Sunday, October 27, 2013

Girl plans, God laughs


We have been planning a backpack trip in the mountains with our friend Corky and his brother Tim for weeks and weeks. I trained for this trip! Last weekend while Wesley was home, I got my pack all packed up and went for a trial run in the neighborhood to make sure I could still carry a 30 pound pack. It just so happens that walking hills four miles a day for three months will indeed get you in shape to carry a pack! I was really happy with myself, I felt strong and ready for this trip. Here I am 14 pounds lighter with a heavy pack, yeah! I had even prepared my head mentally for a cold trip and I was good to go.

Then, Tuesday just before we were to leave for our week in the woods, I woke up at 5am with a fever, vomiting, aches, and that other vile stuff that comes along with a bug. WTF! I was so ready for this trip. We had spent the prior week planning and packing and getting ready. There was nothing else to do but cancel our trip. Tim and Corky went on without us......

Tuesday night around 10:30 my fever broke, and like a light switch, I felt better instantly. I have no idea what I had, but all of a sudden I was fine. We got up Wednesday, I felt really good and Gerry wasn't sick, so we decided that since we were all packed up, we should go somewhere and camp. We were hesitant to go into the backcountry in case I had a relapse or Gerry got sick, so we headed to our favorite place to camp, Julian Price park. Since the temps were in the low 30's there were very few people there and we had the back camp area to ourselves. We had down sleeping bags that were cozy and warm and we (this is pitiful) had an iphone and my ipad with Gerry's verizon wireless thingy, so we crawled into our bags, listening to the sleet hit the tent, and we watched Weeds on Netflix while we texted Wesley instagram photos of us. I scorn this type of behavior most days, but it kept my mind off of the sleet and the 30 mile an hour winds and the fact that I might throw up again at anytime, so I went with it!


We woke to a very cold morning, but the sunrise we saw was magnificent and the wind had calmed long enough for us to have some coffee and pack our camp up. We heard snow was coming and Gerry had a voucher for a free night at a Marriott, so a room in Boone was looking pretty good for the second night out.


We hiked around Price Lake, we hiked around Linvile Falls, we hiked and we hiked. We rode around on dirt roads back in the hills, we drove down to Linville Gorge, we ate well, we laid down on the ground in the sun, we dreamed about a house on a piece of land we found for sale.... we hid from the world.


The fall colors were beautiful. We saw the snow fall on Grandfather Mt., we breathed cold mountain air. We were well.


While riding around on some of the back roads, we came across this piece of land for sale near the parkway. It is remote but convenient to towns and backs up to National park land. Now, let me see how we can make this dream a reality!



The right technical gear can make a cold weather camping trip much more manageable. We have down jackets, down sleeping bags, a good tent, and a jet boil stove that has a french press attachment for coffee! There is nothing like a cold sunrise in the mountains with a cup of fresh pressed coffee. All was right with the world at that moment. The light on the yellow leaves was golden against the snow clouds that were forming in the sky. The air was fresh and clean, the leaves crunched under our feet. A perfect morning.


The night at the Marriott paid off. We woke up to an inch of snow on the ground and a very cold early winter morning in Boone. We spent the day in Boone shopping and eating chili and then drove back through Winston Salem just in time to take Wesley out to dinner and catch up with her.
Life is good!


Corky and Tim went on with their trip and had a fine time as well. We missed them and worried about them, hoping they were getting better weather than we were. They were a few miles back in the woods without a car and hotel close by like we had.
We are already planning a spring trip. Hopefully without snow and vomit!

ps: my camera batteries died early on, so I shot some of these pics with my ipad and then emailed them to myself the wrong way, so yes, some of the photos are shite! sorry! Gerry did an instagram documentary of our trip, maybe I can get that posted at some time.


9 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'm sorry you were so sick, but your unplanned trip sounds just grand- one that you will remember! Way to roll with the punches

cookingwithgas said...

Tracey, you have let go of more than those pounds. You, are lighter in so many ways.
What a great time made for the better.

smartcat said...

The best laid plans of mice and men.......! Glad that at least you got a bit of camping in and that the temp-whatever-it-was was fleeting!

You and yours are a cut couple no matter the age!

Dennis Allen said...

Girl plans, God offers an alternative ! Maybe laughing maybe not. Sounds like a fine weekend.

Laura Farrow said...

you look stunning Trace.

Lori Buff said...

Sometimes we just have to go with what we are given, thanks for the reminder. I'm glad you're feeling better.

Tracey Broome said...

Awww, thanks you guys!

Sandy Miller said...

Nothing says tent camping like snow and vomit in the same paragraph! LOL! been there...... the joys of a jet stove and ceramic water filter are the best!

Brilliant on the hotel........

you guys look grand!

and Linville Falls, haven't been there since our honeymoon! We have so many pictures, so pretty. so many memories........ thanks haven't heard Linnville Falls in a many years.

Tracey Broome said...

Haha, I know, right? I went camping/hiking twice when I was pregnant with Wesley, threw up all night both times, ugh.
Linville has not changed a bit in the thirty years I have been going there, thank goodness, it would still look just like your photos to you.