Travis Dew Photography Blog: White Water Falls....in North Carolina

Friday afternoon I checked the children out of school early. This is the first year we've had all three at one school.....therefore, the first year we've had a solid Spring Break. I packed them in the car...with a friend...and headed to North Carolina. My sister has a place up here and we decided to take advantage of the PERFECT weather. It's about 40 degrees right now.....but it will warm up to a clear, crisp 65.

The night we drove up it was pouring down rain. Gushing....and what better way to make a 411 foot waterfall (largest waterfall east of the Mississippi River) tremendous the morning after? Yesterday about mid-morning we headed out to see the great White Water Falls.....Beautiful. The drive, the air, the blue sky, the 65 degree temperature.....it was all perfect.

My younger two have been here before with my sister. I was given a fair warning that they might try to talk me into hiking down to bottom......which sounded adventurous and maybe fun....or maybe just something I wasn't up for.

It was unanimous....well, a fake unanimous because I thought it was just beautiful from up top.....but we headed down the trails....to hike down to the bottom of the falls. One word: "ibuprofin". I tried several times to suggest that we had gone far enough.....and Lord knows we had to get back up to the top. "Mom, it's worth it!" And it was.......if for nothing else to see the smiles on all their faces. The magic of exploring...a simple slug, fern, tree trunk, or sipping from a spring.....they took it all in with grand excitement. The roaring of the water was overwhelming and fantastic. Look what we are treated to with a simple hike in nature!

Did I mention that I was wearing a skirt? Yeh, that was a cool move. But in all honestly I thought we'd be checking out this waterfall like Chevy Chase checked out the Grand Canyon. It was worth it. I do think that I got a great glimpse into the "old person" category though.....like, is your vision supposed to get spotty when you're huffing back up a mountain? How about the anxious leg syndrome several hours later? Anyone want to guess whether or not that cold beer I got later in the afternoon was the best one I had ever tasted?

Thanks to the children for a beautiful workout while witnessing their joy. I got more "thank you"s, "you okay?" and saw support for one another. I love it when the best of them comes out....at the same time.....