It was difficult leaving our friends in North Carolina, but we had to move on. We headed south along the Blue Ridge Parkway, stopping at Little Switzerland for lunch. We continued through Asheville, NC to Brevard, NC, a charming town of 8,000 people. We stayed at a retro 1950s motel a few blocks from downtown. Very fun!
The next morning, a friend of our Paonia friends (Kyle and Mark) introduced us to Brevard over coffee, sharing the amazing cultural and musical attractions that her city offers. She is a member of a learning group that sounds very interesting. A general topic (for instance, Africa or new medicines) was chosen at the beginning of the year and each month one of the 12 women in the group would present something related to that topic. It sounds like something we might do in Kayenta. After Laura left, Roger and I walked around downtown a bit and then headed out toward Great Smokey Mountains National Park.
A few miles down the road, we stopped at a ranger station in the Pisgah National Forest. The ranger advised us not to go through the National Park due to crowds and traffic. Knowing what Zion in tourist season is like, we took his advice. The drive through the alternate choice, Pisgah National Forest, was beautiful and informative. We stopped at Looking Glass Falls and later at the 6,500-acre Cradle of Forestry Historic Site. The latter commemorates the beginnings of forest conservation in America in 1898 with historic forestry classrooms, trails, and machinery. The Site is located in the Pisgah National Forest (1916), one of the first national forests in the eastern U.S. Much of the original forest was part of the Biltmore Estate and was sold to the U.S. by Mrs. Vanderbilt when her husband died.
Our next stop was a visit with my aunt and uncle in Loudon, TN, near Knoxville. My uncle Gene and his wife Nancy lived in Reno until 2021 when they moved to Loudon to be closer to his son's family. Gene is 93 years old and is still sharp as can be! We are very close, so it was so good to see him and Nancy. Gene's son Kevin and his wife MaryBeth had us all over for dinner one night and one night, we treated everyone to dinner at the Yacht Club near their home. On our last day, Kev and MaryBeth took us on cruising and swimming on Fort Loudon Lake/the Little Tennessee River. The waterways all over this area were formed when the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) built 12 dams to provide electricity to the region. In doing so, it created a series of lakes, providing waterfront property to just about anybody who wanted it. Only recently have prices sky-rocketed. We loved our tour of the mansions with their boat houses and natural parts of the lake. Nancy treated us to many gourmet meals. Needless to say, we are putting on weight! A great visit.
After several days with family, we moved on to Cumberland Falls State Park Resort in Kentucky. Kentucky's State Parks often offer lodges and cabins, swimming pools, horseback riding, and other activities for visitors. Wish Utah's state parks did more of that!
We spent a day rafting on the Cumberland River, paddling up to the falls for an early morning shower, then paddling and bumping our way downriver (low water this time of year), and finally having lunch aboard the Cumberland Star as we motored our way back to the bus. Do I really have to return to real life?
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