Our Trip to Appalachia

Last week, the boys and I road-tripped to North Carolina. Chris dropped the kids and I off in Asheville to stay with my sister, then continued on to Raleigh for work. We were welcomed by her next door neighbor who was hanging out his 2nd-story window, sans shirt, while eating a bowl of cereal and hollering "so, where's the baby daddy?". I just knew this trip would be highly entertaining. The boys and I had a blast exploring the mountains with Kasey. Our first day started off with a hike to Catawba Falls. We never made it to the big falls but we saw a mini-version that was good enough for a 2 and 4 year-old. It was a really cool experience because there was a local dog that walked with us the whole way and kind of acted like our guide. We also had a fantastic tour-guide in my sister who continuously spouted off information about the mountains and all its flora and fauna.

The river where I almost turned back. Thankfully Kasey is much more bold and sensible then I am. Kids don't need to cross walking over the slippery rocks - just take their shoes off and wade through the 6-inch deep river.

Later that afternoon we headed to one of the many parks in the area. After such a busy day, we all slept well that night.

The next morning we beached-it at a local lake. We took what we thought was a "short-cut" up to the lake so we wouldn't have to pay for parking but which turned into a half-mile trek... up-hill... both ways.

Despite the small quarters, the boys and I slept really well at Kasey's. I mean, Eli didn't nap, but by the end of each day, we were all exhausted and probably could have fallen asleep anywhere. Although, I am sure my sister is happy to have her space back since Colin took up her living room, Eli took up her kitchen, and I completely invaded her bedroom. We sure travel with a lot of stuff. I blame the kids.

Friday morning we checked out yet another park, hoping the early morning heat wouldn't be nearly as stifling as the afternoon. We were wrong. That afternoon we headed to ice cream and air-conditioning.

Chris joined us that evening, at which point we headed to a hotel because there was no way another body would fit in Kasey's apartment, and got to spend the day with us on Saturday. We went for another hike Saturday morning at Bent Creek then headed to downtown Asheville for the afternoon. The boys played at Splashville for an hour before we walked around town taking in the street performers and noshing on pizza at Mellow Mushroom.

Splashville

Stopping for a cold drink at Green Sage.

Living statue

Reading books at a book store, trying to beat the heat.

This living statue gave the boys a Hershey kiss after I gave her a tip.

Tap-dancers

After the boys went to bed that night, I got to check out some of the mountain night-life at Shindig on the Green. Folk music and cloggers galore.

We all had a great time and were sad to go. It felt like we were on the go the whole time we were there and there's still so much we'd love to do. Hopefully we'll get a chance to go back soon.