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Our latest hiking adventure took us to the top of Morrow Mountain, about 5.5 miles round trip. It was our first trip to the park, but because it’s only about 90 minutes away, I think we’ll be back.

It was still pretty warm in NC and the views at the top are good, but not the same as some of the peaks we’ve been to on the west side of the state. That said, the majority of the hike was a shaded and easy forest path to follow. The foliage had recovered from recent controlled burns, so it was definitely a pretty walk.

It was really steep near the peak, and the family became pretty spread out, but it ended with lunch at the top and some excellent scenery.

Trixie got some much needed cardio and loves our hikes as long as she can lead. Bandit has the desire, but just can’t keep up. Though every hiker we passed said they would love to be carried like we do for Bandit when he wears out, Bandit hates riding in the backpack, so Morrow Mountain might have been his hiking swan song.

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It’s been a while since we’ve been camping, so we decided to flex that muscle again and took the kids to New River State Park for a one-nighter in October. It was the best we could do as the state parks and quality camp sites fill up in the fall.

We’ll call it a success. We didn’t forget anything critical, though we did slightly underestimate how much food to bring (Nate can do some damage now).

The site was clean and we lucked out with the weather — beautiful, clear night and not too hot. We didn’t raft or canoe, but we took advantage of the hiking trails near our site and checked out the river.

We didn’t bring the dogs, but might re-think that for next time. I think they would behave themselves and sleep peacefully at night. Rachel is skeptical. Our one big whiff was bringing an air-mattress with a broken plug. The kids slept fine, but Rachel and I decided our days of sleeping on the ground are behind us. Forever.

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I made a promise to Vivian that we would do a trail ride, and kept that promise during what turned in to her birthday celebration month. We went to the mountains — in Waynesville, just outside Asheville — to visit her Papa John and do a 2-hour trail ride.

It was a beautiful trip up an old logging trail. A husband and wife team led the way on a perfect day with few signs of civilization aside from power lines near the top of the trail. It was a wide trail and shaded most of the way, though we did stop at a small clearing for photos.

We arrived in Waynesville on her actual birthday (Friday, Oct. 7) and Papa John produced an awesome birthday cake and cooked dinner. On Saturday after the ride we took her to an arts and craft show in downtown Waynesville, and later to a pretty cool burger joint in Asheville for dinner. On Sunday Papa and I dragged her to a bar with good TVs for lunch so we could watch the Lions game — just what every girl wants for her 11th birthday.