Asheville, NC

 Yesterday’s day started with two large loads of laundry.  We are staying at a nice campground with full amenities, including a very nice laundry room, so I took advantage.  I drove our truck as the basket was too heavy to carry the distance.  I knew where it was on the map, but had difficulty finding it.  I walked over to the office to ask, and the lady in there (with a very impressive beehive hairdo) also wasn’t sure. She tried to show me on the map I had just looked at.  Oh well, I walked around some more and eventually found it.  After carting that heavy basket from the truck to the laundromat, because of course I didn’t park on the correct side of the building, I went looking for a mailbox to send a birthday card.  The lady in the office didn’t have one of those either, but told me to walk up the hill and there was one there.  I found that much more easily than the laundromat.  I then moved the truck closer and waited for my two loads to finish washing and drying.  I was very happy to see that each load cost $1.50 to wash and $1.50 to dry.  In the current world of laundromat costs, that is very cheap.  I also used the change machine to get $20 more in change as I know I’ll have at least one more load to do before getting home, and it will likely cost the $4 I’ve been paying per wash load at other places.  

Once back at the RV, I found Steve finishing up with sewer hose duty (no need to explain more there) and he had done some cleaning inside.  We tucked Maggie in, jumped in the truck and headed into Asheville.  We decided to take a hop on, hop off trolley tour of the area.  Our first stop was at the Omni Hotel which was build around the turn of the last century.  We got off as we had heard it was a beautiful hotel, and holy-cow was it gorgeous!  We had a lovely lunch on the terrace overlooking the valley and the smoky mountains.  Wow just isn’t a big enough word!  After lunch, we strolled the lobby awhile and then waited for the next trolley to pick us up.  

Feeling a bit rumpled and tired, but happy

This view at lunch was spectacular 

This fireplace was massive! 

Our tour guides were wonderful.  The two we rode with were both born and raised North Carolinians and were a wealth of knowledge about all aspects of the Asheville area.  They were entertaining and we learned a lot.  If you ever have a short time in a new city, we highly recommend this kind of tour.  Steve and I had actually driven past some of the places yesterday on our way to the brewery, but had no idea what we were looking at.  

By this time we were both very tired and so headed back to the RV.  I, in part, was exhausted.  Our RV mattress is good, but not great, and I’ve had trouble sleeping and have awakened with a backache a few times.  Traveling in an RV is really fun, but can also be tiring.  Steve is constantly faced with blips in our electrical system, a tv that might not work, poor internet, or any number of other issues that can come up with driving a small, highly technical house on 6 tires.  Although our space is small, I have no dishwasher, washer and dryer, and things just seem to get dirtier faster.  Having an 80 lb. dog who sheds heavily doesn’t help.  All of that has been quite manageable, actually, and we’ve been able to balance that with long driving days, tours, activities, excursions, and exploring new places.  We’ve gotten lost, got stuck in rush hour traffic, and navigated miles and miles of construction.  Despite it all, we’ve had a blast and have really enjoyed this trip.  

I say all that, because yesterday we decided to change plans one more time and head home.  We are going to skip the last two cities and a national park we were looking forward to seeing, and this morning we are turning our RV west.  We don’t plan to break records getting home though.  We are tired, and there is no need to exacerbate it with 6-8 hour driving days.  We have chosen to make our way to I-20 as we haven’t traveled that interstate yet, and we can still see some new things on our way.  We figure it will take about a week, give or take, to make the trip.  I’m sad we aren’t finishing, but I am ready to be home.  Steve is too.