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After the Catskills and the Pocono’s, we headed for Shenandoah National Park for four days. While there, we enjoyed the vistas, the trails, and the guided hikes and talks by the park rangers. We had a small group tour of President Hoover’s summer cabin in the park. It was a very basic and rustic sort of place. We also had the chance to see the park deer and black bear. The deer are very bold, and unafraid of campers. They walk right by you or graze just a few feet away from you. The bears on the other hand, are shy and elusive.
After leaving Shenandoah we headed to Kerr Lake campgrounds on the Virginia/ N.C. border. We went there to meet up once again with our friends the Slater’s who were also on the road heading south.
After Kerr, we made it to a little know campground called Black Mountain Campground in the Pisgah National Forest. It was terrific. Way up high, very cool temperatures, great trails and waterfalls, and a beautiful little river running behind our campsite. While there, we spotted another Florida license plate and said hi to the guy. He looked at Elaine and said, “I know you”. Turns out that Gordon McClung was from our hometown of Temple Terrace, and Elaine knows Gordon’s wife Julie. Small world once again. Gordon came over for a campfire chat and we had a good time.
We made drove up to the highest elevation in the eastern U.S., which is Mt Mitchell in North Carolina. Bill brought his bike along, and after the hike to the top, Bill “launched”. It was a downhill run of about 6 miles at 30 mph! Thrilling, and the best way to bike. After a lift back up mountain by Elaine on our way back to Black Mountain, Bill launched for a second time, about 4 miles of very fast downhill run including a tunnel. WOW. Great rides. Zoom zoom.
Our next stop was the Davidson River Campground which is located near Brevard, NC. It rained all day, so we watch a little TV, read, and went into town. Bill did a little biking and hiking while there after the skies cleared. Then it was on to Unicoi State Park in northern Georgia. We stayed there for a few nights. The weather was great, and the nights very cool. We had a few really big campfires, and just relaxed.
From Unicoi, we headed to our friends place in Greensboro Georgia. Reid and Sharon hosted our stay for a night after we discovered that the nearby Georgia Power campgrounds at Old Salem had just closed for the season. We had a great dinner out and talked into the late evening. Then, the next morning, we drove home and arrived the 15th.
We’re busy now catching up with the mail, and unpacking the “El Burro” (the Toyota 4Runner), and the Casita “Tica”. We’ll see our boat this weekend, and begin the transition from campers to sailors once again.
In summary, we can say we accomplished what we had hoped to do. That is, enjoy cooler weather, and visit interesting places. The “rig”, as the RV’ers call it, which is the car and camper, did great. We were very happy with our choices on both accounts. We are thinking about a trip out west next year, so stayed tuned.