R & R on trip back to Texas

During our stay at Midway Campground the much anticipated solar eclipse occurred.  If we had been just a few miles west, we would have been at the optimum place for viewing.  However, the traffic jam created by people flocking to the location would not have been worth it, in my opinion.  We enjoyed the eclipse just fine where we were and did not have to wait hours to move either.

The visit to Magne Shade was fantastic.  Got to meet the owner and family while waiting on shades to be made and fitted.  I was super pleased with the service and the end result.  Here is a picture of Winnie’s new sunglasses after returning to Midway.

These sunglasses should really help the inside temperatures!

Next stop is look at the rear A/C unit.  After inspection and assessment, the repairman pronounced the unit to be beyond help.  Time to replace the unit.  Ouch!  This involved a delay while the replacement is found and shipped to this location.  After a couple of days, the new unit is in and another trip to the service bay for an all-day session.  Good news is we now have two fully functioning A/C units without the extra noises of a jet airliner landing on the roof of the RV.

A stopover back at Tom Johnson’s campground for a couple of days and to pass the Labor Day holiday weekend before traveling to our next adventure was required as people had booked up all the 'camping' spots including our Midway spot for the holiday.

The next adventure is at a small privately owned oasis in the mountains.  Our newest full-time friends, John and Sandi, told us about the place when we were in South Carolina.  What a great place to R&R away from the tourist crowds.  This is our view from the rig and patio area adjacent to the front door.  This is just what the doctor ordered.

Not a bad view from the rig - right?

Perfect relaxation place

Such punishment of having to enjoy these sunsets.

While there we met several people that came from Florida to escape the hurricane that threatened Florida.  It felt strange to be there with them when the remnants of that storm blew right over the top of us.  There was no damage where we were but there was plenty of wind and rain.  Just down the road a ways, multiple trees were blown over and onto the highways creating quite a mess.

What a waterfall and you can walk behind it too.

Our view from behind the waterfall

After a week it was time for us to move on into Northern Georgia to another bluegrass festival.  This is one we actually planned for in advance before we began this trip.  It is Dailey and Vincent’s Land Fest and is an annual event.  It is held in the mountains and on the lake at Georgia Mountain Fairgrounds in Hiawassee, Georgia approximately one hour’s drive north of Atlanta.  Mountains in Georgia?  Who knew and how pretty they are too.  Definitely a return trip is in order for this place.  Great music, great venue, super RV parking and I could not have wanted anything more.

 

After the festival, it was time to move on and start making our way back to Texas.  Doctor’s appointments were looming along with the holidays.  As we started the journey back to home base, we stopped along the way.  First stop was Chattanooga, TN.  The last time we were here, the government had a shutdown and closed the national parks which included the battlegrounds from the Civil War around Chattanooga.  This time we were able to visit.

We chose to visit the Chickamauga battlefield.  I have a keen interest in the Civil War and World War II as key points in history.  It is especially interesting to be able to read about the people involved and the circumstances around the events involving them.  As we walked over some of the ground and reading the plaques, it really struck me as to how many people were killed and wounded in these battles and the chaos that surrounded the soldiers during the battles.  It is incomprehensible to me that they would line up (standing shoulder to shoulder) in a straight line to charge a fortified position that contained rifles and cannons shooting straight at them.  There is no wonder there was such carnage during this war.  And yet, most of the casualties were due to unsanitary conditions and lack of nutrition in the camps between battles.

It is truly sobering to walk over the ground where so much blood was shed by both sides of the conflict.  There are no words to describe the feelings as you contemplate what happened in each location and realize that this war was truly a pivotal moment in American history.  As it turned out it saved the Union of the individual states and allowed America to become a world leader for individual freedoms.  As horrible and devastating as it was, it allowed a strengthening of the nation to become an example of how precious freedom is to the rest of the world.

After the trip to Chattanooga and the Chickamauga battlefield, we moved to Savannah, TN following US 64 across the state.  It was such a pleasant, scenic and relaxing drive we will not use I-40 anymore unless we have a deadline.  We chose here because the Shiloh Battlefield National Park is just across the Tennessee River and east of Corinth, MS.  The park we stayed at was Green Acres RV Park and is located just outside Savannah.  It was quiet, clean and definitely well maintained and contained lots of references to the old TV show of the same name.

We experienced the same feelings touring this battlefield as before during our visit to Chickamauga.  The plaque in the picture below explains how these battlegrounds were established.  I found it very interesting that both North and South veterans cooperated to help preserve the history and locations associated with battles fought and it was all riding on a wave of American nationalism.

Both sides wanted to preserve these battlefields.

Cannon lined up ready to kill

This line had over 40 cannon lined up.

In addition to touring the battlefield, we ate at one of the oldest established hotel/restaurants in the area.  The name is Hagy’s Catfish Hotel Restaurant.  It is located right outside the battlefield and is situated on the Tennessee River.  Its origins started as a private residence of a settler that would feed and house travelers as they traveled the river through the wilderness.  Over the years, the number of folks stopping by increased to a point where the enterprising family decided to open a full time dining facility.  As a self-proclaimed connoisseur of catfish, I declare this to be a definite destination for hungry travelers.

After a few days, we finished this adventure by returning to our home base park and the previously mentioned doctor appointments.  More next time.

