Blue Ridge Parkway, North Carolina

When we traveled from the Great Smoky Mountains to Asheville we took the longer, beautiful route along the Blue Ridge Parkway; the most southern portion.  Then we continued along the Blue Ridge Parkway when we left Asheville and drove north.  We intended to take it all the way to the northern most point, but encountered days of fog and rain.  Not the best conditions for driving on small, tight, winding, scenic parkways.

The few days we drove along the parkway were extremely beautiful.  We were surprised that spring was only beginning in the mountain tops.  Even though the trees were bare the bright, luscious  spring green was stunning.  We were at the Blue Ridge Parkway a little before the official season started, so most of the visitor centers were still closed.

Difficult children.  :)

The next several photos were when we hiked to Second Falls near Graveyard Fields. It was a perfect hike for our kids and I thought it was one of the most beautiful short hikes I've been on.

Other beautiful stops along the Parkway...

I had to document our usual lunch.  I made tons of pb&j sandwiches while Brian drove over the course of our travels.

The below photos are of our campsite at a state park in North Carolina.  It ended up being our last night camping (not what we had planned) and we hurried home the next day.  I will explain more about that decision in my next post.

Asheville, North Carolina

Asheville is a pretty little city tucked away right into the mountains.  We didn't do anything great and memorable while there, but spent more time just taking it easy, doing laundry, and playing.  The Biltmore was a place that almost everyone recommended.  But it would have cost us about $200 as a family, so we decided to wait until another time when the kids might consider a tour of a huge mansion interesting instead of "boring" (Isabella's favorite word lately.).

The only photos I have of Asheville are from the day we went to Western North Carolina Nature Center (say that 5 times fast!).  It was a great little center that felt more like a small zoo.

Watching the otters play and eat. 

Drawing and writing observations of the otters.  Homeschooling at it's finest.

Watching the mountain lion pace.

Counting how old the tree was.

The Carini's Crazy Adventure

We have been on the road for almost 2 weeks now.  I had the best intentions of posting about our adventures regularly, but, of course those intentions fell by the wayside.  I have a slew of excuses, not limited to, a lack of internet service, a week of sick kids and husband, and simply enjoying the adventure.  I'm hoping and planning on doing more detailed posts about how we are doing this (in a civic!).

In my attempt to catch up here is a photo journal of what we've done so far.  (Photos are unedited, otherwise I'd never get this posted!)  Warning: this will be lengthy and still missing a lot of what we've done...

We spent a week visiting family in Connecticut before our journey.

Isabella did not want to leave...poor kid

Just the beginning

We drove from Connecticut to NYC, swapped out our winter coats for sandals.  Here are the kids and the car completely ready to go on Saturday night.

We stopped and spent the night in Hanover, MD and then visited my cousin Tara in Arlington, VA.  She was so generous to make us lunch and let our kids run around her bachelorette pad.  We loved catching up after so many years.

We stopped in Raleigh, NC and stayed with my good friend (and former roommate) Jamie Person and her family.  We had such a great time meeting her kids and playing for two days.  It was totally mellow and low key (just what we needed after two days of driving).  We hung out at KidVenture one breezy day and the next day played at Marbles Kids Museum (possibly the best children's museum, I loved it...and so did the kids :0))

Mia, Simon and Mark

Using a real saw...at the museum...crazy!  And awesome!

Mia and Bella

The gang at Marbles Kids Museum

Jamie and Me!

Car ride photos

WARM AIR!!!

Savannah!

Honey tasting at Savannah Bee Company

Angel's BBQ

Savannah National Wildlife Refuge (in South Carolina, of course).

Then we finally made it to FLORIDA!!!

St. Augustine Beach

Fresh Florida strawberries

Pleasure Island in Orlando with cousin Jimmy and his family

Even though our stay at Clearwater Beach was cold we enjoyed the beauty.

After Clearwater we stayed a couple of days in Tampa.  Tampa was a great city and I'd love to spend more time there.

Glazer Children's Museum

Manatee Viewing Center near Tampa

Zipper Skin tangerine: so sweet and juicy!  From Fruitville Grove

Siesta Key Beach

Rotary Park in Cape Coral

Picking wildflowers near our hotel in Cape Coral

The hotel lost our reservation and then upgraded us to a 2 bedroom suite on a high floor.  We check out today...it's gonna be hard to leave.