Blog Summer Hiatus

 

We are now at that point of the year where we stop in Knoxville for a couple of months which means the blog posts will take a break.  I really don’t want to give you reruns!

BUT, before I take a break with my blog let me get you caught up with our last two stops.  In my last blog I told you we had arrived at Helen, Georgia where we spent a week.  It is a nice little town in the mountains of North Georgia.  What they did about 40 years ago was reinvent themselves as an alpine town to attract tourists, which they have succeeded at.  The buildings in the main part of the small town are all done in the alpine/Bavarian style and the signs, foods and some shops have a German influence.  Besides walking the shops of the town it appears the big draw is tubing down the little river that runs through the town  For $3 to $5 you can take a 2 hour tube ride down a slow moving river (really a small stream).  We viewed this activity while having lunch overlooking the stream and I could see the potential problems for adults, the stream is very low and there are a lot of rocks.  We decided to take the trip the next day and I was right, it is difficult for a larger person.  I kept getting stuck and it was very difficult to try and get out of the tube!  In some places the stream does not move very fast and a traffic jam quickly ensues as there are many people on the river.  If the stream was a little deeper all over it would have been more enjoyable, for me.  Fran enjoyed it, except for my constant complaining!!!

Here are some pictures from the town.

They built this mini-waterfalls along the walkway going to the shops.

  You can make out a tuber in the stream, and can see the big rocks.

The RV park was quite interesting.  There are two parks just about next to each other.  One charges over $50 per night, which is way over priced for the area.  The other one, where we stayed charges $22 per night.  The both got about the same reviews except that the more expensive one had concrete slabs for their RV spaces.  The interesting thing about our RV park, in talking with the owner, is that it appears he does not really care about getting customers.  The park is dated and a little run down but the space we had was a huge pull through with trees but still allowed me to use our satellite dish.  After a weekly discount and camping club discount it worked out to $17 per night for full hook ups.  He does have about half the park occupied with permanent residents.  While we were there for the week he got 4 other campers like us. 

From Helen, Georgia we drove to Asheville, North Carolina staying just outside in Candler.  We are here for a week, leaving tomorrow (Tuesday).  The highlight was our two daughters, who live in Knoxville drove over the weekend to go sightseeing with us.  Our middle daughter, Kelly, turned 30 last week so this was somewhat of a birthday celebration.  She enjoys beer, as opposed to the rest of the family who enjoy wine, so since Asheville has a large number of craft breweries we figured it was a good place for her.  We took a van tour of 3 breweries on Saturday afternoon which was very fun.  They explain the brewing process and then let you taste (actually drink as much as you want while there!) 3 to 4 of their beers.  Following the tour we visited another brew pub that was next door to where we were dropped off.  From there we finished the day by having some wine, and beer, on the patio at the Grove Park Inn watching the sunset.

One of the tasting rooms we visited.

On the patio at the Grove Park Inn

Sunset view from our table.

On Sunday we visited the Biltmore Estate which is a huge attraction for the town.  Not sure if it still is, but at one time it was the largest home in the United States.  It was built back in the early 1900’s by one the heirs to the Vanderbilt fortune.  It is an amazing tour to take of the house and the grounds, which also includes free wine tasting at their estate winery.

Prior to the arrival of our daughters, Fran and I took a trip to nearby Chimney Rock State Park, which was privately owned until just a few years ago.  It is a large granite formation that gives you a fantastic view of the area.  Fortunately they have installed an elevator to take you to the top, otherwise you have to climb something like 500 steps.

  Chimney Rock from the parking lot.

  This is a view of the top of Chimney Rock and you can see the view in the background.

Also on the grounds is a 444 foot waterfall that is a short hike away.

The next day we took a trolley tour of the town which gave us a great overview of the city. 

  Part of the tour takes you through the historic part of town where there are many restored homes.

  This is a picture of the original part of the Grove Park Inn.

We had a great week and enjoyed the visit with our daughters.

Route:  From Helen,, Georgia we took US 23 north to Interstate 40 east into Candler, North Carolina.  From Candler we took Interstate 40 west to US 321 into Lenoir City, Tennessee.

North Carolina, South Carolina and now Georgia

When I last wrote we were just arriving in Marston, North Carolina, which is near Pinehurst and where we were meeting up with Fran’s former boss and a couple of co-workers for the July 4th weekend.
We had a great time visiting with our friends and lounging around their pool.  The highlight of the weekend for me was playing one of the Pinehurst golf courses.  If you are a golf fan then you know that the U.S. Open men’s and women’s tournament was just held here on course number 2.  As my skills are not up to that level, and number 2 is closed for repairs, we played number 3.  This is a much shorter course and more in line with how I play.  I have not played in many months, and generally do not play 18 holes, so this was a challenge for me.  Although I did not shoot below 100, I did play the entire 18 holes on one ball, so I take that as a major accomplishment.  It was a beautiful day for golf and I had a great time.  Following golf we met up with the rest of our group for lunch on the patio of the Pinehurst clubhouse, which overlooks the 18th green of course number 2.
Here are some pictures of our visit with our friends:
  It is 5 o’clock somewhere!
Fran and her former co-workers
  The whole group.

