The Map

Where have you been?  For those for whom a map explains better--here is a little visual of our travels since January 2016.

Our ride between biking excursions! 

Iowa City--Hotel Choices

Another "college" coffee house visit. The construction outside was a win for Neil. The pour over coffee was a win for me.

Staying in hotel's can be challenging.  We have stayed in some real questionable places and some great ones.  Between Priceline and Hotel Tonight we manage to usually stay on budget--but there are compromises. We have learned that we are not selecting hotels that allow smoking at all after a horrible experience in NC and pet friendly hotels are usually ones that are not that concerned about cleanliness. 

This morning at the Sheraton, found after the kids had been playing on the floor all morning--someones' rx medication on the floor--missed by the housekeeping staff.  So annoying and even though you complain it is a whole process to file a complaint and talk to the Manager...

Travel--moving each day or couple of days and staying in new locations is exciting but also is tiring. 

Looking forward to settling in for a bit for the holidays.

Appalacian Arts

On our way back to SD. Saw a sign along the highway that said the center of Appalachian Arts and Crafts and decided to stop. The town of Berea, KY, was our inspiration for the day. It was not because of the incredible art and crafts but because of the history of the community. Also we may have crashed the homecoming party of Berea College in the park which included jumping castles for kids and free kettle corn!  It was especially relevant after having visited Harpers Ferry last month and realizing the far reaching implication of John Brown's raid on communities across the nation as many community member were expelled from the community for their abolitionist beliefs.  They returned and founded Berea College which was the only interracial and coeducation college in the south for 40 years.

Communities can and have made a difference by standing up against the cultural norms.

Happy Halloween and SURPRISE in Asheville!

We are in Asheville to surprise Paul's cousin for her BD!  We were at the restaurant (kids in costume) that her and her husband had reservations at for her BD.  It was a wonderful surprise and fun few days spending time with them in Asheville.

Of course, we got some trick or treating in at the top neighborhood in Asheville.  The streets close down and are FILLED with families.  The kids were so excited.  They each went as a favorite character from a book.

Neil was The Very Hungry Caterpillar 

Claire was "Emma" from her favorite book about ballerina's.

Apparently Neil was a "very" hungry caterpillar as when we walked back to the car and took off his costume to get him in the carseat--silverware from the restaurant fell out of his costume.  We all ended the evening laughing at the hungry caterpillar! 

Happy Halloween 2016 from a Ballerina and The VERY Hungry Caterpillar.

We are in Asheville to surprise Paul's cousin for her BD!  We were at the restaurant (kids in costume) that her and her husband had reservations at for her BD.  It was a wonderful surprise and fun few days spending time with them in Asheville.

Of course, we got some trick or treating in at the top neighborhood in Asheville.  The streets close down and are FILLED with families.  The kids were so excited.  They each went as a favorite character from a book.

Neil was The Very Hungry Caterpillar 

Claire was "Emma" from her favorite book about ballerina's.

Apparently Neil was a "very" hungry caterpillar as when we walked back to the car and took off his costume to get him in the carseat--silverware from the restaurant fell out of his costume.  We all ended the evening laughing at the hungry caterpillar! 

Happy Halloween 2016 from a Ballerina and The VERY Hungry Caterpillar.

Carolina BBQ

They really enjoyed the "snowball" plants

Driving through NC our way to fulfill Paul's dream of trying what many say is the best BBQ in America.

Skylight Inn .  We drove way off the beaten path over small county roads through cotton fields.  The kids and Paul had never seen cotton fields before and were very excited to get out of the car and see one close up. 

Finally we arrived--not much to this town other than the famous BBQ spot. Pork with cracklins...yummy. This is the real deal. James Beard award and all. Got a private tour of the smokehouse after. This is what this place is all about: http://www.travelchannel.com/…/food-…/video/skylight-inn-bbq

If you haven't read Cooked by Michael Pollan which was Pauls introduction to the significance of this place, it's a good read. The Netflix documentary based on the book is also recommended.

