The Mangy Moose

 ****Warning, lots of Pictures****

Brandon and I have been dying for a vacation, a getaway from the ho-hum of daily life.  The opportunity presented itself a couple of months ago when one of our friends called.  He and his fiance had won a 3-night stay at a mountain cabin at a silent auction and invited us to tag along.  Well, this weekend finally arrived and we took off to the Mangy Moose cabin in Banner Elk, NC, which is right outside of Boone and Blowing Rock.  We were so very excited to get out of town, spend some time with some great friends, and get refreshed.  Piper and our friends' dog Bender tagged along too.  The cabin was very interesting and full of taxidermy, complete with bearskin and zebra rugs, a moose and buffalo head, and ducks galore.  There were three bedrooms each with a private bathroom, so it was nice.  

On Saturday we spent the day in downtown Blowing Rock, which is a cute little town snuggled in the middle of the NC mountains.  We shopped the outlets and visited the downtown strip which was full of small boutique stores.  We had dinner at a local restaurant and finished off the night playing cornhole and Wii.  We did have some crabby neighbors who had the nerve to come over and tell us to stop playing cornhole because the bags were too loud, but anyways we moved the party inside.  

Downtown Blowing Rock

Surprised Prairie Dog Face

Bender joining the party

Bender Loves Cornhole

On Sunday we wanted to get outside and enjoy the beautiful sites that the NC mountains have to offer.  We took off to hike Linville Falls.  We hiked two different trails that had 2 or 3 offshoot trails.  It was wonderful to get outside in nature and get a great workout.  The falls were beautiful and we got to see them from several vantage points.  We also hiked to the bottom of the gorge and got to wade through the crisp river water to the falls.  Now, the hike back up was definitely a cardio challenge, but it was well worth it.  After finishing the climb back up we headed over to Linville Caverns and toured the inside of the mountain,which was interesting.  That night we relaxed, ate lasagna, and played board games.  We were so tired and went to sleep early.  We ended the weekend on Monday by grilling cheeseburgers and watching the hotdog eating contest.  It was a wonderful mini-vacation and just what we needed to get rejuvenated.