The Land of Waterfalls

On Sunday we decided to take a drive and check out our surroundings.  We made our way to the Pisgah National Forest visitors center where we got a tremendous amount of information about the area.  It was raining, so unfortunately we didn't get to do a hike.  We did get to check out several of the grocery stories.  All of them had incredible service and the prices weren't any worse than anywhere else we've been.

Monday we went to the laundromat and we also checked out a few more stores.  We took a drive looking for the Dupont Forest but didn't quit find it. We did, however, find the Brevard music center.  I don't think there is anything around here that isn't beautiful!

Tuesday, we finally made it to Dupont State Forest. We decided to check out two waterfalls that were only a short hike from the parking lot.  The first waterfall we saw was Hooker Falls.  It was simply beautiful

The next waterfall was Triple Drop.  It is best known as being the waterfall in the Hunger Games movie.  Apparently it is the spot where Katniss found Peeta buried in the mud.  It was truly the prettiest waterfall I've ever seen, and we've seen a lot of waterfalls!  There is another waterfall in Dupont that was used in the movie, but we ran out of time, so we will be going back soon to do more exploring.  Dupont is also known for having great mountain biking.  Dave is anxious to find someone that can teach him the ins and outs of the forest when it comes to riding.


We are still doing school in the midst of our adventures and Dave continues to work hard.  We have so much more to see and a month doesn't seem like it will be enough.  There are over 250 waterfalls to be seen in this county alone.  Each day is a new adventure and we are anxious to see what's around the next bend.

Flight of the Vampire and More Halloween Fun

We began our first full day in Brevard early.  Grace, Lauryl, and I ran in the annual Flight of the Vampire 5k held on the campus of Brevard College.  The weather was perfect and it was a spectacular way to see the homes around town.  As we were waiting for the race to start, I met a sweet woman who was also fairly new to the area from Florida.  We talked the whole first part of the run and we met up after race and introduced our families.  Not even in town 24 hours and we made friends...craziness!  


Following the race, which was a blast, we saw our first white squirrel!  They are truly spectacular and bazaar all at the same time.  They are all over the college campus and we've even seen them other places around town.  The tale is that they came to the area from a carnival animal truck that overturned back in the 40's.  A pair of the squirrels were found and given to a local resident that tried to breed them unsuccessfully.  The squirrels eventually escaped and began breeding in the wild. They can now be seen throughout the town of Brevard.   According to the town website, biologists know of no other species of all white squirrels in the world.  They are not albino as they are white with some gray fur and they have brown eyes!

They next adventure of the day was attending the Halloween festival downtown.  We all dressed up for the occasion and Grace and Lauryl decided to enter the costume competition.  Grace took second place in the storybook category with her rendition of the poem "The Raven" by Edgar Allen Poe.  With Raven feathers and lines of the poem written on her arms and legs, she embodied both the raven and the lost Lenore.  It was a great way to show she really learned something when we studied the poem.  Lauryl dressed up as the character from the children's book Pinkalicious.  Camden went old-school as Skeletor, donned with a glow in the dark hand painted mask he made.  Because Grace won, we all got to walk in the costume parade through town.  Way to make our mark already!

After the parade we got lunch at Mayberry's.  They have the most delicious sandwiches and it's a place that truly embodies the essence of the town.  The kids did some trick-or-treating at the stores and we ran into our new friends at the pumpkin roll.  In the evening there was a music festival "Osktoberfest" sponsored by Oskar Blues Brewery,a new brewery coming to town.  We ate Brauts and drank  beer while listening to an awesome band. The kids even got to play on the inflatable slides. Once again we met up with the couple we met earlier in the day to bring the day to close.  What a wonderful introduction to a wonderful little town.  We are becoming fast fans of this area!

Brevard, The Friendliest Place on Earth

Friday, we arrived in Brevard, North Carolina to our new campsite at Adventure Village Resort.  Our site is next to a little stream nestled in the mountains.  We came in without our camper since we stored it in South Carolina.  Dave and Camden headed an hour south to pick up our home, and the girls and I went into town to get lunch and explore.

The first thing we noticed about the town of Brevard was how extremely friendly the people are.  I stopped at the bank and was given a plethora of information not only from my teller, but also a nice gentleman standing in line.  I got pointers on where to eat and what to see.  No one was in a rush, and they talked  freely like I've known them all my life.  It was pleasant and refreshing.

After the bank, we drove downtown to find a place to have lunch.  Downtown Brevard consists of two streets; Main and Broad which run perpendicular to each other.  We had no problem finding parking on the street and there are no parking meters to be found!  You can actually park, not pay, and enjoy shopping in town without fearing for your life.  


We had lunch in a little deli and enjoyed true southern sweet tea.  The service was slow and relaxing and they even made note of it on their menus saying they were not a "fast food" restaurant.  We walked around the downtown area visiting the various stores.  It was like walking back in time.  They have a traditional soda shop that makes a rockin' black and white malt,  and an old-school toy store with an entire wall dedicated to legos.  Many of their stores are made up of individual vendors with awesome artistic gift items.  Grace liked the store called Gravy since it is the nickname her dad gave her.

After leaving the downtown area, we stopped at the Save-Mor grocery store to pick up some things.  Again, it was like walking back in time.  We got up to the check out and the kids got into their normal grocery shopping stance of unloading then bagging.  To our surprise, a friendly high-school boy took over bagging and started talking to us again, like he's known us all his life.  The high-school girl checking us out and the boy bagging starting sharing about their school rilvary, all with friendly banter.  The gentleman behind us in line also chimed in, sharing about Brevard's football team.  Once everything was bagged, the young man offered to help us out to the car.  I asked him about how he gets tipped and he informed us that they won't accept tips it's all part of the service.  No freakin' way!  The girls were practically cheering when we got to the car because they are always the ones who have to bag and load the groceries.  So far we are loving Brevard!

