Summer 2019 - Damascus, Virginia

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Friday September 6^th – Thursday September 19^th 

Laurel Creek RV Park, Damascus, Virginia

We headed north into Virginia to visit Damascus, where we have vacationed several times. The main activity here is bike riding the Virginia Creeper Trail. This is a 32 mile rail trail that has a slight downhill grade. Damascus is about 17 miles into the trail, with the north end in the town of Whitetop and the south end in Abingdon. We rode the trail twice from Whitetop to Damascus. A shuttle service takes riders to the top and then we rode right back to the campground. Kurt did his usual ride uphill and met me at the top and we rode down together. We also rode the trail on our last day in town. It’s such a beautiful ride through the forest and valleys of the area. Part of the trail follows Laurel Creek. There are so many beautiful views from the trail. I rode south on the trail one day, just an 8 mile out and back. This part was not as pretty as the northern end.

Kurt did find a mountain bike trail that he rode a few times. Iron Mountain Trail began as a hiking trail and locals began biking the trail also. Kurt met a local guy that he was able to ride with and the two guys became instant friends. Kurt hopes that he comes to Florida sometime. They would both have a great time.

We hiked a few forest trails with the dogs. First, we drove south into Tennessee 4 miles and hiked from the Backbone Rock trailhead. It’s a huge rock outcropping, almost like a wall, where the trail leads up to the top and over a tunnel created decades ago. It was challenging and fun. That day there were some Army reserve soldiers that were climbing and repelling the rock wall. This is a recreation area along Beaverdam Creek with a nice picnic area. Another day we also hiked the Laurel Creek Trail from the trailhead south into Tennessee. This trail followed the creek for several miles, where we turned around and headed back. It was very pretty and the dogs loved running off leash. The last trail we hiked was in the Jefferson National Forest on the Beartree Gap Trail which heads uphill for 2.5 miles where it connects with other trails. The dogs also enjoyed this hike and it was fun exercise for us all.

The first weekend there, we attended the Washington County Fair in Abingdon. This was a fun local fair with the typical farm animals, carnival rides and various vendors. We went primarily to see the country rock bank, Confederate Railroad. They were awesome with great music. It was worth the evening we spent there.

We did a day trip eastward to Grayson Highlands State Park. The dogs went with us and hiked also. This beautiful park is packed with trails, some easy and some challenging. The Appalachian Trail also passes through the park. Within the park, there are wild ponies that were introduced there years ago.

We really enjoyed our two weeks in Damascus. We will probably to back there one day. This area of Virginia is very beautiful and full of very nice people.  

Summer 2019 - Bryson City, N. Carolina - Part 2

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Saturday August 3^rd – Thursday September 5^th  

Country Girls RV Park, Bryson City, N. Carolina
During our second month in Bryson City, we continued to enjoy the many outdoor activities in the area. Since we were here so long, we were able to explore areas that we had never seen before. Driving around the back roads we found many lovely valleys with beautiful properties. Also, there were some depressed areas that we discovered.

We rode the mountain bikes trails at Tsali and Fire Mountain many times and experienced some different hiking trails, mostly in the Great Smoky Mountains N.P. Nantahala Outdoor Center was a favorite visit several times. This is a special place where white water kayaking/rafting is the prominent sport on the Nantahala River. Kurt rode the rapids there in our inflatable kayak a few times. Our camping neighbors were working at NOC and we met them down there to watch the rafters coming down the river and hitting the large rapids. The center has also expanded their activities with zip lines, mountain bike trails and tree top adventures.

I truly enjoyed Cherokee! We had never really spent much time there (it was only 6 miles north of our RV park). I visited the Cherokee Museum, watched the historical play, Unto These Hills, and toured the Oconaluftee Indian Village which portrayed the typical Cherokee village and displayed different aspects of their daily life. It was so interesting and informative, love the Cherokee history.

