It's snowing!!!

We left the Lake Powhatan campground about 10am heading north on the Blue Ridge Parkway. First it started to rain. As we continued it turned to snow. April 27, we never would have guessed. We drove to the top of Mt. Mitchell, the highest point east of the Mississippi and enjoyed seeing the snow. The temperature was about 33*. On the way down from the top, we saw a pickup truck that had skidded off the road and was tangled in trees perhaps 25' down the mountain side. At the bottom of the access road, a "road closed" sign had been erected.
We continued to our campsite for the night; Carolina Hemlock off Hwy 80. We have a prime spot right along the Toe River. This is a Forest Service campground. $8.50/night with the "Geezer" card. That's what the Golden Age Passport is called. We only pay 1/2 of the camping cost and no admission fees to the National Parks. Quite a deal.

Lake Powhatan Campground

On Sunday we took the scenic drive to the Lake Powhatan Forest Service campground near Asheville. The campground is perhaps a mile off the Blue Ridge Parkway. Unlike all the dead trees we saw around Mt. Pisgah, the Parkway around here is just beautiful. All green with lots of wild flowers. We're guessing the elevation must be lower around this part of the Parkway.
This campground is popular with the mountain bikers. There are several trails running through the area. Nothing special for us to do, but a nice stop on our journey north.
On Monday, we went into Asheville and found the Fresh Market grocery store. Sort of like Whole Foods. What a pleasant relief from Wal-Mart and the other chains. Expensive, but a nice selection of "different" sorts of foods. We stocked up on some fresh, prepared salads. For some reason, Carol didn't want to go into the store. I bought her two cookies.
We drove past the Biltmore Estate, the largest single family home in America. It was built by George Vanderbilt, II between 1889 and 1895. 250 rooms, 175,000 sf total. Carol didn't want to tour the Estate so we kept driving. Further on we came across a nice city park on the banks of the French Broad River and stopped for lunch.
On the way back to the campground I was telling her about what a nice store it was. When we head to our next stop, we'll swing by Fresh Market; Carol wants to go inside this time. Must be the cookies. :-)
Not a very nice today today, cloudy & cool.