but not for long. We headed towards Asheville, NC this morning. Originally planned on heading to the Smokey Mountains, but decided to hit I40 and go towards Asheville. The drive was pretty coming into the mountains. I tried to take pictures with the camera while we were driving. Once we got to NC we stopped at the visitor center for a potty break and to take a couple of pictures. You will see a pic of the kids by the NC welcome sign, Dayton and "Annabell" looking out into the mountains. Annabell is quite a comedy act. One moment she is very "real" and then she is allowed to stay in the hot car with windows rolled up to smother. I don't think she has eaten or drank the entire trip and the bonus is she isn't requiring diaper changes. However, she does occasionally need buckled up for safety. Go figure! I really haven't been able to take pics in/of Asheville yet. Hopefully tomorrow!
Our first venture in Asheville was the West North Carolina Farmer's Market. I wish I could bring a truckload of the fruits and veggies home. They looked wonderful! We enjoyed some ice cream while we were there and enjoyed the little break.
We went downtown to the Old Mast General Store. Probably spent an hour or more in there. Dayton insisted on purchasing a yellow bus die cast vehicle. We finally talked her out of it. She kept saying "I'll spend my own money". It was really cute. The kids seemed to enjoy all of the old toys and candy. Dalton purchased Lunar Stix http://www.lunastix.com/ they are a kind of juggling or trick sticks. Apparently originated in Asia like 400 yrs ago or something. Dayne purchased a "gyroscope"...and it is very entertaining to all of the kids...unfortunately it doesn't keep them quiet! I found the cutest little animal umbrellas. I saw a frog one and was trying to peak Dayton's interest...she finally bought into it and chose a "lady bug" umbrella. I also purchased a ducky one for the studio as a prop as well as a engineer's hat. After our trip to the General Store we checked into a motel and found some grub.
The kids have also swam at the pool at this motel. Dayton is getting braver and jumping way out to mommy in the pool. Daddy took a little nippy nap while we swam. When he woke up he came out to see us. He thinks we have another little water bug on our hands.
Then we took a trip up Beaucatcher Mountain. It was a pretty drive, but was hard to see the mountains b/c of the trees. It was getting dark and really no where to pull off the road. We then intersected with part of http://www.blueridgeparkway.com/ and took it back into Asheville. We were able to pull off there and look out. It is a beautiful site. Too dark to take pictures of when we went. We are all back in the room and unloading pics off the cameras for your viewing pleasure!
Tomorrow we are not quite sure what we are going to do. Brevard County or Transylvania has something like 260 waterfalls and sounds very intriguing. There are several things to do in the area, but the prices are ridiculous. To see the Biltmore Estate is $47 per adult and on Saturdays it's $51!!! It's buried in the mountains somewhere b/c you can't even see it from the road. So we looked at it in the brochure as we sat in the parking lot of the entrance. (you might be a redneck if...) Feel free to get a look yourself www.biltmore.com
Dayne also found a great place to stay http://www.groveparkinn.com/ the pictures in the brochure were intriguing enough to call, but I about choked when they quoted me over $300 per night. Even though they offered me a "special" room rate of $209 it wasn't enough....the Quality Inn's coupon for $54.99 seemed much more appealing. Once again the brochure picture was as close as we got! Kind of like window shopping!
Signing off for the night. Will most likely still be in the mountains tomorrow and will catch up later. Give Jack, Spencer & Drifter a treat from us! According to the Asheville City guide it's the No. 3 dog friendly destination. Lots of pet stores and boutiques that cater to the pampered pet I guess!
I also added some pictures from yesterday...below
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