Casey and I departed from dreary Blacksburg on Friday afternoon and drove several hours through random little towns and past plenty of dilapidated old barns. We stopped to chat with some suspicious cows, saw a beautiful snow covered mountain that could've come straight out of Narnia, and dropped in on a little pet boutique where we met an adorable puppy and a little gray cat. Otherwise, the drive itself was uneventful. We listened to music - of which we had many choices: country, gospel, country, christian rock, country, or gospel - and settled on some good old country.
We arrived in Linville and found the cheap little motel/lodge without difficulties. The owners were sweet as could be, and the room, although far from fancy, was not a bad find for twenty-five bucks a piece.
The owner sent us in the direction of a place to eat (of which there were few) and we found ourselves a half mile up the road in a restaurant that boasts the claim of being in three counties at once. The food came quickly, and was edible and cheap, so we were satisfied. That is, until the waitress made an offhand comment about the 7 inches of snow that the town was expecting overnight. Ensue panic. Casey tried to keep me calm, while I blubbered on about getting stranded in the middle of nowhere (three counties worth of nowhere) and missing my lab practical on Monday. I called my mother (because, whether I want to admit it or not, my mother is still my main source of sanity when I have a freakout moment) and she and my dad both laughed at me, which proceeded to calm me down just a bit.
At about this time, Casey started to panic about his friend and his friend's friend who were still MIA.
Fortunately, all the panic was for nothing because the friends did manage to arrive (albeit 3 hours late) and upon waking up the next morning, there was but a dusting on my car that Blacksburg has taught me is not worth a worry.
We set out for a little day of hiking and were not disappointed with the views. Each hike was short (which put me in a nice little mood), but the payoff was outstanding. We saw a waterfall, the magnificent Linville Gorge, and got views of Table Rock and Hawksbill Mountain, which we climbed later in the day. The trail to the peak of Hawksbill looked like someone had come along before us, dumping bags of crushed ice all along the trail. In reality, we think that an ice storm had come through earlier, coating the leaves of the trees, and eventually falling onto the path below. The views at the top were great and definitely worth the short, but steep ascent. The best thing? The face of this mountain was perfect for exploring. The worst thing? Casey, and friends all proceeded to explore and disappeared for a good thirty minutes at which point, I began to overreact and panic, yet again. Oops. Turns out they were alive, so all was good. Overall, a pretty fun trip and my butt isn't even sore today.