A brief stop in York

It's amazing how cold, cold really feels after spending two months in Florida.  We made our way back to York with a long drive from South Carolina and we felt the bitter cold the whole way to our bones.  Our bodies adjusted over the two weeks in PA, but it was definitely a transition.

Our time in York went quickly.  We went apple picking, carved pumpkins, hunted archery, and hiked at Rocky Ridge.  It was nice to truly experience the things we so love about Fall.  It was also nice to pick up some warmer clothes!  Swim suits and shorts were not warm enough for the temps in York! We also got to stop by our land along the Codorus.  We did some clean up and enjoyed a cook out while getting to see some friends. It was definitely different being back in the fast paced life of York.  That was something none of us missed.  We have come to enjoy the relaxed pace life on the road has offered us.

In a whirlwind trip, we were back on the road again heading south to North Carolina.  Our first stop was at Misty Mountain Campground in Charlottesville, Virginia.  Since we didn't bring our camper this trip, we were camping out old-school.  It was fun camping in a tent again, and the campground was beautiful and extremely nice.  I think we'll be staying there on our next trip north. 

We took the next day to visit the campus of the University of Virginia.  It is a beautiful institution with so much history.  Founded by Thomas Jefferson and the school of Edgar Allen Poe, it was a place I got to visit as a kid since my aunt and uncle attended there. We had a delicious lunch and we also explored the bookstore.  We drove around the city, but honestly we were tired from traveling and just didn't have much sight-seeing energy.  We picked up some food and went back to the campground to relax.

Our next stop heading south was Bristol.  This is a unique city split between Virginia and Tennessee.  It is know as the birthplace of Country Music.  For those Nascar Fans, we stayed less than a half mile from Bristol Motor Speedway.  We were the only camper in the campground which is normally bursting at the seams on a race day.  We didn't have time this trip, but we hope to do our tour of the speedway soon.

So after Bristol, we headed over the mountains of Tennessee and North Carolina to settle in our new home for the next month.  Welcome to Brevard!

From translyvania to the bat cave

Hey everybody, its Grace. A couple days ago we left Florida and entered south carolina. When we first arrived we were a little upset because it wasnt all we expected.

We set up like normal and decided to eat at a buffet we had seen along the way. They had good hush puppies and cherry pie. After we left the resturant we went to a stand along the road hoping to get apples. We not only found apples,we got apple butter, cinnamon pecan bread, and... wait for it, fried peanuts! Yes, fried peanuts that you eat the shell and all. Surprisingly, or at least I was surprised, they tasted good.

The next day we took a trip through the town of Bat Cave pn our way to see Chimney Rock state park. Upon arriving at the park we learned the fee would be around fifty dollars! We decided to skip that hike and instead we stopped at the little town with the cheesy tourist shops. It reminded us of what we thought Gatlinburg would be like but wasn't.

After our visit to Chimney Rock, We also checked out a little RV park where we are planning to stay when we come back down in a few weeks.

The third and final day of our visit was the best!! We decided to drive to another state park in South Carolina called Caesars Head. After months at the beach, We finally used our jackets! No more bathing suits for us. I did make the mistake of wearing shorts however, which was chilling!

Anyways, the drive there was gorgeous and along the way we stopped at a rock outcropping. It was covered in spraypaint but thats not what caught your attention. It was the view! You could see all the mountains with the beautiful trees turned gold and crimson for fall. It was also neat because at first you thought the rocks ended in a cliff but really it was just a steep hill. We climbed down one of the less steep parts and if you walked over to the side there was a little waterfall.

We then left there and continued up the mountain. It was a rainy overcast day and the clouds were hanging low so we got to drive through them. It was pretty cool. In fact, the visitors center was right in the middle of a cloud.

We took a short hike to see a waterfall which was great exercise. The drive leaving the park was really cool. We went through Transylvania county and it was beyond beautiful. It had a really homey feel to it. It was forest on forest with cute unique houses spaced out from each other. We really liked it.

When we got to our resturant in Hendersonville "The Dugout," the place was packed. We barely got a table but the nice thing was we were able to watch the Raven's game; who for the record beat Kansas City.

Afterwards we headed home and got ready to leave. We really liked it and are definitely heading back in November

Heading North to the South

Yes its been some time since I last wrote. Truth be told, we had an amazing time in Florida and I just wanted to take it all in the last few days. We went snorkeling, fishing, and the kids did more surfing. We ate at great restaurants, swam in the pool and enjoyed the pleasant change in the weather. I feel so blessed to have had this experience and to share it with my kiddos and hubby.

We are now on the road to South Carolina. We will be staying in the small town of Travelers Rest just outside of Greenville and an hour south of Asheville, NC. We made an overnight stop in Auburn, AL again. It's a beautiful campus and reminds me of some of the finer days at Penn State so many years ago. We ate dinner at Moe's again and we drove past the football stadium watching fans and alumni setting up camp for Saturdays game. The people we've met in Auburn have been some of the sweetest most loyal fans. A tough and heartbreaking reminder of the rough year the Penn State community faced, but a blessing to experience too. The rivalries of the SEC are like no other. It was amazing to experience this first hand living in Florida. It makes this college football season exciting for us in a whole new way!

We don't know where this journey is taking us. We will be back in York for a time and then back to South Carolina for the month of November. Can't wait to get fresh apple cider and eat butternut squash again while watch the leaves change to beautiful shades of crimson and gold.

Thank you for coming along on this journey with us. We love to hear that you follow our adventures and we love sharing our experiences with each of you.