“He lives most life whoever breathes most air.” —Elizabeth Barret Browing
I am blessed to have my mother. She is the strongest person I know. She is beautiful. Her love of life and people is evident in her brilliant green, sometimes blue, eyes. We look similar, except I’m blond while she’s brunette. Our baby photos are practically identical. In fact, I was pretty much a mini version of her until my teenage years when I began discovering my own interests more frequently.
It began when she took me deer hunting. After she shot the deer, I knew we were different. Don’t get me wrong: I’m not against hunting. We all have our purposes in life. I will consume meat, but if it’s not necessary for me to kill an animal, I am definitely not going to be the one to do it. Mom also demonstrated for me how to gut, skin, and butcher the deer as well. I do not care for the smell of deer blood. However, venison, cooked right, isn’t bad.
Another incredible thing my mom showed me was Alaska. She brought my sister and I to visit my aunt, my godmother. Talk about mountains! The majestic landscape of Alaska is unmatched. We saw glaciers, too, and went fishing. I won eight dollars for catching the biggest and the first halibut in our group. That eight bucks felt great to a fifteen-year-old, and, needless to say, I enjoyed the excursion tremendously. Especially the cute fisherman with an accent. His name was Ian.
Mom and I got along great during my teenage years. Well, for the most part. I was a moody, hormonal teenage girl, but we had a lot of fun together, especially when we went up north to Crivitz, Wisconsin (an adventure we still partake of on occasion). We roughed it out with no running water and an outhouse for a toilet. We went off-roading through the land in her Chevy Blazer, down the hills, dodging trees, tires splashing through the creek—priceless thrills. At night we’d go to the local tavern and visit with everyone, shoot pool, and play the jukebox. I still love country life!
Yes, my mom is adventurous! Three years ago she zip-lined over a deep canyon in Colorado!
She had been on deployment at the time. She still hasn’t retired. In fact, she’s in Washington, DC, right now doing security for the inauguration. And next month she will be in New Orleans during the Super Bowl. See, she is a National Deployment Officer for the Transportation and Security Administration, a division of Homeland Security. Sometimes, she gets deployed for special functions. For instance, she did security when the pope visited the US. She did a Trump rally in Wisconsin, too. She usually works in the airports. She’s been to a few places in Alaska, as well as New York, Florida, North Dakota, Wyoming, etc. My sister, as well as my mom’s sister, often meet up with Mom and stay in her room at her hotel for a few days. TSA allows that.
This backstory brings me to my travel story. In October of 2022, Mom was stationed in Asheville, North Carolina. I decided to follow my heart and visit her there. We absolutely loved it! I felt so blessed to be able to do this, to spend time with my Mom, and to see the Blue Ridge Mountains. This was before the hurricane Helene tragedy—a devastating tropical cyclone that caused catastrophic rainfall, leading to flooding in North Carolina and Tennessee. This tragedy happened on September 27, 2024. It will take them three to five years to recover, and it will never be the same.
I carefully selected a flight that would coincide with the end of Mom’s shift at the Asheville Regional Airport (AVL). Her hotel room had a double-sized bed and a sleeper sofa.
As prior blogs show, I am a spiritual person. This is a broad subject, but relevant here I will just include that I follow signs and I see elemental energies. That first night in North Carolina, I dreamed about seals. Seals move around, exploring new areas. They are playful, too. The seal spirit animal encourages channeling creative energy and imagination. So, it’s no wonder that the following day, while hiking the Blue Ridge Mountains, I saw protruding from sandy earth, an octopus within a tree root and a giraffe within a tree trunk reaching toward the blue sky.
As leaves danced down from the hickory trees and the crows flew high, sun shining off their black wings, we drove down the road on our way to our first adventure. I knew it would be a magical day.
