August 2, 2017 - Boy, have we been remiss! We have had lots of adventures since our last post, with a couple long travel days thrown in.
July 22nd: Before leaving for Smokemont, we had a wonderful visit with Stedman Ayers (aka 'Chicken', and now aka 'Stedy'), our friend from the Army on July 22nd. Got to catch up, kick back and have a great time with him.
As we were dumping the tanks on the trailer, we saw these beautiful black and blue butterflies. Not sure what they were doing, but they were having quite a gathering.
Chicken left on July 23, and we headed out to run the Blue Ridge Parkway. We got on the Parkway near Asheville, in order to avoid some low tunnels between Cherokee and there. Stopped at the visitor center for information. Found a ripe blackberry next to the parking lot and promptly ate it - I am sure the federal marshals will be coming at me for picking plants in the park!
We drove as far as Crabtree Falls the first day - found a nice campground to spend the night. The Parkway is beautiful, with a good road (although slow speed as it is twisty and windy), but the roadway was not trimmed higher than about 12.5 feet, and we are 13 feet. The brush also comes right to the edge of the roadway (and in some cases, into the roadway). Very frustrating and we now have quite a few brush marks around the top of the motor home. An amazing piece of road building where it just seems to naturally flow out of the landscape with flowing curves and nice even cuts & fills to best match the contours of the hills. The road was built was a WPA project in the 30's, so lots of beautiful rock walls and bridges. Also lots of tunnels - 15+!
July 24th saw us up and on the road again. Checked out the Linn Cove Viaduct, which is an amazing piece of engineering. The roadway is elevated in order to preserve a large boulder field in that area It is one of the most photographed sections of the Parkway, and is the last section of the Parkway to be completed -- it was finished in the 1980's.
We were surprised at the lack of traffic, and we only saw two RV's in the entire day. We then moved on to Grandfather Mountain. Dropped the motor home and drove the Jeep up to the mile-high top, and then walked across a big suspension bridge. Yes, Glennis walked, not crawled, across the bridge! Mike behaved himself and stayed away from the cliff edge. The bridge is billed as the "mile high suspension bridge", which is technically true (elevation is that high), although the bridge is only about 80' off the ground. We walked across the bridge and stood at the very top for wonderful view of the Great Smoky's. Very steep road going up, with lots of switchbacks! Back down the mountain, Jeep hooked up, and on the road again.
We even almost saw Forrest Gump running down the road, but he disappeared around the corner before we could get a picture!
We drove a little later that night to put some miles behind us, with a plan to spend the night at another campground on the Parkway, and were very surprised to find the campground we had planned to stay at closed. Again, nothing indicating that, and the visitor center in Asheville told us it was available! So we had to drive another 1 1/2 hours and drop off the Parkway to Stone Mountain State Park in North Carolina. Decided we aren't going to do any more of the Parkway and will take other roads to continue north. Pulled in about 8:30 PM - a VERY long day! Grabbed a quick dinner and shower, and then off to bed. Mike got to see tobacco growing in the area - he thought they were cabbages!
Up and on the road on the 25th, heading for Mt. Airy, NC (Mayberry on the Andy Griffith show). What a fun spot. Went to the Andy Griffith museum and visited other spots like the city hall and jail, Wally's garage, and other spots.
Fresh tomato sandwiches for lunch, and then on the road towards Appomattox.
Crossed into Virginia and stayed at Holliday Lake State Park just outside Appomattox. Had beautiful light so drove around and took pictures of various sites near the surrender site. Amazed to learn that Grant and Lee were only camped a few miles apart prior to their surrender! Seeing our nation's history has been such an amazing experience - sure makes one appreciate all the sacrifices our forefathers made to preserve the Union. And also the tenacity and courage of the Confederate soldiers and what they went through while fighting for their homeland.
July 26th found us up, motorhome all hooked up and ready to go, and at Appomatox Courthouse as soon as they opened. Such an interesting place - you can almost feel the main characters there and see General Lee arriving on his horse Traveler. Our guide was funny - he was very clear that Virginians have a strange way of naming things. The actual location of the surrender is a village called Appomattox Courthouse. He explained that when "court house" is two words, attached to a place name, it signifies a town or village. When "courthouse" is one word, it signifies a building. So Appomattox Court House is the village where the Appomattox Courthouse is located. However, the surrender didn't take place at the courthouse - it took place at a private residence in the village - the McLean House! A number of young people were there in costume and in character, so we enjoyed chats with a Union and a Confederate soldier. We could have spent the entire day there, but unfortunately had to move on to our next adventure.
There was a Corvette club from Texas visiting at the same time we were there. They caught up with us on the road (who would have thought a Corvette could outrun our motor home?). Where did that blue mini-van come from, and what were they thinking? Remind me to tell you our "blue mini-van theory" sometime.
Afternoon found us at the National D-Day Memorial near Bedford, VA. If you are ever in the area, do not miss this memorial! Mike's Dad was at D-Day as an airborne soldier, attached to the 82nd Airborne. His step-dad was a medic on the beach on that horrific day. The memorial has been built with private funds - no government funds are involved - and it is beautifully done. It is a fitting memorial to all those brave men who gave their lives and served so bravely. It's also huge, covering many acres, so it was difficult to capture it in a good picture.
