April Trip Wrap Up - FINALLY!

I can already hear a few of you in my mind:  Where inna hell you been?!

To anyone who follows the blog and our doggie filled adventures, I sincerely apologize for not finishing the story of our month long RV trip.  I really do.  As I said in the last entry, once you get home and the RV is cleaned up and stored and the clothes are washed and life moves on, it’s difficult on a few levels to go back and write so I’ll do my best to wrap up the tale. 

In a nutshell – it was awesome!

We went to Mama Gertie’s Hideaway Campground in North Carolina and while the spaces were super close together and it was quite hilly, we loved it.

Lots of shade, pretty trees, very relaxing.

We even rented a car and made a trip to The Biltmore in Asheville, NC.  In case you aren’t familiar, The Biltmore is a HUGE (and I mean HUGE) mansion built in the late 1800s for the Vanderbilt family that is now a museum, but still the largest privately owned home in the United States.  It’s a whopping 178,000 square feet which puts most Walmarts to shame.

 They have a beautiful atrium when you walk in, a way for Mrs. Vanderbilt to show off flowers and sculptures.

Floor to ceiling tapestries:

Elaborate painted ceilings:

The first bowling alley in a private home:

An unbelievable indoor swimming pool (without water, of course):

And of course much more.  We’re so glad we went because this whole trip has been about outdoors and hiking and dogs and beaches and grilling – seeing something a bit less rural was a welcome change.  And then of course we dashed back to our RV because we just love our rural living.

Speaking of outdoors, we hiked a hella distance to a waterfall (again, dogs stayed home) and it was well worth it.  Beautiful and peaceful.

Neither Dave nor I can remember why on earth I was sticking my tongue out in this pic.  I hope it was on purpose and not just because when you take a candid photo of me I happen to have my tongue out.  That would be weird.

We left Mama Gertie’s and went to a few more parks on our way back to Texas.  Cedars of Lebanon in Lebanon, Tennessee (where it rained so we worked on our puzzle.  And we finished it!), Meeman-Shelby Forest State Park in Millington, Tennessee and Millwood State Park in Texarkana, Arkansas.

Then we finally made it back to Texas, definitely with mixed feelings.  Ready to see home but not ready for our getaway to end.

 We stayed at Purtis Creek Park near Corsicana, Texas and then we were home.  Home of the bluebonnets:

 And of course, where it all began on day one.  Buccee’s.

 Since the blog is really about the new normal (which includes the RV trips but isn’t exclusively about them), I’ll update you on our summer (which has been busy!) and plans for our next trip.  That one will be awesome because we leave in early September and don’t come back till almost Thanksgiving!  Woo hoo!