We arrived at our destination, Chimney Rock State Park, early in the morning. What better way to connect to the earth than walking into a mountain? We walked through the tunnel, my fingertips touching the sparkling rock as we moved down the corridor toward the elevator. Yes, an elevator. One hundred years ago this path was blasted and carved so people could enjoy the view from Chimney Rock where our magnificent American flag waves proudly in the wind. This is all thanks to three brothers, the Morse brothers, whose vision came to life after months of toil. We completed our trip with a hike to Hickory Nut Falls.
Now, Chimney Rock was hit hard by the devastating storm and is years away from recovery. The river changed course. People are reworking at building their homes and businesses. The Village is working on restoring essential services like sewer and water.
I was born on the summer solstice, the cusp of Gemini and Cancer, so my elements are air and water, yet I feel so connected to earth, the trees, the hills, the land. Old forests call to me. These North Carolina mountains, with their ancient forests and rolling hills, gave us so much joy.
After Chimney Rock, Mom and I went back to the hotel to pick up her friend, Dorothy, and headed out again to visit a church. The church was closed for a wedding; however, the two of them had been able to visit a different church before I arrived in NC. Check out these two incredible photos:
It’s okay that we didn’t get to visit the church. God brought us somewhere else, and we were not disappointed. We followed the flow to DuPont State Forest in Cedar Mountain, NC. The bright fall colors called to us. Dorothy collected pretty leaves while geocaching her hidden treasures. I felt the energy of the holy oaks, and the Goddess spoke to me through the wind. My mom’s eyes grew big with wonder as she snapped photographs of the most beautiful waterfalls we had ever seen: High Falls and Triple Falls. After a long hike, the crashing water was music to our ears and astonished our senses.
As we drove back to the hotel, the sun set. The end of day one had arrived. We slept hard and dreamy, like the rocks we had climbed.
The DuPont State Forest was closed for weeks after the storm. It reopened in November. They just had a snowstorm, though, and they have issued a trail advisory.
“You have to leave the city of your comfort and go into the wilderness of your intuition. What you’ll discover will be wonderful. What you’ll discover is yourself.” —Alan Alda
My trip was surreal. I had a déjà vu practically every day, and my third eye tingled all week. I met two animal friends during this vacation, a horse and a cat. On day two I again got in touch with my younger self while talking to all the horses and dogs at Sandy Bottom Trails, a horseback riding ranch in Madison County. My new friend, Stitches, was an agreeable mare and quite beautiful with golden hair and friendly eyes.
Dorothy got on her horse, trotted two feet, and got off. Then she mounted a smaller horse, but this one, too, made her uneasy. She said she was afraid of heights and stayed back hanging out in the cabin in front of an antique wood burning stove. She was comfortable, and she loves antiques, so hopefully she had a nice time. The horseback ride was just Mom, me, and our guide, Neil. Mom’s horse, Lady, was a bit stubborn, not wanting to move forward when directed. But Mom liked her anyway. Doesn’t everybody loves horses?
We rode slowly up a trail along a deep drop-off. At first intimidated by the steep decline, I kept steering Stitches to the left. When we went over the hill, astonishment took over. This is truly God’s country. Hills and hills of color, patches of farm polka-dotted with cows, and the horizon showed us Tennessee! Words cannot explain the beauty. I felt so grateful, so in awe, I took deep breaths—breathing in all the love the earth and sky gave me, breathing out all the love I felt for the land and the day.
We proceeded up and down the mountain, following Neil, snapping pictures as we did our sight-seeing. The chilly air was crisp and comfortable. I did have to put my gloves on at certain times, but it was okay. I wasn’t complaining, that’s for sure. I said goodbye to Stitches, but I will never forget her.
It appears that the ranch is still open. Check it out here.
