Biltmore House

We arrived at the Biltmore House about lunch time. We were told we would need a good day to see the place. We decided to do it in half a day. Wow it was huge. It is the largest home in America built by George Vanderbuilt in 1895. We were there at the time of the Festival of Flowers, thousands of tulips decorated the grounds. The tour of the house was endless. We were impressed but getting tired. After the tour of the house we went to Antler Hill Village there is wine tasting, ice cream and a petting farm. We went straight to the farm. There were 2 horses, a goat that liked to be scratched, many hens some laying eggs and sheep. The kids were in heaven. They could walk around and pick up the hens, play with the goat and pet the horses. After the farm we sampled some ice cream and hit the road.

Smoky....

We finally got headed in the right direction. We were heading south toward the mountains and my Dad called. The plates for the motor home showed up at his house. We turned around and headed back. After a few phone calls and lots of confusion we figured out we were headed the wrong way, south. We got our plates on the RV and started off again. We reached the Great Smoky Mountain National Park. The winding road was narrow, and beautiful. One of the high lights was not one but two bears we saw on the side of the road eating berry's. Of course we got out and got as close as we thought was safe. In other words we weren't the closest.

We drove and drove and drove and finally found the entrance to the Blue Ridge Parkway. It was getting late but I thought we still had some time to see the scenery. As we got higher and higher the fog (smoke) rolled in, at times we could only see 25-50 feet in front of us. The scenic over look was well; fog. Joe kept on going. I thought we should stop but it was so remote and we weren't seeing any other vehicle he decided it was better to drive 15-20 miles per hour than stop. We drove white knuckled for 4 hours till we finally found a road down the mountain. I can't describe what a relief it was to see more than 50 feet in front of me.

The Great Smoky Mountains

Next stop visiting family. My Dad and Katy have moved to Knoxville TN. What a cool place. We toured the city one day, the next we were hiking at Cades Cove in the Great Smoky Mountains, and a BBQ with family and friends. They have a great new place decorated with excellent style and a fabulous yard. Their driveway has been the best camp sight so far, nice cement flat surface. We left midday to see some of the Blue Ridge Parkway.

Atlanta to visit friends

In keeping with tradition when we cruise us the east coast we stop in Atlanta to visit with old friends. Paris, Beth, and Oliva and Rick & Kara. I always wish we could spend more time hangin' out a few days is never enough time to catch up. But in the few days we accomplished golfing, shopping and sushi.

Volley Ball anyone...

My friends all played in the Fort Walton beach Volley ball tournament this spring. We didn't bring home any winners but they all played great games and had tons of fun. The weather was great the first day but mother nature turned up the wind for some challenging volley ball the next day.

O'Leno State Park

O'leno State Park was our next stop, High Springs, FL, very remote and very quiet. We had the company of our very dear friends Jake and Dee. There was mountain biking, hiking, campfires, and relaxing. This place was built by the CCC's (Civilian Conservation Corps) in 1935-1936. Joe's Dad was in the CCC's but he worked out west. The suspension bridge they built is still there, we crossed it ourselves with only minor hesitation. We also met some folks that worked for the State of FL. They were setting up gypsy moth traps to see it they were present. We didn't see any but we found some strange growths on the Azalea plants and asked them about it. They didn't know but took samples. Voila; 4 weeks later an official report from the State of FL. It was a leaf gall Exobasidium vaccinii. This fungus is causing leaf galls. How neat to get an answer in the mail.

Winter the Dolphin

We hit the road and our next stop was The Clearwater Marine Aquarium to visit Winter the Dolphin. Dean did a book talk in school on a book about a dolphin named Winter. She had gotten trapped in crab trap lines, was rescued by a fisherman but badly hurt and lost her tail. The incredible people involved made her a prosthetic tail and worked to rehabilitate her. We decided to bring the story to life and see her. We are pleased to report, she is living a pretty regular dolphin life at the aquarium.

We started our trip.

It is official. We are crusin' the USA. We left Florida April 17th, only 2 days after our planned departure. First stop Sandy's Cafe, lunch and cafe conleche. We cruised up the Key's and made our second first stop at Coral Castle in Homestead, FL. It is a unique display of coral hand carved by Ed Leedskalinn back in the 1930's. It hasn't changed one bit since I visited 31 years ago, well I guess the admission went up.