While in the area we took a drive to Fayetteville, where Fort Bragg is located, to see the Airborne and Special Forces Museum.  We actually visited two museums as there is an 82nd Airborne museum on the base and a much nicer, and larger, Airborne museum in downtown Fayetteville.  While at the 82nd museum we ran into “Larry the Cable Guy” who was visiting.  Not sure what his visit was all about but he had a large entourage which included local TV news crews.
Here are pictures from the nicer Airborne museum in downtown Fayetteville:
Entrance area
  Vietnam helicopter exhibit.
This museum is free and the exhibits are just fantastic as they are life size visuals of equipment and events.


We had a great visit with our friends.  After Pinehurst we moved on to Roebuck, South Carolina, which is just outside of Spartanburg.  While here we caught up on our chores but did take a drive into nearby Greenville, South Carolina.  What a beautiful city.  It has a very nice restored Main Street that is tree lined with many shops and restaurants.  They also have a small historic district and a beautiful park, Falls Park, in the downtown area  We stopped to walk through the park and then have lunch at a French bistro that overlooks the falls.
The falls at Falls Park
They have a walking bridge, Liberty Bridge, in the park that is a curved suspension bridge.  Pretty cool!
Lunch at the bistro,
We have now moved to Helen, Georgia, which is in the mountains of north Georgia.  We will be here for a week.
Route: From Marston we picked up US 1 to US 74 to Interstate 485 to Interstate 85 into Roebuck, South Carolina.  From Roebuck we took Interstate 85 to highway 17 into Helen, Georgia.

Yoder, Yoder and Yoder!

 

From Michigan we headed into the Amish country, Holmes County, of Ohio.  According to what I read this area has the highest concentration of Amish.  It did not seem as touristy as Lancaster County in Pennsylvania which we visited last year, but the area is just as busy.  Forget trying to drive around on Friday or Saturday as the roads are clogged.  All the roads are two lanes and are shared with Amish buggies so it can be slow going.  We strolled through Berlin, Ohio which has shops and a couple of restaurants.  We drove the countryside to see Lehman’s Hardware and Heini’s Cheese Shop.  I highly recommend Heini’s to just “graze” the aisles to sample all the cheeses!

It was nice place to visit but it was very rainy during our stay.  In fact the county was under a flood warning the entire time we were there.  It has been a long time since we have seen rain come down so heavy. 

From Ohio we moved to Max Meadows, Virginia, which is near Wytheville.  This was just a weekend stop over on our way to Pinehurst, North Carolina.  The funny thing was that in planning the route I was just looking for something decent in between our stop in Ohio and our destination in North Carolina.  I found this RV park that had good reviews in Max Meadows.  When we got off the interstate to get to the park it was déjà vu.  I immediately told Fran this all looks familiar and as we approached the park she and I both said we recognized it and had been here before.  Sure enough I checked our calendar and we had stopped here about a year ago, just for one night, on our way to Knoxville after our east coast swing last year. 

We have now arrived in Marston, North Carolina which is about 20 miles from Pinehurst where we are meeting with Fran’s old boss and some of her former co-workers for the July 4th weekend.

 

Route:  From Millersburg, Ohio we took Highway 39 east to Interstate 77 south into Max Meadows, Virginia (near Wytheville).  From Max Meadows we took Interstate 77 south to Interstate 74 to Highway 211 to Highway 15/501 to Marston, North Carolina.

Leaving Michigan

 

I last left you while we were in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.  We left there a week ago and moved to Traverse City, Michigan for a few days.  Traverse City is a beautiful town on a bay of Lake Michigan.  It has very vibrant and popular downtown area.  We spent Saturday morning at their farmer’s market, walking Front Street and then having lunch at the Grand Traverse Pie Company.  We took pieces of pie home for later (very good).

Besides seeing Traverse City the reason we stopped in this area was to see Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore.  It is about 30 miles from Traverse City and has some of the largest sand dunes in the US on the shore of the lake.  They have it set up nicely with a scenic drive through the park with overlooks to see the dunes.

Hard to tell but this is looking straight down from the overlook.  This dune is 400 feet tall.  There are actually people down at the bottom.  Some are walking back up on the dark line you see in the center of the picture.

View of the lake through the trees at the top of the dune.

From Traverse City we made a stop in Ionia, Michigan which is about 30 miles east of Grand Rapids.  The purpose of this stop was to visit the Gerald Ford Presidential Museum.  This is the 11th of the 13 Presidential Libraries that I have visited.  Very beautiful museum (his actual papers (library) are in Ann Arbor), and very informative considering he was only President for a couple of years.

We have now moved into the Amish country of Ohio.

Route:  From Munising, Michigan we took Highway 28 east to Interstate 75 south to Highway 31 south to Highway 131 south into Traverse City.  From Traverse City to Ionia we took Highway 131 south to Interstate 96 east to Ionia.

Yooperland!

