Driving the Blue Ridge Parkway in the Toyota Highlander

The open road is outstretched for miles ahead of you. No schedule. No plans. Adventure is waiting.
This past weekend Joe and I took a trip to the NC Mountains. We left the kids at home with their grandparents and headed to Asheville to attend a wedding. As a child, my family spent a lot of time on the NC coast but we very rarely visited the mountains so I was extremely excited to explore the Blue Ridge mountains.

We stayed in an adorable little cottage just north of Asheville that really allowed us to embraced the slower mountain life. The long dirt driveway provided privacy and seclusion but was also a bit of a challenge to back out of… luckily we had the 2014 Highlander XLE’s backup camera.

In between wedding events, we would sneak off to explore the active downtown Asheville scene or walk the sleepy streets of Weaverville. The Highlander (especially the navigation system) guided us through windy mountain roads that would suddenly open upon breathtaking views or crossed over the rushing French Broad River. Aside from our wedding plans we just let to open road guide our weekend. It was such a release to just get out and drive.

After all of the wedding festivities were over we decided to take the long way back to Raleigh via the Blue Ridge Parkway.  The Highlander offered a smooth and safe ride up and down the winding roads of the Blue Ridge Parkway. We stopped at several lookouts along the way and really took in the scenery before we headed back home.

Southeast Toyota Distributors, LLC (“Toyota”) provided me with the use of a 2014 Highlander for a short period of time and a gas card. I am receiving no other compensation from Toyota. The opinions I have shared about this vehicle are my own.