Leaving the prairies of eastern Colorado and Kansas, Karen and I arrived in the Ozarks of Arkansas. What a different world! We stopped at a roadside flea market, inspected armadillo roadkill at close range,and laughed at the way the roadsigns simply didn't match the map (once we were going south and all the roadsigns labeled the highway as "56 North!)"
The scenery in the Ozarks is spectacular with lots of water, hills (mountains?), and lush greenery. This view, from the deck of a great antique shop, was especially lovely.
We found this lovely little house in Eureka Springs---only $240,000! We thought perhaps we should buy it! It is utterly charming---part of it is on stilts because most of Eureka Springs
is built on mountain-sides. It comes completely furnished...
Next we enjoyed a walk-through of a huge, old, Victorian hotel called the Crescent, on the cliff above the town. What a gorgeous place! We couldn't stay there because there was some sort of national dog show in town as well as an evening event at the hotel. :^(
View of the Crescent Hotel from the parking lot....
View of the Crescent Hotel from across the valley--thanks zoom lense!
Then, on across the rest of Arkansas and northern Tennessee toward the Great Smokey Mountains. We carefully circum-navigated Nashville to avoid the flooding. As we crossed the mighty Mississippi we noted that the floodplains on either side were full of water. Then it was on to the Tennessee River valley which was also flooded, with water right up to the shoulder of the road. What a massive amount of water we saw!
We arrived in the Great Smokey Mountain National Park on a perfectly clear day so we could really see the mountains. We drove around part of the edge of the park and then completely through, whichy was utterly beautiful. This is a view from the high point of the highway:
Next was a lovely winding river valley with waterfalls...
Crossing over the Tennessee line into North Carolina made us feel FAR from home!
Then came the downhill drive to Ashville, NC, complete with wildlife.
The big thrill in Ashville, NC is the Biltmore Estate, built by the Vanderbilts. We spent today touring the house and gardens. The house has 250 rooms and the estate is 8000 acres. What a cozy little home in the hills!!
Karen in front of the house and front "lawn." I would recommend this tour to you. The gardens were spectacular, the house interesting and astonishing for something that was built as a private residence, and the staff of 1800 charming and helpful.
We had lunch in the former stables---here we are sitting in one of the original stalls. Note the hay manger in the back (bars) and the flower pots were in the grain bin. Great place.
Last of all, lovely orchids in the gardens. (The ones we saw were standing upright, not recumbent like these...)
We can also recommend travel with not much of a plan or schedule! Tune in again soon. Tomorrow we head north along the Blue Ridge Parkway toward Suzie's in Pennsylvania---later!
