Asheville and The Great Smoky Mountains

The road to Asheville from Virginia Beach was seemingly endless.
For this trip, Eric and I have done our best to keep the GPS off, and the road map in our lap.  We find the GPS to be a bit annoying, and sometimes rather stupid.  Plus, the maps get us off the main highways and allow us to find things we would have missed.  This has worked astonishingly well considering I didn't know how to use a map a week ago.  There has, so far been one glitch in navigation.  That, my friends, is the trip to Asheville.
We planned on leaving Virginia early in the morning, but ended up leaving about an hour and a half late.  Right off the bat, we were planning on getting to Asheville at about five instead of four.  Fine, I can deal with that.  Then, we got to Richmond, VA.  Hungry, tired, and sick of driving, we missed our turn onto I-40.  Instead of turning around, we took rt 60.  On the map, 60 looked great.  In person, it looked like the speed limit was about 40mph the whole way.  And by the whole way, I mean all 200 miles.  Eventually, we found our way back to 40, but our 8 hour trip turned into a 10 hour trip.  Blah.
Thankfully, when we arrived in Asheville, we were able to stay at the Sweet Peas Hostel.  It's a really cute place right in the center of town.

From the hostel, we were able to walk a block to dinner.  We discovered a really good vegetarian restaurant that served up a fantastic meal.  While sitting outside, we could take in the view of the downtown area of the city.  Unfortunately, before we finished, it started to thunderstorm.  We went inside to finish our meal, then went back to the hostel for some rest.  I love to explore new cities, but NOT in the rain.

A vegetarian cuban and BBQ tortilla crisps--yum!

This morning, we woke up early, had another phenomenal meal, and took in the sights of the city.  At the center of town, we relaxed in a cozy park with a lot of strangely specific rules, and stopped by the (free!) art museum.  Eric was excited to see a Jewish business exhibit there.  When the clouds (again) came rolling in, we decided to ditch Asheville for the scenic Blue Ridge Parkway.

I want this dress.

Ridiculous rules in the park

This is Tim

The Blue Ridge Parkway runs from Virginia to North Carolina.  It is a gorgeous scenic road that twists through the mountains.  Numerous hiking trails and scenic stops allow for great views of the Pisgah National Forest.  The Parkway ends in the Great Smoky Mountains.

Pretty wild flowers

Eric liked this bug

You would have seen something cool, but it was destroyed.  Ok, thanks.

The Great Smokies speak for themselves, so I won't even try to describe their beauty, the pictures can speak for themselves.  Rest assured, however, that they are much more beautiful than my crummy photography skills could possible express.
While in the Smokies, we also took a hike up part of the Appalachian trail, and visited Cligman's Dome, the highest point in Tennessee!

Just walking the Appalachian Trail.

Cligman's dome, the highest point in TN.