Hello, our dear friends, family, and readers. We apologize for the radio silence on this blog, but we were busy getting acquainted with our new city. That’s right, we are (almost certainly if we can get employment) moving to Asheville (probably in August).

Asheville is a delightful little blue crunchy bubble in a sea of red. Only an hour and a half from the Smokies, it’s hard to beat the location. Even driving on the parkway, you are mesmerized by green.

The city is filled with all the things we love: bookstores, coffee shops, galleries, restaurants with food from all around the world, and little shops filled with handmade goods.

Every restaurant it seems is vegetarian and vegan friendly (such good tacos!)…

…and store windows display signs like this.

The people are friendly and there is so much to do and see. Everyone seems to really want to be involved in their communities, support local businesses, and simply enjoy life.

Outside of Asheville, little rural towns spring up, offering their own culture. We were able to visit the “Greening Up the Mountain” festival in Sylva, where we saw booth after booth of handmade items, organic products, outreach projects, and local organizations. I was in heaven.

We learned that the Mother Earth News Fair was going on south of Asheville on my birthday weekend, so we bought tickets and drove down. I went to a Mother Earth News Fair a few years ago in Seattle and loved it, so I was excited to have Ryan share the joy. We learned about permaculture, beekeeping, tree health, fermentation, no-till gardening, and so much more. It got us really excited about owning land some day soon. We also drank a lot of soda (thanks, Wild Bill’s).

Of course, the plan for now is to find a little place in or near Asheville to rent for a year or two. But that place will have a yard, and we will put our new gardening and fermentation knowledge to use. Ryan also really wants a ruminator now, but I don’t know if goats are allowed within city limits.

All you need to do is drive about 20-30 minutes outside of the city to be somewhere idyllic. We enjoyed hiking Catawba Falls, discussing and dreaming along the way. “We could take our parents here; I think they’d love it.”

Was this our city? It sure felt like it.

It’s a special feeling to miss a place before you leave it. As we began our drive to Virginia, we both realized we’re ready to head back to New York. With only a few more stops along the way and our new city selected, it feels as if this trip is winding down. Today I told Ryan that I couldn’t believe our honeymoon was almost over. He smiled and said, “I think we milked it pretty good.”

Couldn’t have dreamed up a better honeymoon myself.