August 2, 2015 - Our Trip to Cascade Lake Before Surgery.

Ricky and I decided to take a trip before my upcoming August breast surgery. We have found that going away for some rest and relaxation beforehand always clears our minds and renews our strength. This will be my third intubation and third two hour surgery so we both want to be very prepared and ready. We will both come home well rested which makes going "under the knife" much easier and aids in the healing process and Ricky will be ready  to be my "nurse" during the six weeks of recovery as I "milk" the situation! lol.

We check in at one of our favorite places, Cascade Lake Campground. It is located in Brevard, NC, a beautiful town with beautiful people and is about a two hour drive from our home. We love this place! 

We get set up at waterfront site P5. It's full hookup with water, sewer and electric and only $22.50 per night with our Passport America membership, not too shabby! lol. It truly is lake living at its finest!

This is our wonderful view from our bedroom window! We love waking up to the lush green colors!

This is our view looking across the lake from our campsite. As you can see, the lake sites each have their own private dock for fishing, sunbathing, kayaking or tying your raft to the dock as you float the day away! 

Almost every camper brings their own kayak but canoes are also available for rent at a very reasonable rate!

This is Hooker Falls, a two mile canoe/kayak trip directly from our campsite which we could hardly wait to revisit, so off we go on our first day here! It is a very quiet and peaceful trip on the water. No texts, no calls or disturbance of any kind. Just us and nature at its best! Some scenes from the Hunger Games were also filmed here! It attracts fun loving people and pets of all ages! So grab your lunch, pets, kids and enjoy the day! 

We both agreed that Hooker Falls is our favorite mountain "swimmin' hole!"

The canoes/kayaks have their own special parking area at the falls!

Hammocks are very popular here and are a welcomed sight to come back to after a long day on the water!  Nothing says "summer laziness" quite like a hammock! Combine it with a water view and we are pretty doggone happy! lol.

The campground also has a really nice beach with a roped off swimming area with a nice sandy bottom. The workers rake the beach sand each morning and work hard to keep it clean all day.

The sun is setting at the end of our first day on the lake and it is absolutely gorgeous!

Dusk in the campground signals the campfires to "light up!"

Our first night ended with home cooked chili beans next to the fire!

Our second day started with hiking in the Pisgah Forest. There are many different trails and waterfalls to see and the forest itself feels air conditioned!

We hiked past BIG rocks and TALL trees before reaching this waterfall! The waterfall was cool and refreshing and served as a nice "splash park" for several kids and a few of us adults! lol.

We hiked most of the day and just couldn't resist sharing a banana split from the local Dairy Bar!

We had fresh grilled corn, a garden salad, black eyed peas and jalapeño "pups" for dinner on our second night. It was so good once the sinful ice cream was out of our system! lol.

So here we sit on our little piece of rented paradise! lol. It has been an active and fun first two days! Maybe we will find that rest and relaxation that I was talking about tomorrow! lol. To be continued...