Last week the kids and I headed to the mountains of North Carolina for a MINI event called MINIs on the Dragon (MOTD). This was the 10th year for the event, but my first year attending.
The scenery was so beautiful in North Carolina. So many of the views looked like something from a postcard!
We stayed in Fontana Village Resort – he’s a photo of the cabin we shared with 6 of our Orlando area friends. The banner on the front says “MINIs Of Orlando” with our MOO cow logo.
Thursday we went on a hike up a mountain where we saw lots of waterfalls and wildlife. This hike was by far my favorite part of the whole trip.
It was so peaceful here.
We had lunch by the stream: turkey wraps and apple slices. Yum.
I was NOT in support of Logan making this jump… but you know, boys will be boys.
Logan found a small fuzzy friend along the trail.
We took turns holding him.
Of course there’s always time for sword fighting.
The hike included several bridges like this one. Eek!
On Friday we went horseback riding up the mountain. It was fun, but sometimes a bit scary. There was one time my horse jumped up to higher ground and almost fell, that was before we even started up the mountain! And another time near the top of the mountain my horse leaned over the edge of the cliff to eat some leaves off a bush. I thought we were going to go right over the edge. I really saw my life flash before my eyes.
The view from the top was nothing short of amazing. I wanted to get some better photos but 1) I was afraid to take my good camera out of my backpack, and 2) None of us were able to control the horses enough to park them in a photo-worthy spot overlooking the mountains, haha! The people on the horse behind Logan are our friends Debbie and Emma (they live in Orlando too).
After horseback riding we went to a little town called Sylva where Logan got a haircut.
On our way back from Sylva we stopped at a scenic overlook and used the timer feature on our camera to snap this photo. The family we hung out with today is in this photo: Debbie, John, and Debbie’s girls Carolyn (9) and Emma (6).
The boys were chosen for a photo shoot with David Troy – David was contracted by Via Marketing company for an ad campaign for MINI. He took several photos of the boys inside the MINI (showing how it’s a family-friendly vehicle), and also photos of the 3 of us outside of the car.
Saturday morning we all lined up for a panoramic group photo which included over 200 cars.
The drive back home on Sunday was a long one, but Jacob did a great job finishing his homework…
… and then zonking out.
The trip was super fun and we hope to visit North Carolina again someday. Next time I’d like to try white water rafting and kayaking, and Logan would like to try zip-lining.