Nashville, TN --- Asheville, NC

It's been a couple of weeks since I've written about where we are and what we're doing. After Lexington, KY, we headed south to Nashville, TN where we took in a 50's show called Kenny and the Krooners. My mom would have loved it! We spent a day wandering around downtown Nashville where we stumbled upon an old church with beautiful stained glass windows. The church secretary took time to give us a tour and tell us about the history of the church. We also saw a fort, peered across the river at the pro football stadium, and walked through the park reading about the history of Tennessee engraved in a long marble wall.

Rich will no doubt remember Nashville as the city where he ended up in the emergency room enduring the excruciating pain of a kidney stone. It was an unplanned three hour field trip in the middle of the night. We are thankful for a GPS system! (Rich, by the way, has been pain-free since that night and is still waiting for that nasty stone to make a long-awaited appearance.)

We headed off to Cowboy Church on Sunday morning where Johnny Cash's sister and her husband pastor a church that ministers to those traveling through music city. No trip to Nashville is complete without a stop at the Opreyland Hotel - it's incredible and very pretty at this time of year all dressed up for Christmas.

Jake celebrated his 9th birthday on November 10th with a game of boys vs. girls in flag football. Yes, the boys won again.

Our last stop in Nashville was a visit to Andrew Jackson's home called The Hermitage. He was our 7th president and had a huge plantation near Nashville.

After 10 days, we dropped the "N" from Nashville and found ourselves in Asheville, NC for a few days. We dined a wonderful little vegetarain restaurant called The Laughing Seed Cafe. It's not often you find a gem like this with an entire menu filled with so many items its tough to choose. If you're ever in Asheville, this is the place to eat!

Of course, we visited the incredible Biltmore House which is the largest privately owned home in the United States built in the late 1800's by George Vanderbilt. I am very thankful I don't have to clean 175,00 square feet including 43 bathrooms! The land surrounding the estate was absolutely amazing and we also enjoyed visiting the winery, the blacksmith shop, and the farmyard.

Where to next? It's been exactly one month since we set out on this journey and we've noticed something: We never end up where we think will. So who knows...stay tuned and we'll keep you posted. Blessings to all of you who are reading our blog and praying for us. We deeply appreciate you!

And now - the slideshow for Nashville and Asheville...