The Polar Express and The Biltmore Estate

We traveled to North Carolina for the weekend. We stayed in Waynesville, NC, at Creekwood Farm RV Park, which was a good midway spot between Dillsboro and Asheville. We had reservations for the Polar Express Dinner Train (Great Smoky Mountain Railway) departing from Dillsboro and for the candlelight tour at the Biltmore Estate in Asheville.
It was our first time to stay in Waynesville and at this campground. The campground was very clean and well kept with nice pull through sites and the staff were equally as nice.

Unfortunately, illness has continued to plague us. I should've known something was up when I went to pick up the children at school on Friday. I arrived at their school early because Rachel's class was decorating gingerbread houses and parents were invited to assist. As I passed the playground, I noticed Anna sitting on the bench with her teacher. As I passed by Anna got excited when she saw me and her teacher walked up and said Anna had been whiny all morning but had not complained about being sick. She just kept asking for her Momma. That was unusual as once they are at school, they typically are fine and haven't been prone to ask for Jeff or I once they are immersed in their daily activities. We thought maybe it threw her off Friday because she knew I was picking her up rather than our babysitter. She never complained about feeling badly even though she still had a residual cough from the cold she was battling while we were in Orlando. By Friday night, it was apparent that she wasn't feeling well at all. Anna did not sleep much on Friday night. She said she had bubbles in her ear that hurt and that she had a "bad feeling." I gave her an antibiotic on Saturday morning and she started feeling better but she was tired from being up a good portion of Friday night (and so were we). And, to add insult to injury, I began to feel sick as well.

We slept in as much as possible on Saturday morning before heading to Dillsboro. We ate lunch in Dillsboro at the Dillsboro Smokehouse and browsed the local shops. We stopped for dessert at the Chocolate Factory. We purchased some hot chocolate, chocolate candy, and chocolate fudge to share and then left the Chocolate Factory and continued browsing local shops. Do you get the distinct impression that we might like chocolate? We saw an apron hanging in the store that had the following written across the front, "Question: Do you know how many calories are in chocolate? Answer: Who cares." Exactly!
About 30 minutes later, I realized I no longer had my purse and I figured I had left it in the Chocolate Factory store. So, we headed back to the store and they did have it safely put away in their office. This is the second time I have left my purse accidentally in the past few years and both times it was safely returned. It's refreshing to be reminded that people are still inherently good.

One of the stores we visited had a gas heater mounted on the wall; the same type I had in the home that I grew up in. My sister-in-law, Teresa, always laughed about my brothers and me regarding these types of heaters. If a home had one, whether it was on or not, eventually my brothers and I always ending up standing in front of it.

Our dinner train left at 4:30 pm. Overall, we enjoyed it and would recommend it to others but they could've played up the Polar Express theme a bit better. They should've made the tickets look like the gold tickets in the movie. They could've had the conductor carry a stop watch like the one in the movie. And, the thing that really disappointed us...no hot chocolate. If you take the Polar Express train that isn't the dinner version, they do provide hot chocolate and cookies though.
The dinner was delicious. For the adults...spiral ham, sweet potato, green bean casserole, and rolls. For dessert...pecan pie. For the kids....chicken nuggets, fruit cup, and macaroni and cheese. For dessert...rice krispie treats.
After dinner, we arrived at the "North Pole." This is when Santa boarded the train. Again, I think they could've really made this really special but it only included seeing Santa sitting in his sleigh outside and then he boarded the train. He visited with each child for a picture and gave each child a sleigh bell. Poor Anna was so exhausted that she slept through most of the trip and she didn't eat one bite of her dinner. But, she did wake up to see Santa and to enjoy the Christmas carols being sung on the way back.

We were tempted to pass on the Biltmore and if we had not prepaid for our candlelight tour, we would have. But, we figured the girls would nap on the way to Asheville and even though I felt like collapsing in a bed myself, I was determined to not waste the money we had already obligated. Our tour was at 8:30 pm. We arrived around 7:15. That gave us enough time to visit the restrooms and to browse a couple of shops before getting in line for our tour. Rachel was really enjoying the tour at first. She got her own headset and was absorbing the information presented. She asked me where all of the people were that she saw in portraits hanging on the walls and I explained they lived here a long time ago but had since passed away. She has recently developed a fixation on death to some degree and it upset her slightly that these people had died. About half way through the tour she began to complain that she was tired. And, truth be told, I was quite exhausted myself. I had been battling muscle aches and joint aches for most the day. And, I would have moments of feeling like I was freezing to death even though the temperature was in the mid-70s. So we opted not to complete the tour. We were about halfway through it and decided to call it a night. We had to ride a bus back to the parking lot. On the way, Rachel once again began her discussion on death and dying. I tried to explain as I have before that death is a part of life. Eventually, we will all grow old (hopefully) and die. At that point she blurted out "I don't want to get old and die!" Her statement was easily overheard throughout the bus and particularly by an elderly couple sitting very near to us. I had to explain to them why she was upset and why she said what she did as they seemed offended.

We all collapsed when we got back to the RV. There are no pictures to share from the Biltmore. It was too dark outside to get any good photos and they do not allow photography inside.

We packed up early Sunday morning to travel back home. On the way home, we stopped and filled up the gas tank before we arrived back at the base. Jeff snapped this shot of Rachel as she was sitting there watching him pump gas. I think she looks quite at home in the driver's seat! :-)

I know I wasn't feeling any better and neither was Anna on Sunday. By Sunday afternoon, my fever topped out at 105. I took some motrin and got my temperature back under control. Anna had a fever of around 102.9 and some tylenol helped her. I knew that Monday morning meant getting us both to the doctor. Unfortunately, there is an epidemic going around locally; flu, strep throat and pneumonia are rampant. I wanted to bring Anna to her pediatrician but couldn't get an appt until 3:20 and the best I could arrange for myself was the Medstop...a local walk-in clinic that treats minor injuries and illnesses. Unfortunately, the Medstop isn't the most thorough in their patient evaluation. They ran no tests on me and decided my issue was a bronchial infection. I had my doubts but was greatful for any medication at this point that might help me feel better. Jeff brought Anna to her appointment that afternoon while I rested. Anna was tested and diagnosed with the flu....which is what I thought I had as well. The doctors offices were packed with people complaining about similar symptoms. It just stinks that everyone will be so sick during Christmas. We are hoping a praying that the medication that our pediatrician gave Rachel will help prevent her from getting the flu. We were concerned that we might not be able to get it. Every pharmacy in town was out of the medication except one.

I took my medications on Monday and I'd like to report that I felt better but I didn't. I had spiked a temperature again Monday afternoon in the 102 range and I coughed all night Monday night. Anna seemed to rest better.

I made an appointment with my internal medicine doctor on Tuesday. He diagnosed me with the flu and a bronchial infection. He gave me a shot in the fanny, prescribed some great cough syrup that allowed me to give my throat and chest much needed rest from coughing and something wonderful that knocked me out so I could get some sleep.

I'm praying both Anna and I feel better by Friday which is when we are scheduled to go to Huntsville to spend Christmas with Harold and Gail. We have all of their "Santa" presents there so it will not be a good thing if we can't make the trip but at the same time, I don't want to bring these illnesses to them.

At this point, all I want for Christmas is for my family to get healthy and stay healthy for a while. It seems Anna has been battling illness of some sort of another for over a month now. It is a good reminder that if you have your health you truly are rich beyond all measure.