For our second full day in NC, we drove south to the Pisgah National Forest and admired the picturesque Looking Glass Falls.
Forest helped Ramona dip her hand and toes in the nearby water.
Next we went a hike to see the smaller but still admirable Moore Cove Falls.
These we could walk behind, kind of like Grotto Falls in TN.
There were some interesting rock formations behind the falls, which Mr. Muscles used to practice some pull-ups.
Ramona caught a nap on the hike back to the car.
For lunch, we drove over to Brevard and stayed for a couple of cups of gelato, too.
Then we went to take a glimpse at Connestee Falls, just south of Brevard, although you couldn't see much of it from the railing.
We spent the rest of the afternoon back in the Pisgah National Forest, where we took Ramona to a fish hatchery. She tried feeding the trout some fish food from the nearby vending machine and had a wonderful time tossing the pellets in, although the fish kept spitting them out. Perhaps they were a little stale.
We also took her to the Cradle of Forestry Discovery Center. Here our little family piled into a simulated helicopter ride--two times in a row, as requested by Ramona.
On our way back to the hotel, we took the Blue Ridge Parkway and got out of the car at one of the overlooks. Ramona was more interested in her princess book than the views, so I ended up sitting with her right there and reading it to her.
Forest took care of capturing the views.
After that, she fell asleep on the car ride back and nothing we did could wake her up, so I just laid her in bed, and she slept until morning. I'm not sure I've ever seen her so tired.
For our fourth day in North Carolina, we decided not to venture out quite as far and just stayed close to our hotel in Asheville. In the morning, we visited the local arboretum. It was fairly expansive, and included:
a "quilt" garden,
a bonsai garden,
a trail through some Carolina woods,
and a rhododendron forest
Lunch: Tupelo Honey Cafe in downtown Asheville
Afternoon: Asheville Zoo
ROAR!
Dinner: Pizzeria Ritrovo for pizza and from-scratch-gelato
On day three in NC, we decided to drive north on the Blue Ridge Parkway and catch a few hikes along the way. We started with a little trail through Craggy Gardens.
Then we went a little further and stopped at Mount Mitchell State Park.
There were several lingering rhododendrons at higher altitude . . .
. . . and lots of other wildflowers on the trail to Crabtree Falls (the sixth and final waterfall of our trip)
By this point, Ramona was really getting the hang of napping on the go.
She actually missed seeing these falls because she was asleep, but when she woke up she immediately asked where the waterfall was. I think she was a little bit disappointed when we told her we had passed it.
At least I'll have these pictures to show her.
For our second full day in NC, we drove south to the Pisgah National Forest and admired the picturesque Looking Glass Falls.
Forest helped Ramona dip her hand and toes in the nearby water.
Next we went a hike to see the smaller but still admirable Moore Cove Falls.
These we could walk behind, kind of like Grotto Falls in TN.
There were some interesting rock formations behind the falls, which Mr. Muscles used to practice some pull-ups.
Ramona caught a nap on the hike back to the car.
For lunch, we drove over to Brevard and stayed for a couple of cups of gelato, too.
Then we went to take a glimpse at Connestee Falls, just south of Brevard, although you couldn't see much of it from the railing.
We spent the rest of the afternoon back in the Pisgah National Forest, where we took Ramona to a fish hatchery. She tried feeding the trout some fish food from the nearby vending machine and had a wonderful time tossing the pellets in, although the fish kept spitting them out. Perhaps they were a little stale.
We also took her to the Cradle of Forestry Discovery Center. Here our little family piled into a simulated helicopter ride--two times in a row, as requested by Ramona.
On our way back to the hotel, we took the Blue Ridge Parkway and got out of the car at one of the overlooks. Ramona was more interested in her princess book than the views, so I ended up sitting with her right there and reading it to her.
Forest took care of capturing the views.
After that, she fell asleep on the car ride back and nothing we did could wake her up, so I just laid her in bed, and she slept until morning. I'm not sure I've ever seen her so tired.
