The Minister's Tree House

The story is that Jesus told a minister that if he started building a tree house, he would never run out of lumber. He built this huge building out of all scavenged lumber and had left it open to the public. Unfortunately, the fire marshal shut it down, and this is as close as we could get from the fence. Still a worthwhile stop between Knoxville and Nashville, not far off the highway. It really is huge. The top has got to be 90-100ft high. Can you believe the kids opted to stay in the car instead of looking?

Road trip update, Amarillo

I've been trying to post pictures along the way, but the Blogger app isn't the best and my internet is sometimes spotty. We're in Amarillo, TX now, hoping to get to Albuquerque, NM by tonight. I'll try to get caught up with photos soon.

Knoxville

Sunsphere was closed again. Got breakfast at a place called "Just Ripe", with all locally sourced things. Knoxville is a cute artsy city.

Knoxville

We stayed the night with airbnb folks Molly and Niles. Their warm and cozy home for artists and musicians was such a welcome sight after about 500 miles of driving. The kids had a great time playing with them (they had gotten some balls for them to play with, and had hardwood floors to slide on) and their fluffy cat, Diane

Asheville, NC - Dinner at Rosetta's Kitchen - and the scary drive through Appalachia

I wish we had planned more time in Asheville. What a cute, funky, artsy town! We're excited for all the hills and mountains around, after being on the flaaaaaat coast for so long. For dinner we stopped at Rosetta's Kitchen, a hip litltle vegetarian/vegan cafe. None of us were that hungry after our big lunch (plus I ate one of the kid's banana puddings while driving), except for the kids, who always say they are hungry all the time no matter what. Most of the day they've been watching movies on their portable DVD players and picking at snacks. Big B didn't even get out of the car at Andrew's Geyser, he was so absorbed in the screen. Despite being "starving", the kids decided they couldn't possibly find anything they wanted to eat at a vegetarian place (despite the fact that we mostly eat vegetarian at home...), and fussed about that. They finally settled with chips and salsa for dinner.

Mosaics and art everywhere.

Cool lights and plants in the windows. Matt has tacos.

I got a kombucha and grilled cheese with sweet potato fries. Couldn't finish all the fries, so they're going with me in the car.

   After leaving the restaurant I what I anticipate will be just my first scary driving episode. Well, maybe the second, after the foggy mountain earlier. I got separated from Matt, missed a turn to go toward the correct highway, and then had trouble finding my way back to the highway. The GPS couldn't keep up and was just getting me more turned around. None of the road signs seemed to make sense. Finally, in a random small town I stopped to ask some guys chatting by their cars in a church parking lot for directions. They said "You found the right people. You asked a bunch of boyscouts!" They gave me directions, which took Big B and I on an adventure through the mountainous woods between NC and TN on back mountain roads. The kind with just a few one stop sign towns separated by miles of occasional cabins. Big B was cooperative when I needed the car charger for my phone and his DVD player went off, and was quiet and helpful in following the directions. It was dark and rainy and honestly fairly scary, but eventually we got where we needed to be.

North Carolina mountains - Black Mountain, NC

After leaving Old Fort, we began our trek through the mountains to Asheville, NC. This is from Black Mountain, NC, after driving up and then down a mountain in fog so thick I could only see one car length ahead. I'm not going to lie, it was scary. We didn't intend to stop in Black Mountain, but the GPS got confused about where we were going for dinner. It's starting to get dark. Following Matt is becoming more difficult with the dark and fog.

I might even miss the Appalachians.

Driving through North Carolina - Old Fort and Andrew's Geyser

Our scenic detour spot detour spot in North Carolina that took us to Old Fort. We were delighted to leave the highway for a bit to drive a windy, narrow mountain road along a railroad track and stream. At one point the road becomes one lane under a railroad tunnel, and there's a sign telling cars to honk before going through the tunnel, to warn anyone coming in the other side. The town of Old Fort is cute, tiny, and decorated for Christmas. Though it's still chilly and grey outside, even drizzling, we stopped to visit Andrew's Geyser. It's a man made geyser that at one time was a railroad marker for people entering the Blue Ridge Mountains.
Blue Ridge - here we are!

In the town of Old Fort, North Carolina.

Drizzles and dampness everywhere. We assume this is the kind of climate we're driving towards out west.