Moving Inland

I had not realized how long it was since the last blog post.  This is actually one year ago in 2017.  A lot transpired in the past year and I will explain a bit later on the blog after finishing the adventure posting from the East Coast.

It has come time to move on and end our East Coast adventuring.  I am a bit tired and ready for some real R&R away from touristy stuff and we think we found just the place to recharge our batteries.  It is located in Marion, NC located right at the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains.  Not too far down the road is Asheville where the Biltmore Estate is located.

Why would we pick Marion as our next stop is probably a question going through your mind?  The answer is simple – bluegrass music.  We happened upon a bluegrass festival in our internet searches and the timing coincided with our move.  Since going to festivals is one of the bucket list items, it is very natural to inquire whenever opportunity arises.  As it turns out, there was a recent cancellation that opened up a spot for us in the campground.  Not just any spot, but a sure enough primo location.  Again, this is definitely a God thing because we literally did not plan this move until two weeks prior to the event.

This is a big festival, those are parked RVs to see the performances!

View from our site before it filled up.

We ended up parking next to a couple that have been coming to the festival since it began and live just a few miles down the road.  They explained how big this event was and since we showed up early we did not have the perspective of just how big a draw it would be.  In fact, there was a time on Monday, the first day armbands could be picked up, set aside for claiming your spot in the pavilion by placing your folding chairs.  Since this was a first come, first serve arrangement, people started lining up their chairs in a line on Saturday evening.  It reminded me of the lines that form around Best Buy, Target, etc. on Thanksgiving for Black Friday sales events.  It was quite the sight to see all the chairs in a line without any humans.  Sure enough come Monday morning, the humans showed up and the chairs were placed in their owners’ perfect spot for viewing the three day event.

By waiting later in the day, we were able to avoid the stress of being in line early and still obtained a very good viewing spot.  Not too close and not too far without any visual obstructions between us and the performers.  There were all kinds of rules about what type chairs were allowed.  The rules included not too tall, not too wide, no rockers, and so on so that you end up basically with a standard folding chair.

All lined up ready to check in and place the chairs

Chairs are in place, I'm standing next to our spots.

There was some time between the placing of folding chairs and the festival startup on Thursday so we took a little trip over to Asheville to view the Biltmore Estate one day.  This is another item on our bucket list we can mark off.   The house is built as a Chateau like castle and is very grandiose.  Visiting the house and the gardens around it is a unique experience.  The interior of the house is much like it was when the original occupants built and lived in it.  The family still owns the estate but do not live in the house any longer.  They live in houses situated in various places on the property.

The story surrounding choosing the building site, designing the house and gardens plus the actual construction is fascinating.  The planning, the details and the amount of money it took to bring the vision to fruition is a remarkable story.  This all takes place beginning in 1889, prior to motorized trucks and automobiles.  Everything was done using animals and trains.  It officially opened to friends and family on Christmas Eve in 1895.  The house contains over four acres of floor space, 35 bedrooms, 45 bathrooms and 65 fireplaces.

This place is huge.

Just one of the many gardens.

The main atrium of the house.

Organ located in the main dining room.

Library, with two very studious people.

Hallway lined with sitting areas and tapestries on the wall.

Looking down the staircase three floors.

Looking up the staircase three floors.

Other side of the main dining room.

During our visit, we enjoyed lunch in the Stable Café.  In fact, we ate at a table inside an old horse stall.  It still had the walls, the water trough and feed trough on the back wall.  Thank goodness it had been mucked and cleaned up before we showed up for lunch!  The meal was very good and some of the vegetables were actually grown on the farm right there on the estate.

As we looked over the property, the house and the furnishings; it is simply mind-boggling the wealth required to build this structure and maintain the necessary staff to look after it and feed the inhabitants.  The whole time we were there the question running around in my mind was what did the Vanderbilts do every day since they did not have to work?  It occurred to me that a person would be absolutely bored to death without something to engage their minds or bodies.  Even though this is a remarkably beautiful place and the setting is fantastic, you would have to grow tired of doing nothing at some point.

These horses ate and slept in very fine surroundings.

The three day bluegrass festival was everything I could hope it to be.  Lots of good music, a great venue, weather cooperated and things to see (crafts and eats) around the pavilion.  I had a super good time and Bibi even enjoyed herself (mostly).  She would not admit it if she found herself really enjoying herself because that would be tantamount to affirming that I have good taste in music.  Not gonna happen.

What a way to end our stay, a double rainbow.

The exodus began early Sunday morning and by the time we returned from attending local church services, more than half the RVs had departed.  Sunday afternoon saw the bulk of the remaining RV attendees leaving which included our neighbors.  We were one of a very few remaining and most of the remaining RVs left on Monday, as we did.  The campground is the Tom Johnson Camping Center (which is now part of Camping World) in Marion, NC.  It is very nice and would be a welcome respite for weary travelers.

We moved on to a campground just east of Statesville, NC and north of Charlotte, NC.  This particular campground we chose due to position between Mocksville and Claremont.  We need to go to Magne Shade in Mocksville.  We have an appointment to get Pooh measured for custom wraparound sunglasses (sun shade curtains for the exterior of the coach).  In addition, we have to get the rear A/C unit checked out at a Coleman certified repair facility that is located in Claremont.  It has been making a horrendous noise lately and appears to be very sick.  The name of the campground is appropriately named, Midway Campground.

More to come in the next posting.