Leg 2. Nashville, TN, to Burgess, VA

From Nashville, we went on to Pigeon Forge for two nights around a day at Dollywood. We enjoyed the various music shows – bluegrass, country, gospel -- and food at that park quite a lot. Didn’t see Dolly, but did see several of her kinfolks.

The next stop as we worked our way east was Ashville, NC. Took an interesting audio tour of this modest little mountain getaway of the Vanderbilt family. Ashville highlight for us was the café adjacent to a humongous Farmer’s Market. Lots of down-home country cooking. Yum, yum.

We then stayed a second day in the area to take a loop drive, via the PT, on a piece of the Blue Ridge Parkway and through the waterfall area of SW NC. Judy and I had spent vacation time in this area several years ago in a time-share with son Mike and daughter-in-law Karen. My goal on this trip was to find what was locally known as “bust-your-butt-falls.” We had seen it before – a long fast slide on slick rock – but Mike and I had decided not to try it for various wimpy reasons. Now, I was ready. Unfortunately, I didn’t find the falls this time, but did find what I think is the roadside area, which is now posted with private land, keep-out signs. Too bad, but there’s something to be said for an unbusted butt. Consolation prize was a nice French bistro in Cashiers.

Next stop: Raleigh, where Mike, Karen, and grandson Jason live. We camped at Jordan Lake State Park, not named for Michael, in case you’re wondering. Biggest deal there was that 4.5 year-old Jason spent a night in the ‘bus’ (his term) with us – first night away from his parents. We did some serious biking, rock throwing, swimming, Spiderman rocket-firing, and picnicking. The state park campground gate is locked at 9pm and we had visions of passing Jason over the fence to his parents in the middle of the night if things didn’t work out. All went very well, though. Truly an exceptional boy.

From Raleigh, it was on to Burgess, VA, to see my brother Lael and his wife Katherine. ‘Twas another rainy day of travel, but what got me was the waviness of I-95 in NC and VA – really got Tuzigoot to bouncing. That may explain what we discovered few days later. Stay tuned.

Cheers,

Rob and Susie

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