Saw this cute "load" on a flatbed semi along the way!
After leaving the memorial, we passed into Maryland and then into Pennsylvania. We rolled into Gettysburg and our campground around 8:45 - another long day! Grabbed a quick dinner at Arby's and to bed.
July 27th began with a tour of the Gettysburg battlefield with our own private guide, Anthony. If you are ever at Gettysburg, that is the way to go. You can "rent" them at the visitor center, and they customize your tour to your interests. We had Anthony for 3 hours and learned so much about what happened there. After we dropped him off, we viewed a wonderful film about the battle, viewed the Cyclorama (a 360 degree painting that shows the battle, and most specifically Pickett's Charge. A park ranger gave a good talk about the daily life of a soldier at the battle - very informative. We also toured the Gettysburg National Cemetery, including the site of Lincoln's Gettysburg address. Didn't take a lot of pictures - the battlefield is over 6,000 acres, and it was hard to decide what to take pictures of.
On July 28th we rolled out of Gettysburg headed for Hershey, PA (Chocolate Town, USA) and then Kennedy, NY - a long day of driving. Toured the Hershey chocolate factory, took a trolley ride around Hershey, and ate some chocolate - the place was crawling with people, but was interesting. Mr. Hershey's story was very inspirational - he failed at the candy business at least 4 times, but kept trying and finally persevered.
Had another fresh tomato & mayo sandwich in the motor home and then headed for Kennedy, NY. As we were driving along on the freeway, we saw a sign that says "bicyclists must use shoulder". Duh! And what were they doing on the freeway in the first place? The East Coast is a definitely strange place! We crossed the Susquehanna River into New York, and arrived at Jordan and Jodi Aiken's house about 8:30 PM (classmates at Peninsula College in Port Angeles). Stayed up and visited and didn't go to bed until 3 AM!!!
Got to tour their farm and the surrounding area, meet some of their family, and had a a great time catching up and reminiscing. They have a beautiful place and live a nice, simple lifestyle. We are envious and looking forward to being able to do the same. Lots of Amish in their area - fun to see them driving on the roads with their horse and buggy, and working their fields with horse teams. Made another fan of "Sequence" and again the girls beat the guys big time! The weather is much cooler, which is great!
Sunday the 30th we got up, had a wonderful breakfast cooked by Jodi, hooked up the pontoon, aka 'party', boat and headed for a local reservoir. Had a fantastic time touring around in their pontoon boat - we've added one to our "wish list". Baxter even had a good time - found a shady spot and just zoned out.
July 31st saw us back on the road again, headed north. We planned this as a long driving day, in order to put some miles behind us. We did fine until we hit Syracuse - what a rat's next of freeways that place is! Google doesn't always know how low bridges are; while trying to get back on track, kept running into low bridges and got creative at turning around before going under them. Some great employees at a local business let us into their secured yard to turn around as we were undoing the Jeep so we could back up to avoid a 8' 9" over pass...and heard about all the vehicles that didn't make it under it recently.Got on the wrong road for a little while, but got ourselves back on track and headed in the right direction without any bloodshed! We are getting pretty good at navigating and communicating where and when to take exits (at least most of the time!) Drove late again, and made it to Roger's Rock State Park, not too far from Fort Ticonderoga, NY. Got there late, and discovered the step on the motor home wasn't working! Oh well, will deal with it in the morning. Breakfast for dinner and to bed. Not a very nice campground, and right on the highway, so noisy. Also expensive - many of the states out here charge extra if you are from out-of-state as well.
August 1st: Up and on the road, headed for Fort Ticonderoga. It is located on a hill with a commanding and strategic view of Lake Champlain, and was occupied by the French, USA and English at various times during the revolutionary period. There is lots of displays with people in period costumes who are demonstrating various activities like shoe making, cooking, carpentry, weaponry, etc. There is also a beautiful garden area that we walked through. Got to see a peregrine falcon nesting on a pole near the garden as well.
Saw some scary cows on our walk back to the motorhome - fortunately they weren't aggressive scary cows, with those big pointy horns! The bull was HUGE and didn't look at all friendly.
After we left the Fort, we caught a fun little ferry for a 7-minute ride across Lake Champlain to Shureham, VT - fun ferry ride! The ferry has been in some type of operation since 1777! (obviously not the same boat!)
We then headed for an RV repair place in Williston, VT. They graciously agreed to work us in at 8:30 AM the next morning to see what is wrong with the step. Got Baxter some more dog food, and are spending the night at another Walmart RV Park. Since we parked, 3 more RV's have come in and parked near us! The amenities are somewhat lacking, but the price is right!
Up and at RV repair shop by 8:15 AM. God bless them for working us in. Still there at 4 PM, but almost done! Will adjust our schedule for tomorrow - Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream in Vermont for a factory tour and tasting! Can hardly wait.......
Mike and Glennis
Things we have learned:
- Bikes can't ride in a lane of travel on the freeway in NY (and why would they want to???? or think they should...)
- Pontoon boats are fun, and possibly addicting!
- There are no snakes in this part of the country (except for timber rattlers in some of the mountains).
- I still hate snakes!
- Never drive a motor home through the freeway system in Syracuse, NY!
- People need to pass a "merge" test in order to get their driver's license!
- Motor homes without working steps are a pain in the tush
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