Chopping the whole hog

Simple fare and no frills style--perfection

Tour of the smokehouse--toasty

Split whole hog

As we were driving here a man pulled up beside us at a stoplight and motioned for us to roll down our window--when we did he yelled across: "How long you all been down"? Which is translated as: "When did you leave Alaska"?


 

Travel with Tots

We are taking some parenting tips from my brother and sister-in-law and starting them early with the college visits. 

College focused coffee shops count as a college visit, right? This one is ranked in the top 50 of all college coffee shops in the US.

I really love this picture as it captures so much and about this experience.  This is how the morning played out--this is a typical morning:

1. We are going to go get coffee before Paul goes to the meadery. Williamsburg is beautiful and we are in the colonial center.  Perfect morning.
2. We walk into the coffee shop--there is a line.
3. Soon the kids are crawling on the floor playing--next to the line with people with hot coffee.
4. I ask them to stop and stand by me--this request makes them want to crawl around faster on the floor.
5. I catch Paul's eye--with the look of a parent on the edge.  He comes and gets the kids and takes them to a table.
6. I wait in line for coffee and snap this photo as Paul shows the kids a map and they are completely engaged in looking at the map--it is adorable.
7. I get the coffee and we go to leave--Neil does not want to leave the map.  He proceeds to cry/protest our leaving and knock over a chair as we are leaving--carrying him and our coffees.
8. We go for a walk in the center of town-so quaint and a perfect fall morning for walking sipping a coffee. The kids are skipping in the leaves.  
9. The kids find a dirt pile and proceed to sit in the dirt and play in the street.  They really could just play in dirt and be satisfied.  They don't want to walk anymore.
10. We leave--perfect, crazy, dirty, annoyed and peaceful morning all in less than an hour. 

Repeat this scenario every waking hour.  This is travel with the kids.

Honey Tasting

Today we went to Silver Hand for a honey tasting!  Incredible choreographed tasting.  Lot's of lessons learned in best ways to conduct a group tasting.

Honey tasting anyone?

C&O CANAL TRAIL Day #8

Our last night camped along the trail.  Running low on food so just popcorn for dinner.  We are excited to get to DC.

Set our alarm so we could be on the trail as the sun rose.  No breakfast this morning just breaking down camp.  It was beautiful to be on the trail as the morning began.  As we biked through Great Falls there were lots of photographers capturing the beautiful morning.  Our bikes felt light as we raced through the steepest downhill section on the C&O.  Soon we encountered more and more people on the trail as we got closer to DC.  Then suddenly we were in Georgetown next to the canal and between buildings.  So excited.  In 2013, Paul met a man that had just completed the trail and helped hime find the end marker—mile 0. This is what set us upon the idea of this trail.

After a little detour through the harbor we were there and took our celebration photo.  We took on a 350 mile challenge as a family and we did it.  What an adventure!

C&O CANAL TRAIL Day #6 & 7

Staying at the Lockhouse #28 was great—really understand  so much more what it was like for the families that ran the locks and those that lived in the canal boats.  We stayed in a house with out electricity and with out water.  There were historical essays of people who had lived the experience as children.

Reading about the canal and the mule/towpath.

Sleeping quarters

It is HOT and MUGGY.  It is hard to bike and hard to sleep due to the heat.  Walked down to the Potomac and rolled walnuts down the road.  This is the kids favorite activity.  There are walnut trees everywhere.  Made a campfire and sweated out the night in the Lockhouse.  Definitely hit the temperature variance…last night don’t think that it dropped below 75.  We are getting ready to wrap this trip up.  It has been great but we are missing running water.  

Note the grooves in the metal along the towpath
from the towlines on the mules.

Towpath

We did a short ride today—just to White’s Ferry were we watched the ferry take vehicles across to Leesburg and had some ice cream.  

Our 2nd night in a Lockhouse

"Long-legged Daddies" as Claire calls them

Today just a short ride to Great Falls where we saw some of the biggest reasons for the C&O Canal—the falls.  The falls were cloaked in fall beauty on an unusually hot day.  The lemonade tasted great as we were so thirsty.  We id’d some Paw Paw trees and found some fruit but it was past its prime.  We saw a Blue Heron, stalk, catch and swallow a fish—Incredible.