Heading North and Winding (way) Down!

We decided to forgo a stop in Tennessee and headed straight west, then north to Clarksville, Indiana (which is just across the river from Louisville). Jeff had actually lived here back in the early '80's. I think he was looking forward to seeing his stomping grounds some 30 years later!
Our drive last Thursday ended up being a full 9 hours with stops to pee and gas up only. Just after departure a turkey flew across the highway and hit Jeff's window at full speed, cracking the rain guard and leaving a few feathers and blood spatters but not breaking the window. All we could do was laugh at the incredible odds of having a frickin' turkey hit us. Damn things hardly like to fly, yet we manage to smash the one that does!

The next issue came just north of Knoxville, as we climbed through the rest of the Appalachian range, we also ran smack into a torrential rainstorm complete with hail. About 75% of the road traffic pulled over (which does not really help in the safety department) but Jeff pushed on, however slowly, and soon we made it to the mountain top, out of the rain and into fog so thick the hood ornament was all but invisible. Upon our (late) arrival at the Add-more RV Park, we got set up, heated up some left-overs and poured a fairly tall scotch.

Friday I did venture out on my own for a little shopping/errand therapy (if Big Lots and TJ Maxx aren't a great therapy, I don't know what is!). Then Jeff and I returned to Clarksville for a movie in the late afternoon. I had recently read "The Hunger Games" and NEEDED to see the movie. It was not great, but just seeing a movie (first since San Louis Obispo, CA) was fun.
Saturday we drove to another little "suburb" called New Albany, mainly in search of the New Albanian Brewing Co. Which we found. Twice. Once on the outskirts of town where we indulged in a pizza (first since San Antonio) and then we proceeded to "Historic Downtown New Albany" which may be historic but boring as hell. On the bright side, there was an offspring brew pub down there so we had a second taste of some very good brew.

Easter Sunday we had actually planned on returning to the downtown brew pub for an Easter Omelet but after waking, neither one of us had an ounce of ambition or desire to go anywhere. So we spent the entire day lounging, reading and eventually, putting a couple steaks on the grill for dinner. Xena was bored with us but it felt great...

Today we proved to have a bit more ambition and made it to the Kentucky Derby Museum and Churchill Downs. This was actually pretty exciting for me as I love horses (though my emotions are mixed on racing). The museum was beautiful with exhibits about the history, the winners, and the HATS! They show a movie in a room where the screen is 360 degrees round and also give you a brief tour of Churchill Downs itself and the track area. The guide was terrific and very excited to talk about the upcoming Kentucky Derby as well as the other 36 Derby Days he has attended.

The "Race for the Roses" must be an amazing thing to see. People start coming to Churchill Downs at 9 a.m., there are 13 races during the day but the big one, is #11 and sometime around 6 p.m so people are pretty well looped up on Mint Juleps by the time the twenty, 3 year-old race horses, hit the one mile track for their 2 minutes of glory! Jeff practiced his gate time...

After the museum we went to another historic Louisville place (and apparently a new obsession of mine), Cave Hill Cemetery. Cave Hill actually has a large cave and spring and was homesteaded in 1847. The cemetery today is huge and I have never seen so many custom, ornate and incredible  stones, markers, statuary, obelisk's and mausoleums ever. It was stunningly beautiful.

And....Colonel Sanders and his wife are buried there (along with a plethora of famous explorers and founding fathers).

We had a nice walk through the cemetery and then headed back to the BP. Only had one mis-direction and when turning around spotted this sign...

Kind of gives me a stomach ache just thinking about it!

Blue Ridge Parkway

No storms overnight and the day looked promising this morning so we took a drive on the 469 mile Blue Ridge Parkway which winds it's way through the Appalachians. We started at MM 200 near the town of Fancy Gap and drove north to MM 170 near Rocky Knob State Park. Unfortunately, the parks/visitors centers were not yet opened (they don't open until May 1) but the scenery and views were very pretty.

Our first actual stop was at Mabry Mill, a grist and saw mill built back in the early 1900's. The Mabry family lived and worked there until the 50's and eventually the state took over and made sure the historic mill as well as the grounds (including a "still") were saved from destruction. We had almost blown right past the spot and are so grateful we decided to stop. It was easily, one of the most authentic, and photographic things we have seen in 6 months!

In order to increase the water flow to the mill, Mr. Mabry had built an extensive series of troughs to catch the mountain stream run-off and divert it to his mill. That, in and of itself, had to have been quite a feat as many of the troughs were made of wood (think of making these waterproof and tight from wood he had to harvest and saw himself) and some of rock-lined ditches (hand picked and placed). An amazing thing to see.

