Amboy Adventure!

Overlooking the French Broad River

Wednesday afternoon we made it to Wilson's Riverfront RV Park on Amboy Road in Asheville. If you've been reading this blog a while, you know this is one of my favorite spots as it overlooks the French Broad River and adjoins the Asheville Greenway system. Ruthie had asked to make Asheville part of this trip as she's not had the chance to explore the area. 

As soon as we were set up, we headed into town for supper in the Edison Room of the Grove Park Inn. We were lucky to get an early reservation. Ruthie got the grand hotel tour, then we had a grander supper and dessert at The Hop, a great local place near where Ben and Jessie lived with lots of vegan options for a mother who can't do milk. After that, we checked out another campground Ruthie's friend Sarah had recommended, Campfire Lodgings (lovely views but a treacherous road for mountain towing), and walked the greenway until dark. 

Grove Park Inn

Grove Park Lobby

Back of the Inn

The Inn's mountain views

Edison Dining Patio

Oak milk ice cream!

Morning on the Blue Ridge Parkway

Thursday has been even busier. We started the day on a mountain drive from Weaverville to the Blue Ridge Parkway, a lovely route my daughter taught me when she lived here. The day had started with a thick mist along the river but the Parkway took us above the clouds. Then we explored new parts of the greenway, checked out Biltmore Village, and drove through the River Arts District. Under the best of circumstances, Asheville is a difficult place to drive. The city is old and the neighborhood roads predate modern driving. Some of the neighborhood roads narrow to a single lane in spots and the city has put speed bumps everywhere to slow folks down. More recently, they have added tiny traffic circles everywhere. When you are NOT in the neighborhoods, Asheville is full of Interstates which may have confusing splits so every chance I got, I'd choose the gray alternative route in Google Maps to stay off the highways. My kids went to school up here so I'm not totally unfamiliar with the place but Google took us places I had never seen and with driving challenges I had never faced. And no matter how many alternatives I took, we always ended up on I240 to get to Amboy Road and our RV. It got to be a joke.  

All Soul's Church

Children's church playground

Biltmore Village Charm

So the day we had was fun and full. AND we got to enjoy the first colors of Fall. Our next stop is Hendersonville. And best good news is that Congress got its act together and avoided a shut down so we can visit the Great Smoky Mountain National Park after that.  

First colors of fall!