Cedar Key RV Resort, Cedar Key, FL

Date of Stay:  Wednesday October 4 – Sunday November 12, 2017 (5+ weeks)

Rate: Our Lot 75

Website:  Cedar Key RV Resort
   11980 SW Shiloh Road
   Cedar Key, FL 32625
   352-543-5097

Activities:  We spent the first couple of weeks cleaning up the lot.  We had bought a pressure washer last year and I gave it a good workout cleaning our concrete patio and parking site along with Pelican Place.  As usual, the saw palmettos had to be thinned out and fresh pine straw put down.  I even put some pansies in the window planter of the shed,  It wasn’t all work though.  Along with starting the long list of doctor appointments, we enjoyed the pool a couple of times, visited with Martha and Lee and Bianca and Steve.  We also caught up on eating some good fried shrimp at The Big Deck and wings at Treasure Camp.  Our last week here, T&D joined us for a ride over to Silver Springs State Park and a nice visit with Bill and Nancy.  We all took a ride on one of the glass bottom boats.  It gives a different perspective than paddling in the kayak.

Jolly Acres RV Park & Storage, St George, SC

Date of Stay:  Tuesday October 3, 2017 (1 night)

Rate:  $36/night

Website:  Jolly Acres RV Park & Storage
   289 Horne Taylor Road
   St George, SC 29477
   843-563-8303

Description:  Located about 5 miles from I-95 exit 77, this mom and pop park is in a quiet rural setting.  There are a few well maintained permanent sites but most are short stays.  We were in site I, a FHU (50A) pull thru with a concrete patio.  Roadways and sites are packed gravel.  No longer accept Passport America.

Trash and Recycle:  Couple of dumpsters in the park but no recycle.

Activities:  Nice midway point for us and we met T&D here on our way to Cedar Key for the winter.  Good park to stroll in and feed the ducks on the pond.

 

Office                                                        On site I

 

Ducks on the pond

RV Resort at Carolina Crossroads, Roanoke Rapids, NC

Date of Stay:  Friday September 9 – Tuesday October 3, 2017 (1 month)

Rate:  $550/month

Website:  RV Resort at Carolina Crossroads
   415 Wallace Fork Road
   Roanoke Rapids, NC 27870
   252-538-9776

Description:  Reviewed several times in the past.  We stayed on site P12 for the first week then moved to our favorite site P8 for the remainder of our time.  Both have gazebos but P8 is a little bigger.  This is a FHU(50A) park just off I-95 at exit 171.  Most sites and roads are gravel but there are some premium sites that are paved with paved sites.

Trash and Recycle:  Put your trash by the road in the morning and they pick it up.  No recycle here but we take ours to a bin in town near Mom’s.

Activities:  We always do the family thing here, but just getting here was interesting.  Since Hurricane Irma was coming, we left Franklin, NC at 9:00am and drove the 392 miles straight here without an overnight stop.  We got here at 10:00pm.  What took so long?  We blew a tire on the truck (toad) less than 50 miles into our day!  Thank goodness our tire pressure monitor caught it or else I would have kept driving and ruined the rim.  We called our road side assistance service and a wrecker towed the truck to a nearby mom and pop tire store.  Gin stayed with Tawanda at the exit ramp and I had four new tires installed (needed new ones anyway).  That took us a few extra hours but we’re so glad it happened early in the day.  While here in RoRap, we spent quality time with our folks.  Gin’s dad is having some more difficulties breathing and has his ups and downs.  Mom lost her last two siblings to cancer this past summer so she is a little down about that.  I did drive her and Aunt Lola to Johnston County to visit my aunts and uncle.  My siblings all got together at Mom’s and it’s good to visit with them too.  We had Mom, Doug and Carla join us at the rv park for a nice steak dinner in the gazebo.  We also visited D&T in Youngsville for his birthday.  Unfortunately, Brandon and Amanda were elsewhere with Bennett.  Hopefully we can meet the baby some other time.

Great Outdoors RV Resort, Franklin, NC

Date of Stay:  Friday August 11 – Friday September 8, 2017 (1 month)

Rate:  $625/month plus electric ($105 for us)

Website:  Great Outdoors RV Resort
   321 Thumpers Trail (gps 35.233108   83.347896)
   Franklin, NC 28734
   828-349-0412

Description:  Located just north of Franklin (far southwestern tip of NC) on Hwy 441/23, this park has easy access for big rigs.  Paved roadways and gravel sites with FHU(50A) and cable tv.  We were on site 6 and had good data signal with Verizon but had to drive up the hill to make phone calls.  Nice office building for check-in and LP filling and a separate clubhouse near the heated swimming pool.  This area is surrounded by the Nantahala National Forest with the Chattahoochee National Forest just south of here in Georgia.  The Appalachian Trail runs nearby so there are lots of trails and nature to enjoy here.

Trash and Recycle:  Dumpster near the exit but no recycle.  

