Mandatory Vacation
September 21, 2008
Every year Joshua's residency program has a mandatory vacation that we must attend. They pick the place, the hotel, the place to eat dinner, but we are responsible to pay for it all. This year the weekend vacation was held in Asheville North Carolina. It was about a 4 hour drive and so we decided to make the most of the trip and see lots to sights. At one point we had to stop because Grace threw up and Isaiah noticed an awesome spider eating its prey. I had to take a picture.
On Friday we visited a beautiful quaint town in the Blue Ridge Mountains called Chimney Rock. It had spectacular views and wonderful hikes. We hike to a waterfall and took and elevator 25 stories to Chimney Rock itself. The view was so inspiring that I could have sat on that rock all day. All the kids hiked on very steep inclines for about 3 and a half hours, including Nephi and Grace. We were very impressed with them. On the way out of Chimney Rock we stopped at an apple farm and ate the best apples in the world. I love fresh apples straight from the trees instead of grocery store apples that sit in coolers for up to 5 years. My new favorite kind is the Mutsu apple. The kids really enjoyed the Empire variety.
In Asheville we went to a Mediterranean Restaurant that featured belly dancing, dining in a tent, and sitting on the floor. Pop and Samuel ordered marinated lamb, I ordered a vegetarian platter with humus, and Isaiah ate some beef kabobs. Nephi and Grace ate mostly pita bread and fresh mozzarella cheese. Grace really enjoyed watching the belly dancer. After the restaurant, outside, we found a drum circle and a street dance, so we joined in.
The next day Joshua work had some games organized and at a park and Samuel and Isaiah really enjoyed playing soccer. After that we visited a Nature Center that featured animals that live in North Carolina. We saw black bears, wolves, bobcats, turtles, and cougars. In addition to the wild animals, the nature Center also had a petting zoo. Everyone enjoyed petting the sheep and goats, but Grace enjoyed looking at the chickens best.
Asheville's most famous attraction is the Biltmore estate and I figured we better go and see it since we'll probably never pass through Asheville again. The Biltmore mansion is the biggest house in the United States and it reminded me of an average European castle. Some of the fun features that were different from and European castle were: an indoor swimming pool, and indoor bowling alley, and gym with wooden dumbbells. It was a bit stressful to tour a fancy house with small children where they could not touch anything, but we survived.
We ended the weekend by having dinner at the Fiddlin' Pig where Nephi and Grace really enjoyed dancing to live fiddle music.
Before visiting, I imagined Asheville to be a small quaint town settled in the Blue Ridge Mountains, but it turned out to be just another big American city with very few mountain views. Chimney Rock was the small quaint town that I imagined so I would recommend Chimney Rock with its spectacular views any day over Asheville, if you are ever in the area…
Enjoy the pictures
1 Isaiah's spider
2, 3, 4, 5,6 Chimney Rock
7 Belly dancing restaurant
8 Street Dance
9, 10,11 Nature Center
12, 13 Biltmore
14 Dancing at the Fiddlin' Pig
21 Wrzesien 2008
Obowiazkowe Wakacje
Kazdego roku mojego meza praca organizuje nam obowiazkowe wakacje na jeden weekend. Oni decyduja gdzie jedziemy, w jakim hotelu spimy, i gdzie jeden obiad jemy, a my za to wszytko musimy sami zaplacic. W tym roku pojechalismy do miasta Asheville, w stanie North Carolina w gorach. To jest okolo 4 godziny od nas samochodem. Po drodze Grace zwymiotowala wiec musielsmy sie zatrzymac. Jak wysiedlismy z samochodu to Isaiah zauwarzyl wielkiego pajaka co jadl konika polnego. Tak nam sie to podobalo ze zrobilam mu zdjecie.
W piatek pojechalismy do malego miasteczka Chimney Rock aby popatrzec na gory i skaly i przepiekne widoki gor Blue Ridge. Tam bylo przepieknie. Chodzilismy po gorach 3 i pol godziny. Nawet Grace i Nefi sami tak dlugo chodzili. Bardzo nam sie podobaly gory i wodospad. Po tym pojechalismy do sadu i kupilismy swierze jablka. Ja bardzo lubie swierze jablka, nie takie ze skelpu kotre moga lezec w lodowce az piec lat. Moj nowy ulubiony gatunek to jablko "Mutsu".
Jak dojechalismy do Asheville to poszlismy do srodziemnomorskiej restauracji. Jedlismy owce siedzac na podlodze w pokoju co byl udekorowany jako namiot. Tam tez pani tanczyla taniec brzucha. Grace to sie bardzo podobalo. Zreszta wszytkim dzieciom atmosfera w restauracji sie podobala no i tez wszycy duzo zjedli wiec jedzenie bylo smaczne. Po restauracji poszlismy na dwor potanczyc na ulicy. Tam duzo ludzi gralo na bebenach i tanczylo.
Nastepnego dnia poszlismy do parku gdzie mojego meza praca zorganizowala gry i zabawy. Samuel i Isaiah lubili grac w pilke nozna. Po grach poszlismy do Srodowiska Natury ogladac zwierzeta ktore mieszkaja w North Carolina. Ogladalismy czarne niedzwiedzie, rysie, zlowie, wilki, i pumy. Tez byly tam zwierzeta domowe, kury, osly, barany, kozy, itd. Grace najbardziej sie podobaly kury, no i wszycy lubili owce dotykac i karmic.
Najslawniesza atrakcja w Asheville to najwiekszy dom w Ameryce ktory nazywa sie Biltmore. Wyglada jak przecietny palac w Europie. Pare zeczy kotre byly inne niz w palacu to: bardzo starodawny basen w srodku domu, starodawna kregielnia, i sala gimnastyczna co miala drewniane ciezarki. Nie bylo tak fajnie z malymi dziecmi zwiedzac 'palac' bo nie wolno im bylo nic dotykac, no ale wytrwalismy.
W ostani wieczor 'wakacji' poszlismy na obiad ze wszytkimi czlonkami mojego meza pracy, do restauracji w kotrej byla podloga do tancu i tez zespol gral na skrzypcach i gitarach starodawne piosenki. Grace i Nefi bardzo chetnie tanczyli, no i ja troche tez.
Przed wyjazdem, ja myslalam ze Asheville to male miasteczko w gorach, bo tak to na internecie wygladalo. Ale Asheville to normalne duze Amerykanskie miasto. Za to Chimney Rock to bylo male miasteczko w gorach. Ja wole na wakacje jechac do przyrody wiec Chimney Rock mi sie bardziej podobalo od Asheville.
Na zdjeciach:
1 Pajak ktorego Isaiah znalaz
2,3,4,5,6 Chimney Rock
7 Restauracja tancu brzucha
8 Taniec w srodku miasta na ulicy
9,10,11 Srodowisko Natury
12, 13 Dom Biltmore
14 Taniec w ostatniej restauracji
Sylwia