“A life without friends is like a sky without stars.” —Kevin Ansbro
Mom was stationed for around three months, but I only had ten days. I had made sure to be there during two of her weekends off work. Boy, did we get a lot of sight-seeing done during those four days and the afternoons she had available after her shift (she worked the very early morning shift). My other new animal friend was a cute orange tabby. I met him while gazing out at the rustic orange, dark yellow, bright red and green trees layering the mountains, appreciating the amazing views at Point Lookout Vineyards. I fed him some cheese but mom and I kept the wine for ourselves. For our wine tasting, we were able to choose six wines and/or meads. We made different choices and shared, so the two of us had more samples to choose from. The Marsala mead is quite tasty! As for the wines, my second place choice was a white wine called Sugarloaf. First place, and the glass I ordered to enjoy with our cheese plate, I chose Javine. It has a creamy coffee and chocolate touch to it. I adore coffee flavor, be it ice cream, beer, and now wine, too!
Point Lookout Vineyard’s community and customers donated Helene relief supplies. They are open for business. Check out their site here.
After that we drove to Sawyer Springs Vineyard and did a tasting there as well. I enjoyed the Lemuel, a Riesling; Black Rock, a red blackberry & black cherry wine; and, The Barn, a full-bodied dry red wine. There wasn’t much to see there, but the barn was cozy. They had one of those tall heaters next to a few tables and I sat underneath it. Mom had to work the next day, so we left before sunset.
Sawyer Springs Vineyard is open and they have many events.
Being a spiritual person interested in the supernatural, it was pretty cool that during our travels we had randomly stopped at a country store filled with clay pottery, antiques, and other treasures. The owner, Jim, with his beautiful southern accent, told us his store was haunted, and he hears many noises at night. He assured us, though, that the ghosts were friendly. Dorothy bought an old typewriter and asked me if a spirit was attached to it. I explained that I’ve seen a ghost and had other experiences, but I’m not a medium. “But you feel energy, right?” she asked. “Yes. And I do not feel any evil energy coming off the typewriter,” I told her. She was truly concerned a spirit might follow her home to California. I believe she was safe. The paper in the typewriter freaked her out. See photo below. I did, however, feel a ghost on my back a couple of days later while touring the Biltmore Estate.
“The moon is high, it’s finally here; Best night of a witch’s year!” —Rusty Fischer
I felt the magic of October all month long. During the last days, the veil of other realms thins and the spirit world becomes more visible. Mom knew I would love to visit Biltmore Manor, which is said to be haunted! It is also filled with incredible art, including the architecture of the building and the landscaping.
“I came to this spot and thought the prospect finer than any other I had seen.” —George Vanderbilt
If I feel a spirit on my back, this usually means someone is following me around. It could just be that they like me. The intensity of the feeling varies from the spirit’s energy and interest. We toured the entire mansion. I felt that George Vanderbilt’s bedroom might be haunted. It’s been said that Edith’s bedroom is haunted. She had died on the stairs near her room. I didn’t feel anything there. The most activity was in the guests’ living room and the guests’ bedrooms. The energy was darker and the rooms cold. This is where the spirit of a man followed me. However, as soon as we left those quarters, he left me.
I felt the servants’ rooms to be the most peaceful. The swimming pool room seemed off to me in some way. It is said to be haunted.
We toured the gardens and the winery grounds as well. Much of that time I felt like I was in an in-between. My vision would shake and numbness came and went. It was almost as if I had choices of multiple timelines I could jump. Perhaps I simply needed more sleep, but it was strange.
At the end of the evening, I went to the wine bar and had a glass of my favorite from the tasting. I had a couple of conversations with a couple of women who were also from out of state. Mom and Dorothy were shopping at the time. I was a bit turned off that a bottle of water cost $4.25 and the bubbler didn’t work, so I chose wine to water. It was a day I will never forget.
After being forced to close due to the floodwaters, North Carolina’s Biltmore Estate reopened November 2nd, 2024.
It was a vacation I will never forget. Thanks, Mom!
Please see links below regarding ways to help the Helene recovery.
Maybe some day I’ll blog about the time she took me to Alaska. For now, stay tuned for my next travel blog about my recent visit with my dad in Arizona.
Follow your heart. You never know where it might lead you.
Blessings,
Tracy
Suggested YouTube video.
Haven On The Hill GoFundMe.
North Carolina Community Foundation
