It was a quick trip, but well worth it. A family visit was long overdue. Happily, Dave has a son here in Phoenix, but the remainder of our family lives well east of here—about as far as one can get without leaving the continent. 

Part one of our plan—fly into Tampa then drive to Etowah, NC, to spend the afternoon and one full day with Dad and Nona. Crazy, right? Not for a couple who are motivated.

We thought we had it all planned out. But things went a bit awry on day one. First off, that is one long-ass flight from PHX to Tampa. The goal was to drive for a couple of hours, find a place to stay and get to Etowah around noon the following day. However, our mid-afternoon arrival put us at a definite disadvantage. 

It took us the best part of three hours to get to the edge of Jacksonville, FL. The last hour had us trying to figure out where to spend the night. Overtired and hungry, it was inevitable—we ended up at a place that made Motel 6 look like the Waldorf Astoria. Ok, it wasn’t quite that bad, but Dave thought he heard a gunshot around 2 am. 

C’est la vie. We rose early and arrived in North Carolina that afternoon. A giant white squirrel greeted us at the base of the driveway.

The following morning, we decided to take a drive up to the Blue Ridge parkway through Pisgah National Forest. This forest was one of the first national forests in the eastern United States. Established in 1916, it included around 87,000 acres of land purchased from Edith Vanderbilt of the Biltmore Estates.

Water, water, everywhere—due to more than ample rainfall, river currents were swift, and Looking Glass Falls—robust. 

We pulled over to take a look at Slide Rock, a popular summer swimming destination.

The end of the road that day was just after the summit. Yep—the Blue Ridge Parkway was closed.

However, the sun cooperated and provided some painterly views of the Blue Ridge Mountains.

Sierra Nevada Brewery was calling us homeward. Torpedo IPAs and duck fries all around. Did I mention DUCK FRIES????