Slowly Making Our Way Home

Mike gave us back up guidance out of the driveway and we were on our way without mishap.  We chose to drive back to Ripley to pick up I-77 as the road is not nearly as winding & hilly as the one through Chloe.  When we arrived at Mt. Airy, NC that afternoon, we drove through to familiarize ourselves with one way streets, etc. and then on to Mayberry Campground.  This is a lovely Passport America park with level sites.  A conversion bus rally was beginning and Gene saw plenty of beautiful rigs.
Tuesday we drove into Mt. Airy and browsed through the antique shops, ate lunch at Barney's Café, and bought dessert at Miss Angel's Heavenly Pies - 31 varieties - took a while to make up our minds.  They also have homemade breads, cookies and cakes.  We certainly recommend a stop there if you are in the area.
Our next stop was in Raleigh to spend a couple days at Tom & Nancy's.  Our refrigerated items were placed in her refrigerator.  They took us out to eat that evening to Leesville Tap Room.  Gene & I both had plenty of leftovers for the next day's lunch.  That evening we watched "Earth II" on their big screen & Ultra HD Blu Ray projector.  I don't comprehend how all that works, but the colors and textures were so vibrant and detailed you felt you could reach out & touch them.  They have excellent internet/wifi there so I was able to check my emails (it had been almost two weeks) and post my blog.  Nancy fixed a delicious pot roast meal Thursday evening and we watched "LaLa Land".   I enjoyed the music and the dancing, but the plot was a little slow.  We had a rain & wind storm that night and the next morning Tom discovered a small tree had fallen over, slid down the hill and came to rest by the tire of our RV.  No damage was done, thank goodness, and we were underway about 10:00.  This was the hardest driving day for Gene.  He had a sore throat & cough, we got tied up in traffic and had to detour off I-85 twice and seemed to crawl for miles a couple other times.  The day seemed to get longer & longer.  We finally arrived at Carolina Landing in Fair Play, SC about 5:30 and got settled in before the rain came.  It was an early night to bed!
Saturday was much better.  We met with Gene's classmate, Frank, in Duluth, GA at "Sweet Baby Jane's" for a bountiful buffet meal and visit and then on to my brother's for the rest of the weekend.
It was a wonderful time of reminiscing.  He had prepared corn chowder and even though he said it wasn't as good as Mom's, it was delicious.  Sunday evening he cooked chicken on the grill and both mornings fixed bacon & eggs.   As you can see, we did not lack for good food during this trip.
Monday we left for home, stopping at a produce stand he recommended for Vidalia onions.  We had been listening to Phil Robertson's book "Happy, Happy, Happy" on CD and he spoke of picking Mayhaws as a child for his Grandmother to make jelly.  They just happened to have some there, so you know we had to buy some.  We arrived home about 4:30 and started the unpacking.  Our daughter, Jen, called and said they wanted to take us out to eat and visit with our grandson who was flying out on Wednesday morning.  I'm so grateful she did, because I didn't feel much like cooking.
We now have the RV unpacked, most of the items put away, and researched and purchased a "residential" (not an RV) refrigerator which Gene will install next week. Now I'm planning a short trip to check out the new refrigerator. :)
It was a fun filled and busy trip with only a couple mishaps.  I'm looking forward to the next one.

Safe travels and God's blessings to all of you.

Picture of Andy & Barney in M

t. Airy (Mayberry)

Decorated/painted

guitar in front of Miss Angel's Heavenly Pies

Long Time Friends & Family

We left the RV Park in Sevierville and stopped at Smokey Mountain Knife Works.  What a place!  Taking Gene in there was like saying "sic 'em" to a dog.  Not only did they have knives of every kind, housewares and clothing, but also displays of animals, waterwheels, scrimshaw and even a huge sword in a stone.  He looked at knives and I took pictures of the displays.  We left with a purchase of only one knife and a couple other small items.  He showed great restraint.
On to Greenville to visit with my classmates Linda Sue & Richard.  We spent time sitting on the porch talking and enjoying the beautiful view they have of the mountains.  She prepared a delicious meal for us and then we played the dominoes game Mexican Train.  The dots were swimming before my eyes before we finished, but we had a lot of fun. 
The next day we drove to Waverly, OH to visit with Paul and Barb.  We went to church with them and spent time reminiscing about our time together at Teen Missions in Merritt Island, FL  After a sumptuous lunch on Thurs., we were off to Racine, OH, Kountry Resort Campground.  We noticed an ammonia smell and discovered our refrigerator had sprung a leak in the tubing.  We turned it off & opened the windows.  Since we would be at our daughter & son-in-laws the next day, we knew the food wouldn't spoil.
Friday we arrived at their deli,  Church Street Deli, in Spencer, WV at noon.  Potato soup & beef burrito filled us up & we drove to their house in Mt. Zion.  They had had a lot of rain and their driveway gave us a bit of a problem.  Westfall Wrecker Service pulled the RV out of the mud and we were able to relax for the rest of the weekend.
Monday we were on our way to Mt Airy, NC  That will be my next po
post. 

Blue Ridge Parkway and Rally

We left the Oaks on the 25th and drove to Hendersonville, NC where we stayed at Red Gates RV Park.  This was a small, but quiet park in the Passport America. On Wednesday we traveled on the Blue Ridge Parkway, stopping at many of the overlooks.  It had been years since we had driven on

the Parkway and I was very glad we were in our Roadtrek camper van rather than a big motorhome or 5th wheel! The scenery was beautiful - trees leafing out in their new spring green and dogwoods in bloom.  The highest point was Funnel Top at elevation 4925.

We left the Blue Ridge and into Waynesville, NC and then through Great Smokey Mountain National Park .  More beautiful scenery, but also evidence of the fires last November.   We were able to get a picture of Susie at the sign by pulling off and walking back to it.  I was thankful there wasn't much traffic.  We arrived at River Plantation RV Resort in Sevierville, TN for the SKP ACRE (Escapees All Chapters Rally East) and settled into our site.  It was farther from the Conference Center than I felt I could walk, so when I saw Dennis, a member of our chapter, parked across the road from us, I asked if he would transport me back and forth.  He graciously did for four days, then on Sunday a closer site opened up and Gene moved us over.

It was a great rally with Geeks on Tour presenting seminars on "What Does This Button Do?", Google maps & Google photos.  We met new friends and spent time with old friends.  Monday evening after the pot luck supper, we gathered around the campfire and listened to stories of RV'ing  misadventures.  We always hope to learn from other's experiences.  Tuesday morning we were on a short jaunt to friends in Greenville, TN  That will be my next post.