This past weekend my mom and little brother, accompanied by the closest person to a grandpa I have these days, came to visit me in Franklin! It was one of the few and far between weekends I happened to be “home” this summer, so they took the opportunity to drive up 6 hours from my hometown in southern Georgia.
They didn’t have much time, arriving on Friday night and leaving Sunday morning (I mean was it even worth the trip??) but we crammed as much into Saturday as we possibly could.
The American Museum of the House Cat
So there was this guy whoĀ really reallyĀ liked cats. So much that he collected ALL the cat things. He had so many cat things he started a museum, and the American Museum of the House Cat was born. I’ve passed by here a few times but never made time to stop. Since my family was visiting, we decided to see what it was all about.
Admission was $5/person, which I balked at {because I don’t like to pay for entertainment} but it goes to a good cause: the Catman2 guy rescues a LOT of cats. So we entered and, I’m not gonna lie, it was an odd experience. You never would have thought there were so many cat things to see or know. They had everything from cat carousels to cat toys to cat mummies (actual mummies!).
Anyway, if you’re ever in Jackson County, NC and looking to kill $5 and half an hour, check it out.
Blue Ridge Parkway
After the cat museum, we headed up the Blue Ridge Parkway to see some views and go for a short hike. If you’ve never driven on the BRP, you’re missing out. It’s a 469-mile road that winds through southern Appalachian Mountains, connecting the Great Smokey Mountains in the south with Shenandoah National park in northern Virginia. I happen to live a half hour from the closest access point, so it was an easy decision to hop on for a quick drive and hike.
We stopped at a couple of overlooks on the drive up. We were gradually driving into a cloud which was pretty magical. We decided to stop for a quick 1-mile hike up to Waterrock Knob. At over 6200 feet, this is no small mountain and while the hike was short, we gained almost 500ft of elevation in half a mile. We had some good views heading up, but the top of the mountain was socked in a cloud.
Whitewater Rafting!
After climbing back down, we headed on to Hartford, TN to the NOC Outpost there to go whitewater rafting. This was definitely the highlight of the day!
A friend of mine is a raft guide there, so we took a trip down the river with him. It was just the four of us, which was nice. I can’t believe it myself but I had never been rafting before! How do you live in the Appalachian Mountains for most of 4 years and not go rafting? I dunno, I’m lame or something.
So, rafting. A few things:
- You absolutely will get soaked. Do not go whitewater rafting and think you or anything on your person will stay dry. Not gonna happen. IĀ expected to get wet and still got way more soaked than what I anticipated.
- There are actual rapids. We did class 3 and 4 rapids on the Pigeon River and there were moments I was certain I was going to be comically ejected from the boat. Somehow I managed to stay aboard – I attribute it to our awesome raft guide and his expert steering skills.
- The river isĀ fast. Sometimes we were moving so quickly it was hard to even know what was going on, and the adrenaline was pumping in my ears so loudly I couldn’t hear our guide yelling out cues.
- You have to do work. Rafting is not a spectator sport. Everyone in the boat has to paddle and contribute to keep going in the right direction and traverse the rapids safely.
So GO RAFTING! I’ll definitely be going again and can’t believe I didn’t go sooner.
This concludes our rapid-fire family fun trip this weekend. They all left fairly early Sunday morning, so Saturday was our only adventure day. I’m hoping to get my mom and brother to MOVE here soon, but at least hope they can come up again to visit in the near future.
Still She Roams 
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