Crossing paths

As we travel around the country, we do try to have a plan of some sort that is altered on a regular basis based on weather and newly discovered opportunities to explore. We also try and keep track of others who wander the country in RV’s, sometimes via their blogs. A week or so ago we found that our friends Dan and Corrie Ryan were slowly heading down the east coast and would generally be in the same area as ourselves in the same time frame.

http://theryanrvexpress.blogspot.com/

So while we were driving to our current location near Asheville, North Carolina, we gave them a call and managed to come up with a plan to meet. They arrived a few days ago and parked next door. It has been a great opportunity to catch up on what has been going on and to have some fun. We all headed into downtown Asheville to explore the city. The downtown area was very busy on Saturday with a number of events. The architecture was largely from the 1920/30’s with an art deco appeal. Music and the arts are a big part of the local scene. We did our best to fit in.

http://www.exploreasheville.com/index.aspx

After the downtown area, we visited the national famous Grove Park Inn, which has provided accommodation and leisure activities for locals and visitors alike for nearly one hundred years.

http://www.groveparkinn.com/Leisure/TheResort/History/

Dan is really into accomplishing a number of mile stones along the road. One of these was completing a journey along the whole Blue Ridge Parkway; we drove those areas of the parkway that he missed when he diverted to visit with us. On the way to the parkway we managed to visit the Stompin grounds hall of fame during the world competition and got a quick idea of what that is all about.

http://discovermaggievalley.com/_attrac/stomgrou.htm

This also allowed us to hit the shops in Cherokee, NC just before turning into the Parkway.

http://www.cherokeesmokies.com/

As before, the parkway was beautiful in its fall colors and we ended up taking even more pictures.

http://www.blueridgeparkway.org/

Between all these travels, we managed to get in a few games to keep the spirit of competition alive. Two nights of playing Mexican Train dominoes with a poorly written rule book, led to multiple versions of the rules being applied, but in the end Corrie and I tied as the big winners. Today, to break the tie, we all played a round of miniature golf, and despite the ladies getting in some lucky holes in one, with, in my mind, some excessive celebrations, I modestly must report that I took the day.

It has been a great visit and tomorrow we again hit the road on our journeys.