Last October 2010, my wife and I decided to make a trip up the Blue Ridge Parkway and enjoy the fall colors. Our daughter and 2 year old granddaughter decided to go along which just tickled Granna and Pap Pap to death. We had been to Grandfather Mountain and were headed back south across the Lynn Cove Viaduct( Pic Below). The viaduct is a bridge around a boulder strewn mountain made so that the mountain would not be disturbed by conventional road building which would have destroyed the pristine landscape. It is an engineering marvel suspended above the ground and trees. After we crossed the viaduct, we noticed a trail that allowed you to walk under and beside the roadway.
Well being outdoors enthusiasts, we decided to spend a little time walking in the cool, fresh mountain air and I wanted to get a few pictures as well, so we walked the short distance to the roadway. It was fantastic to walk under the road as cars sped overhead unaware we were directly below them.
The trail then began to climb upward and through the boulder field (you can see from the first picture) that runs along the mountain side above the road. It was fairly easy walking and my granddaughter was loving it as she loves the outdoors and all that goes with it. ( Don't know where she gets that from, Ha Ha) We stopped for a picture with the viaduct in the background and that is where things went downhill(literally). If you look closely, you can see my grand daughter holding onto her favorite stuffed ducky in the picture below. All was good until she turned after this picture and then dropped her favorite stuffed ducky. Needless to say the duck rolled and rolled and rolled and rolled down the rocky outcropping landing some 20 feet below. Now that wasn't too bad until my daughter instructed me to go and get it and I responded "I don't think so"(Mistake Number 1). Rock climbing was not a part of my qualified activities after having had a hip replaced a few years ago. Needless to say this set my granddaughter off. What had been a very happy trip was quickly turning into a not so good situation for Pap Pap. After many tears and a scream or two that probably made anyone listening think that Big Foot was loose in the mountains, I decided I would have to try and save the stuffed ducky and thus the rest of my trip. I don't know how this all of a sudden became my fault but it did. Now I have been known for rescuing many critters over the years, from deer, raccoons, skunks, squirrels, owls, various birds, snakes and turtles just to name a few, but I have never been ask to rescue a stuffed ducky! Until now!
Well I descended as best I could, realizing the real challenge would be getting back up the steep, slippery rock face. I would be lucky if I didn't need another hip replaced after this, or worse yet, it might be my last romp in the woods, if I made the wrong move. I pictured myself falling and landing right in front of some tourist leisurely driving down the viaduct enjoying the view and all the fall colors and here comes a middle aged man falling from the sky onto the roadway. Talk about bug juice on the windshield!!!!! Well before I descended, I handed my Nikon D-90 to my daughter (Mistake Number 2). As I climbed on my hands and knees back up the mountain, I was glad to finally reach the top and as I poked my head over the lip, my daughter was waiting with my camera and snapped this shot. Realizing I had been Had, I could only laugh and thank the good Lord for a safe venture up and down the rock face.
I was out of the dog house and it felt good. I'm still not sure how all this was my fault but it sure made the rest of our trip a lot more pleasurable!!!! To see daughter and granddaughter happy, well, I guess I would climb any mountain and swim any sea!!
Plus I can now add the rescue of a stuffed yellow ducky to my list of critters rescued from various calamities. My reputation may be a little damaged but I'm in good graces with the three ladies that matter most in my life! Ha Ha Ha!
"When you have once seen the glow of happiness on the face of a beloved person, you know that a man can have no vocation but to awaken that light on [all] the faces surrounding him."
Albert Camus (1913-1960) : Author and Philosopher
