Making Memories in the Mountains

Over the years I would often wonder what people enjoyed so much about going to the mountains. Call me naive, ignorant, whatever you will. I just couldn’t understand, with kids especially, why you would go and what on earth would you do.

Being in the middle of no where with small children seemed like a nightmare to me. Kids bored to tears asking ‘what are we going to do’ a thousand times a day was not my idea of a family getaway or any level of what I would call fun.

That was then…As Andrew and I have had the great privilege of taking our kids to the mountains three times now this fall, each trip has been more wonderful than the last. We’ve had different destinations, different reasons for going, thus making each adventure totally unique.

This past week we were doomed to quarantine like so many have had to do over the last ten months. Once again we were stuck at home doing school, playing and trying not to make each other go completely bonkers. Some sweet friends of ours who have a mountain house in Blue Ridge, GA found out that we were quarantining so they reached out and told us to go isolate at their home in the woods. {We all tested negative, FYI}

The kids were thrilled with the prospect of going to the mountains again because to them the mountains meant hiking through the woods because that’s a lot of what we’ve done so far on our little trips.

We packed our bags quickly and hit the road Saturday morning to make the trek across South Carolina into the north Georgia mountains. The closer we got to the house, the more beautiful the scenery became. The Toccoa River snaking her way around the mountains, cows and horses dotted the green landscape. Trees just past their Fall-colored prime and the clouds resting just below the peaks of the mountain tops. Ah, this is why people come.

The scenery. The peace and quiet. The sounds of the birds and the rooster crowing in the woods. The slower pace. The not-having-to-rush-around doing all the things. The adventure of the unknown in the forest. The discovery of new things and places and people, and being with my people.

I get it now.

So far we have hiked, roast marshmallows and made s’mores, carved pumpkins, sat by the roaring fire and read books, eaten out at new restaurants, mined for gems and gold, and met a few of the neighbors. I guess you could say it’s been everything I hoped for and more.

I’ve heard it said that the best memories are made in the mountains, and while I’m not yet fully convinced of it…we are well on our way to finding out.

Until next time…