Day 1 Tuesday March 18, 2025
After a long cold Winter we are traveling again. We are headed to Ellijay Georgia for a Fantasy RV Tours Rally. We have travelled with them on three RV Caravans but this will be our first Rally. It is just 5 nights and we stay in the same campground all 5 nights. I think there is supposed to be about 100 RVs at the event.
After a stop near Wallace at Bojangles for a ham and egg biscuit we headed out. We had a good drive until about 80 miles from Charlotte. There is some new Interstate highway, I73/I74 that has been built since we came this way. Our GPS was confused because our last map update did not include this new road and so were we.
We needed a bio break so we exited the highway where the Rest Stop sign was only to discover the rest stop was almost four miles down a two lane road and through a small town. And of course it was just a small rest stop with parking for about 6 cars, no big rig parking or even space to pull in. So we found a place to get headed back to the interstate, pulled into a small grocery store parking lot and did our thing. Good to have an onboard potty.
We finally got headed back in the right direction after wasting an hour of time. There was lots of road construction on the 485 bypass around Charlotte and on I85 in South Carolina.
The campground office closed at 3PM but they called to let us know our paperwork would be in the late arrival box at the office. We were originally booked into site A80 but they switched us to A56, don’t know why. Site A56 was so out of level there was no way to get even close to level even using my wood ramps to run the wheels up on. I just don’t understand why it is so difficult to get a small piece of ground level.
After getting the motorhome as level as possible I went to plug our power cord in and the receptacle in the campground power pedestal was burnt bad. There was no way I was going to plug into that. We had enough power problems last May when the lightning damaged our motorhome.
So I called the emergency after hours phone number for the campground. The call went straight to a message that the mailbox had not been set up. I tried again, same results. So I walked up to the office hoping someone might still be there, nope closed at 3 PM. So I checked the after hours checkin box for reservations that had not arrived. Only one more due in. So I picked out the most level vacant site I could find, checked the power pedestal and we moved to site A88. Needless to say this place will not be getting a five star review from us.
You may think I am a little grumpy….well I did read on Facebook that today is “National Grey Haired Grumpy Old Man Day”. So that explains my demeanor I guess.
Day 2 Wednesday March 19, 2025
We had a quick and light breakfast and departed this morning about 7:30AM, drove about 4 miles and filled up the motorhome with fuel.
We have just over 200 miles to travel today with about half on I85 before getting off and going through a few small towns and lots of hills and curves before reaching our destination of Talona Ridge RV Resort in Ellijay Georgia. It is named correctly as it sits up kind of high on a ridge just outside of the town of Ellijay. And it is a beautiful RV Resort. Lots of money was put into this facility. All paved streets and nice LEVEL concrete sites, manicured lawns, nice tables and two andirondack chairs at each site. Each corner and along the sides of the concrete pads have an embedded colored light that comes on at night to indicate the corner and edge of each site. Very good if you were to arrive at night.
We had breakfast for lunch and went to checkin with the Fantasy RV Tour Team. We turned in our medical forms, sign a waiver and got our “goodie bag” with our name tags, hat and a nice first aid kit.
At 2:30 we returned to the events building to meet the rest of the attendees and the entire Fantasy team. There are three other couples here that we met on the Fantasy Caravans we have been on. Each couple/person was asked to introduce themselves and where they were from and if they had been on any Fantasy trips to name their favorite. That took awhile because there are about 90 RVs in the group. Then we had a light snack and a variety of liquid beverages before playing a game of 20 trivia questions about the Ellijay area. Each table served as one team. There was tie between two tables that got 16 questions right. Our table got 13 correct.
Paul, one of the Fantasy team came over to talk to Lena and I when he heard we were from Wallace NC. He said he was a disc jockey in Wallace in 1977-1978 back when the WLSE radio station was on the air.
Then we were served a catered meal of heavy appetizers while a musician played guitar and sang.
Then it was time for us to return to our motorhome for some relaxation the rest of the evening.
Day 3 Thursday March 20, 2025
At 8:15AM we boarded one of the 4 buses that arrived to take us to the town of Blue Ridge Georgia. There we boarded train car 2705 on the Blue Ridge Scenic Railway for a 13 mile ride to the towns of McCaysville GA and Copperhill Tennessee. The ride was just over an hour and ran along the Toccoa River Valley and the Appalachian Foothills of North Georgia. There were some really nice houses and cabins along the river. This area is really hilly and some of the houses sat way up on top of the hills.
