It snows in the mountains

November 15

As we near the final leg of our march into Georgia, we realize that we have experienced one of the warmest and driest autumns in record on the eastern seaboard. Yesterday, it was 66 degrees in the mountains. It rained through the night last night. Today, at the base where we are camped, it snowed. It is not sticking but temperature forecasts for tonight are in the high twenties. It is time to go south. Wait a minute, we are in the south. However, at 3000 feet, we are in the mountains. They get snow here every year. I knew the risk in coming to this area so late. However, the beauty of the area and the proximity to Ben and Penny dictated that we visit this week.

We did drive in to Asheville (pop 70,000) today. It is often rated as one of America’s top cities in which to live. Vanderbilt built his 120,000 acre grand estate here in the late 1880’s. Much of the estate is now part of the Pisgah National Forest. Rich people followed him here and the downtown architecture reflects early 1900’s. The climate is usually fair, the mountains are colorful, and Asheville is now one of the art centers of the U.S. We noted the unusual downtown architecture and visited a folk art center.

The first picture is the county court house and is representative of the unique architecture of the city.