blowing rock and hike

On Sunday afternoon we went to Blowing Rock to walk around, play at the park and of course get some ice cream! On the way there we went for a drive on the Blue Ridge Parkway. For those of you who have not been on it, it is simply beautiful. It is honestly hard to describe how amazing some of the views are! We stopped at some of the overlooks including one where you could see the swinging bridge on Grandfather Mountain. It was awesome!!! Claire and Ava also got to meet their very first park ranger...how exciting for them! At one of the overlooks we decided to walk a little bit of a trail....well we ended up hiking for a while and it was our FAVORITE part of the weekend. Sadly, I did not have my camera with me because we didn't know we would be hiking! Each time we visit the mountains we have discovered more and more how much we love to hike. Not just me and Jay, but the girls too! We all just love it. It is so relaxing and of course the views are gorgeous!!! We will be heading back to this path in October for sure and can't wait to try out some other paths around the area! OK....back to the ice cream. It was really good, but I don't know if it was good enough to cost $30 and for my parents to wait in line for about 20 minutes to get it! Thanks Dad!!!! Jay loved his $7 milkshake! It was such a great day in and around Blowing Rock.