The Westward Advance

We've chronicled our trip from Durham, NC to Columbus, NE in a reader's digest fashion. Our last days in Durham were filled with friends and last minute chaos. Thanks again to the Christians and the Kellers for literally saving us that last day. We headed for Asheville around 8:30 p.m. on June 4th with a loaded car and exhausted passengers, but we made it. Our first major event: The Biltmore Estate.

Here you can see the Biltmore home behind Chad. Completed in 1895 under the ownership of George Vanderbilt-a multi-millionaire railroad tycoon. It boasts 175,000 square feet including over 250 rooms, an indoor pool and gym, a bowling alley, a library with over 10,000 volumes, 65 fireplaces, and a banquet room with a 70 foot-high ceiling. It is gorgeous and of course, enormous! The most fascinating thing about the place is that the Vanderbilt children called it home. I imagine them running through the halls playing impossible games of hide-and-seek, having sleep overs, and every other thing that normal children would do.

Here you can see the outside of the grand staircase that spirals through four stories.

Seeing me in front of the building with the stroller might give you an idea of how big it truly is.

We loved it and we recommend the audio tour to anyone who might visit.

The day after Biltmore we spent the entire day driving. Destination: Lexington, KY. Chad decided to take the scenic route through the Smoky Mountains. To all you Rocky Mountain natives, I must defend the Smoky Mountains. They are indeed mountains in their own right and they are beautiful. The trees are endless--blanketing every square inch of the land. Chad said that driving through them reminded him of Brazil. You can see in the pictures above and below.

Lexington, Kentucky

If Chad had met his maker while driving through the beautiful city of Lexington, KY, he would've died a happy man. That is how much he LOVED Lexington with its gorgeous, rich horse farms which were beautifully manicured and fenced. While there we visited a horse farm that keeps retired race horses, the Kentucky Horse Park, and we took the "Dreamer" driving tour where you drive through Kentucky and see all the places where that movie was filmed. It was BEAUTIFUL.

This horse lives at the Kentucky Horse farm. We saw some thoroughbreds there with some impressive resumes.

Below, it may be hard to tell because of the windshield glare, but some of the roads in Lexington are narrow, lined with stone walls, and arched over with trees. They are picturesque.

After Lexington, we drove on--passing through St. Louis in the middle of the day. We stopped to see the gateway arch. We paid $20 to ride a tram to the top and look out these tiny windows to the huge city of St. Louis 650 feet below. This is a picture of the view from up there.

And below is some of Chad's photography magic.

We drove for two more days and finally arrived in Columbus, NE population 21,000. It is an industrial town, but it has its charms. It feels safe here and it feels like we're back in the west. Our apartment is huge and relatively cheap compared to Durham. All our stuff arrived safely with the exception of my laundry rack which was broken by one of the mover's heavy foot, and my spoons which have somehow managed to disappear. Lydia loves having her own room without a treadmill or computer to cramp her style. The branch here is friendly and I already love it. Imagine you have a glass of something bubbly and non-alcoholic as we toast to our new year here in Columbus.