Bear Den Camping Trip!!

June 2018: Camping with GG and PopPop!!

Usually one time every summer, GG and PopPop's camping adventures coincide with one of Rich's call weekends. Not wanting to miss a golden opportunity, the girls and I will JUMP at the chance for a camping adventure!!! This year we went to Bear Den in Spruce Pine, NC. This campground was amazing! Its privately owned but nestled into the Blue Ridge Parkway and backs up to national forest! There were 4 HARD hiking trails with waterfalls right in the campground! Crazy! We had an awesome weekend away with my parents!

One of the really cool things we did on this trip was go to an actual retired mining site! We got to study the history mining, see some of the equipment, and take a trek into the mine!

If you are ever in the area, this place is a MUST!! All organic farm that has the most amazing road side BBQ stand- called the Tin Shed!!

The Tin Shed has outdoor picnic tables and you order at a counter. There is a fenced in playground for the kids, and all kinds of animals for the kids to interact with!

One of my favorite things about a campground is the playground! Kids run this place, and it does not matter your background- everyone is equal! My girls made some FAST FRIENDS, and we had a hard time saying good bye to them when it was time to go!

This is the Emerald Gem Mine... its a retired mine, and the girls had one of the coolest Gen Mining experiences ever!

We rented a GAS golf cart for the weekend. This campground is huge and hilly... .so you need some OOMF to get you up the hills!

This was at Mountian View Restaurant! The food was good, but the view was SPECTACULAR!!!

One of the amazing waterfall hikes on property! Mom and I did this hike together! It was awesome.... until we lost site of the blazes marking the trail. What was a 1 mile hike, turned into 2.... and I about broke mom! LOL Ooops!

Another awesome 4 mile loop hike with a waterfall in the campground. Me, dad and Tim did this hike... and it was HONESTLY the hardest hike Ive ever done. The hills were steep and treacherous... and often we were so winded we couldn't speak! It was AWESOME!

This butterfly was OBSESSED with us! We couldn't get it off of us. It particularly loved Blakely's shirt and her pants! Blakely was in heaven. She felt like a real Disney Princess!

This girl shocked me when she called out "Mama! Watch this!" and then promptly went across the whole monkey bars!

No pics from inside... but this was taken at the Linville Caverns. These were so amazing, and so many interesting stories. The girls thought it was super cool... and super cold.

Tin Shed!!