There was a one day county fair just around the corner from the RV park. We spent a couple of hours at this small fair, meeting some great country people and their animals! A day trip to Fontana Dam was a reminder of our previous visits to the area. We drove to more areas than we had visited ever before. In our last week there, Cherokee hosted a PRCA night rodeo, which we really enjoyed. These small rodeos are more up close and fun. We always enjoy a rodeo!

Bryson City still remains as one of our favorite mountain towns. So many friendly people and so many fun activities outdoors! We will come back again one day. Next we head further north to Damascus Virginia.

Summer 2019 - Bryson City, N. Carolina - Part 1

Photo link:
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Saturday July 6^th – Friday, August 2^nd
Country Girls RV Park, Bryson City, N. Carolina

Finally we’re back in Bryson City, one of our favorite places in the N. Carolina mountains. We will be staying here at Country Girls RV Park through the first week in September. In this park all campsites back up to the Tuckasegee River. It’s awesome to open our back ramp door to see and hear the river rapids. Our site also has a covered wooden deck on the riverside. This location is great, halfway between Bryson City and Cherokee. During this first month, we’ve been able to participate in various activities. We hiked one of our favorite trails, Noland Creek, heading south. This trail also heads north all the way up to Smokey Mountain N.P. and intersects with the Appalachian Trail. The dogs enjoy this hike, they can run free and drink from the creek. It’s not a long hike, but very beautiful with several creek crossing bridges. We mountain biked at Tsali Trails along Lake Fontana in the Nantahala National Forest and the new trails in Cherokee, Fire Mountain! Love them both, but Fire Mountain is definitely my favorite with my style of riding well-groomed and technical single track.

We really enjoy going up to the Nantahala Outdoor Center to watch the rafters coming down the river. This outdoor complex has white water rafting, hiking, zip lining, tree top adventure for kids, mountain bike trails, restaurants and accommodations. While there we did a short hike up on the A.T. We always visit this place in all the years we’ve been coming up here. Kurt did the white water rafting with one of our RV neighbors who is working there for the summer. Kurt also paddled the Tuckasegee River in my kayak.

One day we drove up through Cherokee and into the Great Smokey Mountains N.P. We took the dogs as we knew it would be a long day. We headed up to Clingman’s Dome. This is a walking structure at the peak of the mountain at 6600 feet elevation. We knew we couldn’t take the dogs on hiking trails, but were surprised when we found out they could not go up on the Dome path (which is paved). So I kept the dogs at the entry point and hung out while Kurt visited the Dome and took pictures. After leaving the dome area, we all hiked on a small portion of the A.T.

One of the fun things to do here is tubing in the rivers. We bought our own tubes this time and headed up to Deep Creek. We had a fun time, but the creek was crowded which made it a little difficult to maneuver with the rocks and current. We are still planning on tubing the Tuckasegee River, which runs right behind our RV. There are various put-ins and take-outs along this river. So much fun and many things to do.

So far, it’s been a very nice stay here. We have had our share of rainy days (as usual) and some pretty hot days. It just seems that wherever we go, the weather is getting warmer than it used to be. Hopefully we will have better weather in the next month. We still love this area and the mountains!

Summer 2019 - Brevard, N. Carolina Part 2

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Tuesday June 25^th – Friday, July 5^th

Adventure Village and Lodgings, Brevard, N. Carolina

The last two weeks of our visit in Brevard continued with hiking and biking activities. We spent some time in Pisgah National Forest on some great hikes. My sister Cindy and nephew Cliff came to visit for a couple of days. We enjoyed a great hike in Pisgah on the Slick Rock Waterfall trail. At the trails end was a huge rock wall where we watched climbers. On their last day visiting, we hiked along the waterfalls at Living Waters. This series of cascading waterfalls are amazing and make for great photography. Cindy and Cliff truly enjoyed this hike. The dogs also enjoyed this trail and were able to get in the water to cool off.

We also continued to enjoy the challenging trails in Dupont State Park. We both realized that our climbing skills are improving while here, actually there is no option as all trails go uphill first! Which makes the downhill ride a blast!

