5.  Emma & Claire! & Exploring the SouthEast…September & October, 2020

Day 24 10.12
I was zig-zagging back & forth & all over…I do that really well.  It would drive anyone with me nuts, which is why it’s probably best I’m a solo traveler.

Looking Glass Falls is right by the road, so it gets a whole lot of visitors.  It’s really majestic though!

It was nice to see falls that you didn’t have to hike to though.  It’s harder to get a shot with so many people but it’s doable.  Until the engagement photographer showed up & a couple climbed down to stand & pose in front of the falls.  The bride-to-be was having trouble hearing the photographers command to ‘flare out your long ass dress” (ok…maybe I added something there, but that’s what I was about ready to shout).  She had to repeat herself a few times & finally the bride got the hand gesture suggestion.  But, I was able to get my shot.  Not sure that was the case with everyone though.  I imagine there will be tons of photographs with these beautiful falls in the background & a smiling couple with a flaring dress in the foregroundt.  I wish them a really good & happy marriage & may they always have clear photo shots of beautiful places in their future.

The trees are so filled with color here!

I drove to Gorges State Park to hike the two falls there.  Below is Rainbow Falls. While it wasn’t raining, I was wet again.  I’d put on my rain jacket & pack cover, but a little too late.  The mist from these falls is big & soaking.  

Turtleback Falls.

Trails of so many colors of red, orange, & gold.

As I hiked the trail to Turtleback Falls, three EMS guys passed me.  I’ve hiked these falls before & I know that passed Turtleback, there is a lightly traveled faint path to see another set of falls that’s actually on private property (I’d love to ‘own’ my very own waterfall).  But the trail really ends here.  They didn’t have anyone with them & I could see way back behind them an ATV parked on the trail.  But on my way up before I got to Rainbow Falls, I’d passed a woman with her husband & four family members.  She looked in pain & like she was having trouble.  I wondered about her, because while this hike isn’t difficult, it’s not super easy either.  You hike down first, into the Gorge, so going back was all up hill.  I hiked back by Rainbow Falls & started up the trail.  

That’s where they all were.  The woman, her family & the three EMS guys.  I heard one of the men tell her they’d get her out of here as soon as possible & she looked a bit better than the last time I saw her.  As I passed the family, I quietly said to them, that I’d hoped everything would be alright.  They were joined by two more EMS or Ranger guys who had two more ATV’s parked lower on the trail with two more EMS standing by the ATV’s.  As I got down to the other ATVs & ready to make the water crossing, I paused because more help was on the way.  In the end, 4 more ATVs & several more helpers arrived.  I think there were at least 14 or 15 rescuers there by the time I left.  

I hiked & did a little of my own huffing & puffing until I came out to the trailhead, where there seemed like was a huge amount of parked & empty rescue vehicles & trailers & trucks.  I refilled my water bottle & drove away from the trailhead.  As I got to the entrance to the park, there was a Ranger by his truck prepared to direct traffic.  In the parking lot next to him I could see a group of about 8 rescuers making preparations too.  WowI really hope the woman is ok.  But if I ever need a rescue in my life, I hope its in this park.  (And, I wouldnt want to see the bill she might get when all is said & done.)

Then I got on to 64 Highway East & this scenic drive would be the best yet.  I fell in love with this drive!  Although sadly, I missed the largest waterfall in the state!  How did that happen?  I know its off the highway….the top part in NC & the bottom in SC, but how could I miss it?  That’s so Vicki.  But, a great reason to come back someday for sure!

I stopped in Cashiers, which looks like an awesome beautiful town, at a brewery Bret recommended called Waterside Brewery.  I had a beer & burger & sat outside.  

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There are so many waterfalls here & it’s breathtaking part of North Carolina.  It’s where I’m going to bring Danny someday & just stay here for a week or so….there’s so much to explore!  

Jaw dropping views all along the road!

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I drove around the forest trying to find another dispersed campsite, but I’m struggling to find them here in the east.  I did drive by a really cute town called Highlands though.  But I suspect you have to be pretty rich to live here.  While I was driving around near the National Forest & on the outskirts of town, I passed by quite a few gated communities….lock us in or lock them out!  So, I moved on up the highway.

