Day 35- on the road again.......

The above 47 pictures are of Lake Lure & Chimney Rock Park, located in Chimney Rock, NC, and Campfire Lodgings, located in Asheville, NC.

Hey Y'all....

Friday was day 35 of walkabout. I left Charlotte at 9 a.m. and headed out to Chimney Rock, NC. This area is in the western part of NC- in the Blue Ridge Mountains- near TN. I arrived in Chimney Rock Park around noon time. This is a privately owned park. The ride up there was beautiful!! The trees were really starting to show their Falls Colors.

Once I arrived at the park- I took an elevator- that had been carved out of the the mountain- up to the Chimney Rock out look. It was a sunny, windy, clear day. The view was spectacular! Up above where I was, there are a path to top of mountain- with 2,000 steps to get up there!!! Needless to say I chose not to go up there! LOL After taking some pictures, I made my way back down to parking level. I noticed there was a 1.5 round trip trail that led to a 404' waterfall. I decided to go to that location. To get to the trail I had to climb down 135 steps! LOL The trail to Hickory Nut Falls was rocky and had a steep incline. The path itself wasn't really wide either!! About 2/3's of the way to falls, I started having breathing problems. I used my inhaler and continued onto the falls. I rested again for a bit once I got there and took some pictures of the falls. There was a family from Knoxville,TN there at the same time. They kept an eye on me for a bit- to make sure I was going to be ok. As I started back down the path I once again had an asthma attack- this time it was real bad. That is when I noticed the black mold growing on the rocks- I'm very allergic to mold!! After many stops to rest and several puffs of my inhaler, I finally made it back to the 135 steps- I was so not looking forward to climbing back up them again!!! But up I went. Just about 1/2 way up I started getting blurry vision & dizziness ( both are side effects of meds). So, I sat down to rest. I was looking up to the remaining steps I had left, and noticed 3 Fire/Rescue personnel and a park employee heading down towards me. When they got to me they said "we are looking for a lady having an asthma attack". I smiled, raised my hand and said that would be me!!!! LOL

Evidently, they were in park helping a guy that had fallen at the top of the mountain. They got him off to hospital and started to leave, when a fellow hiker report me having breathing problems. So they came to check it out. They were all very nice. They checked my lungs & BP. The lungs were clearing up and BP was sky high (another side effect of meds). They asked if I wanted to go to the hospital. I thought to myself if they had reached me 20 mins earlier- I would have said heck yes!!, but at this point I really was starting to feel better. (I don't mess around with my asthma)- I reassured them I was feeling better. I told them I may be stubborn, but I wasn't foolish. We all talked for a few minutes about the mold and my trip....then the fire/rescue people left. The park employee stayed with me until I was ready to make the trip the rest the way up the steps!! LOL

While she waited for me, we talked a bit. She was from GA originally, and had moved to Asheville, NC not to long ago. She then mentioned that she had been up in Boston this past August. She stated that she really liked the area and was thinking about moving up there. We talked about the places she visited while in Boston- Some times it's a small world folks !!! LOL

Finally I got myself back together and we walked up the rest of the stairs. She went on her way, and I made it back to my car.....and boy was I glad that I was finally there!!

I then headed to Asheville, NC to the Campfire Lodgings, where I was going to camp for the night. The road to Asheville was one Mean A** Road!!! It was the tightest, narrowest, winding road I've ever seen!!! LOL LOL There was not one bit of straightness until you got the very bottom of the 3,000' mountain!

I finally made it to the campgrounds around 4:30 p.m. I registered, set up camp,showered & changed by 5:45 p.m.

A pogo friend Steve, stopped by and took me out for some supper, then showed me around the area. After about 2 hrs we came back- sat and chatted, then he left and I headed to bed. ***I had made a change of my plans that night. Originally I was to stay at these campgrounds Friday & Saturday night. But Steve and his wife Johnnie invited me to come with them and their twin (19 y/o) daughters on Saturday. They had plans to go to their camp site/ trailer that next day, and they were staying there until Sunday. So I accepted their invitation! *** I was in bed by 11p.m.

Well folks it's getting late now and I'm beat from the weekend!! So tomorrow I'll write more and post more pictures from the weekend. So until then...Y'All take care of yourselves!!! LOL

Love Donna

SEE PICTURES IN ALBUM #29:http://picasaweb.google.com/Pandadmd5880