We went on a LONG trip to North Carolina over spring break (something we've NEVER done) and had a great time. While we were experiencing our trip I kept thinking "this is going to produce a lot of new blogs" but now, I'm not sure where to start.
I guess, firstly, I need to say how fantastic it was to spend time with Zach. And I say that even though I only took a couple of pictures of him our last day and never got one of him in his uniform.
We arrived on Saturday afternoon in the little burg of Franklin which is darling! (Apparently that is a word to describe things aptly in the South.)
I loved the town which was arranged strangely, streetwise, but had a quaintness about it that made it irresistible.
This was a neat sign in front of a less neat store.
We tried about 3 different times to go through the Celtic Tartan Museum and never seemed to make it in time to see the actual museum part. But the store was fun and gave us a flavor of the kilts and tartans we could have seen. There is a lot of gem mining in the area and we never got to any of that either. Maybe someday we will go back and Craig and Anna will be able to fulfill their mining dreams. We did however, go to a few thrift stores, antique emporiums and went bowling one night.
Our main reason for being in NC was to see and support Zach while he is attending school out there to finish his degree for K-State. We didn't get to see too much of him, but the time we had was precious. It was probably his hardest week (physically) of his training. While we were there he was pepper sprayed, tazered, and had to fight for his life against a padded martial arts instructor. Needless to say, he was glad to have the moral support as well as all of the good food we were able to treat him to. Note: don't always judge a restaurant by how it looks on the outside!
I always think that I am taking the right amount of pictures of the things I want until I get home from somewhere and realize all of my missed opportunities. I wish I would have taken pictures of some of the yummy food we ate, but I did not.
We stayed in a cabin just up the mountain from where Zach's cabin (basement room) was located. It was so nice for him to be able to come home at night from class and pop up to where we were so we could eat together and hang out.
This is what our cabin looked like and the picture at the beginning of the blog was the view from the front porch in the morning. Priceless!
We decided that this is why they are called the Smoky Mountains.
Here's Anna sitting on the bed where Katrina slept. (Katrina was not available for photos on this trip.) It was a great place to stay, but really needed new mattresses and furniture that was not all saggy and uncomfortable.
The hot tub was used by some of us and it was nice for Zach to get to use it one of our last nights there. I think you can still sort of see how red his skin was from the pepper spray 3 days earlier. THAT was an experience he will NEVER forget!
So I guess that is blog 1. Not too fascinating but it was slow paced and good family time and to me that is a vacation!
Here are my kids in a not so clear picture to prove that they were there!
Other than seeing Zach, the highlight of our trip was seeing Biltmore Estate in Asheville. Stay tuned--- especially if you are a Downton Abby fan!
Very neat, thanks for sharing.
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