Highlands, NC Photo Diary

Over spring break I went to the Appalachian mountains and I'm here today to share a photo diary from the trip. If you are looking for a nice mountain getaway I would check out Highlands, NC for sure. It's so beautiful there and there is literally waterfalls on the side of the road. Also if you are a hiker this would be a great place to visit because there is lots of hiking. So let's get into it! 

Dry falls is by far the most powerful and raging waterfall we've seen. You can go behind the waterfall too which is really cool because I can't think of any other waterfall that you can actually go behind. 

Dry fall's power has caused some to get injured so you got to watch out and be careful when you get there. 

Me taking the typical tourist shot of course haha

Beautiful dry falls is alive

This waterfall is the one you see when you drive up the mountain to go to highlands. It's kind of a mini waterfall but when it rains it gets more raging. 

Such a cool waterfall for being on the side of the road. 

They had to put that sign up for some reason because some idiots were probably trying to do some stupid. But it makes a cool photo. 

Glen falls is the longest waterfall we saw. It is a two mile hike and there is three different parts of the waterfall that you can see. It's kind of cool because you hike down the waterfall and at the bottom it leads to a little pool. This waterfall is also supposedly the longest waterfall in North Carolina. I could be wrong about that through, I'm not sure. 

This was the first waterfall at the very top of the hike.

Me admiring it

And of course my shoes get muddy. But hey there's nothing with getting dirty to see some waterfalls. 

This was the last part of the waterfall at the very bottom. I liked putting my feet in the little natural pool. 

Me in my element

Day two

Whiteside mountain was by far the prettiest hike because when you get to the top of the mountain it's all panoramic views. It's almost 5,000 feet up and what is pretty cool is that you can see where the land gets flat. You just see mountains and then in way far off in the distance it's all flat. It's also pretty thrilling because when you are at the top of the mountain you are just so close to the edge and if there wasn't any railings I would probably be scared to death. 

A picture from the first lookout point. I thought that view was good but it just got better the more we hiked. 

The incredible rock faces we saw. 

After whiteside mountain we ate at Madison's for lunch. I didn't take a lot of pictures of what I ate while I was in Highlands, but this was one of the meals I ate. It was really good. 

The last spot we went to that was pretty cool was Sunset rock. While we didn't see much of a sunset it was still a beautiful spot to hangout. It overlooks the town and the town just looks so small compared to all the nature. 

And that's all the pictures! It kind of took me a while to put this all together because I tried to find the best photos. But I hope ya'll enjoy and I'll see you soon with a new blog post. 

Cross Country Camp In the NC Mountains!

Hey guys I'm back with another post. As you guys may or may not know I went to cross country camp at the end of July and I finally have all the pictures sorted and now I'm sharing them. So I was there for five days and it was such a blast. I didn't even want to go home but I will say I'm glad to be home now. While we were there we stayed at a place called Christ School which is an all boys private school and there was around fifteen or so teams that also went to camp there as well. Basically we would run with people who were at our fitness level and there were different events every day that everyone did. So it was a team kind of camp but I also got to meet new people from other schools which was really cool too. For example I met some girls from Tennessee and we ate dinner with them. Cross country camp was just so much fun and worth the experience for sure. 

Day one

We drove up to the mountains on day one and the drive was around 5 hours or so and I was sleeping most of the trip up. We stopped at Wendy's for lunch and kept driving. Then we got there and got our stuff settled into the dorms. After that we were put into our running groups and went for an evening run. Then we hung out and then went to bed. 

Day 2

On day two we woke up and got on the bus to go to Hooker Falls to run. Hooker falls I'd say was the most hilly course that we ran on and the run wasn't too bad but the hills had me so beat. After we were done running we dipped in the hooker falls waterfall and the water was freezing but it was well worth it because now I can say that I've swam in a waterfall. After hooker falls we went back to Christ school for lunch and I think we had some down time and then we had a motivational speaker talk to us about how to always have good races. After that we got in our evening run and then we had dinner and then an event but I forgot what it was. I think it was movie night actually, but I'm not sure. Then we hung out and went to bed. 

Day 3

On day three we went running at DuPont state forest and then after our run we went to sliding rock. Sliding rock was the highlight of the trip for sure because it was so much fun and it was my first time sliding down a waterfall. The mountain water was freezing but it was very refreshing after our morning run. Then we came back for lunch and we had some down time so I went door bell ditching and window ditching with Isabella in our dorm. Then we had an evening run and after our run we went swimming in the creek with our whole team. What was cool is that we found a shovel and a bike in the creek and we took pics with those but the photos didn't turn out super good so I left them out of the photos on here. After that we ate dinner and then had the talent show. After that we just hung out with everyone and then went to bed. 

day 4

On day four we had breakfast and then went running and I actually have a story about this run. The counselors said that the run would be the easiest run of the week and it turned out to be the opposite. So we got to the spot to run and we started running and it turns out we were running down the wrong path and basically we were running up a steep mountain. During the run I fell and my knee and some parts of my left leg were bleeding. I had to run back with a stinging pain for four miles but I made it and it wasn't too bad, it was just painful to run on. So there is the story with that and then we had lunch and we had an afternoon run and we took pictures. After that we had dinner and a dance party later. Then we went to bed after hanging out. 

Day 5

Now on to the last day! We just had a campus run in the morning and then the closing ceremony and then it was back home. It was actually me and Isabella's birthday on the last day there and my coach agreed to let us choose the lunch on the way back home. Of course we picked Bojangles and we were really excited about it. The thing that I get the most excited for when it comes to my birthday is the food so it was a good day. And we just got back home and I opened my presents and chilled. 

