Tuesday, July 22, 2008-Asheville, TN

We slept  late, showered and drove back to the Blue Ridge Parkway. We decided  to drive to the Mt. Pisgah lodge and have breakfast. We have enjoyed this area before and it was fun to return again. After breakfast, we headed back on the parkway and exited west of Asheville. We wanted to do some sightseeing in Asheville. We have not seen much of the area before. After our tour, we returned to the parkway and drove to the Arts and Crafts Center. This is an outlet for local artisans to display and sell their work. While we were there, a woodcarver had Native American flutes on display and played a short tune. I would love to have bought one, but they are very pricey.

We always enjoy visiting this center with all the exceptional artwork and artifacts. We did buy our only T-shirts on this trip. They were navy blue with the Blue Ridge Parkway logo on the front. I also got information about the Mountain to Sea hiking trail that is being developed in North Carolina. It will eventually be over nine hundred miles long. If I can't hike the Application Trail, this would be a good alternate route.

From the Arts and Craft Center, we returned to the campground and had a light lunch. I brought the journal up to date.  We will  leave in the morning for the KOA campground adjacent to the Great Smokey Mountain National Park. We won't have to take the camper up to the higher elevations and will have water and electric utilities.  We plan to spend three  nights there and start our return to north Georgia.  As of now, our plan is to return to McKinney Campground in Bartow County next Sunday.