Each February Hensley's school as an academic break. A week off to rest and spend time with family. We usually try to plan a little getaway but Andy ended up having a lot of time off in January this year because of some COVID shut downs at work. So during this week he was out of town in Oklahoma.
So, Hensley and I planned a little day trip with our friends to do something we haven't did before. SNOWTUBING!
I researched a few places in our area and we decided on Hawksnest in Seven Devils, NC.
We invited our sweet friends, The Denson's and Hensley's good buddy Charlie.
Charlie had a sleepover with us the night before the trip and let me tell you! A sleepover with two 12 year old boys is very interesting. They want their privacy and push the limits with music and YouTube videos but at the end of night they both ended up cuddled up in my bed with me. It's a weird and confusing age for all.
The trip the next morning was about 2 1/2 hours so it wasn't too bad. Our reservations were at 12 noon. We grabbed some breakfast on the way there and Charlie grabbed a quick nap!
We arrived just in time and got all suited up! These poor kids had enough layers and warm clothing on they could have survived a blizzard.
After we got all checked in we could watch the morning group finish up from the observation deck. It was BEAUTIFUL! Hawksnest is located in between two mountains and it was really breathtaking in person.
The boys were already planning out which hills to conquer first!
These boys have been the greatest friends since kindergarten and I love their sweet friendship.
And because of their friendship, I got the honor to call this lady my friend. She is the genuine and sweet and literally the greatest friend.
Before we knew it, it was our turn to hit the slopes!
The greatest thing about all this sledding was that each hill has its own conveyer belt to ride you and your tube back to the top! It was a dream!
I didn't take too many photos because we were busy having a blast! Some of the hills allowed you to strap your tubes together with friends and all go down together. It was seriously the best time!
They had photographers around the property taking photos and I was so glad they did!
We also ran into our sweet friends, The Hudson's! The tickets were sold out before they could get some in our time slot but we got to see them for a minute before we headed out.
We were beat after 2 hours of snow tubing. We learned a very valuable lesson. Wear 50 percent less clothing then you think you will need. We were sweating and sheading layers by the time we left!
We had lunch at a local barbeque place (which was amazing) before heading to do some gem mining.
We ran into a little issue finding a gem mining location open because of COVID and it was during the week. We soon realized most of the outdoor places only open during the weekends. However, after a quick Google search, we found a place! And it ended up being the perfect place! It was inside, which was nice, and the staff was astonishing.
We ended up at Doc's Rocks and I highly recommend it if you are even in the Blowing Rock area!
The boys ended up with a ton of amazing rocks and arrowheads. We have been gem mining before and usually the staff are just there to help with the buckets but here we met an awesome young man who sat us each down after mining and talked us through each rock. He knew where every one came from, how they formed and interesting facts about them. It was the highlight of the experience. The boys loved it. I have never seen a more knowledgeable, funny and personable person as he was about these rocks and gems. You could tell he loved his job!
This trip was a perfect way to spend a day on academic break. We will most definitely return next winter with Andy and our friends.