For July 4^th holiday, we traveled down to Seneca, S. Carolina to visit our friends Jim and Sharon at their beautiful home on Lake Keowee. They took us out on the boat for a day trip and then again later that evening to watch various firework shows around the lake. What a great way to spend Independence Day!

We have really fallen in love with the Brevard area and are considering looking for some land there. We would like to build out the utilities, fencing and hook ups for two RVs. That would allow us to have our own private space when we come up here to the mountains. Plus it’s a great investment for the future, the property values are continuing to rise as more southerners move up to the mountain towns.

Well, on to our next stop in Bryson City, N. Carolina! Another favorite place in the mountains.

Summer 2019 - Brevard, N. Carolina - Part 1

Photo link:
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Saturday June 1^st – Monday, June 24^th

Adventure Village and Lodgings, Brevard, N. Carolina

We were excited to arrive here in Brevard. Right away, the weather was so much cooler, finally! Brevard is in the foothill mountains southwest of Asheville and is known for an abundance of waterfalls. While here we were able to mountain bike the Dupont State Park trails. These are really mountain bike trails. Lots of uphill climbs, but that just makes the downhill so much fun. We did have a few days of rain, so it hampered some of our outdoor activities. One beautiful day we spent kayaking downstream on the French Broad River. Most of this river winds through rural and farm lands. Nice views of the mountains to the north. We also had a couple of days hiking at Pisgah National Forest and Gorges State Park. The dogs really enjoyed the hiking and getting out in the forest off leash. One of the rain days we headed north about 15 miles to drive the Blue Ridge Parkway, even though there was sporadic rains we made the best of it. Several afternoons we stopped at a local brewery, Oskar Blue, for some great beer. It’s a very nice event area and we met many friendly people there. One weekend our friends, Jim and Sharon, from Seneca S. Carolina visited here. We toured around downtown Brevard, where they have never visited. They rented a cabin and we spent a weekend hanging out. We will be staying here until July 6^th, so I will send Part 2 after we move on to Bryson City, N.C.

2019 Summer in the Mountains

Heading to North Carolina – Florida & Georgia

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Saturday May 18^th – Wednesday, May 22^nd

Silver Lake Campground, Withlacoochee State Forest, Brooksville, FL

As planned, we left our house on Saturday May 18^th, heading for the central west coast area of Florida. We camped at Silver Lake Campground in the Withlacoochee State Forest. We had never camped there before and our goal was to ride some great biking trails nearby, which were highly recommended. During our five days there, we were able to ride some trails for a couple of days. However, as our luck would have it, the heat was in the upper 90’s each day. So most days were too hot to ride. We tried our best but the heat was unbearable for riding, even on the forested trails. We did have some fun hiking around the park, relaxing by the lake and walking the dogs along the lakeside. It was a nice campground and we did enjoy our stay there. 

On our way there at 60 miles into the drive, we stopped at a turnpike service plaza for a break. Before leaving we did our normal walk around the RV. I reached up to test the back ramp door to make sure it was still locked. To my surprise the door came open! WOW, what happened? Kurt took a look at it and found the latch had broken, so he had to get inside the RV and fortunately had metal cables to rig up to the floor and secure the door. Needless to say, we were not happy with this situation. We then headed on to the campground. 

Once at the campground, we were able to setup and relax a little. While at the campground, we noticed that the refrigerator was not cooling adequately (we keep a thermometer in there to monitor temps). Kurt tried to troubleshoot the refrigerator issue. Could not find any reason for the problem. So we had to live with lower temps and purchase ice for the cooler to keep some of our foods in. During our time there, the kitchen faucet began to leak heavily. Aaaaagggghhh! What next? Kurt contacted the RV dealership where we purchased it and explained the problems. They stated we would have to stop at the dealership to initiate the warranty process. He also contacted the RV manufacturer and got some help from their customer service. They were going to ship a new latch for the ramp door and Kurt would install. 

