Asheville and Hershey

It was a long drive from Staunton to Asheville, but the scenery was very pretty.  I loved seeing the green grass, trees budding, and daffodils blooming in profusion along the interstate.  Driving through this area, we were reminded of past visits to Bristol, VA/TN, and to Alabama where we hope to spend a week or two next winter.  It is so nice to get away from the snow and cold at least a little while in winter.  We like to walk, and that's iffy up here a lot of the time.

We went up and over some mountains to get to Asheville which is a busy place but very interesting.  Unfortunately, Thomas Wolfe's home was closed Sundays and Mondays, so we could only look at the boarding house his mother ran.

I had used the GPS on my phone for the first time with much success, so used it several more times during the rest of our trip.  I feel so smart!  On Monday we took a trolley tour of the city, which was very interesting.  We walked over to the American Pinball Museum, which was the highlight of the trip for Paul who got to play with "Godzilla."

I liked the falafel we had for lunch so was willing to hang around in the darkened storefront full of ten year old boys and grown men for a while.  We also visited "Gantt Plaza," named for the uncle of a friend.

On Tuesday, we headed north for home, about 1,000 miles from Asheville.   There were some long days on the road, but we did enjoy stopping in Hershey, PA for lunch with some distant cousins - Bernie, Joice, and Walt - I hadn't seen in over 50 years.  All of them had worked at the Hotel Hershey in their teen years or during college vacations, and it was an elegant place for lunch, too elegant for my sneakers.  

It turns out that Joice (far left) is a quilter who showed me a picture of an amazing quilt she'd made for her granddaughter who designed it.  Hershey has changed quite a bit since I was a kid, and I look forward to returning to look around and continuing to get to know my family.  

Once home, there was a mountain of laundry and a bunch of loose ends to pick up.  There is snow on the ground but it's melting fast.  I know we'll still get some more but hope to see a robin outside soon.