We passed a golf course and the Attendant from the train crew that was in our train car told us a story about going to the golf course one day. He stopped at the guard shack at the entrance and the guard asked him if he had a reserved tee time to play golf. But he didn’t so the guard told him they would let him play golf but they did have one rule. He had to have two pairs of pants in case he got “a hole in one”.
The Attendant brought each of us a nice container of food and what ever beverage we wanted except alcoholic drinks which had to be purchased in the dinning car. He was kind of entertaining with some of his little stories and comments.
The two towns we visited are actually like one town but the Georgia and Tennessee state line runs right through the town. There is a blue line that is painted on the pavement right through the town including inside some of the buildings. Some of the buildings straddles the line. I wonder how they work out the taxes, etc.
;The blue line is the Georgia and Tennessee state line.
We were told that the train departs at 1PM to return to Blue Ridge GA and the train will blow it whistle two time at 12:50 so we would have 10 minutes to get on the train. Our Attendant ask us did we know what someone is called that misses the train….”a hitchhiker”.
We walked around town for a while taking a few photos and decided to try out the Yellow Bird Coffee Shop. The state line runs right through the back corner of the small building. They made a good Latte which was nice on a cold windy day.
Then we checked out the Coppermine Candle Company that the train Attendant had told us about. They made candles, soap, sprays and bath items. All items are hand made at the shop. One of the ladies explained how the candles work and what the ingredients were. When the candle melts it liquifies and you can then stick your finger in the liquid and use it as a lotion so they are called Lotion Candles. They are made with Shea, Soy, Vitamin E, Aragon and Lanolin. I think she said the 16oz candle would burn about 80 hours and it had two wicks. Lena bought two of them, one for her and one for a Christmas gift.
We checked out a few more shops before returning to the train to get out of the cold wind. At 1PM the train departed and we had no “hitchhikers” in our Fantasy RV group.
We had over an hour of free time when we got back to Blue Ridge. The Fantasy team told us we could board the buses at our leisure and when the first bus was full, it would leave and then the next would load, etc but we had time to explore. It appeared everyone was ready to load soon after we arrived back because the temperature had dropped to about 40 degrees and the wind was picking up. We boarded the second bus and were soon back at our warm motorhome. It is predicted to get below freezing in the early morning hours so I ran more water into our fresh water tank and disconnected our water hose from the campground water system. Don’t need any frozen water lines.
Our grandson Jackson called to tell us his beagle Molly passed away about 3PM today. She was about 13 years old and her health was really bad for the last few weeks. He was very attached to her. He had asked me before we left to help him build her a coffin when she died but I am away so his Dad is going to help him.
Later we returned to the activity building to socialize and play Fantasy Bingo. We were given two ink dobbers and 7 Bingo cards each. Two of the eight people at our table won a game including me and our friend Pam (we met her and her husband Dwight on our 2022 Alaska Caravan) and Lena was only missing one number when someone called Bingo. Pam won an American flag and I won a $100 gift certificate. The only catch is it is only good towards the cost of booking a caravan with Fantasy while we are here this week.
I asked Kara (one of the Fantasy staff we know) if I could gift it to someone if we didn’t book a caravan while we were here and she said I could.
The wind blew most of the night it seemed but it didn’t get below freezing.
Day 4 Friday March 21, 2025
The wind has stopped blowing a gale and the sun is shining so it will warm up some today, predicted to be a high of 60 degrees. We had time for a breakfast finally this morning before going over to the activity building where Fantasy had lots of delicious donuts, coffee and hot tea available. Those that wanted to set out their handmade crafts to sell between 8:30-10:00. I had planned to bring some of my products but decided not too for just an hour and half of sell time. Just not worth the effort.
Then at 10:30 Fantasy put on a travelog Presentation about their RV Caravan down into Mexico in the Baha region. The main focal point on this trip is whale watching. They set up with the locals to take people out on boats where the whales and their babies come right up to the boat and you can reach over the side and rub them. They said for some reason the whales love human interaction. This is an interesting trip but not sure it is in our future. Each couple is given a door prize ticket and they gave away several nice door prizes.
In keeping with the Mexico theme, Fantasy had a catering company feed us a variety of tasty Mexican food items including desert.
Nell Filinger is the owner of Fantasy RV Tours and is usually at all the Rallies but due to a scheduling conflict she is not at this one but she did attend via a Zoom call to introduce herself to everyone. We met her a few years ago at an FMCA Convention in Perry GA.
At each rally they put on an auction to support Make A Wish Foundation. Nell started this at the rallies after her grandson was diagnosed with a rare eating disorder and died two years ago at the age of 16. He participated in Make A Wish by getting the LeGo company to make LeGos to build a replica of the children’s hospital where he stayed most of the time. He was a master at assembly LeGos. Fantasy has raised over $700,000 with their actions at rallies for Make A Wish.
