road trip- days 4 & 5

we left ridgecrest with rain looming. we watched the fog roll across the mountains and sit, heavy. our hopes of riding the blue ridge parkway were crushed. don't get me wrong, we tried, and almost died. ( john would probably disagree about the almost dying part.) the lovely fog that we witnessed moving in was no longer so romantic. we couldn't see three feet in front of us. after trying for a while we finally turned off into a town and suddenly could see! and what to our wandering eyes did appear, you ask?

john thought he was in a fog induced dream land, but no, it was true! a whole restaurant dedicated to pork ( lucky for me and the kids, they offered other foods as well)! we had to stop in for our obligatory north carolina bbq. now, mind you, we are texans, and as texans, we are picky when it comes to bbq. this place for sure passed the test. however, they serve cole-slaw and fries with their bbq. what? no baked beans? no potato salad? we went ahead and ordered potato salad. being used to the mustardy german variety we were surprised, and yes, a bit offended, to see that they made their potato salad with sour cream. no thank you. strange potato salad aside, i must concede that we have never been to a friendlier restaurant. let's just say that buddy and moonpie do quite well in the mountains of north carolina.

we continued driving parallel to the blue ridge parkway, making our way up to a tiny mountain town near west jefferson, nc. this is what i had really been waiting for. we reserved a little cabin in the woods on the grounds of an organic farm! this place was perfect! it was situated up the mountain a bit from the farm. i am remiss to say that i have no pictures of our cabin, but you can visit it here. we loved it here. the cabin was a two story timber frame, with a full kitchen, wood burning stove and hot tub on the deck! and the view of the mountains was incredible. we hiked, played down by the river, swung from an old vine stuck in a tree, made soup and smores, read and played cards.



buddy most enjoyed making leaf boats. that sweet boy would have stood there all day sailing leaves down the river. i loved that this simple act brought him so much pleasure. moonpie had a notebook and pencil in hand and spent time drawing out elaborate river wildlife food chains. this time, down on the river bank, was so sweet...

we even ventured into virginia. the drive was breath taking, but we really just wanted to be snuggled up in our cabin. so after a brief visit to galaxa, va, we headed back 'home'.

there were christmas tree farms all over this part of the country. i think the kids grew tired of hearing me say "look out your window- a christmas tree farm!". i was amazed at those trees lining the mountains. i really wanted to bring one home, but john, sensible man that he is, vetoed that idea.

upon our return home our host, farmer sally, came up to visit us. she took the kids and john down to tour the farm and pick some arugula. moonpie talked about the greenhouses all day. i thought they were just going down to move the cars around, or i would have been all over that tour. i stayed up in the cabin to make an apple crisp for an after supper treat.

just thinking about that night warms me up inside- the four of us, by the fire light, eating our homemade chicken soup and apple crisp. that little moment in time is another that is stored in my heart. my sweet babies and even sweeter husband, enjoying the quiet and the 'just being' with one another.

as much as we enjoyed visiting the asheville area, i must confess that i could have stayed in this cabin the entire week. moonpie has already begun her plans of the cabin we are going to build one day.

one day...