On to Asheville

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We've been visiting with relatives the last few days, and unable to add information to our blog. There hasn't been much in the way of travel news to write about, anyway. However, we have not stopped, and there will be more - we won't be home for almost two weeks.
In Charlottesville, we mostly visited with a brother and his wife. It was a very pleasant visit, especially since we haven't seen them for about 12 years and we caught up on a whole lot of news.
Natalie was especially pleased when she was able to see the home in which she spent her first few years. As we were standing around in front of the house, taking pictures and gabbing, the owner came out, wondering what was going on. He was very friendly and offered to show us through the house. We took him up on the offer and were very pleasantly surprised at some features Natalie remembered that were still as she remembered. The owner had done some significant improvements and those were very nice and done very well. He also wondered why some things were as they were, and Natalie could answer his questions. It was a very nice experience.
Yesterday, Sunday the 15th, we drove to Asheville, NC, where we'll stay with my sister and her husband for a few days.
We drove a VW Jetta we rented from Enterprise, and enjoyed a very pleasant ride on really nice highways through Virginia, Tennessee and North Carolina. The freeway included a stretch called the Blue Ridge Parkway and was through gently rolling hills, covered in lush green meadows and trees, with truly beautiful views on a beautiful day. It was a truly pleasant drive.
Today, we visited the Billy Graham Training Center at the Cove. There were sessions active, so we were unable to visit all the facilities. But we were able to visit the chapel and visitor center, which were extremely nice and inspirational. As we drove up the road, we were met by man who gave us visitor name tags, showed us where to park, and pointed us to a guide. The first guide took us into a theater, gave us some material about the center and it's programs and showed a couple videos about Billy Graham and the activities at the center. She then took us to another guide who helped us get started around a room of Billy Graham memorabilia. Then we went into the chapel and prayer room, where another lady gave us a bit of the history of the chapel. It was an especially good idea to visit.

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Photos

IMG_4646
Chatlos Memorial Chapel

Comments

[Don and Judy King]

love your blogs

[Beth Undhjem]

Charlottesville to Ashville
Wonderful and new memories you both made with Natalie's family, and to tour her childhood home...WOW! My family used to vacation up in Asheville, NC, and I fondly remember my older brother, Jim, exclaiming, 'look at those mountains!', as Daddy drove us through the Blue Ridge Parkway. I had great delight when in 1986, Jim and wife Missy, came to Seattle to celebrate our 1st Anniversary at Mt. Rainier (Longmire). I got great delight in saying, 'hey Jim, THAT's a mountain!!!'.