Thursday May 23rd – Friday, May 31st

Petersburg Campground, Thurmond Lake, Augusta, GA

Heading north to our campground in Georgia for two nights, we approached Ocala and saw the sign for our dealership location in that area. We pulled off the highway and drove into the dealership. The service department got our rig in there quickly to look at the problems and start the warranty process. After 7 hours of waiting, they were able to fix the door latch, diagnosed the refrigerator problem (which Kurt will have to install some parts that they will ship to us) and setup a new faucet to be shipped to our location when we arrive in N. Carolina. Since it was so late in the day, we were able to “camp” in their parking area for RVs. Fortunately there were water and electric hookups.

The next morning we left for General Coffee State Park in Georgia where we had planned to stay 2 nights. So now we only had one night to stay there, then headed north to Augusta, Georgia area.  After a nice back roads drive north, we arrived at Petersburg Campground near Augusta. We had stayed here last year and loved the lakeside camping and the great mountain bike trails nearby. Well, the only problem there was the extreme heat. For our 5 days there the temps were 99-102 degrees. Again our luck with extreme heat did impact our plans for mountain biking. We were able to ride a couple of mornings, but not as much as we wanted. To top it off, the trails were then closed due to a forest fire in that area. The only saving grace was the cool breezes off the lake.

So that was the beginning of our summer trip! Unexpected problems, heat and much frustration. We are so looking forward to the cool mountains and a place to settle for a month.

2018 Great Lakes States – "Heading Home" Seneca S.C, & Augusta GA & Florida

2018 Great Lakes States – "Heading Home" Seneca S.C, & Augusta GA & Florida

Photo link:

https://photos.app.goo.gl/yD1DX6LVSv7ZYoSy9

Friday October 12^th – Monday, October 15^th

Twin Lakes Campground, Lake Hartwell, Seneca, SC

Heading south, we planned to get in some more mountain biking and to visit good friends in Seneca, S.C. We had a campsite on Lake Hartwell at a great Army Corps Campground. After getting setup we packed some bags to head to Jim & Sharon’s home on Lake Keowee. We stayed at the “Wagner Resort” as we call it, for three nights. On Friday night, we all went out for dinner and drinks at a great local café. Jim was leaving the next day to visit family in California. The rest of the weekend we spent with Sharon and their sweet dog, Remi. She took us on a pontoon ride around the lake, which we all enjoyed, especially the dogs! Our last day there, Sharon came out to our campsite and we had a nice steak dinner. It was wonderful visiting with them again.

Tuesday October 16th – Saturday, October 20th

Petersburg Campground, Strom Thurmond Lake, Augusta, GA

Next we headed south to the Augusta, Georgia area. Our campsite was on Lake Thurmond, which again was lakeside with an amazing view. Our main reason to visit here are the excellent mountain bike trails at Forks Area Trailhead System (FATS) in the National Forest. These trails came highly recommended by other bikers we have met in our travels. The trails are rated IMBA (International Mountain Biking Association) Epic. And they sure were. We rode some trails every day, and had some thrills and some challenges. Overall, some of the best trails we have EVER ridden! There was also a lakeside, 20 mile trail, Bartram Trail, that Kurt did ride part of, from one trailhead in our campground. This is certainly a “go back” for our next travels north. So much fun and challenging!

Sunday, October 21^st – Wednesday, October 24th

Wekiwa Springs State Park, Apopka, Florida

This was a convenient stop for our last leg of the trip. Also, one of our favorite Florida State Parks. The campground is very nice, most sites with full hook ups. The spring is great for swimming and paddling downstream in the Wekiva River. The Park has many hiking and biking trails, which we only had time to go hiking. Our other favorite is Wekiva Island, a local bar that is on the shores of the Wekiva River that one can paddle up to the waterfront boardwalk. There is also entry via local roads. We did visit there a couple of nights and it is dog friendly! The boys love running off leash at this lovely place and playing with other dogs. We then headed home on Thursday, so we could be ready for Halloween! Our first chance to actually have “Trick or Treat” in the neighborhood where we now live!

So great to be home and to enjoy the wonderful winters down here!