Bridalveil Falls…you can actually walk behind this one!

Camping at another NF campground called Van Hook Glade.  This one was $12, not too many campers & a super cool camp host that visited with me both in the evening & the next morning.  I had a shower before bed & read for the rest of the night, tucking in at dark.  And boy, it was really really dark outside here.

Day 25 10.13
Marla came by the next morning as I was making coffee, to visit for about 30 minutes before I left.  She was a unique person; fun & interesting to visit with.  She’s never been a campground host before but fell into this job a couple of weeks ago.  She does van life & her home on wheels had broken down & had to be towed in for repairs.  She’d been on a backroad & her leaf spring blew through the floor of the van (see, I feel better about being such a chicken on backroads).  She had to unload everything she’d need & live out of her tent.  But there’s a limit on how long you can stay here, & the old hosts were leaving, so they hired her.  She’s really looking forward to the end of the month when the campground closes for the season.  I don’t think it’s been one of her favorite jobs.  But she was great to talk to, not only about travel, but being a solo woman traveler.

I finished the drive on 64 & headed to the NC part of Smoky Mountain National Park & hopped on the Blue Ridge Parkway.  This is the second time I’ve done this drive, but the first time was right before peak leaf-peeping season.  I don’t know if this is peak, but it’s gorgeous!

Before I got on the parkway though, while still on 64, I drove right by this breathtaking waterfall surrounded by all this fall color.  I popped a U-turn (not easy on these busy narrow roads) back to a wide spot in the road & took this photo.  This so far, is my favorite shot of the trip.  I just love it!

Wow…it was crowded though.  From it’s beginning on the south end to just north of Asheville, there were tons of cars.  And the pullouts were at times full.  I’m not sure how many pullouts there are along the entire Blue Ridge Parkway, maybe 100?? & I wasn’t going to stop at them all, but sometimes you had no choice but to keep going.  The views were great & the sky was clear & sunny.  Maybe not the best for photography, but a wonderful day for scenic driving.

So many tunnels to drive through on this end of the Parkway.  Its such a fun drive too (unless youre behind something or someone going 15 mph).  Theres no passing anywhere in the southern part of the Parkway & the speed limit is 45mph.  There are many places you cant go that fast even if theres no one in front of you because of the curves.  I put my music-only playlist on (Lindsey Stirling, Bear McCreary, & the Piano Guys) on & drove & drove!  Id stop & get out to photograph, but I didnt do any hiking.  So much fun!

I was glad I’d stopped at the big scenic overlooks, walks & other well known spots the last time I was here…because they were packed with people today & the lots were full! 

Ahhh….those smoky Blue Ridge mountains in the distance.


I stopped at the Folk Center to peruse the beautiful arts & crafts by local artisans.  It’s a wonderful stop along the Parkway. 

There’s no dispersed camping along the Parkway (supposedly), so I bought a last minute site at the rather unattractive Linville Falls NF campground.  I managed to score a piece of a group site that worked well for me.  They only had 4 left by the time I arrived around 5:30, so I felt lucky to even get anything.

Day 26 10.14
Linville Falls is about 1/2 way of the Parkway in North Carolina before it continues on to Virginia.  I’d never driven all that way, so that was the plan for today.  Going north of here was way faster than the southern part.  And different too.  The southern part had a lot more traffic, but I think it’s probably prettier too.  But having said, that, look at these views!

I ended up getting off the Parkway to check out a little town called Blowing Rockwowit looks so sweet.  If I had a gazillion bucks, Id come back here, get a room at an Inn or B&B for about a week.  But, it was early morning & I was headed to the Virginia border.  So, when I win that lotteryIll be back for a long term visit!

Once in awhile you’d get a view without any fall color…just millions of acres of green mountains!