 

This past 4 days we were in the Upper Peninsula (locally called “yooper”) of Michigan.  We had driven through this area many years ago when we were on an RV trip from Sault Ste. Marie to Door County, Wisconsin, but we never stopped.  In looking through our 1000 places to see book it had an entry for the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore.  It sounded just beautiful so it has been on our list of places to stop.  We were not disappointed.

There were not many choices for RV parks in the area, Munising, Michigan,  but all the reviews pointed to one park that was right on the lake.  The problem was trying to get reservations for a site big enough for us and for a few days.  The park is really popular.  Luckily I found an opening for 3 nights during the week.  Our spot backed right up to the lake.

The downside was the mosquitos were out in force.  It was nightly ritual to try and find all of them in the trailer before we went to sleep. 

On Wednesday we saw a portion of the park, walked the town and picked up some Pasties (pronounced “past-tee”) for dinner  They are a local delicacy made of dough stuffed with various fillings.  We tried the veggie, beef and chicken ones, although they do have fruit filled ones.  They were not bad.

The only way to see the rocks, which are high cliffs on the lake, is to take a boat ride up the coast.  The rocks have many colors in them due to the minerals and water is constantly seeping out so it looks like an artists canvas.  Since the cliffs face west the best time to see them is at sunset as the sun is low in the sky and hit the cliffs at a great angle.  They offer a sunset cruise but since we are so far north, sunset is not until 9:40pm!.  Our cruise started at 7:15pm and lasted until 9:45pm.

The views were spectacular as was the weather.

The start of the cliffs.  The cliffs are made of sandstone, so they are very soft.  With the water action many caves are formed.

Starting to see some of the colors beginning to show.

Huge rocks that have broken off.

Interesting rock formation

The colors

Sunset

For our second day we drove the entire park to the town of Grand Marais.  One of the stops in the park is the Log Slide.  This is where, back in the 1800’s, loggers had set up a log chute on the sand dunes to send the logs down to the lake and waiting boats.  What is great is that you can actually slide down the dunes, if you want.  The Park Service has a big warning sign telling people to be careful as help is a long way off and to remember it takes only 5 minutes to make it to the bottom and more than 90 minutes to get back up!

Fran at the top of the log slide with the lake in the distance.

A view of the sand dunes, where the slide is.

On Friday the wind really picked up overnight and by morning it was creating 2 to 3 foot waves on the lake.  I was concerned with the creaking tree over our trailer and how hard it would be to drive the highway so we quickly packed up and drove off at 8:30am.  Once we got on the highway, which is inland, the wind was not a problem until we got to the Mackinac Bridge where we had to take it slow to get over the straits.

We are now in Traverse City, Michigan for the weekend.

Route: From Butternut, Wisconsin we took highway 13 north to highway 77 east to highway 28 east into Munising, Michigan.

Father’s Day Tribute

 

For the first 16 years of my life I had great guy who was my father.  Unfortunately he was taken away to soon in his life and my life.  After 40 years it is still sad to know he never got to see me graduate high school, college, marry a great woman and to see his three granddaughters.  We shared some fun times but it all ended so soon.  I would like you all to meet my father, Roger.

My dad

 

Fortunately, for the past 38 years I have had another great guy in my life, my step-father.  He has been there for all the great events in my life and has been a super grand father to my children.  I could not have asked for anyone better.  I would like you all to meet my step-father, Frank:

Oh, he will be 90 years old this year!!

Butternut, Wisconsin

 

It has been a couple of weeks and we have moved a couple of times so lets get caught up.  We arrived in Joliet, Illinois on Thursday, May 29th.  On Friday we took our RV in for repairs.  The dealer discovered that the air conditioner compressor had failed which meant the entire AC unit had to be replaced and they did not have any in stock.  This meant we would have to wait a few days to get the AC fixed while one was shipped.  They did install the new microwave and addressed some smaller issues we had identified.   Fortunately we had scheduled to be Joliet for 8 days.  We caught up with some old friends, finished the repair and then moved on to Lauderdale Lakes, Wisconsin.

We had let our friends from our wine group in Naperville know we were in town and an event was planned at the lake house of one of the couples.  We parked our RV about 10 miles away in an RV park and then spent the weekend at their house with the rest of the group.  We had a great time visiting with our friends and cruising on their pontoon boat on the lake.

Wine group

Sunset cruise

On Sunday the group followed us to the RV park to get a tour of our trailer as they had never seen our living conditions since we started our “Life on the Road”. 

From there we headed further north in Wisconsin for a two night stop over at my former boss’s home.  He lives on 120 acres near a little town called Butternut.  With all the land it allows us to park our rig in his “yard”.

Ours is on the right.  They have a fifth wheel also, which is the one on the left.

  Their house.

Due to all the snow and long winter that occurred here the mosquitos are out in force.  Taking the pictures above was unbelievable as I was being swarmed. 

From here we will be heading to the upper peninsula of Michigan.

Route:  From Joliet we took Interstate 80, west to Interstate 55, north, to Interstate 355, north to US 12 which took us into the Elkhorn area of Wisconsin. From there we took US 12 to Interstate 39, north, to US 8, west to US 13, north into Butternut.