I'm Back, Memorial Day, and North Carolina to Tennessee

Unicoi, TN.
61 deg. fog, no wind.
Forecast today = high temp. 85 deg. partly sunny, 20% chance of afternoon showers, light Southerly winds.

Well, it appears that I'm back!! :-) I finally have an Internet signal that seems pretty stable, although the connection is not very fast. That's OK though, I can live with that. :-)

After 11 great days of me visiting and spending time with Big Herb, and Jim and Linda visiting and spending time with Roland and Louise, it was time to go. So, after hugs, handshakes, and a toot of my air horns, we left Forest City about 9:45 yesterday morning.

Now, before I tell you about yesterday's trip, let me back up a little.

Monday, (Memorial Day), Roland and Louise had decided to have a cook-out, but the weather sure wasn't co-operating as it rained all morning and about half of the afternoon. But, it stopped in time to get the grill fired up and some good smelling, (and from what I heard), great tasting steaks cooked.

Roland and Louise's son, Kenneth, and his family were there too, and from what I could hear from the other end of the RV port, everyone had a great time.

And, the weather became very pleasant, so everyone sat around and talked until about 8:00 when the bugs started coming out.

OK, now back to yesterday.

After leaving Forest City, we headed West on US74 and followed it until it connected with I-26. 26 then took us up to Asheville, where instead of turning off on I-40, we continued North on I-26.

Now, this took me completely by surprise. I was expecting to take I-40 up to Knoxville, but Jim had been looking at maps, CG directories, and talking to Roland, and he had said that it was a scenic route. So, just before we got to I-40, Jim and Linda decided to take 26 instead. Also, Jim had read about this neat little CG just a little way into Tennessee, so he decided we'd check it out. :-)

It was only a little after 12:00 when we tuned off of the Interstate. Even though the CG directory had instructions on how to get to the CG, it still wasn't easy to figure out exactly which way to go. In fact, when Linda saw the sign, and we turned off on a little gravel road, I still wasn't sure we had gone the right way! The road was very narrow, with trees on both sides, it went over some hills and finally after about 1/4 mile, we pulled up in front of the office.

By the time we pulled up in front of the office, it was 12:15, so it had taken us 2 hours and 30 minutes to travel 215 miles.

Now, I want to make this perfectly clear. When we pulled in, about the only thing I could see were big hills, mountains and trees. In fact, I wasn't sure I wanted to go any farther, but there was no place to turn around, so I really didn't have a choice.

Anyway, Jim went into the office and the very nice lady told him she had a site for me, but wanted to know if Jim had any problems backing me into a site. Well, those of you that have followed this blog for awhile know that Jim is pretty good at backing me into tight places, so he told her that it wouldn't be a problem. Come to find out, the site she assigned to me was on a sharp curve and the site was on my right, so Jim would have to back me into a site which was on what is called my "blind side".

After going on some more narrow, hilly, twisting, CG roads, Jim had to jockey me around some, but I'm now parked in site #18 at the Woodsmoke CG here in Unicoi, TN.

Actually this is a neat park. There's lots of trees, (so it may not be good if you depend on satellite), it's really quiet and peaceful, the people seem very friendly and it has that "it" feel that Jim and Linda look for.

Oh, and if any of you reading this and have anything larger than a 40' RV, don't come to this park!! There are a few sites that you may be able to get into, but I doubt if you'll be able to get around some of the corners in the park. In fact, in the TL CG directory it tells you that they have a 40' limit.

I think that Jim is going to go to the office this morning and pay for another night. He and Linda really seem to like it here. ;-)

Oh, I almost forgot!! When Jim was checking me into the park, the lady told him about a restaurant just on the other side of the Interstate. She said that the food was really good, and it wasn't very far. So.... about 5:30, CLT (Cute Little Truck), took them over to the Maple Grove Restaurant.

Now, this is not a fancy place, it's not even decorated very well inside, but if you like good home cooked meals, friendly service, and good prices, you'll want to go there. They have daily specials, and great deserts so make sure you're hungry when you go. ;-)

Did you know that in Tennessee, it is legal to gather and consume "roadkill"?

Just one last note.

Jim, Linda, and I want to thank Roland, Louise and Big Herb again for the great southern hospitality. We're looking forward to seeing you again real soon.