I made it to the Virginia border & a little beyond. I had to backtrack to get back south where I could cut over to Tennessee.  I’d been to the town of Boone on my last trip, & wanted to visit a brewery there (Brets recommendation) but it was early this morning when I passed near, so I skipped it.  But now I had the opportunity to revisit the town.  I messed around with Mapquest for awhile, it wanting to take me farther north into Virginia & then too far east in Tennessee just so I could be on a fast highway.  I finally figured I could take a two lane road (the same one commercial vehicles take up here since commercial vehicles aren’t allowed on the Blue Ridge Parkway) & get back down to Boone.

Oh I loved this route.  Instead of being up high, like you are on the Parkway, looking over the mountains with big views, I was below the Parkway & at the base of some of the mountains.  The colors were so bright & I drove by little lakes & through small towns.  It wasn’t a fast drive, but neither is the Parkway, but I was so glad I discovered this road.

Loved this drive that paralleled the bottom of the Parkway.  It’s a whole different view.  Not any places to really stop & take good photographs, but the colors were so magnificent from down here!

When I saw these farms from the top, while on the Parkway, I didn’t know what they were.  But from the bottom, you can tell it’s Christmas trees!  Lots & lots of Christmas tree farms here!

I made it to Boone about 2:30 to the Booneshine Brewery.  They were full in the restaurant so no food, but their huge outdoor beer garden was open.  I ordered a stout & before too long a food truck next to the garden opened up, so I had a street taco.

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While drinking my beer, I was trying to figure out a route into Tennessee & I found the perfect drive!  It took me through a town called Elizabethton…the town wasn’t much, but the drive to get there was beautiful!  Hello Tennessee!

Here’s this vine I’ve come to like so much.  When I posted this on IG, I asked if anyone knew what it was.  The woman I’d met at the biscuit place said it’s called Kudzu.  These trees were huge & just covered in the stuff!  (I kept thinking I wonder if would grow in Kansas…I have a couple of eyesores..I mean things I’d love to be covered in this vine.)

As I was wondering where I would camp tonight, I found the Rock Creek NF campground super close to Erwin.  I was happy to get a spot, pay the Iron Ranger, enjoy my picnic table & read.  This was the prettiest campground so far!

Day 27 10.15
After I left camp, I drove the back roads on the way to Gatlinburg which was beautiful…more winding narrow colorful tree lined roads.  I’d considered this part of the trip off & on & off & on.  Gatlinburg is like Branson on steroids…& I’m not a fan of Branson. But, I’d heard of a tourist place there called Anakeesta.  They have the longest tree top walk (about 60’ above the trees) in North America.  They light it up at night & it looks magical.  The ticket for this outdoor theme park was $20.  Umm…I put it out there on a couple of FB groups if it was worth it or not.  It was a resounding yes.  Umm…but in the end, I decided I’d do it.  I got into the outskirts of this tourist town around 11:00.  Then I hit traffic & crept in the rest of the way for what seemed like the rest of the morning.  When you travel alone & mostly travel to be outside, going into crowded or bigger cities gets to you after awhile.  And, I’d done Savannah & Charleston & now Gatlinburg.  I got within 1/2 mile of Anakeesta, saw a parking lot I could maybe fit in, & squeezed in an upper lot, put in my credit card & walked to the park.  Then I got in line to buy a ticket.  Then I got in a longer line to ride the lift up to the park (I didn’t realize thats the way to get up there) but it went faster than it looked.  They put me on a lift by myself, but I wore my mask the whole day.  This is the first time I’ve been around a crowd since Covid, & I am still trying to be really careful.

As soon as I landed up top, I went to find the tree top walk.  I was a little disappointed that the walk wasn’t longer, but it was really cool.  The park is pretty small…there’s three shops, a sit down restaurant & a to go hot dog/pizza place.  There’s a few other rides…a terrifying looking zip line that goes part way down the mountain as well as a single sit on roller coaster ….neither of these rides I would be doing.  



There’s also a pretty little garden to walk through & a tower you can climb for killer views of the surrounding mountains; I happily did both of those.

So, I walked the tree top walk again….

Since I wanted to be here at night to see the tree top walkway lit up, I thought I should eat something.  Never a good decision at a theme park.  So, I went to the nicer restaurant ready to put out a little more money for a nice place to sit with a view & hopefully good food.  But, as has been the case so many times this year, they had a 1 1/2 hour wait.  So, I went for the pizza…gross. I ended up throwing part of it away.

