Our Trip to the Appalachians - Sunday and Monday

Sunday morning was rainy and foggy, so we thought hiking, esp. high up in the mountains or by the water might be a little dicey with all the boys.  So, we decided to drive to Asheville.  We were originally thinking of going to see the Biltmore, but it looked so pricey (more than $50 / ticket), we just weren't sure it would be worth it with 4 boys to deal with.  So we decided to head to the Nature Center.  I vaguely remembered seeing it on the list of places we could go in NC with our aquarium pass.  It was definitely worth it.  It was about an hour drive to Asheville.  We loved the beautiful scenery and listened to more of the Lightning Thief.

The Nature Center was really nicely done.  They had a couple indoor exhibits with some smaller animals and then you could walk around the outside.  They had bigger animals - black bears, deer, otters, wolves, etc.  Animals that are native to the region.  And the scenery is beautiful of course.  The boys loved running around, seeing the animals, and playing on the playground equipment.

Next, we decided to try to drive by the Biltmore.  But you can't really get close without buying a ticket.  And the boys were hungry.  So, we stopped by McDonalds.  I mean, who needs to go to the Biltmore, when you can go to McDonald's next to the Biltmore.  We should have brought the camera, but who brings in a camera to McD's.  But seriously - the fanciest McD's I have ever seen.  They had a grand player piano in one corner, a gilded ceiling, fancy wallpaper, and more.  It's pretty neat, actually.  So, that fulfilled our Biltmore lust.

The weather seemed like it wasn't going to pour out rain, so we decided to chance it and drive another 1.5 hours to Linville Falls and check out the caverns and then go hiking as time permits.  We drove to Linville Falls.  Seth spent the entire section whining about how he wanted to go home and watch Nick.  Again, gorgeous scenery, but as soon as we got close, the fog was pretty dense.  Then, we took some seriously steep roads down the mountain till we got to the caverns.  We bought tickets and went on our tour.  Noah's first cave!  Now, the cave itself is pretty small and not super impressive, but it's the only show cavern in NC and boys always love caves.  They had a few pretty formations and some cool stories.  Halfway through, Seth decided he had to go to the bathroom and he had to go out and miss half the tour along with Katsu.  He even missed seeing a cave salamander.  The cave also had some resident fish ... they are stocked by the owners because the otters keep eating them.  Noah got a little antsy by the end, so I had to take him out of his carrier and was dealing with 3 boys by myself!  Good thing we all got out!

We still seemed to have time, so we decided to drive to the Falls and see how the hiking was.  The exit is right off the Blue Ridge Parkway, so back up into the mountains.  They said the hike was moderate, but we figured we would give it a try and see how it goes.  It was actually a pretty easy hike - the only moderate part is really the last part going up and down the rock stairs to the waterfall viewing areas.  A little nerve wracking with Logan.  He also tripped a few times on the trip, but over all, they all did well.  It was really pretty - pretty foggy - and just a perfect little hike for the family.  The boys especially loved playing ninjas among some stumps while I nursed Noah.

Then, we drove home, had dinner, and relaxed in our last evening in the rental.

Monday morning, we picked up, packed up, and drove home.  We decided to drive through Asheboro and stop at the zoo.  The kids were a little grumpy, but we got out and saw some of the animals and it was a nice pit stop for the long drive home.  The boys were sad that the Polar bears were again not on display and Andrew was upset we didn't have time to see everything, but we got to see some animals, have some treats as walked, and then drive back to Greenville.  Logan still talks about how fun it was to have another house.  We'll have to go on a little trip again soon.