Activities:  Tricia and Dan stayed on site 3 so we enjoyed our time together.  We had several shared meals, hikes, car hikes and relaxing  times with them.  One of the first hikes I did with T&D was actually several short hikes along a narrow curvy dirt road (FS67) to see Laurel Falls, Mooney Falls, Albert Mountain Fire Tower, and Pickens Nose.  Tricia’s sister Barbra joined them for a few days and we hiked to Williams Pulpit on the Wallace Branch of the Bartram Trail and also the Tennessee River Greenway in Franklin together.  It was time for some car hikes with Gin and T&D.  We took FS67 just for the adventure because it is a very curvy mountain dirt road.  We all went to the town of Highlands (too rich for my blood) by way of Hwy 64 which is curvy and goes right by some waterfalls.  When I made the reservation last winter, I was told that we would be here for the “big event” on August 21.  When I asked what that was, I was pleasantly surprised when I was told about the total solar eclipse. We were in the path of totality and it was awesome!  The rv park had live music at the clubhouse but we hung out with T&D and it was great!  Another car hike found us at Fontana Dam near Bryson City and the Road to Nowhere which is a decaying dead end road in the Great Smoky Mountain NP.  Time for another hike so I joined T&D on Jackrabbit Trail on Chatuge Lake.  We also found Bell Mountain near Hiawassee, GA with such beautiful views that we had to take Gin on a car hike there.  Although it is a paved road leading to it, it is still narrow, steep and curvy.  A couple more hikes included Rufus Morgan Trail and Wayah Bald Tower with the AT winding beside the dirt road leading to it (FS69).  We all went to Bryson City one day for a ride on the Great Smoky Mountains Railroad in an open air car to the Nantahala Gorge. It was nice but noisy.  One of the latter car hikes took us all to a couple of farms in GA and SC (Hillside Orchard… kid friendly, and Chattooga Belle Farm… beautiful, adult friendly).  On Labor Day, I went with T&D to Tallulah River Gorge State Park in GA.  The hiking trails have several overlooks to soak up the beauty of the gorge but there are over 1000 stair-steps along the trails and a suspension bridge!  We actually left here a couple of days earlier than planned because Hurricane Irma was coming up Florida and the forecast was for a lot of rain in the western part of NC.

Great Outdoor RV Resort, Franklin NC

 

Entrance to the rv park                            Office on Total Solar Eclipse day

 

Swimming pool                                        Deck of clubhouse

 

On site 6

Laurel Falls and Mooney Falls

   

Nice wooded hike by a creek to Laurel Falls

   

More hiking to find the reward of Laurel Falls

 

It was a short trail to Mooney Falls

Albert Mountain Fire Tower

 

Fog is rolling in at the fire tower, still a nice view

 

The fire tower only has three flights of stairs…

    

…but that’s high enough for Tricia and me.  Dan’s just a billy goat!

Pickens Nose

 

Goofballs!                                      Wonderful view along the trail

   

Wooded trail has some burned spots from last years fire but we got a rhododendron hug from nature!

   

Views near the top

 

Fog rolled in and it was total white out… no view at all!

Williams Pulpit on Wallace Branch of Bartram Trail

   

Nice hike in the woods with Dan, Barbra and Tricia

   

Mostly up hill to get there then back down… I’m so proud of you!

 

Gorgeous view from the pulpit!

Waterfalls along Hwy 64

 

Cullasaja Falls

 

Bust Your Butt Falls

 

Dry Falls

 

Dry Falls has a nice parking lot so that you can take the walkway behind the falls

 

                         Syl, Tricia and Dan waving up to Gin                    Yes we stayed dry

 

Judaculla Rock Petroglyphs also found on this car hike

Total Solar Eclipse

   

Tricia and Gin                          Dan and Gin                           Gin and Syl

 

No pics of the actual eclipse because I didn’t want to take a chance of messing up my camera

Fontana Dam and the Road to Nowhere

 

                                      Fontana Lake                                   T&D at an overlook of the lake

 

Fontana Dam and the Visitor Center

   

Road to Nowhere was supposed to go around Fontana Lake but the government never completed it

Jackrabbit Trail on Chatuge Lake

   

Gentle wooded trail but shared with mountain bikers

 

Lunch break on Chatuge Lake

Bell Mountain, Hiawassee GA

 

Top of Bell Mountain is scarred due to a mining fiasco

 

Deck atop the mountain

 

The views of Chatuge Lake are gorgeous!

 

Worth driving the steep curvy narrow road!

 

Especially nice to share with Gin on a picture perfect day!

Rufus Morgan Trail

   

Nice wooded loop trail to a waterfall with a little cascade along the way

   

Syl and Tricia at the main waterfall… Dan’s in the middle pic but quite small

Wayah Bald Observation Tower

   

Fire damage from Fall 2016          Paved walk to the tower             Truck on the Appalachian Trail

 

Wayah Bald Observation tower with the roof burned off… the AT goes right around it

 

View from the tower on a cloudy day

Great Smoky Mountain Railroad

 

                                  Inside our open air car                    Parked for a break at Nantahala Gorge

 

It takes two diesel locomotives to pull the train in these mountains

   

Love looking around the curves but lots of kudzu

   

Great day to look out the window at Fontana Lake on the trestle bridge

 

Fontana Lake                                    That’s the front of the train!

 

Folks rafting the Nantahala River                Train parked next to the river rapids

   

We enjoyed our day riding a piece of history

Tallulah River Gorge

   

Nice trail                                  L’Eau d’Or Falls                         Hurricane Falls

 

Lots of stair steps!                                   Suspension bridge too!

   

Yes, we did it!

   

Beautiful day at gorgeous Tallulah Gorge!