Day
10 Friday August 10, 2018 We got up early and was able to depart
the resort at 8:15AM. We fueled up the motorhome just before arriving
at Tom Johnson's Camping World in Marion NC. When we arrived at Tom
Johnson's Service Center I got them to do a NC State Inspection and
install a cutoff value in the water line going to the fresh Water tank
to solve a problem we have with water filling up the tank when it is
not supposed to. While we were waiting for them to finish we ate a
catfish lunch at TJ's Cafe at the service center. We go the motorhome
back and set up in site 35, the same site we have used for 4 years
now. This is our 7th year coming here for the NC Bluegrass
Festival.
We
got lots of rain later in the day and night. Sometimes it was coming
down so hard we could not hear the TV. Sure wish California was
getting this rain to help with the fires.
Day
11 Saturday August 11, 2018 We went to Black Mountain to check out
their Sourwood Festival. We usually go every year while we are here.
They have lots of really good craft vendors. We don't usually buy
anything but do like to look. It was a little cooler this morning
that in past years which was nice.
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| Train tracks that run through Black Mountain |
On
the way back to Marion we took a side road to check out Andrews
Geyser. We had seen the road sign on prior trips in the area but
never checked it out. It was built in 1912 by George Fisher Baker of
New York as tribute to Colonel Alexander Boyd Andrews of Raleigh NC
in appreciation of the great Public Service he rendered in the
development of Western NC. The Geyser was not functioning today. The
area around it is maintained by the town of Old Fort as a public
picnic area. There was a large group at one end of the open space
having a picnic. The grounds had recently been mowed and the mower
had torn up several pieces of trash. There were several trash cans
around but some people just can't be bothered to walk a few feet and
properly dispose of their trash.
Then
we stopped in Old Fort, a small town just off I40. I had read in a
magazine about a mural on one of the old buildings that we wanted to
see. We found it and got to looking and there were several murals and
large painting and a number of barn quilts on buildings in this old
town.
We
went on to downtown Marion and stopped at Burrito Brothers for lunch.
I had also read about them in the same magazine. They were voted best
Mexican Restaurant in McDowell County in 2017. Their food was really
good. Best Tacos I have had in a long time.
Then
we stopped at the new Harbor Freight store and Tom Johnson's Camping
World for some shopping before returning to the motor home.
Day
12 Sunday August 12, 2018 We returned to the Harbor Freight store
again for a few more item. When we returned we put our chairs in line
that was already forming to get our wrist bands and place our chairs
under the pavilion tomorrow. The remainder of the day we relaxed and
watched several RVs and set up for the upcoming Blue Grass Festival.
Day
13 Monday August 13, 2018 About 8AM I went to the pavilion to get
our wrist bands and then place our chairs under the pavilion. I was
able to get in row 11 from the stage which is a good position. Then
we went to TJ's Cafe at the Service Center for breakfast and then to
Moon Doggy's in Marion for lunch. Late in the day I rode my bicycle
around until I found a group that was playing music near the
pavilion.
Day
14 Tuesday August 14, 2018 For breakfast we decided to be bad and go
try Mr. Bob's Do-Nuts in Old Fort. We had seen reviews about their
donuts and the reviews were right on. They have really good donuts.
They also have what they call apple uglys (apple fritters). We order
one of the small apple uglys and two bavarian crème filled donuts.
The small apple ugly is bigger than a saucer and the large is bigger
than a dinner plate. The crème filled donuts have an abundance of
crème unlike those that the donut chain with the initials DD sells.
They also have a special order donut that is 14” and will feed
about a dozen people.
After
our donut fix we drove up the mountain to ride a section of the Blue
Ridge Parkway. On the parkway we checked out two of the park
campgrounds. As I have said before on this blog the National Parks
Administration really needs to upgraded these campgrounds on the
parkway. They were build decades ago with no hookups, no bathhouses
and really small sites. The hookups are not as big a deal in my
opinion as no bathhouses and the size of the sites. Modern campers
are much larger than those of decades ago so the majority of the
campsites are not used. Both of the campgrounds we stopped at had
dozens of sites in a beautiful setting with less than a half dozen
sites occupied.
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| Linville River |
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| Co-Pilot |
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| Linville River |
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| Linville River |
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| Linville River |
On
the way back we stopped for lunch at Switzerland Cafe in the
community of Little Switzerland. We always stop here for lunch if we
are in the area. I had a Flatbread Turkey Panini with Feta Cheese and
kettle chips that were very good and Lena had Chicken Salad with
potato salad. The temperature on the parkway was 71 degrees and when
we got back to the motorhome it was 84 degrees.
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| Flatbread Turkey Panini |
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| Switzerland Cafe |
Later
in the evening we rode our bicycles around and stopped to listen to
some of the music being played by some of the attendees.
Day
15 Wednesday August 15, 2018 After breakfast we drove to Old Fort to
hike a trail up to Catawba Falls. It was a nice hike through the
woods along a stream of water but we didn't make it all the way to
the main part of the falls. About a mile into the hike we came up to
a crossing of the stream that required crossing the stream on rocks.
Lena did not feel comfortable crossing the stream on the rocks so we
stopped there, rested and took photos of the small waterfalls at the
crossing.
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| Over the shoulder selfie |
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| Resting my feet |
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| Co-Pilot |
After
a rest we hiked back to the car. Lena decided she deserved another
one of Mr Bob's Donuts so we stopped and tried another one. It was
very good also. Then we returned to the motorhome and Lena did some
laundry.
