Brunswick, GA

We are still OK. Sorry to not report in last night, but there was not much to report. We met Fran and David Strawn for lunch with friends of theirs that were preparing for the Burnsville Arts and Crafts Show that starts today. We spent the day at Fran and David’s playing dominos and having a nice dinner that David prepared.

We were up early to break camp, and we were on our way a little ahead of our target of 9:00 this morning. It was another of those long days on the road with only a single fuel stop and couple of driver changes to slow our progress. We arrived in Brunswick, GA a little past 5:00 and set up in the Golden Isles Campground.

This is another of those campgrounds that seem to cater to the north-south RV migrants rather those looking for a destination 'resort'. It may very well be full in the winter, but in the heat of summer it is only half full at best. The majority of folks are just pulling off the road for a night. We will stay three nights so that we can explore St Simon’s Island and Jekyll Island over the weekend. We hope to see St. Mary’s as well. Monday morning we will make the final run to home.

Blue Ridge Parkway

I have not mentioned it, but we are right along the Blue Ridge Parkway and have been spending a bit of time up there. We traveled along the parkway with David and Fran to Linville Caverns and Linville Falls today. The caverns are not as big as some, such as Carlsbad, but it was fun. The cavern is about 1500’ deep and runs about a half-mile beneath the mountain. The part open to the public is about 600’ deep and there is a stream that runs through it. The temperature of the water is about 48 degrees, which keeps the interior of the cavern at 52 degrees year round making it very welcomed in today’s heat.

Linville Falls is in Pisgah National Forest and we spent a bit of time hiking down to the falls and then driving the back roads of the forest. It was a nice afternoon.

Spruce Pine, NC

Yeast batter waffles. Ever had them? Can’t say I had ever heard of them, but David fixed them for us for breakfast this morning and it made it worth getting up at 7:00. He starts the night before by preparing the batter, which rises overnight in the refrigerator. I have to tell you they are GREAT! Thanks David. (He says the recipe is on the Cooks Illustrated website, so I will have to check this out further)

As for sightseeing, we were batting 500 today. We wanted to drop by Altapass Orchard to listen to acoustic music this afternoon, but they are closed on Tuesdays. I am not sure what it is about this area, but they keep strange hours.

We drove over to the Penland Crafts School that we found closed yesterday. We had better luck today and enjoyed some time in the gallery. This is a high-end school for those who want to hone their craft and they offer programs in metal work, glass, ceramics, textiles, etc. The galley was filled with quality student art pieces and it was nice to finally get to see them. Here are David and Fran Strawn in front of the great porch at the gallery building. We spent a little time there in the shade with a great breeze.

We are starting to watch tropical storm Emily to see what she is up to. We will be driving to the South Georgia coast Friday, so her path will be of interest. If she stays east of the Bahamas we should be fine. If she comes up the gulfstream there may be serious rain and slow down our visits to Jekyll Island and Saint Simon Island. Fingers are now officially crossed.

Spruce Pine, NC

We continue to luck out with the weather. Cool temps and sunny skies here in the mountains of North Carolina have made our visit very pleasant. We had lunch in Spruce Pine at DT’s Blue Ridge Java Coffee House and Cafe. Great place!

We tried to visit the Penland School, but they are closed on Mondays. This is a school for folk arts and is very popular. David has taken courses in bench glass working and metalworking and has done some pretty neat stuff! We were hoping to tour the facility and see the displays of student artwork. Looks like that will be done tomorrow.

Spruce Pine, NC

OK, I guess I do get a little nervous when I head off onto secondary roads in the motor home when I have not traveled them before. The coach is big. Backing up is not an option when towing the Honda, so I really want to avoid tight situations. It was with trepidation that I turned off Interstate 26 onto North Carolina 19E and drove off into the mountains. This part of North Carolina is very mountainous and the roads do not have shoulders.

The sign identifying the entrance to the campground pointed down what looked like a private drive, but we headed down. After about a hundred yards it turned, narrowed, and went out of sight into the bushes and trees. I stopped and asked Barbara to walk ahead and make sure we were not heading into something we could not get out of. Of course, that is when the pickup pulling a motorcycle trailer came the other way. The good news is they said we were going in the right direction. The bad news was that this was a narrow one-lane and we had two vehicles, towing trailers, nose to nose. The kids in the pickup solved the impasse by driving on the front lawn of some guy’s house and, once they were clear, we descended further into the woods .

It turns out the owners of the campground saved their biggest site for us. They are great folks. This family has operated the campground for fifty years. The present owner’s grandfather started it.

As you can see it is beautiful and heavily wooded. As I write this I am listening to the frogs and other night creatures chattering away outside. These shots show our site and the views from the front and rear of the coach.

The view out the front is the road we will leave on. I should be over it by the time we have to drive down it.

Max Meadows, VA

Another short posting since it was another day on the road. We had a good day yesterday visiting Barbara’s cousin Jessie. Lunch was followed by a tour of a few art galleries, then we returned to Jessie’s home to visit with her daughter-in-law and granddaughter.

Pat and Jan joined us last night for brats on the grill. Since they were up at 4:00 AM for the first day of the cancer walk it was an early night.

This morning we hit the road and traded the lush surroundings of the KOA campground in Streetsboro, OH 

for a less fancy overnight spot in Max Meadows, VA.

We arrived around 4:00 and got setup. We were fortunate to arrive when we did. We avoided the rush. Once we were in our site we watched a steady stream of RVs coming in for the night. It seems that Wythville and Max Meadows are ideally placed as a stopping place for the north-south migration. As you can see from the second picture they really tuck the folks in tight. There are folks that stay longer, though, and there is a nice pool for them to enjoy.

We will sleep to the sound of rain on the roof tonight, then leave in the morning for Spruce Pine, NC.

Susan G. Komen 3-Day Walk for the Cure

Aside from a short trip to Camping World for a few things for the coach we spent the day preparing to support friends of Pat and Jan that will be participating in the Susan G. Komen 3-day Walk for the Cure. Well Barbara helped, I just watched the dogs.

Like the Susan G. Komen Run for the Cure, this event is a fund raising activity benefiting breast cancer research. Pat is currently being treated for breast cancer and the ladies are walking in her name. 

This is a three-day, sixty-mile, walk. It is quite well organized. There are activities in the evening and even a tent city that is erected each evening to house the participants. Hundreds of small pink tents! All along the route there are snack/water stations. It looks like the participants have a lot of fun, but sixty miles is pretty serious work, so physical preparation is necessary. The things the ladies prepared today will be used through the weekend to motivate and cheer on the participants that raised money in Pat’s name.

They have named the group PJ Walkers, and they are getting up at 4:00 AM to set off for the starting line. I will be asleep, but wish them well.