Nashville - Williamsburg

Sorry I haven't written in a bit! We are now spending our first night in the Capitol KOA which is actually half way to Baltimore. We didn't go into the city today but we did go to Mt. Vernon on the way to the campground. Just to catch you up...we went from Louisiana to Nashville and spent the night at the Nashville KOA. It was a nice KOA. The next day we went to The Grand Ole Opry House but couldn't actually go into the theatre. We went to the gift shop and the museum and enjoyed them both. We had lunch at The Alabama Grill, which is like a country Hard Rock Cafe. Then we left to go through Smokey Mountain National Park. Unfortunately we hit horrible traffic taking the highway that goes to the entrance through Gatlinburg. We finally asked someone about it and found out it was normal in the summerBand would take us about 5 hours to get through. We opted to get to our campground before dark and went around. We still went through the Smokeys though, just not through the National Park. They were beautiful. There is soooo much green in this part of the country. We stayed at the Ashland West KOA and it too was green and nice, but we weren't there long. The next day we attempted to drive the Blue Ridge Parkway but at 35 to 40 mph we calculated how long it would take to get to Charlottesville, Virginia and got on the main highway. We experienced enough of the drive to realize that this too was a beautiful, non-stop, nearly signless drive and we highly recommend it...but not to drive from Asheville, N.C. to Charlottesville, VA on. Next stop...Charlottesville KOA which was the prettiest yet. We went to Monticello on Thursday and all of us really enjoyed it. For anyone who might not know what that is it is the home of Thomas Jefferson. After shopping we went to Mitchie's Tavern for lunch. This was a tavern from the 18th century that had a tour and some hands on for the kids and a fun meal in a 18th century setting. On Friday we drove to my cousin Alicia and her husband Mike's in Charles City, VA, which is east of Richmond. They live on a farm that they are getting ready to raise alpacas on. They were so hospitalble and graciously had my Aunt Jeanie, Aunt Alice and cousins Bob and Donald, as well as their grown kids, Katie, Sarah and Stevie, and their significant others :) . We had a real nice time and meal together. The next morning we enjoyed a yummy breakfast with them and went to Jamestown and Williamsburg. We had a great time in both these places. We came home to a delicious crab cake dinner and a nice time with Mike and Alicia and then to bed. We are all starting to get tired! And lastly today, we had a nice breakfast and visit with my aunts at Cracker Barrel and then on to Mt. Vernon. By the time I finished the laundry etc. and typing this, it is now 11:30 and I am signing off! God bless you all and until next time...Happy Trails.