Molly & Ben

Yep! The drive from Virginia to Asheville was extremely cold. It was a really long drive and the first time we encountered snow. Our feet got so cold on the drive we had to keep moving them in our shoes just to keep warm. Stuff you find out on the road I guess!

We didn’t think about this when we bought the RV, but there really isn’t much insulation especially in the front. The generator is in the front hood so it’s quiet when we are driving but MAN does it get cold.

Luckily, we had some fun stuff too look forward too. Family in town!

My brother Kevin and his wife Melora are now living in Knoxville TN and wanted to come out and stay with us in the RV. Our first visitors 🙂 We splurged a bit and stayed at a nicer campground and it was well worth it. Magic Mountain RV resort! We stayed right next to the river and enjoyed the white noise.

This is probably the nicest RV park we have stayed in so far. They have a fun store (with ice cream) an arcade, mini golf that was actually clean, and even a giant chess set.

More importantly, the staff was really helpflu. This was the only RV park to help us get to our spot and back in. Thanks, Justin for all your help!

We drove to Asheville early on Saturday morning and was able to catch a local parade. It was small but fun to see the town come out and all the creative floats they had. One of my favorites was a float playing Jazz Christmas songs. Such a fun funky culture. Reminded me of Austin.

• 

• 

After lunch at the White Duck, we headed to see a pinball museum that was pretty much just an arcade but you pay $15 and then play as long as you like! Not a bad idea for a date night! After that, we just walked around at some shops then head to the Biltmore Village.

There we walked around some more shops and found a fun little bakery that we got some sweets at. When we visited Kevin and Melora in Germany, that is something they liked to do. Cake in the afternoon!

The next day we played some mini golf at the RV park, the headed into Gatlinburg! What a crazy city that is! It seemed like a ski town mixed with Branson Missouri! We went to the visitor center and learned about the smokey mountains and went on a walk to a waterfall.

Then headed over to the center where some more cute shops were!

Something funny that happened, we were all looking in a spice shop and Ben and I were getting a little close (we are newly weds so dont judge) and the worker said “I know it’s spicy in here but seriously, get a room!” We all laughed, but did cool it.

Something else we were able to do is look at some local grafitti art which always seems to amaze us.

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

Next we are heading to Knoxville for Thanksgiving!

About 14 years ago I served a mission for The Church Of Jesus Christ Of Latter-Day Saints and was able to visit one of my areas called Buena Vista. This little Norman Rockwell Town is nestled in a valley in the Shannondoah mountains. We stayed at a place called Buckhorne RV Park which was just 35 minutes away from the campus Southern Virginia University. The RV park was super small and had a nice store where the owner played us a song that he wrote. It was very patriotic and interesting.  The leaves have started to fall but the colors are still beautiful. When I was there before, it was spring and summer so I never saw the fall.

This is a previous southern Sim school, It’s a beautiful building. This isn’t actually an LDS school, it just has LDS standards. The school is doing really well and just hit over 1000 students per semester!

We came into town and I remembered the train that ran right through town that I would listen to at night. I wanted to walk around on campus to see how it had changed. It seemed smaller than I remember. We parked on the hill and I wanted to take this picture next to the knight. I believe I have a similar one from 14 years ago I need to scrounge up. We walked into the old ballroom with the chimney and huge mirrors. I remember feeling like this school was like Harry Potter with the large staircases. Now it seemed more like a school. Maybe I had missionary goggles on.

We walked to the second floor and guess who we ran into! Someone we used to know from the ward! We chatted for a bit and learned she is working as an activities coordinator for the school and helping students mix and mingle. That little town is really growing!

We drove on the Blue Ridge Parkway and past where I use to live. Then went over to a members house for dinner.

It was so sweet to be in their home and meet their kids after all this time. They didn’t look like they aged a day!

I love this family with all my heart and so grateful for the time I was able to spend with them. That short night, as well as 14 years ago. Till we meet again my eternal friends. <3

We left the next day and the weather dropped into the 30s. This is the first time we experienced it and things got really cold in this tin can! We actually hand to bundle up and wear blankets as we drove. Yes, that’s a mermaid blanket.

We stayed in Williamsburg for the week and the leaves are falling fast! That is not all that is falling… acorns! Man! Those things are loud! It’s been a little windy and the first couple nights we were here, we had a hard time sleeping. The acorns would hit the top of the RV and sound like we were under attack! I went up on the roof and covered it with a tarp which helped with the sound.

This area is really historical with the civil war but we threw that all out the window and went to the Metro zoo. It was a good choice!

Ben has a friend from college that works at a zoo. Let me rephrase that. Ben has a friend that grew up living in a Zoo. When his dad was in his 30s, he bought land in Richmond and built a house… and a zoo. I remember going to the zoo as a kid, but I don’t remember it being this awesome. The animals had plenty of space, it was very clean, organized, and spacious for the animals.

