My wonderful weekend...

Whew... where do I start talking about this amazing adventure over the weekend? I guess I should just start at the beginning and tell about it. It started Friday, we left from my neck of the woods in time to meet my dear CNN friend and her hubby for a lovely dinner near Atlanta at the Melting Pot. Yes, yes, I know I was just there! It's so good though, I wouldn't mind going every week. YUM! We had a lovely meal and wonderful conversation. After dinner, we were on our way up to the North Carolina mountains. We drove up near Franklin and Highlands. I would love to say that it was a gorgeous drive, as I am sure it was, but I was out for the count, until we got to the windy roads leading up the specific mountain that bf's aunt and uncle live on. Chronologically speaking, yes, that's right. So, we arrived there late, ate some brownies, and we immediately went to sleep. It had been a LOOOONG day.

Bf's aunt and uncle live in a beautiful cabin/house on a creek bank at a point where it rumbles through several rocky spots... what a magical sound that creates. I awoke to the sounds of the rumbling creek water and the pitter patter of a steady rain. AMAZING! What was really impressive was this woman's gardening talents! What a beautiful color explosion, and boy were those butterflies pleased. I loved it! So, of course, I stopped to shoot a few. You know me...Oh gosh, here I go again getting off on my floral tangents. I can't help it... I love floral photography. Bear with me though, the story gets good...

We drove up the road... well down the road, then back up the road... headed toward Highlands. Along the way, there was an amazingly beautiful and photographic gorge... the Cullasaja River Gorge, which of course, I asked him to stop for every time another section of the cascading falls, as they crept through the rocky passage. Such a sweet guy! After we visited all those beautiful spots, we came upon the closed construction area for the entrance to Dry Falls, which is a glorious falls at a portion of Cullasaja River. The falls wasn't under construction, just the parking lot, but for some reason, they had closed off (needlessly) the entire access to the falls with ugly orange construction fencing, with disappointing signs reading "DRY FALLS - CLOSED" Ugh. They had some nerve. That was the whole purpose of the trip. Bf wanted to take me to see the falls that he had been frequenting since the age of 5, the falls that he and his family have posed in front of year after year... each picture of the falls as breath-taking as the last... Well, not to say that we did anything wrong or against the rules because that would admit some level of guilt, but we hadn't traveled all that way to miss out on God's amazing creations, and I don't know who the heck they think they are to "close" a waterfall. We worked our way down to the falls, and as we came around the first curve and the falls came into my view, I was blown away! Sure, I had seen the pictures. I had done the research online, but nothing can prepare you for the personal experience. God is truly amazing. That incredidible falls rolling over the edge of a cliff, leaving substantial space behind for a walkway, crashing down to the rocks below, as it boiled through them and on down the river. What an incredible experience! Of course I went to town shooting pics... asking the few other "appreciators of God's creation, despite the attempts of some local government goon trying to rob us of the experience" to catch some shots of us with the truly awesome falls. I knew instantly why bf's family loves that spot so much. As the other appreciators left, I noticed a demeanor change in bf... Right there, behind this magnificent creation of God, he set our stuff down, took my camera from my hand and set it in a safe spot and told me all sorts of wonderfully romantic affirmations of his feelings for me... I won't bore you, but it truly was wonderful... and perfect. He then dropping to one knee, reached into his pocket, took out a ring box, and looked lovingly into my eyes and asked me to be his bride. With a heart thumping yes, and a deal sealing kiss, he placed the ring on my finger and we embraced, a newly engaged couple, behind the most beautiful falls I've ever seen, as the mist splashed our faces. I took many many more pics of the now VERY SPECIAL site, and then we were reluctantly on our way... my future groom and I. How do you top that? Plainly... you can't. We made the best of our romantic love daze though. We visited my future groom's aunt at work, got a lunch suggestion, grabbed a bite to eat and then, headed on to the back-up plan... you see, my future groom had done his research and knew that the site of his proposal was under construction, and though prepared with ideas for conversation with the construction supervisor had a back-up falls in mind... just in case. You see, he's smart too... :O)

We went on west of Franklin, where we found our way among Kamakazi butterflies, exotic flowers (anyone know what the orange flower is?) and blackberry bushes (which my future groom chivalrously battled for the sake of a sweet snack) ...to a moderate hike leading to another beautiful falls. Honestly, the falls was beautiful, yes, but I am so glad it worked out with Dry Falls because that was PERFECT! By the end of our hike up to Rufus Morgan Falls, I was drenched with sweat and out of breath (yes, yes, I'm out of shape). I took some pics of that beautiful falls and we were on our way (I know that I am not being nearly as detailed with this falls trip as with the Dry Falls experience, which truly was wonderful and well worth the arduous (moderate, I'm a wimp) hike, but really how do you top that other one???). One really cool thing though, we encountered some amazing crepuscular rays as they reached through the forest of trees and grabbed the ground right in front of us. It was incredibly beautiful. It was as if we were being greeted by an angel. On the way back from there, my future groom took us to a swimming hole that he used to frequent as a kid... something about 58 degree water. I literally screamed sticking my toe in the water! It was beautiful though.We got ready for dinner and had an outstanding meal at Cyprus in Highlands. It really was terrific! We then enjoyed a nice trip back on the scenic route... stopping briefly at Talluleh Gorge to snap less than great shots and get on our way to my future groom's friend's church in downtown Atlanta. It was a wonderful, fabulous, stupdendous weekend, and I loved it.I'll talk about our exciting trip to Ichetucknee River tomorrow, which was a blast!

Ciao,
~Dewdrop