Zigzag Through the South East
Mission accomplished in Florida, it was time to migrate north before heat and humidity consumed us. Our chosen path? A zigzag through Georgia, the Carolinas and Virginia before further escaping to the northern states and ultimately Maine.
Along the way, we found plenty of new things to see and experience. But a certain subtitle for this leg of our journey might be “The Friendship Tour” as we visited no less than three special families along the way.
Camping on Pine Mountain Ridge in West-Central Georgia
Georgia is not generally regarded as a mountainous state, at least by California and Colorado standards, but it certainly ain’t Kansas nor Nebraska. To Georgia’s credit, the Appalachian Blue Ridge Mountains clip the north-west corner of the state, giving its great citizens its highest peak — Brasstown Bald (huh?) at 4784 feet. Not too shabby. Furthermore, I would describe the northern third of the state as very hilly, forested, and picturesque.
The south Georgia terrain, however, is quite a bit different. Rolling hills and flat-ish stretches of land dominate, making it more amenable to farming, of which there is a lot. Think Jimmy Carter and his peanut farm, this end of the state is less populated and more rural, for sure.
That said, Lois and I had not seen a real mountain since New Mexico, but that’s OK. We had long since locked ourselves into the scenic beauty of the Deep South. There were no high peaks to be seen, but it hardly mattered.
So it was business as usual as we cruised through the southern Georgia farmlands on our way to F. D. Roosevelt State Park near the Alabama border. Why? To do some much anticipated camping with our dear friends Mark and Cheryl from the Atlanta suburbs.
On that day’s trip, we chose a rural route, something we often d0. The Deep South scenery once again delighted our eyes. But as we neared the State Park, much to our surprise we were suddenly staring at a dominate highland jutting up in front of us. Georgians call it Pine Mountain Ridge, a fluke of nature seemingly dropped out of nowhere amongst the rolling Georgia farmland. On top of this mountain was our destination, F. D. Roosevelt State Park.
After a steep climb and a long drive along the ridge, we eventually made our way to our campsite. As we pulled up, there they were, Mark and Cheryl, fully setup and chillin’ in their camp chairs. What a wonderful sight to see them in this gorgeous campground! A short walk from a beautiful lake, our rigs were nestled under a dense canopy of trees. At last, Lois and I were side-by-side camping with great friends. The next few days were filled with fun — hiking, a visit to a garden/resort, a tour of FDR’s ‘Little Whitehouse”, plus fine dining at a farmhouse.
What a blast! Thanks, Mark and Cheryl, for the great camping trip to this very scenic corner of Georgia.
Click Images to Enlarge
Let the Zig Zag Begin!
Having recently traveled northwest from Saint Augustine, Florida to F. D. Roosevelt State Park in Georgia, we turned ourselves to the northeast, destination South Carolina with a medical layover in Atlanta along the way.
Some of the behind-the-scenes things that Lois and I must stay on top of are health concerns. In other words, it’s not all fun and games on the full-time RV circuit. Stuff still happens, especially as it pertains to chronic illness. Pausing our trip in Atlanta gave us an opportunity to take care of a few things. 🤒👩🏻⚕️🏥🩻
As you might imagine, finding a decent place to park Harold-the-RV in the middle of a sprawling metropolis is not for the feint of heart. Fortunately, Lois and I located an RV Park that was safe and comfortable. Five days later, it was “mission accomplished!” We were more than ready by then to scram out of Atlanta and get back to it. Wagons Ho! On to South Carolina.
It was only a short stop in the smaller of the Carolinas. Even so, it was great to return to scenic rural environs — farms, forests, and waterways in every direction. We caught up on laundry, shopping, and other behind-the-scenes things. Then, just like that, it was time to continue our zig-zag.
The North Carolina Appalachians
Lois and I love the mountains! So from South Carolina, we turned again to the northwest. Next stop — the Blue Ridge foothills near Hendersonville, NC.
As we climbed in elevation, Carolina’s natural beauty only got better. The RV Park we stayed at is about halfway up the North Carolina Appalachians. Another 30 minutes to the west sits nearby Asheville, a surprisingly large city serving dozens of small towns spread around the region. And not too much further from there is the Tennessee border and North Carolina’s gateway into America’s most visited National Park, The Great Smoky Mountains.
But back to Hendersonville… it served us well during our stay. No doubt, there is much more to explore in this corner of the Appalachians next time we’re in the area. For this first trip, highlights included:
Long drives on the National Park Service’s Blue Ridge Parkway, AKA America’s Favorite Drive.
Beautiful hikes to stunning waterfalls.
A first hand look at the aftermath of the devastating September 2024 Asheville flood.
The Hendersonville “Ice Cream Trail”.