Click on the video if you want to watch my dorm ding dong ditch video too! 

I hope you enjoyed this post and I hope y'all liked all the pictures. It was so much fun and I didn't even want to come home because of all the fun I was having. I'm really glad that I got to have this experience and it is something I will remember for the rest of my life for sure. 

What I'm Packing for Cross Country Camp

Hey guys! I'm back with another blog post. Today I wanted to share what I'm packing for cross country camp. I leave for camp on Sunday and I couldn't be more excited. As you guys may or may not know I am a runner and I do varsity cross country, winter track, and spring track. Every year for cross country we always do a cross country camp and I didn't go last year because I was new to the team but this year I'm going! I will be just outside of Asheville and I will be running in a lot of cool places. It will also be nice to have some time off work and time with my friends. 

Now you may be wondering what I will be doing at camp, and I'll be doing a whole lot of stuff. I will be running twice a day with intense mountain training. There will be motivational speakers, yoga, fun activities to do with our team, swimming in waterfalls, and good food to eat. I could not be more excited and since I'll be at camp being busy from sun up to sun down I won't be posting on my blog or my Instagram for the next week. I will miss posting but I think I'll update my insta stories and stuff like that while I'm away and once I'm back y'all will see all the photos. 

I wish I could pack my dog but I can't! I will miss her so much and I just had to take this photo with her because she's precious. 

Now on to what I'm packing! This is a picture of all of the clothing items I'm packing. It will be mostly running clothes because that is the whole vibe of the camp but I'm also packing some casual clothes, my swimsuit, my pajamas, a belt, my birks, my running shoes, two hats, and a towel. 

Now on to other stuff I'm packing. I'll be packing basic toiletries, my blue tooth speaker, my water bottle, my roller, and my wallet. I also want to bring a fan because there will be no air conditioning in the rooms but I can't find the fan so I might be out of luck. I will be rooming with my friend Danielle and if I can't find the fan I will hope that she brought a fan lol. 

So that is all I'm bringing to camp. I can't wait to go because it will be a lot of fun. I will see you guys on the 31st with a new blog post! 

A Trip to Nags Head, NC

Hey guys welcome back to another blog post. Today I will be sharing all of my outer banks photos, plus I'm going to tell you guys what I did in the Outer Banks. So to start out with I stayed for two nights in the First Colony Inn. The hotel was really nice because it had a cool beachy vibe to it, and there was a pool, bikes, hammocks, and a picky hour for food and drinks. They also had free breakfast, YMCA access, and a private beach, so it was really nice. Overall it was an awesome trip, and I think I have fallen in love with the Outer Banks, and I for sure want to go back next year. I'm also glad that I didn't get eaten by great whites haha. 

Alright so on to day one!! We drove up around 8 in the morning, and we got there at around 11. We stopped at the Blue Moon grill for lunch and their food was amazing! I got a crab cake sandwich with some fries, and it was really good. They put a sauce on the side and I really liked the sauce but I'm not sure what the sauce was. After lunch we checked into our hotel, and then once we got everything settled in we headed down to the beach. It was really hot on the beach, and I got totally sunburnt but it was fun! After the beach we chilled in the hotel for a little bit waiting for the picky hour so we could get some food. Once we got our food and drinks we chilled on the porch. After that we went out on bikes and biked to the sand dunes, and it was so pretty there. It was like a whole other world, and I felt like I was in a desert or something. It was really cool, and it was something I've never seen before. After the sand dunes we biked back and then went in the pool for a little bit, and then when it was sunset time we walked on the beach to catch the sunset. I think it wasn't setting in our direction but we still tried to catch it. I do have to say that the beach is a whole lot better later in the day because it's not too hot, and the sand is cooled down. After all of that we were kind of burnt out and we crashed around 10. 

Now on to day two! We woke up around 8 am, and we hit the gym at the YMCA to workout. After that we grabbed some Starbucks, and headed back to the hotel to get ready. After we were ready we went out shopping, and I got some cute stuff. After we were done shopping we went out to Miller's Waterfront restaurant. I got the Classic Wedge salad, and it was so bomb!! My mom also got a killer lobster roll and they just piled that lobster on like it was nothing. We got a good bang for our buck for sure. After we ate lunch we did some more shopping. After shopping we went to the beach, and it was really enjoyable because it wasn't super hot. I caught some waves in my swan pool floatie, and it was really fun. I was really paranoid about being in the deeper water through because I knew that two great whites were on the loose. There was one time while I was in the ocean that I felt it get deeper and I was out of there because I don't know what could be swimming around me. After we were done at the beach we went out on bikes and we got some ice cream at Fat Boyz. The ice cream was so good because of the homemade waffle cone. After we ate the ice cream we biked back and then we headed over to the Marina to watch the sunset and there was a fair there so I ended up going on the swings. It was really fun, and once I got to the top of the thing I could see everything around me, and it was spinning really fast. I was a little dizzy when I got off the ride but it was really fun. After that we headed back to the hotel to chill, and then we went to bed at 11. 

Now on to the last day!! We woke up around 7 am and we got ready, and got packed to go home. We ate breakfast at the hotel, and then we headed to Manteo to check out the town before we left to go back home. It's a really cute harbor town, and it was so pretty there. I got some cute photos, and then after that we drove home. Then once we were back home I blew up my raft, and I went out rafting with my best friend Gab. 

That was my trip! I hope you guys liked all of the pictures, and I will see you guys next week with another post!