which even now help in the recovery process.