As I mentioned briefly in the last post, we missed the snow by a few days. It was actually much warmer in Boone than I was anticipating (50s). 

When we woke up on Friday, the kids really didn't want to go anywhere. They wanted to ride bikes and play outside for a while at the house. They were perfectly content to make their own fun.

​So we let them. 

Our bags are packed. The weather is perfect for flying. Let's go!

Buddy loves the snow. He loves colder weather. And so every year, he asks to be in the snow for his birthday. When we can, we like to make his wish come true.

​This year, we missed the snow by about 5 days. That was kind of annoying. The birthday boy was not pleased. After he got over his initial disappointment, he had a blast. 

If you ever find yourself in the Boone, NC area, you must check out the Pedaling Pig. There are two locations: one in Boone and one in Banner Elk. 

We went to one that shared a parking lot with a gas station. From the outside, it was sketchy. But, Rea will tell you that the restaurants that look the most questionable and run down usually have DELICIOUS food. Her theory held true for this place. 

The inside of the Pig was nothing like the out. It was well-maintained. It had a cool, bikeresque, almost hipster vibe. Their homemade BBQ sauces were so tasty. There is a sweet one and a savory one. Most of our group opted to mix them both. 

Buddy had the kids chicken finger platter. In his words, it was "so delicious. And the french fries were incredible." (In the interest of transparency, the chicken was standard issue., nothing special. But he ate it, and that's all that matters to this Mom.)

Rea ordered the kids ribs. She didn't eat much of them. Kids are sometimes like that - will order tons of food, take two bites and be stuffed beyond belief. But they were yummy. She did eat all her french fries though, so maybe Bud was onto something. 

I had the pulled pork sammie with slaw on top and sweet potato fries. I ate every bite (except the bun, that's just how I roll). The sweet potato fries were the BEST I have EVER had. They were perfectly cooked. 

Since I am adding things to the American Exploration page, I figured I should backlog some of our past vacays. 

My family used to make skiing an annual family vacation. I grew up skiing every winter. And I am fairly good - impressive for a Florida girl. Anyway, I digress. We used to travel all over each winter to ski. The vacations started out on the East Coast and eventually we fell in love with West Coast slopes. 

We took a long hiatus while my sisters and I were in college. Now that we are all grown up, with spouses and families of our own, we have reinstated the ski trips. Woo hoo! 

Actually, I think they really started because my kids asked to see snow, and their grandparents would do anything for them.