On we drove to Rocky Knob which, other than the scenic overlook, was still closed up for the "winter". As we later found out from a lovely lady at the antique shop in Fancy Gap, the parkway is routinely closed from November through April. In a normal year, there is an abundance of snow and the state of Virginia is apparently freakish about people driving on the roads when it snows (this lady had been sent home from her place of business by the state just because it had snowed!). So the people who live on the parkway are basically locked in (by multiple gates) and are only allowed to drive when the snow melts or is minimal. This means that they can be stuck in their homes for 9 weeks at times and then, only dare drive out for groceries and then hurry back home lest they be locked out.

We turned around at Rocky Knob and on the way back down stopped for a short hike at another scenic area. It was a short but steep hike down to a creek bed. It is definitely spring in Virginia and the trees were budding, grass growing green and everything looked fresh and clean. The water was crystal clear and freezing cold, as mountain streams usually are.

Along the creek bed were very clear paw-prints that we truly believe were Bear prints. Big paws, deep claw marks and a known bear population. Pretty cool to think that a bear had been down to the stream for a drink, and by the look of the prints, probably this morning. Also just a little scary to think he may have still been in the area but I was assured that Jeff was "packing" and would defend me if necessary!

By the time we made it back to Hillsville the sky was really dark and by the time we made it to the outskirts of town it was POURING....and HAILING. Big Time. In fact, I can't remember the last time I had seen so much rain. Enough hail to completely coat the roads and we had to get behind a school bus that stopped at about every other house the entire 5 miles down the road. The temp dropped from 72 to 52 in about 5 minutes. And we had left windows open in the BP so we knew there would be some water where it shouldn't be by the time we made it back.  No worries though...after all. It is just water.
Beef stew is in the crock and smelling really good. We haven't had much desire for winter comfort food, since we haven't really had any cold weather since probably December. But tonight, it will be a great treat and so welcome.

Oh, the Problems!

Yesterday, somewhere between New Bern and Greensboro, North Carolina (where we stopped for gas) the other tire on the passenger side of the BP blew out. Yes, we never heard or saw anything until stopping for gas and even when I exited the truck to go in the station for the bathroom and coffee, I didn't take note of the decomposed tire and new damage to the slide panel. Jeff walked into the station cussing and muttering, "we just can't win". To which I replied "WTF are you talking about?". Nice, huh?
Anyway, God in his infinite wisdom had us stop at a station that was directly across from a Camping World. And the (extremely) nice folks of North Carolina, though the service center was closed on Sunday, immediately came to our rescue, found a tire center that was open and had the tire(s) we needed and supplied us with a weight appropriate jack so we didn't have to repeat the $200 road-side assistance fee! Seriously, these are the nicest, most accommodating people you would ever want to meet. As the fine sale clerk told Jeff,  "Here in North Carolina, we take care of fellow campers". And the clerk who found us the tire guy and supplied the jack said "You find out who your friends are when stuff like this happens".  Who knew we had so many friends in North Carolina? Sure is nice to know.

So Jeff jacked up the BP, removed blown tire, drove it to tire center where it was changed, drove back to BP, put new tire on,  hooked up BP to truck to turn around, jacked up BP again, removed both tires from drivers side (we were freaking about blowing them so decided to get all new tires), drove back to tire center, returned to BP with two new tires, replaced tires and....voila...on the road again for the last 75 miles to Hillsville, Virginia. And it only took 5 hours to get all this accomplished. I, in the meantime, just cried. And cried. And cried. Blame it on fatigue, stress, being a huge pussy....whatever.
So, by 6 pm we were back on the road and making it through one more hurdle, the Blue Ridge Mountains. We have not seen mountains for awhile and that was just fine by us. But we knew we were going to have to cross the Blue Ridge as well as the Appalachians (coming right up). Still, we were less than excited to see this...

Pretty as they are, the Blue Ridge is still a mountain range and if we never saw a mountain again (at least while pulling the BP) that would be JUST FINE! Actually, it was not a big deal, slow and steady up a relatively slow grade. We made it to the Lakeridge RV Resort by 8 p.m. and after an extremely quick hook-up, glass of scotch, and a few smokes (for me anyway), we were off to bed. Of course, it had to storm all night (and I am talking thunder boomers), which made for little of much needed rest.
Truthfully, there is not a lot to do around here, short of a drive on the Blue Ridge Parkway,  and I am just plain tired of playing "cruise director", so we are spending a few days here being complete and total slugs. Today we did go into "town", that being Hillsville, and got some groceries. We also had lunch at a "diner" that has been in operation (in an old streetcar) since the '40's. It cost us a sum total of $11 for one lunch, one dinner (Jeff) and two coffee's. Unreal and utterly charming! We also went to the local liquor store. All liquor stores in North Carolina and Virginia are state run and called ABC Liquors (for Alcoholic Beverage Control). We had a nice talk with the clerk who filled us in on the state rules and regulations regarding alcohol vs. beer and wine. She explained that beer and wine were sold in grocery and department stores... "like Walmart".  Walmart? A department store? Really?????
WOW!!! Well, there is no Walmart in Hillsville but they do have a Food Lion which predominately features Bud and Bud Light. Every single person in the stores here have on either a Bud or a "Deer Hunter" tee-shirt...men and women alike! That being said, it is extremely beautiful. Rolling green hills, horses and cows (and a few donkeys), lovely brick homes and blooming cherry trees.

