Vacation in North Carolina

Before the Fall kicks in at UVA for my wife, and before things go into full-swing at church, we decided to take the pup and go away for a few days to the Montreat/Asheville area of NC. We had a lovely time despite the ER visit for our doggie. See below!

Our first hike in Montreat: up Lookout Mountain to the East Ridge Trail then to Old Tressel Road.

This is how Oakley usually looks in the back of our car, face towards the window as the air blows back his facial hair and eyebrows. Funny doggie!

After our Lookout Mountain hike we decided to go to Pisgah Brewing Company in Black Mountain. My wife kept Oakley company for a few minutes (above) while I did a tasting (below). The red colored beer was flavored with cherries and raspberries which wasn't my favorite but was a fun change. Their Mexican Lager and Blueberry Wheat were very tasty.

This is the beautiful welcome gate as you drive into Montreat, NC

We walked into the Ten Thousand Villages store where we were met by a Golden Retriever named Wesley. The employees said they were a "dog-friendly" store (as supposedly 98% of Asheville is) and that Oakley was welcome to come inside. What followed is in this hilarious video. They loved each other. And the employees LOVED it as well. Mind you this is all happening INSIDE the store!

As we walked around Asheville we found this beautiful park and fountain, Oak loved it!

We read some literature about this brewery in Sylva, NC nicknamed your "Gnometown Brewery" so we just had to visit. The Brewmaster, from Germany, loved dogs and so Oakley made a new friend; as did we! This is a great craft brewery and I highly recommend the Black Forest Stout, though all the beers were tasty. Ultimately, our time with Dieter made the trip. Check it out!
 

If it works, this is a video of us going up a TON of stairs at Chimney Rock State Park...where The Last of the Mohicans was filmed.

Atop Chimney Rock

Me and Oak atop Chimney Rock

A happy family!

In the Opera Box at Chimney Rock State Park. Can you tell this was my favorite hike/part of our trip!?

Another video of the breathtaking views at this park

My wife at Exclamation Point, the very top of the park.

Little did I know that when I sat down on this cursed rock/clump of grass there was a Copperhead Snake that lay hidden inside.  Oakley, unfortunately, was being his curious self and nosed the grass and then immediately jumped back...as did I. As I peered in I saw a coppery/brown colored snake and realized it was a Copperhead, yikes! Because Oakley didn't yelp and there was no blood we thought he just got spooked. So our merry-little hike continued until much later when we realized something was dreadfully wrong.

A view of Chimney Rock from Exclamation Point

The costume of "Hawkeye" aka Daniel Day Lewis in the film Last of the Mohicans which was filmed on site.

 

Since there were so many stairs, and because Oakley was getting pretty tired, I decided to carry him like a baby for over 200 stairs. 52.3 pounds gets VERY heavy! Little did we know that he was really starting to be impacted by the Copperhead venom.

By the time we got to the bottom we realized he was not right and called our Vet in VA. He told us to look for swelling and sure enough, after we got off the phone, we found all kinds of swelling even despite his long facial hair. The Lord was looking out for us and led us the way and we were so blessed! We got the right number and address of a nearby Animal Hospital that had anti-venom (most Vets don't carry it b/c it is so expensive and has a short shelf life) so we drove there about 40 minutes and were met by a wonderful staff and fabulous Christian Vet. If you are ever in Western North Carolina and need a Vet/Animal Hospital please check them out. They were fantastic!! 

This is poor Oak, with his IV in his leg, in the ICU. I was SOOO scared and totally lost it in the Parking Lot and just cried for two hours. I didn't know how he was going to be. And I realized it could've been me who got bit. Oakley, literally, saved my life. Thanks buddy!!

The next day we received the good news that Oakley was going to be just fine so we celebrated with cupcakes at Hey Hey Cupcake in Black Mountain, NC. So goooood!

Our new great friends from the South told us about Zaxbys so we had to try this fast-food restaurant on our way home. *Notice my wife's t-shirt ... "Airedales Rule." Oakley certainly does!

Despite the crazy extra day with Oakley in the ER we had a WONDERFUL time and would love to go back to the Montreat/Black Mountain/Asheville area.