There were a couple of ladies from the Georgia chapter of Make A Wish present and also a five year old boy named Abraham and his father. Abraham was a recipient of a Make A Wish gift. He answered several questions about his wish and his father explained what it meant for his family to participate in the wish.
There were several wrapped mystery boxes auctioned off, one sold for $4,000. Fantasy RV Tours matches what is raised dollar for dollar. But before the $4,000 box was auctioned off Nell said she would personally match what it sold for.
After the auction we returned to the motorhome. We decided not to stay for the Disco Costume Party and dance to be held later today.
Day 5 Saturday March 22, 2025
We started off today with mimosas followed by a catered breakfast of biscuits and gravy, scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, tater tot casserole, bacon and egg wraps, sausage and egg wraps and French toast, grapes, strawberries, blackberries and pineapple. And of course coffee and tea. Obviously we are not going hungry. Fantasy is fattening us up for the “kill”. The “kill” is hopefully selling us more tours.
After everyone stuffed themselves the Fantasy team began telling us about their upcoming tours, including some new ones for 2026/2027 and some that they have revamped. At different times during the presentations they gave away more door prizes. And we got lucky and won a $200 travel certificate. Now we have one for $100 and one for $200. They are only good if used to book a tour while we are here this week and only one gift certificate per tour. Or we can gift them to someone else if we are not going to use them. They gave away several more certificates and several other nice gifts throughout the presentation.
There is one gentleman here that wears the most unusual quirky hats we have ever seen. Sometimes he wears several different hats during the day. This afternoon he came in with what looked like something you would wear in really cold weather with flaps that covered his ears and was wearing dark shaded goggles. I asked him if I could take his photo and he say sure. He probably would be an interesting person to talk to.
Day 6 Sunday March 23, 2025
For those that wanted to participate this morning starting at 8:30 there was a short craft session on doing decoupage and at the same time Fantasy was serving a variety of donuts with coffee and hot tea.
Another Travelog was presented this morning after the craft class ended. They presented the itinerary for more of their tours and all during the presentation they stopped and gave away more door prizes. Our friends Dwight and Pam won the last one presented this morning and it was for $300. They were able to use it as a credit on one of the tours they have booked while here this week.
We had a lunch break before returning to the activity center for another Travelog and more door prizes. Fantasy has given away a lot of nice door prizes. Of course the travel certificates are only good if you book a tour while here this week. The other gifts were gift cards for a variety of restaurants, useful household items, etc.
Then after the Travelog there was a first time ever Pet Contest at one of the Fantasy rallies. Twelve different owners put costumes on their dogs and had sort of a parade by everyone here so we could vote on our favorite.
We returned to the activity center at 6PM for the Farewell Dinner and awards ceremony. Again Fantasy provided a nice meal served by the Fantasy crew. The company they hired to cook the meals does a good job. The food is good and there is plenty of it.
Fantasy gave us an update on the amount of money that was raised for the Make A Wish foundation. The auction for the mystery boxes, the silent auction and other donations by the attendees of the Rally was $52,167 then Fantasy RV Tours matched that so the total was $104,335. A large check was presented to the lady from the foundation.
Then several certificates were presented to the attendees based on the number of tours they have taken with Fantasy RV Tours. We received one for completing 5 tours plus a Lifetime Member sticker and a Lifetime Pen each that we can attach to our Fantasy RV Tours cap or name badge.
There are several levels of awards based on the number of tours taken. After completing 10 tours you get a Fantasy Life Time jacket, after 13 tours you get a set of nice camp chairs, after 15 tours you get to attend the Rallies for free.
Attending a Rally counts as a tour and if you get someone to go on one of the Fantasy RV Tours that has never gone on one you get credited with one tour on your total tours. That is how we have a count of 5 tours but have only done 4.
The highest number of completed tours for anyone that attended this rally was 31.
Day 7 Monday March 24, 2025
Today is farewell day as the Rally is ending this morning. Fantasy had hot coffee, tea, mimosas, cranberry juice and lots of goodies and fruit read for our going away breakfast this morning.
We said goodbye and prepared the motorhome for travel to our next destination about 70 miles away near Helen Georgia. Since we don’t have far to go we didn’t leave until just before checkout time here at 11am.
We only had about 70 miles to travel to River Bend Campground in Hiawassee Georgia. We setup in site B27 which backs up to the Hiawassee River, so we have a nice lazy river just behind our motorhome. Now if the weather will just cooperate we can get our chairs and set outside by the river this week. We will be here 8 nights.