We have carefully reconsidered our route from here to Louisville and decided on a slightly out of the way but less mountainous (read risky hills and deadly curves) route through Tennessee and Kentucky versus north through West Virginia. So, I guess I will not get to experience that West Virginia/ Appalachian culture that I was so looking forward to. :(

North Carolina

After spending our last day in Longs lounging (and getting the usual HH chores done) we were off to New Bern, North Carolina. Situated about 6 miles from New Bern's and about 45 minutes from Atlantic Beach, Moonlight Lake RV Park seemed like a good place to spend a few days (and the price was right).

We are about 3 1/2 hours north of Longs but a million miles away. North Carolina does not have the charm of South Carolina. At least not what we have seen. We could be in northern Minnesota for all I know. Lots of bare trees, few flowers and it seems like a good amount of poverty (not the pretty houses we saw south). Thursday we went into New Bern, toured the "Historic" downtown a bit and then had a superb lunch at "Maggie's Pub". On the way into town I spied a TJ Maxx so that was next on the agenda (hey, I haven't been at one since the beginning of February!). A Walmart, Petsmart and post-office stop and we were on the way back to the BP for the evening.

Yesterday we drove to the coast-line. In particular a civil war era fort called Fort Macon, which is right on the tip of Atlantic Beach Island. It was extremely cool and, not knowing a whole lot about the Civil War, I also got a good history lesson.

The fort is also part of a state park so we walked down the beach for awhile and gathered even more beautiful shells. Jeff even has gotten the hang of the "Sanibel Stoop" a few hundred miles late...

We drove down the island road which heads south to the "Emerald Coast" but after a few miles it became clear that all we were going to see was a whole lot of condos, beach houses and hotels, so we turned around and drove north to Beaufort, North Carolina. Another beach town but no tacky stores, just a quaint downtown on the marina.

Today was rainy and cool and spent, once again, on chores. The ladder on the BP cracked due to the strain of holding two bikes over lots of bumps. Jeff is working diligently on repairing yet another issue! Tomorrow we will have a long day on the road to Hillsville, Virginia. Yee Haw!

Myrtle Beach

Yesterday we went to both North and South Myrtle Beach and I have to say, it was exactly as I thought it would be. Tacky tourist shops and typical Atlantic Beach's. In between the two areas (they are distinctly seperate) we went to Barefoot Landing...a boardwalk type outdoor shopping mall. It actually was pretty fun! It had two large areas separated by a large pond that was full of turtles (who actually begged for the "turtle snack" that was sold along the boardwalk and piers) and enormous carp. The weather warmed to about 81 degrees, which was well above the predicted 75. We had a great lunch at TBonz, a restaurant/brew pub that was situated along the Intercoastal Waterway.

At the south end of Myrtle Beach is another very large, very long boardwalk, complete with arcades and rides. We paid for three hours of parking and were there for about an hour (that included sitting about 30 minutes at a beach bar having a Pina Colada!

About the most entertaining part of South Myrtle were the names of the gift shops and restaurants. Clearly, a lot of them had been around since the 50's...there was something named after every member of the Rat Pack, that's for sure! These are two of my personal favorites...

Last night, the cold front hit in earnest and the temperature dropped to a chilly 48 degrees. Today was sunny but never topped 60. Good thing we had planned a chore day. For me laundry, and for Jeff, the BB got an oil change. This afternoon we did get in a combination bike/hike which was absolutely lovely. And we never had to leave the grounds of this beautiful resort! After a dinner of Shepard's Pie (which I KILLED!) we even got to have a campfire, which we haven't been able to have since Louisiana!

