Heading home...

... to Fayetteville, AR from our active and varied 7 week vacation. Our first stop in Augusta, Georgia had TV reports rife with storm alerts for the winter snows pummeling deep into the Southeast states but which stopped just before hitting us.

The next day we drove through the majesty of those 8 inches of snow draping the Georgia and North Carolina landscapes, and the next three nights we were the guests of Karma and Lowell in their lovely snow-decorated mountaintop home in Hendersonville, NC.



We talked for hours, reminiscing about our decades as colleagues at Fremd HS. It's often joked that if you want to the solve the troubles of the world, put the teachers in charge, and we solved many of our planet's ills with our cogent discussions.



We augmented Karma's delicious meals with dinners at the Mezzaluna Restaurant in Hendersonville and the Green River BBQ in Saluta. Tours of the Biltmore Estate in Asheville and the Carl Sandburg Home in Flat Rock added to the enjoyment of our visit, but much time was spent in comfy chairs conversing with friends.



Next it was a scenic drive over the mountains through the Great Smoky Mountain National Park...



... where Ellen was briefly tempted to embark on the 1972 mile hike north from here to the terminus of the Appalachian Trail atop Mt. Katahdin, Maine...



A walk through quaint but commercialized Gatlinburg, TN and supper at Texas Roadhouse ended the day, and Saturday we headed north and west through Tennessee's magnificent hill country and Arkansas' burgeoning Spring green-up, driving the nearly 800 miles to Ellen's place in Fayetteville.

The trip is over and catching up on the 7 weeks of mail and chores await, but the memories of this adventure will remain for years.