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Going into the second half of this trip, we knew that it would be a memorable week, either as a flaming fiasco of complaining and carsickness, or as a crazy 8-state swing through Appalachia. Thankfully it was more of the latter, with some credit due to our big rented minivan and its in-drive entertainment, but more credit to the kids, who kept their Cheez-Its in their bellies and their adventuresome spirits up.

 

Horsing around at Woodbine Farm near Front Royal, VA. Nice reco, Aunt Katy!

 



Now that we were in the heart of the state, we discovered Virginia's ex-state song, "Carry Me Back to Old Virginny". It's not the lyrics of the song that we found surprising, but that it took until 1997 for the massas in the Virginia legislature to finally rescind it.

 

 Mom's former lab-mate, Webster, is a Professor at Virginia Tech and we stayed with his family in Blacksburg for two nights.

 

 Their daughters Lindsay and Leah are about the same age as our older two and the girls all played well together

 

 Webster and Claire brought us to their beautiful country club and pool. Caroline's first jump off of a diving board!

 

 and Erin's too

 

 From Blacksburg on to West Virginia, where we found by far the best state Visitor Center on our trip. Coal carvings, Fiestaware (made in Newell, WV - who knew?), and postcards galore. And just this year West Virginia showed its marketing savvy by anointing "Country Roads" as its new state song. The John Denver hit became the official theme song of our trip. Way to go Wild and Wonderful West Virginia!



 On these road trips, we've come to rely on guidebooks for local food and restaurant options. Without the book, we never would have thought to stop in Meadowview, VA (pop. 867), a tiny town off I-81 where Barbara Kingsolver's Harvest Table restaurant is located. Aside from the Dr. Enuf soda, we had a yummy and healthy lunch, easily our best meal on the road for the entire trip.

 



 Here's our Tennessee picture, showing our sweet Chrysler Town & Country and the giant guitar in the background

 

 Ordinarily the late afternoon is the grumpiest time of the day, and maybe it was the farm-to-table pie in our bellies, but we had a blast at the Andrew Johnson National Historic Site in Greeneville, TN. This place was a winner, mostly because Johnson was a tailor before he became President and the site preserved his shop, complete with dress-up clothes.

 

 There's a resemblance there

 

 It took some time to find a shirt for Tessie

 

 Now we're ready for Little House

 

 Never heard of the state of Franklin? It's an almost-state, and if we bend the rules of state-bagging it could count, too. With DC, Puerto Rico, and now Franklin, we could be aiming for 53 "states" now.

 We spent two nights in Hot Springs, NC. It rained in the evening one night, which resulted in a spectacular rainbow.

 

 Asheville delivered on its promise of funkiness and good food, like this café

 

 That sign in the background is the closest we got to the Biltmore. Fine furnishings and massive landscaped grounds can wait for our next time in town.

 

 Another guidebook gem was Biscuithead, where the biscuits were as advertised, as big as a cat's head, and came piled with all sorts of yummy Southern comforts. There on the wall at Biscuithead was this message, written by someone who must have a cat as annoying in the morning as our Max.

 

Now at the Western North Carolina Nature Center. The cool thing about this small zoo was that it had all the major mammals found in the area, including wolves, bears, bobcats, and mountain lions

 

 Wait 'til you see the size of this hellbender salamander

 

 That's right Erin - I'd be hell bent on avoiding this guy, too

 

 It's the big bad wolf! 

 

 Tessie found a companion more her size and speed.

 

 Travelling on 4 US Highways at the same time, that's a neat trick, but have you ever been on an Interstate of the future???

 

 Our lodge in Hot Springs had its own hot spring-fed jacuzzi. Perfect for unwinding after a day of biscuits, bobcats, and time-warping roadways

 

Sorry Carl Sandburg fans out there, but his National Historic Site in Flat Rock, NC, was lame-o-rama. It makes me think that some NC Senator pulled some major pork to get this site accredited. The Visitor Center was in the tiny basement of Carl's boring house, and the site consisted of the unimpressive grounds and the house featuring décor of his occupancy from 1945 to 1967. If you're wondering how many other poets have National Historic Sites, the answer is one, Longfellow, in Cambridge MA, and Longfellow's house happens to also be where George Washington headquartered during the siege of Boston in 1775. That's worthy of NHS, but Sandburg's goat farm, not so much.

 

 Yep, the other highlight of the site is Sandburg's wife Lilian's prize-winning goats. Tessie was a fan.

 

In South Carolina we stopped in Greenville at their Children's Museum. By this point Tessie had had enough, and even the Carolina critters couldn't cheer her up.