Xena studies Mom's "bibles"
(Campground guides)

South Carolina (again)

We had a 4 1/2 hour trip to Longs, South Carolina today. And it was a pretty interesting stretch. Once we got off Hwy. 95, we were on pretty much "back road" parts of South Carolina. About a half hour off the freeway we stopped at a gas station for a "potty" break. First of all, I didn't know a woman could actually spray urine all over a toilet/floor/wall. I thought that particular atrocity was reserved for men! Second, I have never seen people, dressed in their Sunday best having dinner at a gas station, on styrofoam plates and seated at folding tables scattered in the middle of the store. Now I really feel like I'm in the south!
After that pit-stop we stayed on the road for the duration. It was a very pretty drive. Considering the scene at the gas station, I have never seen so many beautiful (brick) homes. Many with cool old barns and stables, plenty of horses and the most gorgeous Azaleas I have ever seen. Most of the homes were literally surrounded by beautiful and enormous bushes in a profusion of bright colors. And the woods were literally filled with Wisteria in magnificent purple. Then we finally arrived at Willow Tree Resort and Campground. The long drive in through the manicured lawn and surrounding woods told me this was going to be a good one. That was an understatement. Clearly, this "campground" will be rated #1 in our long list of campgrounds. It is stunning. Wide, long pull-through sites with more lawn around us than we had at home. Towering pines, a beautiful lake and all the nice extras to boot (like a pool, hot tub, gym, laundry, store, bocce ball, horseshoe pits, paddle boats, beach and volleyball courts).

Jeff and I took a walk around the grounds and the lake and are completely in awe of the absolute beauty they have managed to capture here. The only thing missing, oddly enough, is cable and wifi. Not typically important but this evening we are once again in the midst of a pretty good thunderstorm. Having grown accustomed to 80+ degree days, today's high of 74 and this evenings mid 50's seems mighty cold to me.  I'm thinking that issue may be a major drawback to this move "north".

 Tomorrow we will spend the day at the coast. Forecast is for sun and I am hoping some heat as well!

Xena loves South Carolina!
You can see it in her face..

Daufuskie Island

Yesterday we went on a Calibogue Cruise to Daufuskie Island, just off the coast of Hilton Head Island. This area has a long history (Indians, Spaniards, the Union Troups) but the really interesting history starts after the slaves were freed and the plantation owners left the island pretty much to their slaves who were all from a tribe in Africa called "Gullah's". This particular group of slaves had held fast to their tribal customs and language and did not mix with the rest of the country (pretty isolated out there on the island). The descendants left of the Gullah Tribe still live on Daufuskie Island but they are few in numbers. There are a few "immigrants", people that moved to the island from the mainland (like the postal lady we talked to). Other than that, there is one area of the island that was developed as a rather ritzy community. These remaining residents depend on a ferry to get to and from Daufuskie. I can't imagine and hour ride just to get groceries, then lugging them back on the ferry, then on to the golfcart and home. And the kids, from 6th grade on, go to a mainland school which involves a bus to the ferry, the ferry ride over, then another bus to school. An hour and a half twice a day...UGH! But...extremely beautiful, and extremely untouched, island paradise. In addition to the Atlantic Ocean shoreline that was clean and scenic, the island is heavily wooded and heavily spanish-mossed for an altogether lovely area.

So off we went for the hour ride to Daufuskie on a beautiful South Carolina morning (yes, we are still in Georgia but Hilton Head Island, where we caught the ferry is about 75 minutes away). We were promised Dolphin sightings and did see a few bobbing up and down on both the way there and back, but no big shows or displays :(

Buck Island Lighthouse

We arrived about noon and, as part of the tour package, had lunch at Old Daufuskie Crab Company. Total rip-off (I guess you can get away with anything when you have a monopoly) and awful "buffet" lunch. But, on to the tour portion, which consisted of a golf cart and a map of the island. We were free to go anywhere we wanted on the island (which is, approx 8 square miles) except the private community of Haig Point.

First things first, of course. We hit the beach (actually called Bloody Point after an infamous Indian Massacre). It was very pretty, wide expanse of gold sand, pretty clean (no seaweed anyway) but that murky brown Atlantic water.

And a few of these attractive little buggers..

We walked the beach for a while, found some pretty shells then hopped back in the golf cart for more touring. Jeff was really getting a kick out of driving the cart. Tooling down the road with a Corona, a cigar and a big smile!

We tried to find a few of the shops and landmarks posted on the map but either they didn't exist, were hidden in the woods or we were having a bad map-reading day. For a really small island, it had a labyrinth of roads, both dirt and paved, and they were not well marked.Typically when Jeff drives and I navigate we do pretty well but we were batting a big fat zero yesterday!. No worries though, it was such a nice day and we enjoyed the views of the island itself.
We got back to the Marina well before the required time so we sat a spell and enjoyed watching the local Osprey tend to their nest on top of a near-by boat lift.

We probably would not have done this tour had we known just how far it was (we had been told 30 minutes and almost missed the boat!). By the time we got back home it was almost 7 so we stopped for a bite at a local Scottish Bar. Across the street was...

So Jeff stopped in a found a six-pack of a beer he had in Savannah that is brewed in North Carolina. The rest of the night it stormed so we tucked in. Tomorrow we head to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina for a few days. We were warned by the couple we met in Savannah to expect touristy crap and crowded beaches so we are prepared for the worst but hoping for the best...a few days by the shore!