We are back from our western North Carolina vacation. We were blessed with perfect weather and we got out and saw and did a lot. The vegetation is very similar to central New England, but man those roads are windy! I want to reread Cold Mountain now that I can better picture what it means to go up and down those mountains. There were places where it was one mountain after another with no valley in between, just a "hollow". We saw lots of bikers--they love all those turns!The photo above is an Appalachian farm that is an open air museum in Smokey National Park.
We had lots of fun with the old growth in the Joyce Kilmer National Forest.
We spent 2 nights backcountry in Pathertown on a llama trek with English Mountain Llamas. http://www.hikinginthesmokies.com/ We are all wearing clothes from Target because the airlines (Continental) got us in a day late and without our luggage so we had to dash around Target picking up some things to wear on the way to the trail head.
There were many awesome waterfalls. We hiked a couple of miles in from our base camp for this one. It's called School House Falls.
The llamas carried all our gear.I promised Bonnie our waitress at Restaurant 553 http://www.restaurant553.com/ I would mention her on my blog. We had a great southern meal sitting outside in the June sunshine watching all their beautiful hummingbirds.
We spent half a day at Earthaven.http://www.earthaven.org/ They are an aspiring ecovillage. We saw their little hydroelectric plant and some of their permaculture and eco construction projects, and learned about their communal living and environmental philosophies.
Then we went to Linville Caverns a very cool limestone cave network. http://www.linvillecaverns.com/ At one point they turn off the lights and let you experience complete darkness.
I also really liked going to the Native American museums in Cherokee. All the street signs in town are in Cherokee as well as English!
Asheville is a fun town with a yummy vegetarian restaurant, the Laughing Seed. We ate there 2 dinners in a row. And we also went to the Biltmore and marvelled at a private home 4 acres big.
2 comments:
I haven't checked out your blog in a long time (life gets busy on a small farm in the springtime!). I just wanted to say--what a totally cool vacation! We are actually going to NC in August. I love the idea that one state can boast cool cities, beautiful mountains, and seashore. We were leaning towards the seashore but after reading your post I totally want to check out some of the places you went to! Esp. the hike with llamas!
Equally as impressive is the birthday cake a couple posts down. A pinata cake???????? I didn't know such a thing was even possible! I have to follow the link your provided and see what it leads to!
Best Wishes!
Hi Lynnie,
Thanks for your comments. I hope you have a great time in NC! BTW, here in Massachusetts we also have cool cities, beautiful mountains and seashore. Where are you located?
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