Roughin it Easy

After leaving FL, we had a relatively uneventful two day drive to Pisgah National Forest south of Asheville NC.   Found Davidson River Campground, and secured two adjacent sites with electric hookups (one for Tom and Jill, who would arrive the following day).   The camp is along a lovely trout stream, and we saw several fly fishermen in the shallows.  The hike/bike paths along the banks lead to the area's famous mountain bike trails, which is the draw for the other Indy folks that we're joining us (a group of friends that call themselves "The Halfwheelers Cycling and Social Club of North South Central Indianapolis".

While not MTBers, Sallie and I enjoyed short trail rides on level gravel paths, and on two days I ventured on the long path into Brevard. This lovely town is home to good restaurants, galleries, coffee shops, and of course, two breweries.

The week was pretty relaxing, with dinners at some of the good restaurants, visits to several brewpubs, euchre tourneys with the Julians (split wins, as usual), and a couple of fine evenings around the campfire.    Sallie and I drove over to Chimney Rock one day, and I climbed the countless steps to the top.  Once there I found there were higher viewpoints yet, so I continued on. While the views were beautiful, my legs are still sore and achy 3rd day after.  This was not helped by our visit yesterday to Biltmore Estate in Asheville.  This is the enormous French chateaux constructed by George Vanderbilt in the late 1800s.  So you pay a lot of money to tour the castle and grounds and see how rich folks live.  Pretty interesting though, especially if you are a fan of Downton Abbey.  We did stock up on some of their very fine estate wines, and hope to enjoy those soon.

Overall we had a fun week in the woods and towns with great friends, enjoyed fine beers, and rode bikes.  Hey, we might have a residence a bit smaller than Biltmore, but I guess our week is about how rich folks live.

Next up, a blast from the past reunion with an old friend in Virginia.