N.E. Cape Fear River - May 25 - 29, 2016

Day 1 – Wednesday May 25, 2016 We have been trying to get time to go to our place at the River for a few days and Memorial Day Weekend usually is a good time. Our son and his family has a long weekend so it also works for them. We couldn't go to the river last year because we were on the way to Alaska at this time.

We departed about 9:30AM, stopped in Wallace for some fuel and arrived about 10:30AM. After setting up we worked around the property for a couple of hours cleaning up the yard, etc. We mowed the yard and along the road about a week ago. No one used the property last year so we had a little more than normal to do to get everything back like we normally have it.

The rest of the day was sitting on the bank of the river, reading and relaxing. About 7PM we rode our golf cart along the roads by the river. A couple of the houses along the river have changed hands in the last year so we wanted to see what had been done to them.

Day 2 – Thursday May 26, 2016 After I cooked breakfast on the grill we took the golf cart and our battery operated hedge trimmer and did some trimming of the bushes on the road coming to the river. I got in and stood in the back of the golf cart and trimmed as far as I could reach overhead while Lena drove.

After lunch we relaxed by the river and read.

Day 3 – Friday May 27, 2016 We went to Burgaw for breakfast and WiFi access. After breakfast we visited a friend that is in a resthome/rehab facility in town. Then we stopped for groceries before returning to the river.

About 4PM I started a campfire and began cooking my “Almost World Famous” potatoes and sausage in the Dutch Oven over the campfire. About 6PM our son's friend and his daughter arrived. They pitched their tent and will stay the night with us. About 7PM our son and his family arrived with their travel trailer for the weekend. We had a good supper and then relaxed by the campfire.

Day 4 – Saturday May 28, 2016 After breakfast our grandsons fished off our boat dock. Levi caught one fish but mostly they got their lures hung in the limbs of the tree that is hanging low over the water. We need to get a boat in the water so we can get the limbs trimmed.

I cooked a mess of hamburgers and hotdogs for lunch and then later in the day I cooked two racks of ribs on the grill.

The weather forecast for the remainder of the holiday weekend did not look good. Tropical Storm Bonnie was coming up the coast of South Carolina and promised to bring lots of rain. So we decided to pack up most everything and if it was raining Sunday morning we would all go home.

Day 5 – Sunday May 29, 2016 It started raining last night about 11:30PM and continued to rain after we got up. We finished packing up and departed for home about 7AM. We had planned to stay until Tuesday but still enjoyed our shorter than planned weekend.

Stone Mountain State Park NC - Days 29-30

Day 29 – Tuesday April 26, 2016 We drove to Wilksboro for breakfast and to catch up on our Internet needs. After breakfast we drove to Warrior Creek Campground on the shore of W. Kerr Scott Lake outside of Wilksboro. It is owned/operated by the US Corps of Engineers. We had heard last year they had updated this campground and this was our third attempt to check it out. They don't open it until April 15^th and close it October 15^th. We noted a few sites we liked if we decide to come here in the future.

We departed the campground and drove up highway 16 to the Blue Ridge Parkway. We stopped at the Northwest Trading Company (a nice craft/gift shop). They have some locally made crafts but did see some things from China. Then we leisurely drove North on the parkway for 30 miles or so. The dogwood trees were in bloom and really pretty. This is a very pretty section of the parkway. You can see several homes and farms off the parkway.

Near Doughton Park along side the Blue Ridge Parkway

We had heard from a camper at Stone Mountain State Park that the campgrounds on the parkway were closed. We stopped at Doughton Park Campground and they were closed. I don't know if they will reopen later in the season or are permanently closed. We camped there 3 years ago and the ranger told us then there were rumors they were going to close them. Such a shame that the National Parks System is not funded to maintain the parks properly. There are several campgrounds on the parkway in North Carolina and some have been closed for awhile and the others have not been maintained or upgraded so they can be used by the taxpayers. I have written them in the past to complain and make suggestions to get more campers to use them but didn't even get the courtesy of a reply. Our elected officials are too busy scratching each others back and the backs of lobbyist to get re-elected to worry about tax payers or how much money is sent overseas to support foreign nations that hate us.

Stone Mountain State Park's upper boundary comes almost to the Blue Ridge Parkway. We stopped at the overlook where we could see the massive stone top of Stone Mountain. We got off the parkway at highway 21 and decided to drive the 8 miles to Sparta to get a mid-afternoon lunch at Baywood Boys. We both ordered the BBQ pork meal like Lena did a couple of weeks ago. We ate all we could hold and both got a carry out box and took enough with us for a least one more meal for each of us.

Stone Mountain view from the Parkway

Stone Mountain view from the Parkway

Then we returned to the campground and packed all that we could for our departure tomorrow. We took one more ride around the campground and then turned in our time sheet and keys. We don't get any pay, but we have found $.31, several tablecloth clips, clothes pin, tent stakes and an awning hook. We get a very large full hookup campsite and the use of a golf cart but they ask us to fill out a time sheet for the hours we work.

Someone has a sense of humor. We spotted this on hwy 21 between Sparta and Roaring Gap.

Day 30 – Wednesday April 27, 2016 We had breakfast, did the last minutes departure preparation items and was on the road at 8:30AM. We had an uneventful trip home, arriving at 2PM. We had a good month in the mountains and now we have to catch up on items around the home-place before our next adventure.