Close But Yet So Far

We woke our last morning in the Great Smokies with the herd of elk again in residence.  The herd slowing wandered in from an adjoining pasture until the big bull arrived to show off and keep the cows in order and send the young bulls scattering.  Our exit was happily delayed as they slowly decided to move out of our path of retreat.

Needing to always get our morning hike accomplished, we drove back into the park to the Mingus Mill area.  The mill was built with a then state of the art water powered turbine vs the old water wheel design and is still in operation, selling grits and flour it grinds each day.  We checked out the mill but also the nearby path and had a challenging mostly uphill 6 mile hike to get the blood pumping before hitting the road.

The next stop on our agenda was Asheville, the home and stomping grounds of several friends old and new.  Our previous Moonshadow adventure, that of the marine variety, ended with our boat being sold to Steve Thompson and his wife Liz who became dear friends (YES, despite our selling them a BOAT!!).  You recall we spent the eclipse with Steve so he was ready for us when we pulled into Asheville and graciously hosted us on the grounds of the Salvage Station, an entertainment venue on the French Broad river.

We set up camp mid afternoon in our parking lot abode and were met early on by Steve and Liz who escorted us to – what else?! – a local brewery (Hillman is definitely worthy of a visit!) for beer and great food and getting caught up on our lives and adventures.

Day two in Asheville was full of fun with a morning bike adventure to downtown for coffee and wandering.  Asheville is a particular favorite of Rob’s and mine and we never tire of seeing what’s new or changed since our last visit.  Being it was too early to start checking out breweries, we instead headed to Trader Joe’s to replenish our culinary favs.   

Upon our return, Steve surprised us showing up with 2 kayaks strapped to his roof and whisked us upstream to have an afternoon paddle down the French Broad back to the Salvage Station.  Having not paddled in 5 months, it felt great to be back on the water and we managed to get back without so much as a spill and even met a unicorn along the way!

The evening brought more fun when Steve and Liz’s friends we had chanced to meet in Yellowstone – Craig, Sheryl and their daughters Josie and Elsa – invited us to their place for bbq and ice cream.  They picked us up that evening and we headed to their lovely home where we so enjoyed catching up on our adventures.  Craig had spent the last year on the road (Roadskool) with Josie and Elsa touring the US National Parks as well as a stint with Sheryl in Peru.  You just gotta love wanderlust!!!

We shared a delicious grilled salmon meal on the back deck with the sun setting through the trees and the birds in chorus all around before heading to the local handmade ice cream store for my favorite treat.  Of course, it wasn’t only MY fav.  While in Yellowstone, Rob and I had just bought huckleberry ice cream when we chanced another encounter with the Plocica family where we shared our cones with the girls – seemed that ice cream was our common tie, one that no one had a problem repeating!

The fun in Asheville continued the next day after a casual, cool morning - perfect for baking banana muffins before we hit the river for another kayak adventure.  Taking on a bit more spirited section of the river, we left from the Salvage Station and headed downriver to the dam (BEFORE the 8’ drop!).   Steve graciously was right there as we pulled off the river to escort us home again.   Seriously, these folks know how to make you feel welcome!

After a run up to Steve’s including a load of much needed laundry being done, we headed out to the local baseball stadium for the game with delightful daughter Katie in tow.  The Plocica gang joined us as well as other friends and we had a great night cheering on the Asheville Tourists while eating surprisingly decent stadium food along with thirsty Thursday beer specials!

We ended the night back at the Salvage Station to sneak a peak at the talent for the night.  Luke Pell of The Bachelor fame was the headliner for the night.  Arriving as the warmup band finished their set, we watched the surprisingly trendy crowd of “bachelorettes” anxious for their chance to meet the “star” turned band headliner.   Of course, Katie didn’t mind getting a private intro to Luke backstage courtesy of Steve, making the night quite the success!

Having bounced back and forth on what day to actually arrive back home and the logistics of doing so, we had more time on our hands than we probably should have allowed.  With a week still to go before our house would be available, I started to feel antsy.  Not sure if we should stay or go, settle or move or WHAT, we decided it might be time to make another move down the road and see what transpired.

Emotional and thankful for our dear Asheville friends, we said our goodbyes.  With the journey near its end, nostalgia, change, fear and excitement were at an all time peak as we made the next step on our journey toward home.