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Published: August 22nd 2006
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The irony is not lost on me as I sit here, 2 -3 hrs from home, finally finding the campsite experience I sought the length of the summer. With wine in my hand, my husband on my right, my best friend on my left, and a fire at my feet; I sit before a beautiful flowing bold river which makes that special kind of music that only rushing water can. If you are wondering where I stuffed the kids, the cable here works and they got a bit of that and then it was to bed while we enjoyed the night, the water, and each other. The campgrounds only amenity is the river but it sits on a beautiful stretch of the French Broad River and that is enough for Ed and I. The kids are not sure they love it as much but a family of ducks with babies has helped.
We pulled in late on Saturday after a very long drive from Seven Springs (9 hrs). It was our second longest drive of the year but we got back in the mode and did great. I was amazed that the kids only watched an hour of DVD and
played on the computer for another hour. I am not really sure what we all did but we did what we needed to and got here in time to hook up with Shannon and enjoy the evening. Shannon joined us as she is leaving on a 6 week trip sometime in the next day or so and we needed the group hug to sustain us all. Another irony is that she is heading back along much of the same route we went this summer. So much for our timing skills.
We pretty much spent the first day doing much of nothing. We hung around the campsite, lolled around, fed ducks and ate pancakes that Jacquelyn made (batter, flipping, and all). After our morning nap, we headed the 10 minutes into Asheville and went to a great lunch before taking the kids to an indoor rock climbing gym. This time it was Ed’s turn to man the belay rope and he helped the kids up and down on the wall with the ropes. Both kids have gotten better with the small amount of practice this summer and the little mountain goats were all over the place. Then it was back
to camp for the afternoon nap and hang out. The river is great but it rages a little too much for the kids to really go in so they played with rocks and stuff while Ed and I got a little rest (again).
To end our quiet day, we played a few games of cards and then watched a family movie with popcorn before bed. It was nice to catch up on doing nothing and I would say we would get an A+ if graded on this skill.
The next day dawned beautiful and I took the kids on a horseback ride at Sandy Bottom Trail Rides. It was a really interesting place. The average age of the trail guides was 100+ years and I’m not sure they had ever seen a bottle of sunscreen in their lives. We took out our three horses with our guide and went on a surprisingly beautiful trail ride. Danielle rode by herself for the second time and had a blast. We saw bulls, cows, wild turkeys, goats, and school buses (yes, that is right, they are used as goat hotels for the winter season on the property). We had great
views of the mountains along the trail and we climbed up to a great vista ride. We plan to go back in the fall and take their guided ride to a gem mine on the property. It was a great surprise and a great trip.
After lunch in Hot Springs at the Diner (which the kids loved), we took a poll of what we wanted to do and to my second surprise of the day the kids voted on Biltmore house. So we headed over to the estate for the afternoon.
The kids enjoyed the inside of the mansion but probably finished it in record time. They appreciated the inside but they loved the gardens. True to their grandma’s genes, the first thing they did when they got outside was to park themselves on a bench, pull out their pens and paper and start to draw. Then we took tons of pictures (also Grandparent’s influence). Then we ate ice cream (okay that part was probably my influence) but then they wanted to shop (back to Grandparent influence).
We picked up Ed and had a great Thai dinner downtown and then headed back to enjoy our last evening
out before heading home.
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