Lake Powhatan, Asheville, NC
We left Tennessee and headed for the Appalachian Mountains. Rather than drive thru Smokey Mountain National Park, which we've done before, we decided to drive through little mountain towns. We stopped several times along the way to play in and check out the Ocoee River. (And yes, Tom you are right - all owned by the TVA.) Interestingly enough, we also saw a fair amount of solar farms so maybe that's the new trend toward rural electrification.
One of my bucket list items (yes, they are fairly modest) was to bike the Little Tennessee River Rails for Trail. I'd read an article about it a few years ago and it looked so quaint meandering next to the Tennessee river with several bridges criss-crossing over the river. As luck would have it we just "happened" to drive thru Franklin, North Carolina. It's a fairly easy 11 or so mile bike ride, but what it lacks in mileage it makes up for in scenery. The trail was heavily scented with thickets of blooming wild honeysuckle, the sweet perfume so strong it was almost heady. This trail hooked up with a couple of other little trails all hugging the Little Tennessee River. The temperature was just about 80, so even though we were riding this in the mid-afternoon it wasn't too hot or oppressive. It's a great ride, up and down and a couple of fun hills, over a covered bridge and just enough variety to keep it interesting. Definitely the highlight of my day!
After this little escapade we drove for about another hour and a half and are camped just outside of Asheville in an awesome USFS campground. Ironically, this is the place we will be over Memorial Weekend so it was kinda cool to check it out. First thing we did was hop on our bikes. This place has so many mountain bike trails it's ridiculous. We rode down to the beach area and then took a trail through the woods. We didn't have a trail map so it was a bit confusing (not to mention a work-out) to figure out where we were. Safely, but exhausted, we made it back to the campground in time for a "Cheers Norm's Amber Ale" for Ned and a glass of Pinot Grigio for moi.
Tomorrow we head to Raleigh, NC to meet up with Sam the owner of Videri Chocolate. Sam was one of the other chocolate makers with us on our recent trip to Trinidad and Ecuador. We are really looking forward to seeing his operation and spending some time with him before heading back up to Asheville. My only regret is that we won't have any time to see my niece, Cassie, and my great-nephews Jessie and Brent. Such cute boys!!! Next time, Cassie - I promise!
p.s. I also threw in a couple of pictures that show we are definitely in "Cue" country - pork bbq that is. I love all the interesting regionals areas that make up the US. So fun!