One of our favorite things to do was to feed the animals. Especially the Griaffes!

You could feed them right from your hand. They could just extend their necks over the fence. Very friendly and beautiful.

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

I was also able to fulfill my dreams of becoming a Disney princess. Just kidding. But the birds made me feel like one! You could purchase popsicle sticks with honey and seeds on them and these birds would land right on you and eat them.

• 

• 

The zoo is amazing just as is, but our friend is also known as the Zoo Ninja and competes on America Ninja Warrior and build a zip line OVER the zoo! We couldn’t resist and signed up. After an instruction and safety demonstration, it was about 2 hours of zip-lining. The views were amazing.

They had some rope obstacle courses that you could choose to do, or an easier route if you were afraid of heights.

We had such an amazing day, we took our friend and his wife out to dinner that night. What an amazing and strong family. So great to get to know you and we hope to see you again soon!

The weather is getting colder and we are heading more south into Virginia. We are staying at a super nice campground called Little Bennet Park. The leaves are just magical here.

Ben has a Cousin that lives south of Washington DC that we can stay with for a few days. But first! The Washington Mall!

We are on a slight time crunch we had to pick and choose which places we saw. First up, the Natural History Museum. This place is the best of the best. I’m not sure if I can walk into another natural history museum and be impressed.

• 

• 

• 

• 

Next, we made our way to tour the capital. Ben is much better at handstands than I am… but I’m working on it.

• 

• 

Our tour guide was this super short monotone dry humor girl that was not only informative but very funny.

We learned a lot about our nations capital and had some good laughs along the way.

• 

• 

By then it was about 5pm and we needed to get back to the car and start heading toward the cousins to stay the night. We tried to find some bird scooters but we didn’t realize, everyone getting off work from the city were using them to get home outside of the city. We finally found some that were ditched on a freeway entrance island and road back. We wish we could have spent more time touring around, however, I’m learning on this RV adventure that you can’t really do it wrong. If you are enjoying yourself it’s ok if you miss some things along the way. You don’t have to see every stinking thing along the way. This isn’t the last time we will be in DC.

Halloween With The Cousins

These particular cousins are the only ones living out east so they were super excited to have family in town! It was fun to have a holiday to share with family and do some classic trick or treating. Hope to see you guys again soon!

Philadelphia has a special place in Bens heart. He lived there for about 3 years and really grew to love it. I also have an old roommate living here right across the street from the art museum so we totally got hooked up on where to stay. Thanks Candace!

We were only there a few days but biked around the city and saw some fun sites. One thing we HAD to go do was eat a cheese stake at Jims! There are a few tourist places to go that aren’t that great. Luckly, Ben knew where to go. A tip for those eating at Jims, get it “Wit Wiz” which means with wiz cheese, onions, and if you like some spices, pepper. I love this place.

• 

• 

• 

Because both Ben and I had been to Philly before, and Candace lives there, we decided to do something different for the Halloween season. Introducing, the Glow Festival

The Glow Festival

It’s like Christmas lights, but all made out of pumpkins. We road the city bikes for a few miles outside of the city and walked about 2 miles through a maze of pumpkins! Some were real, but I am assuming most were fake but still, it was really fun!

Just tons of Pumpkins everywhere. It’s a dream for those who love Halloween!

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

We were also able to meet with some of Bens old co-workers and visit some of our favorite places to eat.

We had something interesting happen as we left Scotrun park. Our RV wouldn’t start! YIKES! It was sitting for 2 weeks and super cold. Ben read some online tips and we got it started. That was pretty stressful! On to DC!

We couldn’t tour the east coast without going to NYC! Again, this was about an hour away from our RV site but doing the hour drive wasn’t that bad. NYC is funny. It was a Wednesday in early October and this place was still packed. I enjoy visiting NY but don’t ever see myself living there.

Driving in big cities gets me really stressed out. Ben does a better job so usually drives into the city. We parked and had to pay like $50 but… what do you do? It’s NYC. We had lunch with our friend Coco and stopped by the 911 memorial. It’s really humbling to be there. It’s a beautiful memorial.

Lauren And The Sea Glass Carousel

After walking through the city, we made our way to Battery Park and met up with Lauren from the Mermaid Podcast. This spunky lady is rocking things in NYC with multiple businesses, a cookbook, and a mermaid podcast.

We road the sea glass carousel and walked along the bay where Splash was filled. I love this little lady. It was fun to connect with someone and geek out about the same thing.

Wicked

This was Bens first time seeing Wicked and it didn’t disappoint! I love this play and was really happy we could go together as a married couple. Just in front of us were some older folk, and one was wearing a BYU hat. That usually means they are Latter-day Saints. We struck up a conversation which was nice. Being on the road can be a little secluding so chatting with new people helps!

Ben loved the show, and so did I! Do you like that photographer unintentionally photobombing our picture? Good times.