Day 1–Greenville, SC Trip (Saturday, April 20, 2013)

The purpose of this trip was to pick up our new BMW from the factory in Greenville, SC.  BMW has a great program where they put you up in a hotel, feed you dinner, and give you a day at the plant.  At the plant you tour the factory, drive a vehicle similar to yours on their track, go through their museum, and get a full explanation of every detail of the car.  And then you get a road trip home in your brand new vehicle.  So we decided to make a little vacation out of it.

Today we drove from our home to Asheville, NC.  We rented a 2012 Mazda 3 from Hertz and got an amazing deal on it through AAA!  For three days we paid only $179 with unlimited miles!

So today we drove 767 miles which took us 13.5 hours.  We started bright and early (about 4:15 a.m.).  The drive was quite beautiful especially the second half. 

We went through three tunnels and I wish I had pictures to share with you but there was no where to pull over and take any pictures and the camera was in the trunk.  The first one was the Cumberland Gap Tunnel at the border of Kentucky and Tennessee on Hwy 25E.  The second two were on Hwy 40 in North Carolina between mile markers 4 and 9.

While in Tennessee we stopped at a beautiful scenic overlook called Veteran’s Overlook on Hwy 25E just south of Springdale, TN.  Here are a couple of pictures.  The purple flowering tree is even more spectacular in person especially against evergreen trees and trees with light green baby leaves.

Our day ended with a stay at Aloft Asheville Downtown which is a very modern hotel.  Because of a stay my husband had at a Sheraton for training last fall, we had a lot of points that we could use for a free night.  Additionally, he had stayed enough nights to become a platinum member and so we got a free upgrade to a suite and will get free breakfast in the morning.  Here are a few pictures of our suite which is amazing:

As you can see, our suite includes:

• A separate bedroom with TV, desk, bench, and huge closet storage
• A bathroom with a whirlpool tub and separate shower
• A living area with a huge TV, table for 4, couch and chair
• An entry way with sink mini fridge, microwave, and storage
• The entire plan is an open concept with sliding doors, so you can watch TV in the living room while soaking in the whirlpool tub (or close that sliding window for privacy).

To bad we can’t stay here longer but we are looking forward to tomorrow’s adventures and seeing my aunt and uncle.

Day 2–Greenville SC trip (Sunday, April 22, 2013)

After breakfast at the hotel we headed for a day of exploring waterfalls.  The views from the car were spectacular.

We got on the Blue Ridge Parkway which is a very scenic highway through the mountains.  At first we were so excited to get out and take a look at all the overlooks until we realized they were about every half mile at which point we got a little pickier about where to stop.  Here is our rental Mazda 3 parked at one such overlook:

Our first waterfall was Woodfin Cascades.  No hiking involved but you don’t get very close.

And here is the view from the Blue Ridge Parkway near Woodfin Cascades.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here is the view from Fork Ridge Overlook:

And the view from Waterrock Knob Overlook where we did a little hiking:

Our next falls was Soco Falls which was quite an adventure.  It was rated at a 7 for strenuous but that probably didn’t include the second half of the climb down.  Someone had put up ropes to hang on to as you climbed down.

A trip through the mountains would not be complete without a few tunnels.  Here is the Bunches Bald Tunnel:

Here is Bunches Bald Overlook:

Last but not least, we stopped at Mingo Falls:

We then headed for lunch at Colima Mexican Restaurant in Sylva which was very good.  Then we underestimated the amount of time it takes to drive mountain roads as we rushed to make it in time for my Uncle’s church service and then dinner and great conversation.