And spent more time looking at the views! I ended up kind of ‘hiding out’ from the crowds for a couple of hours. In hindsight, I should have gotten here later in the day, but I really didn’t know what to expect.  But fortunately, I found places in the shade (it was 75 degrees) to sit & be away from the crowds.

They had beer for sale from a local brewery out of Pigeon Forge called Yee Haw.  I bought an IPA & it was surprisingly good!


I walked the tree top walk again….& again.  There are quite a few black bears living in the park, so I kept an eye out for them from above.


And, then it was night…And I walked it another time.  By the end of the day, I’d done this walk 6 times.  

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Night time views over Gatlinburg.

The park would close in the next hour, so I got in line to ride the lift back down.  It was too dark to look for bears below, so I just enjoyed the ride.  Once back at the car, the lot had emptied out quite a bit.  I’d parked in an upper super dark lot, so I moved my car back down under the lights.  Then I walked across the street to the Gatlinburg Brewery company with pretty low expectations.  I was a little hungry.  But the staff was nice…the pizza looked really good, but after todays yucky lunch, I wasn’t in the mood & it was too big for one person.  I asked about their salads, super skeptical, but they told me it was fresh & good.  And it was great!  Really fresh, affordable & everything on it tasted super good!

Day 28 10.16
I was in traffic again this morning on my way to the Great Smoky Mountain National Park.  I’ve been here once before, on that trip in 2012.  It was just barely light but the roads were packed with cars & the pullouts were packed with people.  Tons of photographers here too.  

I passed one of the most popular hikes in the park trailhead before 8:30 & both lots were full & cars lined with roadway on both side for more than 1/4 mile.  I was, once again, glad I’d done some stuff here before, but I’d never done any bigs hikes.  The last time I was here the weather was horrid.

But, it’s easy to see why this place is the most visited National Park in the country & especially this time of year.  The views are breathtaking, outstanding, colorful & awesome!

Even those smoky mountain views are incredible.

And I love, love, love these photos with these misty blueish mountains in the background.

I drove from one Visitors Center to the other…33 miles through the park & back into North Carolina.  I had two other drives I wanted to do today.  I wrongly thought I could do a loop drive back to Cades Coveoops!  Another good Vicki move.

So, I drove the 33 miles back the way I’d come…& it was beautiful…even with all the cars & people, it was easy to look around you at all the trees & all the colors & the water.

The North Carolina side, while not that far away, had some sunshine.  But, by the time I got back over to where I’d begun, the clouds had dropped even lower, hiding more of the views.  I was glad these mountains were more uncovered earlier this morning.


The 3rd drive I wanted to do, took you up higher on a mountain road.  But with the views being obscured, it didn’t seem like I’d see much.

When I first left Orlando, I only had a bit of plan in mind.  It morphed day by day into something new.  I knew I needed & wanted to be back by the 22nd…our 43rd wedding anniversary.  But as I looked at the map when I left the park, I knew I was ready to go home.  If I drove & drove & drove, I could get home in time to spend the weekend with Danny.  

And, that’s what I decided to do.  I inched my way though Pigeon Forge at a mind numbing slow pace…OMG…so much stuff there…hotels, chain restaurants, attractions, it goes on for miles…but at a snails pace when you’re driving. If Gatlinburg is Branson on steroids, Pigeon Forge is way way way off the charts!

And then I drove stopping in Knoxville.  I thought I’d been here before, but now I don’t think so.  They have a Tupelo Honey Cafe, & I was able to get a table within 20 minutes.  I had their famous fried chicken & mashed potatoes & gravy…yum.  I walked out into the big colorful square & thought it might be a place to shop around & hang out.  But, once my mind was made up to head home, that’s all I wanted to do.  

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But making it all the way through Knoxville took 45 minutes in heavy traffic. When you don’t live or travel very much in towns with super crazy traffic, you get so intolerant of the time it takes.  I can’t imagine doing this everyday. (And I knew I still had Nashville & St. Louis to drive through…terrible traffic in both cities.)

