Our first stop in NC was in the Greensboro area to visit Sarah Skotcher and her family. We met them at the Greensboro Science Center.
This was a fantastic place for kids and adults!
Grace and Rachel (Sarah’s daughter) about ten minutes after they met. I guess they are like their mom’s - kindred spirits!
Jackson and Joe (Sarah’s son) had fun hanging out too - Joe kept calling Jackson “the big boy” 😂
Video - hurricane simulator
Our second day with the Skotcher’s was rainy and cold
Didn’t stop us from exploring the campground and marina
Friends for nearly 25 years! ❤️
The rainy day took us to the Safari Nation for indoor fun
Jason has decided to learn the guitar with Jackson so they can practice together
Our last night in the Greensboro area included a visit to Tanglewood Park - a popular park for their holiday light display
Video - this one was my favorite
After a few days in Greensboro we moved to Asheville where we’ve been the last 12 days. Our campground had wild turkeys walking around when we arrived - we didn’t realize then that we’d see them everyday of our stay. No bears though ☹️
The sunsets
And sunrises
Were amazing
Kids and J playing outside with mountain views
Video - frisbee in the mountains
My office view ❤️
One afternoon the kids and Jason went zip lining
It was actually more like rope obstacle courses
The kids loved it
Video - woah!
Video - weee!!
One morning the kids made some thankful turkey crafts ❤️
One rainy weekend day we visited Hendersonville children’s museum
Life size light bright
Building miniature houses
Counting fish
After the children’s museum we visited the Asheville antique car museum
One of Jason’s favorites
My favorite!
All these were bought by one local businessman
Even an old Asheville fire truck
I planned a full day of waterfall exploring and my family obliged me even when I sang TLC’s “Don’t go chasing waterfalls” non stop. It was a pretty, sunny fall day!
First stop was Looking Glass waterfall
Our second and third stops were accessible from one trailhead in the DuPont State Forest.
Lots of climbing and exploring on the trails on the way to the waterfalls
His green clothing made him impossible to find in the vegetation
Triple Falls can be seen in The Hunger Games and The Last of the Mohicans movies
Jason is explaining something about the trees and rock formations while Grace pretends she’s an airplane
Perspective
The kids loved playing in this vegetation - only his red shoes would give him away!
They are in there - very well hidden!
Our third waterfall
Climbing
More climbing
We all loved hiking and exploring the falls and the only reason we didn’t stay longer was our appetites - We found BBQ and Jackson got his ribs and Jason got his sweet tea. All is right in the world!
We ended that day with a visit to Grove Park Inn
Beautiful hotel in Asheville
They host the annual Gingerbread competition - so many amazing creations, here are a few:
On Monday, we visited Chimney Rock State Park
You could drive to Chimney Rock or hike so we chose to hike (ok, I chose that!)
Lots of leaf covered steps
Trying to look like we’re in shape to hike uphill for miles!
Kids waiting for us to catch-up!
Up, up we go!
Little further...
Video - climbing rocks and dance moves
First stop was Hickory Nut Fall - also seen in the movie The Last of the Mohicans
A long, thin waterfall fed by a natural spring on top of the mountain
Video
Next stop was Chimney Rock - these were the first set of steps we had to climb. After these you could take an elevator or another 490+ steps to the rock.
We opted for the elevator 😂
Chimney Rock
The view
We made it
❤️
Back at our campground - I was amazed at the changing views. This was early morning fog/low cloud coverage for those below!
Sunset
More sunset pics
Mostly taken by
This little phone thief! She took 74 pics this evening of the sunset. Guess she likes it as much as I do!
Lovely!
Last day working from this campground ❤️
We had a few campfire nights - complete with scary stories!
Chopping more wood
Campfire snuggles
Amazing moonlight photos too
Thanksgiving morning and this group was out to greet me!
Running away from me!
Pretty sure they didn’t care that it was Thanksgiving Day!
Our new home! 🤣 We visited Biltmore Estate on Thanksgiving Day. Built in the late 1800’s by the Vanderbilts.
We chose to do the self guided audio tour. They have a kids version too geared towards things they’d enjoy.
Jackson finding out that there are 250 rooms and 65 fireplaces in the Biltmore
My favorite room
Was the dining room
Three fireplaces and organ pipes and beautifully decorated
Nativity scene
My second favorite room
Was the library
Spiral staircase in the back left corner to take you to the second level of books
Nursery
Four story chandelier
Indoor bowling alley
Indoor swimming pool
Indoor gym
Kitchen
Billiard room - each pool table weighs one ton
Such royalty!
The interior and exterior details are astounding
Biltmore Village - we explored here for awhile in the afternoon looking for Santa but he had the day off.
We did find a cool kids area complete with yard toys from the early 1900s, blacksmith demonstrations and crafts
Video - two sticks and a hoop
Craft time
In the horse stalls
Turkey napkin rings
Our thanksgiving feast was at The Black Bird
Kids sparkling cider 🥂Cheers!
Delicious!!!
Coconut cake for dessert
Crack pie for dessert
I think they’re sufficiently stuffed! And so was I!
On Black Friday we headed for the Great Smoky Mountain National Park - the most visited national park in the U.S. Our first stop was on the North Carolina side at this visitors center.
The elk roam all over this part of the park
Huge rack!
River trail hiking - we took Racket with us and he loved it. He slept the rest of the day!
Water was very clear several feet deep
The visitor’s center had several mountain farm buildings to show what it was like to live in the mountains. We told the kids this was their new home and we were going back to the Biltmore. 😃
Buildings included the spring house, apple house, corn crib, barn, meat house and chicken coop.
They had a sorghum cane press in the middle of the yard and a huge outdoor furnace for cooking the cane juice down to molasses
Our drive through the park
Included several places to stop to enjoy
The views!
Our next and last stop was Clingmans Dome - the highest point in the park and accessible by hiking or driving. We were pretty excited to check it out and so were many other people! We sat in traffic for about 45 minutes until we could park but by then clouds had rolled in. We decided to hike to the observation tower anyway.
And of course the kids had to climb these rocks
These kids will climb rocks any time we let them - they are at the very top of this pic holding their arms up!
Our upward hike into the clouds to get to the observation tower
The observation tower
Looking across the treetops
Windy
And cold at the top
In this pic, you are looking at North Carolina on the left and Tennessee on the right.
Awesome view 🤣
We made it!
We officially hiked the Appalachian trail! For about twenty feet...😂 The trail starts in Georgia and ends in Maine and crosses through the Great Smoky National Park.
After our day at the Great Smoky National Park, we spent the night in Knoxville TN. The hotel bathroom and pool were a nice break from the RV. Kids shocked us by adding Caesar salads to their meals but came through with normal shenanigans of sticking fries in Grace’s burger. Where are the parents???
We found Santa!
Shopping and pizza lunch in Weaverville
Decorating our small space for Christmas
A few last sunset pics!
Til next time North Carolina!