Regarding the hikes and the drive on the parkway, I’ll let the photos do the talking.
“But what about that Ice Cream Trail?”, you ask.
In the Sierra Foothills near where we used to live, there is a designated “Wine Trail” that snakes past multiple wineries where one can take in the rural countryside, sip some wine, and enjoy a lazy afternoon with friends and family. Hendersonville’s twist on that experience is a trail linking homemade ice creameries — no less than ten — using only local farm to table products. Not bad for this rural community of 20,000 people. Wow! What more reason does one need to visit the Appalachian foothills. Unfortunately (embarrassingly) we did not accept the challenge to eat our way from one end of the trail to the other. One stop was enough for this trip. We won’t make that same mistake next time we’re in town. 😜
And regarding the 2024 Asheville floods, Lois and I crossed through some of the worst hit areas on our way to Chimney Rock State Park. For those interested, I’ve included a story about what we saw at the end of this blog.
The Friendship Tour
Once again, one of our full-time RV blessings is the opportunity it gives us to see close friends. Thanks to all y’all for setting time aside to see us. As always, the fellowship was great, new memories were made, and deep conversations about life and the Lord blessed our souls. During this leg of our journey, we got to see:
Georgia — Mark and Cheryl
North Carolina — Alberto and Janae
Virginia — Tim and Barb
A special shout out goes to Tim and Barb for allowing us to park Harold-the-RV at their beautiful house while we snuck out to Southern California. Thank You!
America’s 250th Anniversary - A Day Trip to Yorktown, Virginia
And while we were in Virginia, Tim organized a day trip to Yorktown, the site of the final battle against the British at the end of the revolutionary war. Silly me! All this time I thought Yorktown was in, you know, New York! Live and learn.
What a special opportunity it was to see such a historic site prior to America’s 250th birthday. As the story goes… It seems that England’s Lieutenant General Cornwallis made quite a blunder in his pursuit of General Washington’s armies. No sooner did Cornwallis sail into Yorktown off of Chesapeake Bay, the French navy pinned him it, then the combined American and French armies besieged the town. The rest, as they say, is history. Yay for the good guys! 🇺🇸🇫🇷💥🎉
What About that Trip to LA?
At LAX, on the way to Madrid with 12 heavy bags!
Many of you know that Kate (our daughter), Caleb, and grandsons Henry and Ollie recently moved to Madrid to serve God through SEND International. Lois and I were recently blessed with the opportunity to vacation with them in Southern California during their final week in the States. It was, as my grandsons would say, “Epic!” This excursion from Virginia to the West Coast is deserving of a blog of its own — but not now, probably never. We have many cherished memories from our time with them in Southern California. As you can imagine, it was very difficult giving final hugs and saying “goodbye”. 🥲❤️
Looking ahead, Lois and I are scheming a trip to Spain next year during the fall. Until then, these two things are true — we miss them dearly, and we are so proud and supportive of their decision to serve God in Spain.
What’s Next?
The Friendship Tour continues in Ohio and Michigan before we set sail for our summer destination, Maine.
A Drive Through a Community Devastated by the Asheville Flood
A house lost in the flood near Chimney Rock, North Carolina
Many people are aware of the deadly North Carolina flooding in 2024 that took the lives of 107 people and wiped out entire communities when Hurricane Helene got steered into the mountains by a deep low pressure system. Only after seeing the devastation in person did we fully grasp the wrath of this horrible natural disaster. Lois and I visited the area 20 months after the fact, yet many country roads and highways were barely open and still in disrepair.
One such highway connects Hendersonville to Chimney Rock, a town that shares its name with an adjacent and popular state park. Only after we decided to visit the park’s towering granite monolith did we learn that the route to it had just reopened in April this year. And barely open it was. The intense 2024 multi-day storm caused the river to climb more than 25 feet above flood stage as water violently washed down the sides of the canyon and into the narrow V-shaped valley below. Getting to the state park involved multiple river crossings on temporary one lane bridges.
As we got closer to town, the breadth of the damage could be seen well above the road. From Youtube documentaries, we learned that countless homes were washed down the river into a large reservoir downstream from Chimney Rock. Lois and I did see houses that survived the initial onslaught, but many of those are still boarded-up, some even condemned. Here and there we also drove past structures cut in half by the violent water; their remnants barely clutching onto what remained of their foundation. And as for the river itself, it was stripped bare — 100’s of feet wide in spots — with one and two story boulders tossed here and there… actually everywhere!
Some call this infamous weather event a 1000 year flood. No doubt about it, these broken communities still have a long ways to go. The magnitude of their loss of life is very grim, and the economic cost is untenable for these small towns without the help of state and federal funds. Kudos to their collective grit, determination, and loving care for one another — somehow they are doing it!
