Are we there yet?

No news from Barker - I like to get that out of the way first so you can skip the rest of my rambling post if you are so inclined. :-)

Instead of hanging at the house this weekend, we are house-swapping with a friend in Asheville, NC. He's coming up here for work and so staying at our house (and very helpfully feeding our kitties) while we go down to Asheville to stay at his place. My oldest friend is moving to Southern California in a few short weeks, so we're heading down to Asheville to see her and her husband one last time before they go off on their new adventures.

I gotta tell you guys: I am falling in love with Asheville. It's laid back vegan hippie paradise. We spent a weekend down there a few months ago helping said friend move and we spent some time exploring downtown. I know the city has much more to offer, as does the region in general, but it was still pretty great. Bookstores, awesome little organic clothing stores, amazing bars with amazing beers, fabulous food and vegan options almost everywhere you go. Plus, it's not a huge metropolis. It's not tiny, but it's still got that small town feel. Like you could easily run in to friends in the grocery store. I think Wikipedia puts the population at somewhere around 80,000 people? Give or take? A good size, but not overwhelming.

I always assumed that when/if we move out of the DC Metro area, we'd either head back to Gainesville, FL to be closer to family, or we'd head up to western Massachusetts. We have family in Mass., too, but the main draw is that I went to college there and absolutely love the little towns. But now that we've spent some time in Asheville, it's getting higher and higher on the list...

Looking forward to a fun weekend of exploring and eating and good times with old friends.