When I finally made to where I could drive at a speed limit instead of creeping along, I just went.  And drove.  And drove. And drove.  I stopped for gas, to pee & finally after 12 hours of driving, I slept in Camper for an hour.

Then I was down to an hour left & made it home at 2:30 am.  Danny had turned on all my twinkly lights as a welcome home.  I was grateful to be back & done with the long drive.

Danny was in bed, but Sammy my cat greeted me & this time, was super happy to see me right away.  

I woke up Danny to tell him I was home, then climbed into bed.  And the cat climbed in with me.  Good night & sweet dreams!


rAnDoM
No-seeums seem to be everywhere in the low country but not in up country.  It’s not fun to be loved so much by one insect.

Maybe you have to be smart to have had the money to build mansions in the middle of nowhere in the 1800’s.  But the builders of Dungeness & Wormsloe get an F for creativity for naming their properties…seriously? Those are awful names.

While visiting with the bartender at Magnolias in Charleston, he told me he bought a van last year & is slowly converting it to travel in.  He’s a poker player & wants to do the circuit while living in out of his van.  As it turns out, he & Luke were at the same Run It Up Reno Poker tournament last year.  Luke made it to the winners table 4 out of 5 of the tournaments to place in each one.  The waiter looked him up on some poker website & says, “Wow, I’m impressed.  I want to be that good someday!”  I gave him my advice about boondocking & apps & FB groups that can be helpful when looking for camping (although I suck at it when I’m in the East part of the states) & wished him luck.  Then he told me he also had a girlfriend & they shared a dog.  I said, “sorry guy, I think your plans are doomed”.  He just laughed.  But, what a small world.

This was one of the fences in the historic section of Charleston…wicked!

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More info than you want to know….
While visiting with Marla, that unique camp host at Van Hook Glade campground, one of the topics we discussed was picking up trash from stupid selfish campers that leave sites a mess.  I told her I get so mad about it, that my negative energy spurs me on to clean up the place, all while cussing up a storm.  She laughed & said she started doing a kegal exercise every time she had to bend over to pick up trash…and happily reported that that part of her body is in great shape!  That was a new twist on trash pick up I’d never heard before & probably won’t ever forget.

Another thing about Marla…
So, she’s been living out of her van for a couple of years.  We talked about all the stuff people own & buy & won’t let go or get rid of.  She laughed & said she also liked things sparse & added, “I currently have a sack of stuff to take to Goodwill”….and she’s lived in her van for two years!

These signs & similar steps were all around historic Savannah:

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About 2 minutes after I dropped off Danny at the airport, I heard a noise near the front passenger side floor & a whole bunch of water spewed out.  Great.  My guy who knows everything about cars, was getting on a plane.  I pulled over into the first lot I could find & started mopping up the clear water.  I video taped what was happening & sent it to my genius mechanic.  Danny called me once he was through security & heard the dreaded words we both detest…especially when I’m on a long road trip…”Something wrongs with the 4Runner”.  My mechanic called me back before I made it back to Sara’s house, & figured out the AC drain was blocked…probably from all those dirt roads I drove on this summer.  It was super hot in Florida, but I could have lived without my AC, but he said it would probably keep leaking into the car.  But, fortunately, I was able to find an independent Toyota mechanic that fixed it & cleaned it & let me watch most of it all, teaching me about the process.  I was so grateful it wasn’t anything serious…I am super protective of my 4Runner & panic whenever something goes wrong.  She did turn over 211,000+ miles this trip….but she’s got a lot of life & trips left in her.  

sTaTs
miles driven:  4,200
states drove through: Missouri, Arkansas, Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia, Florida, South Carolina, North Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky, & Illinois
photos taken: 1,500

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Here’s to a mild short non-Covid winter.  I seriously hope Covid goes away forever.  2020 has been a crazy year, yet I’m grateful for all the sites I’ve seen, the trails I’ve hiked, the incredible beauty that has surrounded me.  

Grateful more than anything, that we got to see Emma & Claire on this trip.  It had been way, way too long.  

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