Last week, I took Skye and a friend over to the Carl Sanburg House National Park, a random slice of 1960s privilege and Americana. He was apparently quite the man about the nation, collecting songs, writing thick literature, writing poems. I’ve read some, I know who he is, but even after leaving his house, I’m still unsure why this author, of all the excellent ones we surely have, has his house made into a national park. The house is certainly nice, but not fancy. The land is as beautiful as any other tract of land in the area. He might have been America’s poet, but the legacy left by his…

Thanks to google maps, Atlas Obscura, and local guidebooks, we’ve discovered many different things to do in Western North Carolina. The #828isgreat hashtag is another great resource for fun ideas. From cool local restaurants to unexpected views to great music, we’re enjoying exploring the mountains. Last week, Geoff went to the Nantahala Outdoor Center for some serious whitewater kayaking while I took the girls around the mountains to find petroglyphs and mummified cats. Geoff was jealous of the petroglyphs and the signs translated into Cherokee, but Skye was most impacted by the mummy cat. She’s talked to me about how the cat was a mom and when it died, the…